http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/sacraments.html
About half way down the page.
About half way down the page.
Quote:Matrimony
Marriage was not, of course, invented or even practiced by Jesus, nor was it a rite especially important to the early Christians. In pre-Christian times the marriage ceremony might be sanctified by a priest but essentially mutual agreement in the presence of witnesses was the only prerequisite. A high-status wedding would involve banquets, dowries and property transfer and among the peasantry, an acclamation at a sacred grove or shrine might dignify the occasion.
For the first Christians Judgment Day was imminent and in the eternal Kingdom some form of celestial celibacy would be the norm. However, in the fallen world in which Catholicism was extending its writ, marriage was both a politically and economically useful "holy sacrament," a valuable addition to its instruments of dominion. It certainly set the Catholics apart from the sectarians who appraised "purity" and wished to keep their bodies "unsullied" by carnality.
In the dogmas of Holy Mother Church sexual intercourse was a concession from spiritual purity made solely in the interests of procreation. Under the bizarre smokescreen that marriage expressed "Christ's love for his Church" a ritual for Christian marriage was eventually developed, patterned after the sacrament of baptism. Led into the Church in procession, the soon-to-be-wed received blessings and solemn advice as to their duties and commitments. The raison d'être of marriage was the procreation of children, who were to be raised in the faith and would become, in turn, loyal servants of the Church. Hence a fierce opposition to the control of conception, abortion, or the exposure of infants. More babies meant more Catholics.
