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Why won't the Greek churches marry 2 brothers and 2 sisters? They are not
blood related so what's the issue??
Answer to Question 373
In marriage, not only are the couple joined together, but also the two families and the husband's siblings become the wife's siblings and the wife's siblings become the husbands. The relationships are calculated by degrees and in blood relationships marriages between 6th degree relatives are forbidden and 8th degree relatives are permitted to marry. With affinity marriages in other words marriages between two families, relatives up to the 5th degree are forbidden but allowed from the 6th.
In the situation you have mentioned the relationship would be of the fourth degree. How do we work out the degree? We begin from either the husband or the wife and work out how many people are involved to get to the other spouse. Beginning with the husband's brother we have to go to the root of the family which is their father, this is the first degree, he then comes to his brother which is the second degree, his brother's wife is the same degree as his brother became they are now one flesh, but to get to her sister he has to calculate first her father who is of the third degree and then come to the sister which is the fourth degree.
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