for as long as we both shall live together on earth according to God’s marital arrangementSounds like marriage on earth may not last forever.
Who officiates JW weddings?
by greenie 14 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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blondie
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Chalam
1 Timothy 4
Blessings,
Stephen
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scotinsw
I hate those wedding vows. Respect is a two-way thing not one way as those vows make out.
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greenie
Thanks all. Great reading the vows too. I was wondering what, if anything, was said about the rings during the ceremony. My reason being that on another thread regarding a recent Watchtower it looks like the WTS criticizes mainstream Christians for trying to make a pagan holiday (Christmas) Christian. It seems like a parallel could be drawn between that and them blessing/condoning wedding rings, since they're pagan in origin, too. Just an obscure thought.
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blondie
WEDDING RINGS--THE WT DANCE
*** w07 2/15 p. 30 Questions From Readers ***Is that still valid? The 1995 InternationalHandbookonAlcoholandCulture says: "[Toasting] is probably a secular vestige of ancient sacrificial libations in which a sacred liquid was offered to the gods: blood or wine in exchange for a wish, a prayer summarized in the words ‘long life!’ or ‘to your health!’"
Granted, the fact that an object, a design, or a practice has roots or parallels in ancient false religion does not always rule such out for a true worshipper. Consider the pomegranate. A noted Bible encyclopedia reports: "The pomegranate seems also to have been used as a holy symbol in heathen religions." Nevertheless, God had pomegranates made of thread put on the hem of the high priest’s garment, and pomegranates decorated the copper pillars of Solomon’s temple. (Exodus 28:33; 2 Kings 25:17) Moreover, the wedding ring at one time had religious significance. Yet, most people today do not know that, considering a wedding ring a mere evidence that someone is married.
*** w92 9/1 p. 30 Questions From Readers ***Some customs that were once religious in nature no longer are in many places. For example, the wedding ring once had religious significance, but in most places today, it no longer does. Hence, many true Christians accept the local custom of wearing a wedding ring to give evidence that a person is married. In such matters, what generally is influential is whether a practice is now linked to false religion.—See "Questions From Readers" in TheWatchtower of January 15, 1972, and October 15, 1991.