Molika Posted August 8, 2019 Share Posted August 8, 2019 Can you marry your first or second cousin in the Seventh Day Adventist Church? What does the church say about cousin marriage and to what degree is it prohibited if it is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Gregory Matthews Posted August 8, 2019 Moderators Share Posted August 8, 2019 IF you have a license to marry, you can be married in a SDA church, as long as one person is a male and the other person is a female. However, no SDA clergyperson is required to perform the marriage of anyone. I have refused to marry people when I did not consider it to be a marriage that would be successful. E.G. In one case I asked the women why she wanted to spend her life with the man. She replied that she had an airplane ticket home to mother and planned to file for divorce immediately. That is one I refused to perform. Gustave, Alfred, Molika and 1 other 4 Quote Gregory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Posted April 25, 2021 Share Posted April 25, 2021 I also wanted to ask this question. Because my mother asked pastors in our area and they refuse to marry second cousins. They said that the Lord will curse us because were going to marry a cousin. But I searched the Bible and the Law that it doesn't prohibit second cousin marriages. I was just wondering if there are prohibitions in SDA church Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B/W Photodude Posted April 26, 2021 Share Posted April 26, 2021 3 hours ago, Sid said: I also wanted to ask this question. Because my mother asked pastors in our area and they refuse to marry second cousins. They said that the Lord will curse us because were going to marry a cousin. But I searched the Bible and the Law that it doesn't prohibit second cousin marriages. I was just wondering if there are prohibitions in SDA church There is no Biblical prohibition against second cousin marriages or first cousin marriages either. Some people just get squeamish about those things all the while forgetting we are all descendants of brother-sister marriages! There is no evidence that the Lord is going to curse someone who marries a 2nd cousin. There are no prohibitions regarding 2nd cousin marriages or even 1st cousin marriages within the church that I am aware of. https://www.neverthirsty.org/bible-qa/qa-archives/question/what-does-the-bible-say-about-marrying-your-first-cousin/ I would venture a guess that the some of the Biblically prohibited marriages were solely for the purpose of not doubling up on bad genes. There were quite a number of rules regarding health practices in the Torah. If it was a first cousin, the pastors may have been on to something depending on where the parties lived. Some states prohibit it and some are OK with it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cousin_marriage_law_in_the_United_States However, if you have solved the problems of Biblical approvals and/or legal implications, the parties to be married should thoroughly vet themselves regarding the genetic issues. Genetic testing and a review of family health history for genetic disorders is a moral obligation to not give to any offspring, if potential offspring were part of the picture, a condition which would give them a less than satisfactory life. So, genetic counseling would be highly recommended. All that said, unrelated people with a personal or family history of genetic disorders frequently marry without giving the same due diligence to the health and welfare of future children. The rights of children are seldom thought of either pre-birth or even after birth as parents marry-divorce-remarry without a thought of the child's welfare. The children are just a caboose on this sad train of human failures. Sid 1 Quote >>>Texts in blue type are quotes<<< ***************************************************************************** And therefore as a stranger give it welcome. There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. --Shakespeare from Hamlet ***************************************************************************** Bill Liversidge Seminars The Emergent Church and the Invasion of Spiritualism Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Gregory Matthews Posted April 26, 2021 Moderators Share Posted April 26, 2021 * A SDA Pastor in the United States, is prohibited from performing the marriage of any people who do not have a valid license to marry. * A SDA pastor is not prohibited from performing the marriage of two second cousins who have a valid license to marry. * A SDA pastor is not required to perform the marriage of any couple that the pastor does not want to marry. NOTE: On rare occasions I have refused to perform the marriage of couples. Quote Gregory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gustave Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 It didn't work out very well for the du Pont's... America's Most INBRED Family - YouTube Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gustave Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 11 minutes ago, Gustave said: It didn't work out very well for the du Pont's... America's Most INBRED Family - YouTube Or the Whitakers An Unsettling Interview with an Incestuous Family | Mark Laita - YouTube Inbred Family-The Whitakers - YouTube Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Gregory Matthews Posted June 10, 2021 Moderators Share Posted June 10, 2021 In the past, SDA pastors have been asked not to marry two people (a male and a female) who had widely different religious beliefs. In practice, this generally involved the marriage of a SDA with a person who was not a SDA. But, there was considerable freedom to perform the marriage of two people who were not SDAs. Today that restriction is not always strongly enforced and more freedom is given to the judgment of the involved pastor. I have performed the marriage of a SDA to a person who was not a SDA member. In doing so denominational leaders have given me the freedom to use my own judgment. But, keep in mind that I do not perform the marriage of everyone who asks. If I do not believe that the marriage will likely succeed, I do not do it. So, in actual fact, it was the exception when I performed the marriage of a SDA to a person who was not SDA. As a point of interest I will give two examples of marriages that I have refused to perform, in addition to one mentioned earlier in this thread. * In one case one of the parties was comatose, about to die and therefore unable to give consent to marriage! The other person was not a happy person at my refusal to perform the marriage when she had a valid license. * I once refused to perform the marriage of a Jewish person to a Protestant. My refusal resulted in a formal complaint with the VA. My response was simply that as a religious (sacramental) service, I determined when to provide and when not to provide and the government was not entitled to any other response. My personal reason, was that I did not believe that the Jewish person fully understood what was happening. phkrause 1 Quote Gregory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gustave Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 11 hours ago, Gregory Matthews said: In the past, SDA pastors have been asked not to marry two people (a male and a female) who had widely different religious beliefs. In practice, this generally involved the marriage of a SDA with a person who was not a SDA. But, there was considerable freedom to perform the marriage of two people who were not SDAs. Today that restriction is not always strongly enforced and more freedom is given to the judgment of the involved pastor. I have performed the marriage of a SDA to a person who was not a SDA member. In doing so denominational leaders have given me the freedom to use my own judgment. But, keep in mind that I do not perform the marriage of everyone who asks. If I do not believe that the marriage will likely succeed, I do not do it. So, in actual fact, it was the exception when I performed the marriage of a SDA to a person who was not SDA. As a point of interest I will give two examples of marriages that I have refused to perform, in addition to one mentioned earlier in this thread. * In one case one of the parties was comatose, about to die and therefore unable to give consent to marriage! The other person was not a happy person at my refusal to perform the marriage when she had a valid license. * I once refused to perform the marriage of a Jewish person to a Protestant. My refusal resulted in a formal complaint with the VA. My response was simply that as a religious (sacramental) service, I determined when to provide and when not to provide and the government was not entitled to any other response. My personal reason, was that I did not believe that the Jewish person fully understood what was happening. Do SDA's have to undergo marriage counseling prior to being married in a SDA Church? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Gregory Matthews Posted June 11, 2021 Moderators Share Posted June 11, 2021 The short answer is yes. People must have counseling before being married by a SDA pastor. There are a number of programs designed to train pastors to provide effective marriage counseling. However, no one checks up on the pastor. So, exactly what happens is between the pastor and the couple. When I have refused to perform a marriage it has been due to information that came out during the marriage counseling that I had with the couple. NOTE: In one such refusal, it was clear that the woman would be entering into an abusive relationship. This was as an Army chaplain. He complained to the command. My response was simply that as a religious (sacramental) service it was my decision as to whether or not to provide it and the Army did not have the right to require me to tell why I refused. As I recall, there has only been one time when I performed a marriage without providing marriage counseling. That marriage was exceptional in more than on way. I stand by my decision today. It was the correct one to make for several reasons. NOTE: Gustave asked his question in terms of being married in a SDA church. I have ignored that aspect of his question. Official SDA teaching does not distinguish between being married in the church building and being married outside of the church building. However individual congregations and their pastor may establish their own requirements. Gustave 1 Quote Gregory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfred Posted July 15, 2021 Share Posted July 15, 2021 Do bible or God either Adventist prohibit to marry 3rd cousin? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHansen Posted July 15, 2021 Share Posted July 15, 2021 I knew an SDA church leader, in an administrative position, who was married to his first cousin. His father and his wife's father were brothers. I don't know if they had children or not. He was a well educated professional person. Don't know any of the circumstances of the marriage i.e., who, where, when. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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