Theological perspective of marriage and family in East Syriac tradition
Theological perspective of marriage and family in East Syriac tradition
Creation
God created man in his image and likeness[i] and decided that ‘it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.[ii] God created humankind as male and female[iii]. Then God blessed them ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it[iv].
Thus, God created the family and sanctified it with the blessing to multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.
Sanctity through God’s love.
God created man in his image and likeness. God is love. God created everything for his love. God’s image and likeness is love. God’s love for humankind is the love between the creator and the creation. When God created man in his image and likeness as male and female, God intended the man and woman to love each other. This is a love between creations. This mutual love between man and woman is the image of the absolute and unfailing love with which God loves man[v].
Sexuality
God decided that it is not good for man should be alone. God created a female partner to the man. God blessed them to multiply and fill the earth. Human reproduction was designed as sexual.
Sexual reproduction involves the mixing of genes. Therefore, each individual is unique. God created human beings as unique individuals with personal dignity. Modern science confirms that the mixing of genes creates good-quality offspring, prevents many genetic disorders and diseases, and strengthens biology. It helps in the evolution of the species and adaptation to environmental changes.
Sexual reproduction increases diversity in the species, increases resistance to diseases, and more adaptation and evolution. During the COVID pandemic, if diversity were not there, the whole of humankind would have perished immediately.
When asexual reproduction is very rapid, more energy-efficient and the need for only one parent, God designed humankind in such a way that his creation in his image and likeness has a unique personality and individuality and is future-proof with environmental changes and evolution through sexual reproduction. Thus, family and sexuality are sanctified.
Perhaps the family could be the first sanctification in the created Universe.
God’s design in reproduction through two individuals of different sexes was for the benefit of the species. Sexual identity, sexual feelings and sexual pleasure are the gifts of God for continuing the work of creation. It is an incentive for the reproduction and propagation of the species. Therefore, sexuality is sacred.
Social institution
With two individuals as parents, God created social life as well. Collective parenting responsibilities are to give the formation of offspring in the family. Through the creation of a family, God sanctifies the union, interaction and social life of two individuals and their offspring as a family. God created the family as the primary unit of His Church.
Equality and complementarity
East Syriac sources consider the male and female genders to be equal and complementary. Narsai in his homily on creation narrates about the mutual belongings of man and woman in creation[vi]. Mar Shemeon of Rew Ardasir taught that God made the first woman equal in nature to the first man as a partner fit for him[vii].
Sacredness of Marriage
Marriage is the sanctification of the union of a man and woman in the institution of family which is meant for the continuation of God’s love through social, physical and psychological collaboration. According to Mar Aphrahat, marriage is holy and legitimate as it was designed by God the Creator[viii]. Mar Ephraim wrote that Jesus sanctified marriage and family by his birth[ix].
Marriage was considered sacred as it was an image of the union of Christ with the church. Saint Paul in his epistles to Ephesians symbolises marriage between a man and woman to the relation between Christ and the Church. ‘For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a great mystery. And I am applying it to Christ and the Church[x]. In the East Syriac tradition, prayers of the marriage ceremony depict Christ as the heavenly bridegroom and the church as the bride[xi].
For the East Syriac church, marriage is a covenant rather than a contract. Marriage is an image of the covenant between God and His people and also an image of the intimate relationship between Christ and the Church[xii].
Mar Narsai narrates the insistence on the presence of the Priest in the marriage ceremony as the intervention of the Church in marriage even from the 5th century[xiii]. The presence of a cross and blessing by the priest as a condition for the legitimacy of the marriage as required by the Synod of Mar Giwargis Quatraya in AD 676 is another evidence of the East Syriac tradition of sacramentality of marriage[xiv]. The Priest is the official minister of the marriage in the East Syriac tradition.
In East Syriac tradition, the marriage rites depict it as a social and ecclesiastical institution in which the role of the society and Church are vital. The preparatory services have a civic nature where mutual consent is essential. The blessing of the chalice, the blessing of the ring, the blessing of the chalice with the cross and the spouses drinking from the same chalice show the covenant relationship from Jewish tradition.
Christ and the Church as bride and bridegroom
East Syriac theology typifies marriage with the relation between M’shiha and the Church. In the Old Testament, marriage imagery is seen in God’s love with the people of Israel. The covenant of God with the people of Israel was the imagery of the marriage covenant. In the New Testament imagery, the Church is the bride of M’shiha. God loves his bride, the Church. The imagery of the bride and bridegroom reveals the eternal and unconditional love of God for mankind- the intimate unconditional and unbreakable union of M’shiha and the Church[xv].
Narsai in his homily on the ‘’Great Marriage Feast’ narrates that because of his love, M’shiha, the bridegroom lowered his greatness and wished to unite with the mortals and elevate them[xvi].
Robe of Glory and nuptial garments
In the East Syriac tradition, the mamodisa of Jesus in river Jordan is considered as the betrothal of Jesus with the Church comparing the betrothal of Rebecca to Isahak, Rachel to Yakkob and Zipporah to Moose all at the well. Mar Aphrahat and Mar Ephraim symbolise the Sleehe are the betrothers[xvii].
Some of the themes of the East Syriac liturgical prayers and hymns suggest that when the side of M’shiha was pierced on the cross, the outpoured water and blood symbolise baptism and the Holy Eucharist. Thus, the Church was born on the cross[xviii].
According to Saint Ephraim, like Eve was created from the side of Adam (from the rib), Church, the bride of Jesus was created from the side of Jesus, the second Adam[xix].
Syriac Fathers like Saint Ephraim and Jacob of Serugh considered that Jesus, at his baptism left the robe of Glory worn by Adam and Eve in paradise which was lost for them by sin left in the water for humankind to assume at their baptism in water[xx]. In baptism, the baptised are clothed with Christ himself[xxi]. This garment of glory is represented by the manthrakody of Saint Thomas Christians where the bridegroom clothes the bride as M’shiha adorning his bride, the Church[xxii]. Blessing of the garments (manthrakody) is an important part of marriage in the East Syriac tradition[xxiii].
Crowning
Crowning in the East Syriac marriage signifies royalty, kingdom of God and martyrdom and imparting the grace of God to the man and the woman. It is a visible sign of the grace of God and sacramentality. It signifies the glory and honour with which God crowns his people[xxiv].
Eschatological imagery
In the New Testament, wedding ceremonies and celebrations are symbolised as the eschatological celebration of heaven where all the saved people as the bride joined eternally with the bridegroom M’shiha[xxv]. Marriage is a communion of spouses to help and support each other to join the heavenly groom the M’shiha. Christian marriage is symbolised as a foretaste of the bliss at the eternal union of man with Christ, his groom in heaven. This is a feast of the eternal union of humankind with their creator in heaven. Benediction of hnana[xxvi] and mixing it with wine in the East Syriac marriage rite are eschatologically important as it brings the heavenly ecclesia literally inside the bride and groom.[xxvii]
Conclusion
Family is the image of the Kingdom of God. Marriage is the image of God’s love. Family is the design of God to express and imitate his love among his creation and to reciprocate His love for each other. As God is Love, God’s image is also Love. Marriage and family are a lovable communion and a covenant with God to multiply and fill the earth and subdue it to make the kingdom of God. Marriage is a covenant reflecting the covenant between M’shiha and the Church.