Marriage bond

Rev Dr John Cameron and Rev Maud (Letters, 12 September) both appeared to argue that practices accepted in the ancient world should also be endorsed today. I disagree.

The Romans celebrated homosexual relationships, but they also threw Christians to the lions. The Apostle Paul’s writings contrasted sharply with the contemporary permissive culture then, as they do with our’s now.

Rev Dr Cameron’s observation that marriage pre-dates Catholicism is banal. Catholics, along with other Christians faithful to God’s revelation on this issue, read that God instituted marriage at the inception of humanity. They do not claim to have invented it, but seek to preserve it in its genuine form.

Paul Brownsey still fails to see how gay “marriage” undermines marriage. Perhaps this is because he does not understand the full richness of the institution. Marriage embodies life-long commitment and faithfulness between a man and a wife, being the only proper context for sexual relations. Male and female are designed to form this bond through their complementary physical, emotional and spiritual attributes and qualities. Children can then be born into a stable family benefiting from the unique and distinct influences of a mother and a father.

The trend is now to accept that marriage need not be the only context for sex, nor permanent, nor faithful. Now even the most fundamental element of marriage, the union of a man and a woman, is being jettisoned. As marriage loses its clarity, it will continue to lose its appeal and its power to regulate family life.

RICHARD LUCAS

Broomyknowe

Colinton, Edinburgh