Locke — I thought he assumed a social compact which might limit government, but not social ties.

Perhaps confusion stems from a misunderstanding of the Lutheran distinction between what is a sacrament and what is “sacramental”. All sacraments are sacramental–but not all that is sacramental is a sacrament. In Lutheran theology, to be a sacrament three things must be present: 1.) That there is a Biblical command. 2.) There is a Biblical promise of grace. And 3.) An earthly element.

Jesus issued no command to marry nor did He give a promise of grace through marriage. The crux of the matter is that marriage does not deliver forgiveness of sins–which in the Lutheran view is the very essence of a sacrament.

But marriage can be sacramental. Blessings can and will flow. That God is the third partner in the marriage between a man and a woman and marriage is a prefigurement of the world to come have long been themes in Lutheran preaching. At least in every Lutheran wedding I have been to (and reflected in the marriage liturgy to be found in Lutheran hymnals), prayers for the blessing of children to the couple are ever present.

It seems to be a common trope among Catholics commentators that with Luther everything started to fall apart in Western Civilization. The truth is Luther never wanted to leave the Catholic Church–he sought its restoration. It was the foolishness of the Pope to have kicked Luther and his followers out of the Church. With a more deft and patient hand on the part of the Church, much if not most of the reformers would have remained in the fold.

Be that as it may, I believe that on further investigation you will find Lutheran teaching is far closer to Catholic instruction than perhaps you may believe.

Conveniently, you can download some of his sermons from itunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/timothy-keller-podcast/id352660924). The sermon titles are: “Marriage as Commitment and Priority;” “Sexuality and Christian Hope;” and “Love and Lust.”

I suspect you won’t hear much that’s new, but you may be surprised by just how “sacramental” a view of marriage it is, and also by the non-abandonment of celibacy.

And they anticipate that their children will continue to be their sons and daughters throughout eternity as well. Combined with the belief that children lived with God before birth, the value of each child is infinitely multiplied in this view, and so Mormons have more children than their neighbors, even though they are not barred from using contraceptives. Based on my own observations, even today the median Mormon family has about five children. The anticipated state of mankind in the resurrection is that each person will be eternally “sealed” to her parents and ancestors, and to her children and descendants, in a great web of everlasting loving relationships. That valuation of the holiness and permanency of our family relationships leads us to be more willing to invest in them in the here and now.

Thus actually begins, or close enough to get me in trouble for plagerism in the right venue, an essay on Population by a Rev. in the Anglican Church who might perchance slightly dispute Fr. Gardner’s characterization, circa (1798).

Of course he tended to believe that God made man, man. Silly Malthus! “as we have not hitherto seen any alteration in them, we have no right to conclude that they will ever cease to be what they now are, without an immediate act of power in that Being who first arranged the system of the universe, and for the advantage of his creatures, still executes, according to fixed laws, all its various operations.”

Thus he eroneously claimed that: “I think it will be allowed, that no state has hitherto existed (at least that we have any
account of) where the manners were so pure and simple, and the means of subsistence so abundant, that no check whatever has existed to early marriages, among the lower classes, from a fear of not providing well for their families, or among the higher classes, from a fear of lowering their condition in life.”

But Malthus while starting with the example of America forgot our foundational Article I Section 8, clause 8 American Exceptionalism! In terms of copyright, well everyone likes to tell a brighter story about themselves and what they believe, this in turn leads to an improvement in Servicemark or self-pride, thus neglecting not only american exceptionalism, but also Anglican and Catholic Exceptionalism. I have no nature created by God, I am a Catholic! Oh yeah, my Baptist church also recognizes the Sacrament, and we pray directly to God, so I am going to prove it to you with my WWJD bracelet. In addition Malthus’s Island probably really missed the boat on Monsanto (patent).

Malthus (Copyright Pwned, Trademark Pwned, Patent Pwned) but essentially not altogether irrelevant.

Since it is close to what I might believe, just how heretical is this?