Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God, and in the face of this congregation, to join together this Man and this Woman in holy Matrimony; which is an honourable estate, instituted of God in the time of man's innocency, signifying unto us the mystical union that is betwixt Christ and his Church. (Book of Common Prayer)

As we await news of the Supreme Court's ruling, among the editorial writings in papers and posted on the internet, have been warnings that making same sex "marriage" the law of the land would eventually lead to the courts taking away the religious liberties even of churches themselves. Frankly, that may very well be true. Strange things are coming out of court rulings, and I would not dismiss anything as impossible anymore. What seems more likely, in the foreseeable future, is that the government might take away tax exempt status from churches who do not fall into line and who refuse to march in lock step.

But, whatever they may throw at us, we will never, under any circumstances, perform same sex "weddings." It isn't going to happen; end of discussion. They may throw us in prison or even kill us - or more likely in the short run, take away our tax exempt status for failing to honor their laws and their rulings. But, as St. Peter said, "We ought to obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29)." In response to the times we live in, that means (among other things) that the Church has no authority to recognize or perform same sex "marriages." This is a matter of doctrine, coming from God and recorded in Scripture.

Some people speak as if they have never heard of Civil Disobedience. For a Christian the words of St. Peter, that I have quoted above, lay the foundation for Civil Disobedience. Some may ask, "But, what if they make us comply?" Or, "What if they rule against us in some future court case?" The answer remains, "We ought to obey God rather than men." For ancient Christians this meant dying as martyrs rather than offering incense to Caesar as a god. And, indeed, we are speaking of choosing to obey either human authority or God when they conflict. So, what has God revealed?

In the two quotations from Genesis and from Matthew we have been given God's word on the matter. As you can see, Jesus quoted from Genesis, but deliberately modified it with the word "Two" (or "Twain" in the older English of the KJV), thus ruling out polygamy for His followers. What we have, therefore, from the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, is His word that marriage is between one man and one woman.

Also, we have the teaching of sacramental marriage, that is, that marriage is God's own work. For, He follows it directly in the next verse with the words, "Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." Sacramental marriage is what we celebrate and bless in the Church, because it is the work of God Himself: "What therefore God hath joined together..." Not simply the Church, not simply the power of the state, but God makes the man and the woman one flesh.

And, indeed, it is clear both in Genesis and in Matthew that two people of the same sex cannot be married in the eyes of God. The Hebrew words in Genesis are unmistakable. The word for "Woman" and "Wife" are one and the same word: Ishah (אִשָּׁה). The word for "Man" is Ish (אִישׁ). The same applies to the Greek original in Matthew. The word for "wife" is Gyne (γυνή), from which comes the English word "Gynecology," and which means a woman of any age, and also means "wife." Furthermore, this follows the words from Jesus' own mouth: "Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female..." making the following words obvious in meaning. "For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh." Sexual complementarity, something two people of the same sex do not have and cannot have, was created by God for marriage as a sacramental bond, to produce children and establish the family.

I understand why the Bible translators used the word "Wife" rather than "Woman" in both Genesis and Matthew. In English, to say that a man shall be joined to his woman might suggest something other than marriage to lazy ears, even though it is clear from the context that marriage is the only possible understanding of the words. But, in this day and age, we need to know that in Hebrew and in Greek the words for "Woman" and "Wife" are the same, with the meaning of a married couple derived from the context.

I was made aware of some celebrity championing same sex "marriage" with the argument that its advocates do not want to change the definition of what marriage is. That statement is absurd on the face of it. Of course it is a redefinition. In the whole history of the world every civilization has known that sexual complementarity - male and female - are of the very essence of what marriage is. It has never been understood any other way. From the teaching of scripture we see why: It is literally a part of God's creation, and not a man-made institution. Its roots do not come from jurisprudence. It is a part of human nature itself, as anthropology confirms (this celebrity went on to bring up Women's Suffrage and the Civil Rights Movement as if there is a connection between those important accomplishments and this new thing. But there is no genuine connection, none whatsoever; only what some want to create by the power of suggestion rather than by reason and logic).

One might as well argue that a triangle has the right to define itself as a circle, and that such an expanded definition of the word "circle" would not change the nature of circleness. If the word "circle" can mean also a triangle, then we have lost the meaning of the word. Such a definition is too inclusive to be meaningful. If the cause of including recognition of a triangle as a circle is fortified by the ruling of a court, all that would happen is that Mathematics teachers could no longer teach geometry, that is, not legally.

Well, the courts can force Mathematics teachers to obey I suppose, if it ever came to that. But, if they tell us to disobey God, and to obey them instead, they would be wise to get this message and never forget it: We will not obey you under any circumstances, no matter what force you bring to bear. Christians have been persecuted many times, and are being persecuted even to the death in far away lands today. "We ought to obey God rather than men," and so we will.

Robert Hart is rector of St. Benedict's Anglican Catholic Church in Chapel Hill, North Carolina (Anglican Catholic Church Original Province). He also contributes regularly to the blog The Continuum. He is a contributing editor of Touchstone