Families and Relationships

Marriage
1. 'Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.' Genesis 2:24
  1. Unitative
    1. Conjugal
2. God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” Genesis 1:28
  1. Procreative
    1. Children are the fruit (outcome) of the love between the man and the woman.
      1. 'Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” ' Genesis 2:18
        The purpose of the Christian family is procreation, education of children and companioniship.
        'The Christian home is the place where children receive the first proclamation of the faith. For this reason the family home is rightly called "the domestic church," a community of grace and prayer, a school of human virtues and of Christian charity.' CCC 1666
        Types of family
        Nuclear
        Extended
        Same-sex parents
        Bigamy
        Polyagmy
        Polyandre
        Blended
        Forms of Christian support for thr family
        Sunday school
        Marriage preparation course
        Adult 'Christian' education courses, like Alpha
    2. Contraception
      1. Two main views: Catholic - contraception is a sin and Protestant - contraception may be used for the purposes of family planning.
        The view of the Catholic Church: 'The Church, ..., teaches that each and every marital act must of necessity retain its intrinsic relationship to the procreation of human life.' Humanae Vitae 11
        The view of the Anglican Church: 'Nevertheless in those cases where there is such a clearly felt moral obligation to limit or avoid parenthood, ... the Conference agrees that other methods [of contraception] may be used, provided that this is done in the light of the same Christian principles.' Lambeth Conference, 1930, Article 15
3. 'I, N., take you, N., to be my husband/wife ... till death us do part.' The Church of England marriage vows
  1. Life long
    1. Divorce
      1. Two main views: Catholic - divorce is not possible (so one cannot re-marry) and Protestant - divorce is possible (so re-marriage in Church is)
        'The Church of England teaches that marriage is for life. It also recognizes that some marriages sadly do fail and, if this should happen, it seeks to be available for all involved. The Church accepts that, in exceptional circumstances, a divorced person may marry again in church during the lifetime of a former spouse.' Marriage in Church after divorce, A form and explanatory statement,
        Marriage in the Anglican Church is not a sacrament it is a covenant/contract.
        'Divorce is a grave offense against the natural law. . . . Divorce does injury to the covenant of salvation, of which sacramental marriage is the sign. Contracting a new union, even if it is recognized by civil law, adds to the gravity of the rupture: the remarried spouse is then in a situation of public and permanent adultery ...' CCC. 2382-2384.
        Marriage in the Catholic Church is a sacrament, a sign of Christ's love for his Church.
        'The sacrament improves natural love by giving spouses a supernatural model for their union. They should love each other as Christ and the Church love each other. (Eph 5:22)' Denz. 971
        Natural Law is an ethical theory used by the Catholic Church. It is based on the belief that it is possible for the human mind to understand the basics of God's will since He created the world, and, just like an artist, some of His intentions would be revealed through His creation. One of the key theologians whose thinking underpin Natural Law theory is Thomas Aquinas.
4. Same-sex marriage
  1. There aren't really two views of same-sex marriage within Christianity. The vast majority of Christistians think it is not possible (the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, and most Protestant churches including the Church of England). They would point to the traditional understanding that marriage is between one man and one woman. That God made Adam and Eve and NOT Adam and Steve. Essentially pointing to Natural Law. Those who do think it is possible are denominations like the Quakers, the Mennonites, the Unitarians and the Anglican Church in the USA, ECUSA. These Christians will essentially be pointing to Situation Ethics.
    1. Situation ethics is an ehtical theory that is situation based. There are no rules that must be obeyed always and everywhere. Each situation is unique (circumstances and people involved) so the right thing to do will be different in each situation. All the must be considered is what is the most loving (defined as agape by Joseph Fletcher its proponent) thing to do.
      1. 'God is love' 1John 4:8
      2. Agape
        The parable of the Good Samaritan is the example.
    2. The Catholic Church says that marriage is between a man and a woman is a sacrament and therefore blessings cannot be extended to sin, to same-sex couples. "For this reason, it is not licit [lawful] to impart a blessing on relationships, or partnerships, even stable, that involve sexual activity outside of marriage (i.e., outside the indissoluble union of a man and a woman open in itself to the transmission of life), as is the case of the unions between persons of the same sex," Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (2021)
    3. 'I celebrate our church’s decision to name the sacred, life-long commitment of gay and lesbian couples for what we experience it to be – a marriage, not only according to the laws of the state but also in Christian community.' Bishop Mariann Budde, Episcopal Bishop of Washington
5. Fornication
  1. Cohabitation
    1. 'An absolute declaration that every sexual partnership must conform to the pattern of commitment [marriage] or else have the nature of sin and nothing else is unreal and silly.' The Most Rev'd Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury
  2. Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself.' 1Corinthians 6:18
Gender equality
1. Christianity has, essentially, three views: A) the Catholic view of complementarianism; B) the liberal Protestant view of interchangeable equality; and C) the traditional Protestant view of 'male headship'.
  1. A) “Woman is given to man so that he can understand himself, and reciprocally man is given to woman for the same end. They are to mutually affirm each other’s humanity, awed by its dual richness. Pope John Paul II
    1. No women priests. The Catholic Church points to the fact Jesus chose male apostles, and they chose male successors. The Catholic Church would say this is not GENDER DISCRIMINATION but gender complimentarity as women and men have their own roles within the Church.
  2. B) 'There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. ' Galatians 3:28
    1. The Church of England thinks men and women can play interchangeable roles. It allowed women priests in 19 92 and women bishops in 2014.
  3. C) 'For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Savior.' Ephesians 5:23
    1. This is generally seen in evangelical and some pentecostal churches.

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