Marriage

• What does genesis command in the Old Testament?

  To ‘become one flesh’ in marriage, it is within this context they should ‘be fruitful and multiply’
• Jesus and St Paul did not marry, what did St Paul say?

  ‘but if they cannot control themselves, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion’
• what is St Paul suggesting here?

  that marriage is something of a concession to those who cannot remain celibate
• however, by the time of the letter to Timothy…?

  it’s clear that being married and taking care of a family shows that person to be suitable to lead the local Christian congregation
• within the church, what did marriage become?

  a sacrament - a special means of receiving God’s grace
• within the catholic tradition, what did marriage remain?

  a sacrament, but it was also seen as inferior to the vocation to a celibate life
• with the reformation, what happened? why?

  the balance shifted against celibacy and in favour of marriage, because a family was seen as God’s blessing upon the union of husband and wife
• what does Roman Catholic teaching focus on?

  the sacramental nature of marriage - it’s a physical act which causes a profound change to the souls of the people involved
• since the two individuals become ‘one flesh’ in marriage, what isn’t possible?

  divorce
• protestant churches in general don’t see marriage as a sacrament, what does this mean for them?

  a marriage can be dissolved, although most would agree that the end of a marriage shows the couple have failed to live up to God’s standards
• what do many Protestant churches allow?

  the re-marriage of divorcees in church, if there is evidence they’ve admitted their failure and intend to live out a marriage as God wishes
• today, marriage is often seen primarily as what?

  a relationship offering satisfaction to the partners who enter into it, rather than as a sacrament whose purpose is to establish a family
• since legal registration of marriages doesnt now require a religious ceremony…?

  the Christian element in marriage can be seen by some as an ‘optional extra‘