Person of Origin
Division in the church for which Christ died (Acts 20:28) has always been wrong—ever since the Corinthians tried it in their congregation (1 Cor. 1:10-15; 3:1-4). Jesus prayed for unity amongst His followers (John 17:20-21); how then can anyone dare be content with division among God's people, which directly contradicts what our Lord and Savior prayed for? So, division was wrong in the sixteenth century, just as it was in the first century. Today, new "Christian" churches are being formed practically every day. Some of these may be totally independent of other groups, but what about the established religious denominations? They have "conventions" (not authorized in the Bible) to determine what they believe, teach, and practice. And all the churches affiliated with them are expected to go along with the denomination's specifications.
Some of these may involve foolishness, such as this recent decision of the Methodist Church in the United Kingdom, in which ministers are told they should avoid using the words husband and wife. The alternative to Genesis 2:24 was published in a Methodist publication on December 22, 2023. Husband and wife are offensive terms; instead, ministers should use the following translation, say, in a wedding ceremony: "A person shall leave their parent and their parent and hold fast to their partner, and they shall become one flesh." This is a bit awkward. Why not just say "leave their parents"? The problem with rewriting the Bible to "simplify" it or to make it fit someone's preferences (prejudices?) is that it just ends up sounding silly.
It also smacks of arrogance. Moses wrote Genesis 2:24 about 3,500 years ago, and no one has had any trouble understanding father and mother or husband and wife—until the last two decades of man's existence on earth. Part of that may be due to the feminist movement; the other part probably can be blamed on homosexual "marriage," which is anti-Biblical. So, these words must be replaced by parents and partners. Ephesians 5:22-25 will sound silly. "Partners, submit to your own partners, as to the Lord, for the partner is the head of the partner…. Partners, love your partners…."
Following this line of reasoning, however, it may not go far enough. Might not some be offended by the use of parents? After all, the actual biological parents may have been abusive and neglectful, and parents sounds so endearing, which might be offensive to some. Just to cover all the bases, your congenial editor suggests the Methodist Church adopt the following phraseology. "Both individuals shall leave their coequal persons of origin and hold fast to their new partner of choice, and they shall become one in union with each other." Now, who could be offended with that? There is absolutely no reference to gender—or even a sexual relationship. Both parties are described as equal. What more could anyone ask for?