Thank you for having the courage to raise the questions you have about this story. As moving as the personal story is of his tragic injury and her loyalty to him, I have some deep misgivings about what is presented here. The injury occured before they were married or even formally engaged. Perhaps he was ring shopping but they had not made a formal commitment to one another. Even the Christ-church model here is skewed. Should the man not have self-sacrificially said (or had someone say for him–like a pastor or her or his father) to this beautiful young woman, “Dear, I must sacrifice my desire to have you for a wife, and keep you as a dear friend, so that you might be one day be married to someone else who might be able to have a true one-flesh union with you.” Another worry I have with this video that reflects the m.o. of “Desiring God” and broad evangelicalism generally is that it is so “emotion-driven,” rather than reason-driven. Look at the comments where folk gush about how moved they were or how much they cried. Does it make it “good” or “inspiring”?

Jim

That being said, is it a different marriage than most? Most definitely. But it is one that they seem to have entered into after much counsel, thought & prayer. I’m praying for them as they work this through together.

Is this a consensual relationship? He is probably at a toddler’s brain level. Legally, you can’t form consent at that age.

Can there be a marriage without both parties understanding and agreeing to the marriage?

Marriage has traditionally been about a man and a woman leaving their father and mother and becoming one flesh. This cannot happen either physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually.

Is this really a marriage?

“O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go” was written on the evening of Matheson’s sister’s marriage. Years before, he had been engaged, until his fiancée learned that he was going blind—that there was nothing the doctors could do—and she told him that she could not go through life with a blind man. He went blind while studying for the ministry, and his sister had been the one to care for him through the years, but now she was gone. He was now 40, and his sister’s marriage brought a fresh reminder of his own heartbreak. It was in the midst of this circumstance and intense sadness that the Lord gave Matheson this hymn, which he said was written in five minutes.