[n david]

Originally Posted by Aquila

So, you think that Gentile Christians who divorced rushed down to the Roman courts to divorce? First, the Roman court would only wish to involve itself if they were official Roman citizens. Second, most Christians were not official Roman citizens, they were of the poorer classes. It is possible that Jewish Christians might have turned to the synagogues before they were cast out of Judaism, but afterwards where would they go to divorce? The truth is, most Christian marriages had nothing to do with Roman government. And when they divorced, the church would try to help them reconcile and if it failed, the departing party was allowed to simply leave. If they were a believer, they were not to remarry, and men were commanded not to divorce their wives (demand that they leave). If one of them was an unbeliever or apostate, and wished to leave, they were to be allowed to leave, and the believer was no longer bound by the covenant of that union, meaning they could remarry in the Lord. Early Christians didn't rush down to government courts to separate.

I never said they did. As previously agreed, marriage did not involve the government so there was obviously no need to take the matter before a court.

Originally Posted by Aquila

To say that Paul would admonish Christians not to settle matters in the courts of the unbelievers, but would support Christians turning to the courts of the unbelievers in divorce is to create a duplicity. When Paul speaks of "lawsuits" (as you put it) it includes any legal dispute. It wasn't codified as we have codified it today.

I disagree. Paul was emphatic about submitting to the higher powers. Peter wrote that Christians should submit themselves to "every ordinance of man."

If a Christian chooses a civil marriage, they should abide by the ordinance of that marriage, including divorce court.

Again, 1 Cor 13 has nothing to do with divorce.

Originally Posted by Aquila

What kind of ceremony is needed? Where is a specific ceremony prescribed in the Bible? In addition, where is a pastor required to marry a couple in Scripture? Yes, rabbis and early Christian elders were invited to bless unions at the time of the marriage. But on other occasions couples came to church and announced that they had been married. Thus the elders would bless the couple after the fact. This is why the Catholic church established various marriage traditions, there wasn't any uniformity. In addition, if a couple gave their promises/vows and married alone behind a barn, it was blessed by the church. However, after marriage was made a sacrament, it required a priest. Those marriages established privately or through any other means of commitment were then deemed lawful but illicit marriages.

There is no written record in the Bible, though history can provide that for you. There are scriptures of wedding feasts, so one could imagine that some kind of ceremony occurred.

Originally Posted by Aquila

That's not what I'm presenting. I too disagree with that.

There are previous posts from you which appear to suggest exactly that. One post regarding an unmarried couple who was turned away from a relatives home, you stated (paraphrase) if they had slept together they were considered a couple in the eyes of God. Other posts have held similar views - that a couple who engages in sex should be considered a couple.