Marlon Heinswww.marriageliecense.org . Marlon Heins is a pastor of an evangelical church in Switzerland. He previously worked as a pastor in Germany and Austria. He lives near the city of Bern with his wife and four children. He completed his studies at a Bible eminary with a B.Th. and continued with New Testament studies at the Ruhr University of Bochum in Germany. Later on he completed his M.Th. in Missiology at the University of South Africa and took courses at Houston Theological Seminary. This book is aimed at Christian believers who are interested in what the Bible says about dating, sexuality, and marriage. I do not wish to fundamentally eliminate civil weddings. Yet, I question whether a relationship that is blessed by God is truly dependent on a marriage certificate. Nowhere does the Bible mention anything about a marriage license. I could not see an official state marriage in the Bible or reconstruct one. From ancient times until the present, marriage had always been a private matter between two people and their families. In my opinion, also the New Testament warnings against fornication did not have anything to do with premarital sex. The only thing that God wishes from a couple is the readiness for lifelong faithfulness and responsibility to each other. I am not writing this book as a provocation, although obviously, it is clear to me how provocative my opinions might be. Jesus once reproached the Pharisees for placing unbearable burdens on people, because they had added further prohibitions to God's instructions (Luke 11:46). My impression is that we have done the same thing in our Christian circles with regard to dating, sexuality, and marriage. Naturally, the Bible does say something about these topics. But what it says in no way resembles what we hear and read in Christian circles nowadays. When it is the question of the prohibition of premarital sex, the following verses from Paul are quoted: But I say to the unmarried and to the widows: ...if they cannot exercise [sexual] self-control, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion. 1 Cor 7:8-9 These verses are unambiguous! If anyone wants to have sex, they should marry. But in all the many other books written by the representatives of the current church moral standard that I have read, the question of what Paul actually understands marriage to be is seldom asked. People just matter-of-factly assume that marriage at that time meant the same thing it does for us in the 21st Read More Read Less