The Church of Scotland has given an unequivocal 'no' to the Scottish Government's proposal to redefine marriage.

In its response to the Scottish Government's consultation, the Kirk said the proposal "fundamentally changes" the historic understanding of marriage as a relationship between one man and one woman.

"Scriptural references to marriage, whether literal or metaphorical, all operate under this understanding," it said.

"To redefine marriage to include same-sex marriage may have significant and, as yet, inadequately considered repercussions for our country, for the wellbeing of families, communities and individuals."

The Church said it was concerned by the speed at which the Scottish Government is proceeding with the issue, saying that the debate had so far been "patchy, undeveloped and exclusive of both ordinary people and the religious community".

It called upon the Scottish Government to be more "measured" in its consideration of whether the traditional understanding of marriage needs to be "surrendered" in order to accommodate the wishes of some same-sex couples.

The Church went on to reject the Government's proposal to legalise the registration of civil partnerships on religious premises.

It said it could not agree to the proposal because there had been no opportunity to consider the terms of any draft legislation and whether this will "effectively protect" religious bodies that do not wish to register civil partnerships.