Ten years ago this month, the U.S. Supreme Court illegitimately redefined marriage in the case Obergefell v. Hodges—illegitimately, that is, because a human court has no authority to redefine an institution put in place by God.
Appropriately, thousands of Southern Baptist Convention messengers meeting in Dallas, June 10-11, called for the “overturning of laws and court rulings, including Obergefell v. Hodges, that defy God’s design for marriage and family.” They also urged the nation to adopt “laws that affirm marriage between one man and one woman.”
Let us pray that the court overturns Obergefell, just as they overturned the Roe v. Wade abortion ruling two years ago this June.
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Lest we think that marriage has only made controversial headlines during the past 10 years, it’s good to remember also that marriage lay at the center of controversy 500 years ago, as well. In fact, this month marks the anniversary of one of the most controversial weddings in the history of the church. Not only the wedding, but the events leading up to the wedding day, are worth describing. Pathway columnist Jeremiah Greever, pastor of First Baptist Church, Sedalia, tells the story well, from the bride’s perspective, in his latest book, The Biblical Woman: The Beauty of a Magnificent Calling, released in April (Last year, Greever also released The Biblical Man: Becoming the Man God Made You to Be). In The Biblical Woman, he writes:
“Katharina Von Bora … was born in Germany on January 29, 1499. Katharina’s early life was difficult. Her mother died in 1505, leaving a deeply indebted husband with at least four children. To help with the children, Katharina’s father quickly married a woman who had several children of her own. To lessen the family’s financial burden, something had to change. Katharina’s father decided the change would be to send Katharina away.
“At the impressionable age of six, Katharina’s father took her to a convent and left her in the care of nuns. ‘When she entered the cloister school, Katharina was still reeling from her mother’s death. She would remain behind convent walls for the next eighteen years of her life.’ From an early age, Katharina knew sorrow and loneliness.
“Katharina’s life took a notable change when she took the vows to officially become a nun at age sixteen in 1515. As she pursued religious understanding, she came across the recent writings of a monk, Martin Luther. Growing weary of striving to earn her salvation through good works, Katharina was drawn to the writings of Luther who nailed the 95 Theses on the Wittenberg door in 1517.
“Katharina and eight other nuns decided to leave the convent, but their families would not take them in. Because leaving the convent without family approval was dangerous, they wrote to Martin Luther for help.
“In 1523, Luther helped them make a daring escape. He sent empty fish barrels to the convent, which the nuns hid in. Luther’s merchant friend, Leonhard Koppe, retrieved the barrels filled with nuns and returned them to Luther in Wittenberg. Luther determined he would find husbands for each of the nuns, so they were cared for. He was able to find husbands for every nun except one—Katharina.
“After rejecting marriage proposals from other men, Katharina accepted Luther’s proposal and the two were married on June 23, 1525.”
The marriage of the nun Katharina von Bora with German monk-turned-Reformer Martin Luther was at first questioned by some of Luther’s friends and openly attacked by his enemies. Nevertheless, the newly married couple found joy in their marriage, even amid controversy, hardship and tragedy.
Only a few years later, in his Large Catechism, Luther praised marriage, noting “how highly God honors and glorifies the married life, sanctioning and protecting it by his commandment” (Gen 1: 27-28, 2: 18-25; Exod 20:14).
He encouraged those who are married to “love and cherish the wife or husband whom God has given” and “to live together in love and harmony, cherishing each other whole-heartedly and with perfect fidelity.”
Writing this editorial on the weekend of me and my precious wife’s 17th wedding anniversary, I wholeheartedly agree with Luther that married life is a source of deep joy. It is a picture of the gospel, as the apostle Paul notes in Eph 5:21-32, and its one of God’s greatest gifts to humankind. So, on this 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s marriage with Katharina von Bora, let each of us cherish our spouses and thank God for the gift of marriage.
