Can a female be a best man in Christian wedding?

@Nimbus well said!

@Gingerbreadspice Generally that won't work completely, as they are usually the witnesses who have to sign the legal papers...and the person signing would be considered best man even if the dog was "best in show" for the event.

@DragonFruit Not sure how it worked but it happened.

@SW-User


you choose then 🙄

@Fairydust @Nimbus 👀

@SW-User
Speech 🎤

Agreed.

@Motzu Oh noooooo ... you just gave me reasons to go back and make up for all those church history classes I slept through.

I just reread the Nicene Creed. Nowhere in there did it mention marriage or the number of spouses one can or can't have. I guess all those rules got filled in later.

@Heartlander I never read the book, but kept coming across this book in a used bookstore advocating the catholic church allow polygamy in the African priesthood. Most of the old holy sees of the ancient church, such as the Orthodox and the Eastern Orthodox, still allow priests to marry, and in Africa they never had rules of strict monogamy. Their society was culturally leaning more towards polygamy.

So there is a argument to be made. Augustus forced it to stablize the family lines of the aristocracy in the roman principate, but we already had concepts of filial devotion and deep ethical marriage bonds since the republican era with The Rape of Lucretia. These two aspects germinated through the roman era and became the foundation of feudalism. Africa did NOT have this outside of Roman and Berber areas.

But monogamy is still best when you are deeply impoverished and starving. And Africa has alot of that too. It was a philosophy as much for estate and household management as it was for love. It's the basis for the modern concept of property.

@Motzu I attended a "lives of the saints" type discussion group our church had facilitated a few years back. Actually we did a few different discussion groups and it was really insightful until suspended by COVID.

In the saints group we went through a number of saints considered the great influencers of Catholicism. They practically all had rebellious or controversial episodes or parts of their lives. One or two were excommunicated for their beliefs or political connections, and returned to graces after the clergy or political leadership transitioned. A few were married, or had mistresses and children. Both the church and the political leadership molded one another.

@bijouxbroussard what about it ?

@wackidywack The woman who stands up for the bride is called "the maid of honor" ("matron of honor" if she’s married)
It’s new territory, but when I’ve stood up for male friends I was their "best maid" as the person standing up for the groom. 😊

@bijouxbroussard hmmmm okay 🧐 thanks for that

@metaldog dogma or cannon.

@AthrillatheHunt my karma ran over your dogma

@TheOneyouwerewarnedabout haha

@Subsumedpat The best man isn't a part of any religious sacrament in christianity. It was originally anmedieval paid mercenary, the best fighting man around, who could fend off any armed objectors to the wedding.

If you want it authentically catholic, get a member of a Sierra Leone Death Squad hired as your best man, armed to the teeth. That's as TradCath as it gets.

In other words, it doesn't matter. We don't use the concept of a best man in a historical context anymore. Have whoever, whatever.