Basically, “the suggestion over at New Donkey”:http://www.newdonkey.com/2004/11/christian-right-and-sanctity-of.html is that, in fact, the nature of marriage has always been changing, and points out the fact that both Luther and Calvin felt that marriage was a secular thing that should not involve the church.
I’ve also heard it suggested, many months ago, that marriage as a formal ceremony originated as a way to be assured of the “proper” passing-down of property (poor people would just be “common law” man and wife), and that the clergy got involved because they were the only ones who were literate.
