Martin Madan on Christian Marraige

[JGPS100]

Martin Madan was converted by a serom of John Weasly, he left law to study for theology  and became chaplain at Lock's Hopsital. This was a womans hospital that dealt especially with vernal disease (STD's) but also handled things such as a birthing ward and such. He dealt with a lot of 'fallen women' in his time, from prostitutes to those that where abandon to, well, you name it.

After 20 years this, and after continuing to thoroughly study scripture (his notes and details are pretty amazing and deal with everything from nuance of language in scripture to many an obscure historical reference, some possibly not extant anymore) he published a work on how Christian society's handling of marriage left a lot of women in terrible, terrible situations.

His most compelling quote is here:

"The only real and substantial difference between the ancient Jews and the Christians is this: The former took a plurality of women whom they maintained, protected and provided for agreeably to God's word. The latter take a plurality of women and turn them out to ruin and destruction not only against God's word but against every principle of justice and humanity. Or in other words, if the jew took as many as he could maintain, the Christian ruins as many as he can debauch...We may boast of our marriage and condemn polygamy, but there is not a nation under heaven where polygamy is more openly practised than in this Christian country, for, though a man can marry but one at a time, he may have as great a variety as he pleases without ever marrying at all...To punish a poor deserted creature for being a prostitute, when it is put out of her power to force her seducer to provide for her as the divine law enjoins, is equally cruel and foolish, not very unlike the man who threw his child into a ditch and then beat him for being dirty."

Honestly, Christian society hasn't changed much. We may be more forgiving with a woman in such a situation, but we offer no more solutions for her, and certainly fall short of scripture.