How a Classic Christian Definition of Marriage Challenges Modern Narratives
The institution of marriage has undergone a profound redefinition in modern Western society. This shift, driven by various cultural and legal forces, stands in stark contrast to the historical and theological foundation that defined the marital union for centuries of Christian life. A powerful encapsulation of this traditional understanding can be found in the 1769 work, A Dictionary of the Holy Bible by the Scottish theologian John Brown of Haddington. This happens to be the first biblical definition of marriage.
On page 367, Brown's definition of marriage clearly outlines a structure and purpose that many modern Protestants and Christians, it is argued, have either overlooked or been encouraged to disregard by dominant secular and progressive viewpoints. This article will examine Brown's definition and explore the narrative frames through which modern secularist and feminist critiques have often obscured this original, foundational Christian blueprint.
The 18th-Century Christian Model: John Brown's Definition
John Brown of Haddington's dictionary entry for marriage is not merely a description but a theological prescription, grounding the institution firmly in its perceived divine ordinance.
Marriage is the relation between a man and a woman as husband and wife, aimed at mutual comfort, procreation of children, and properly raising them for this world and the next.
This succinct definition highlights four inseparable components:
Parties: Strictly between a man and a woman (heterosexual, monogamous).
Purpose 1: Mutual Comfort: Companionship, support, and a spousal relationship.
Purpose 2: Procreation: The having of children.
Purpose 3: Edification (Spiritual Raising): The proper instruction and guidance of those children for both their temporal (this world) and eternal (the next) welfare.
This view elevates marriage beyond a private, emotional contract. It is a foundational unit for both society and the church, with the spiritual education of the next generation—the "edification"—as a co-equal, ultimate goal alongside mutual love and procreation.
The Modern Blind Spot: A Shift in Protestant Focus
For many modern Protestants and Christians, especially those who align with movements broadly categorized as "propagandized" by progressive social ideas, the understanding of marriage has become dramatically narrowed. This is the missing or unseen aspect:
1. The Elevation of "Mutual Comfort" Over Procreation and Edification
In contemporary Christian culture, the primary purpose of marriage is often emphasized as companionship, emotional fulfillment, and mutual support (Brown’s "mutual comfort"). This is frequently portrayed as the highest good, echoing modern Western culture's emphasis on individual happiness and self-actualization.
The Loss: While historically and Biblically valid, when mutual comfort becomes the sole or overwhelmingly primary purpose, the complementary goals of procreation and the spiritual edification of children recede in importance. This shift makes the union sound indistinguishable from any other committed, intimate relationship, regardless of gender or capacity for family building.
The Result: A definition focused on adult emotional needs has made it conceptually easier to accept the redefinition of marriage to include same-sex couples, as the spiritual and biological mandate for child-rearing is no longer seen as the definitional core.
2. Neglecting the "Edification for the Next World"
The most significant omission is the directive to raise children for "this world and the next." Brown's definition anchors the family unit in the eschatological reality of the Christian faith—the ultimate purpose is salvation and eternal life.
The Loss: Modern Protestant thought often emphasizes family values in a civic or societal sense, but the specific, transcendent duty to raise children as future members of the Church and heirs of eternity is often soft-pedaled in public discourse.
The Result: When the primary purpose of marriage loses its direct link to eternal matters and the expansion of God's people (through procreation and spiritual training), it can more readily be relegated to a purely social or legal contract, subject to the changing norms of the state rather than the fixed precepts of the divine.
The Secular Narrative: Feminist and Leftist Critiques as Redefinition
The traditional definition is fundamentally challenged and obscured by dominant narratives from secular and feminist perspectives, which have actively worked to dismantle the hierarchical and purpose-driven structure of the historic model.
1. The Feminist Critique: Deconstructing Hierarchy and Procreation
Feminist critiques often view the traditional Christian model, including Brown’s, as inherently patriarchal and a tool of female oppression.
Critique of Purpose: The emphasis on procreation is seen as reducing women to their reproductive function, binding them to domesticity and hindering individual career or personal aspirations.
Critique of Structure: The relationship "between a man and a woman as husband and wife" is often interpreted through the lens of a male-dominant hierarchy (headship/submission), which feminists reject in favor of strict egalitarianism.
The Narrative Shift: By painting the traditional model as a source of subjugation, feminist-driven progressive Christian theology often champions a new model where the highest virtue is gender equality and mutual flourishing, fundamentally displacing procreation and the father's specific role in edification from the definitio of the institution.
2. The Secularist Critique: The State as the New Ordinance
Secularist thought views marriage as a social contract created and defined by the state, entirely separate from any religious ordinance.
The Rejection of Divine Ordinance: The core of secularist critique is the rejection of any purpose derived from a "divine ordinance." Marriage, in this view, is a civil union whose purposes are entirely practical: legal recognition, shared property, tax benefits, and emotional partnership.
The Rejection of Natural Law: The necessity of a man and a woman is dismissed as being based on outdated natural law arguments. If the only relevant purpose is companionship, then any two consenting adults should have access to the legal benefits of the contract.
The Obscuring of History: By defining marriage as a flexible, evolving social construct, secularists effectively obscure the fact that the Brown-like definition was the unchallenged legal and spiritual foundation of Western civilization for over a millennium. The modern change is presented as progress and inclusion, with its opposition cast as mere religious bigotry or prejudice, rather than the defense of a specific, centuries-old theological and social system.
Conclusion: The Call for Historical Clarity
The enduring value of John Brown's 1769 definition is not merely its historical date, but its stark clarity on the purposes that once defined Christian marriage. It serves as an intellectual guardrail, clearly articulating a concept where the individual's comfort is interwoven with a greater societal and eternal purpose—the raising of a spiritual lineage.
Modern Christians who find themselves accepting the current secular redefinitions of marriage may have done so because they have already quietly ceded the core purposes defined in their own heritage: the necessity of procreation and the specific purpose of edification for the next world. The success of secular and feminist narratives in redefining marriage lies, in part, in their ability to isolate and critique the traditional model's perceived negative aspects (patriarchy, rigidity) while simultaneously promoting a replacement model that aligns perfectly with the modern cultural obsession with individual autonomy and emotional satisfaction.
For modern Protestants to fully grasp their historical and theological position, they must confront the foundational difference: is marriage primarily about adult fulfillment (a modern contract), or is it an institutional covenant designed by God for mutual comfort, procreation, and the spiritual future of children? John Brown's dictionary provides a clear, uncompromised answer to the latter, one that remains a powerful challenge to the prevailing assumptions of the 21st century.
