This week, the Episcopalian bishop who preached at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stated that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex personally selected the scripture recited at the ceremony.
Bishop Michael Curry read from Song of Solomon 8:6-7, which reads, “Set me as a seal upon your heart, a seal upon your arm. For love is as strong as death. Passion fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire. A raging flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it out.”
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On Tuesday, Curry appeared on “The View,” confirming that the couple picked the scripture that he read. It is estimated that over 2 billion people watched the royal wedding worldwide, and heard Curry’s scripture reading.
“They selected the scripture passage, I didn’t select that. And they [picked] the Song of Solomon from the Hebrew scriptures right in the Bible, which is love poetry,” Curry told the hosts.
Bishop Michael Curry (@PB_Curry) says he could tell Meghan Markle and Prince Harry "actually love each other": "They [chose] Song of Solomon from the Hebrew scripture right in the bible, which is love poetry!" #RoyalWedding pic.twitter.com/sltTHbNIsC
— The View (@TheView) May 23, 2018
“Literally, in the passage that they selected, it was when the woman in the poetry actually realizes that their love that they’re experiencing is part of a greater love. And that’s pointing in the direction of the God who is the source of all this love,” he explained.
Curry also said he could tell that the couple had a genuine love based on the scripture they picked and their familiarity with it. He went so far as to say that the royal couple “had preached the sermon before I ever opened my mouth.”
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The wedding service was held Saturday, May 19, at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor, England, where Curry was invited to speak by the royal couple.
Aside from the scripture reading, Curry delivered a message on love and unity, taking a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. which reads, “We must discover the power of love, the power, the redemptive power of love. And when we do that, we will make of this whole world a new world. But love, love is the only way.”
“There is power in love. Don’t underestimate it. Don’t even over-sentimentalize it. There is power, power in love,” Curry said. “Someone once said that Jesus began the most revolutionary movement in human history. A movement grounded in the unconditional love of God for the world. And a movement mandating people to live and love and in so doing, to change not only their lives but the very life of the world itself.”
Curry’s message resonated worldwide. He received both praise and critique over his sermon, with some fans calling him “the breakout star of the royal wedding,” as reported by Vanity Fair.
Meanwhile, many Christian theologians criticized the Bishop for his favorable view of same-sex marriage. They argued that his presence at the royal wedding lended legitimacy to un-biblical beliefs.
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Many took to social media to praise Curry’s message of love, while Andrew Gross, the communications director for the Anglican Church in North America, argued they were “being played” by a “false teacher.”
“The guy who talked about ‘love’ from that English pulpit is currently litigating Christians with whom he disagrees. The guy who talks about the ‘Jesus movement’ took the church buildings and defrocked those who stood up for the Gospel,” wrote Gross. “The reaction to a false teacher being given the platform at the royal wedding was a spiritual temperature gauge. The results show that a lot of the western church is running a dangerous fever.”
(H/T: Christian Post)