The Marriage Service

The article explores the unresolved tension in the Church of Scotland’s understanding of marriage, when the Westminster Confession and Directory make no mention of Ephesians 5 which refers the image of mystical union, whereas Knox’s Liturgy does. One strand is almost Pelagian in its emphasis on the responsibility of the couple to make the marriage ‘work’, while the other seems to suggest that marriage for the baptized Christian is something more than a legal institution. We should, first, learn from the Orthodox Marriage Service which not only recognises the free will of the couple but signifies the bestowal of a special grace; second, we should consider celebrating marriage in the context of Holy Communion. The importance of preparation for marriage is stressed