Module 4 - DEVELOPMENT OF A RELIGIOUS BELIEF Flashcards
List the features of marriage?
FEATURES:
- MAN AND WOMAN
- WHOLE OF LIFE (INDISSOLVABLE)
- FOR THE GOOD OF THE SPOUSES AND THE PROCREATION OF CHILDREN
- COVENANT
- FIDELITY (EXCLUSIVITY)
Explain the significance of the features
From the beginning the FEATURES were the SAME, only the DEVELOPMENT of the UNDERSTANDING OF THE TEACHING OF MARRIAGE and the PRACTICE of the FEATURES WERE CHANGED, GROWN AND HAS MUCH MORE IN-DEPTH MEANING.
- TAUGHT IN THE SCRIPTURE: BIBLE (OLD&NEW)
- Features do not change.
- Expression changes over time due to different context and understandings
- This deepens the understanding of the NATURE of the belief.
- We find the new expression in church teaching – SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION
What is a belief which has been developed over time?
The belief of the UNDERSTANDING OF THE SACRAMENTALITY OF MARRIAGE
What is the CCC of the definition of marriage?
CCC 1601 “The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and the education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.”
How has this belief developed over time?
The teachings about the understanding of this belief develop due to
Change in Context – new meaning and expression
Key people – respond, speak, teach, write, call a council.
Events – reformation and ecumenical councils
New expression becomes part of the tradition of the catholic church.
Marriage is between man and woman. QUOTE
Genesis 2:24 “Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
Marriage is in-dissolvable. QUOTE
Ecclesiastes 4:12: “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
Mark 10:9: “Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
Marriage is for procreation. QUOTE
Genesis 1:28 “And 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 heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Marriage is a covenant (marriage is between 2 people in union with God) QUOTE
Ephesians 5:25 “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”
Fidelity in Marriage (giving marriage a high value) QUOTE
Luke 16:18 “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.”
EARLY CHURCH CONTEXT
Early Church
Context
CIVIL CONTRACT
MAN AND WOMAN
CELEBRATED WITHIN A HOME
NO RELIGIOUS RITES
PARENTS ARRANGE MARRIAGES FOR CHILDREN WITHIN FAMILY GROUPS
MINIMUM AGES – FEMALE 12, MALE, 13
INFIDELITY WAS COMMON
MARRIAGE CAN BE DISSOLVED EASILY – man can ask for divorce.
NO SEXUAL EUQLITY – man owned wife as a possession.
HIGH DIVORCE RATES
EARLY CHURCH - developed how?
DEVELOPED HOW? BIBLE
JESUS TEACHINGS EXPRESSED THE IMPORTANCE OF MARRIAGE – explained in his parables and works with people.
MARRIAGE IS NOT A CONTRACT BUT A COVENANT, THEREFORE IT INVOLVES GOD AND IS PERMANENT
VISIBLE SIGN OF THE INVISIBLE PRESENCE AND LOVE OF GOD. SACRED
Addressed Marriage – great value, indissoluble, divorce, and remarries = adultery
ST PAUL IDENTIFIES MARRIAGE AS A SACRAMENT – explained through his letters in scripture.
MARRIAGE IS AN ACT OF SERVICE TO ANOTHER, THEREFORE IT IS SACRED – husbands serve wives, wives accept the serving love THEREFORE A SACRAMENT
THERE WAS MORE TO MARRIAGE THAN SEXUALITY AND PROCREATION
POST CONSTANTINE CHURCH - CONTEXT
Context
CIVIL CEREMONY, NO RELIGIOUS RITES
FATHER’S CONSENT FOR BRIDE
NO SEXUAL EQUALITY
LITTLE DEVELOPMENT IN THEOLOGY OF MARRIAGE
MARRIAGE IS SINFUL = SEX is SELFISH AND WRONG, BUT NEEDED FOR PROCREATION
VIRGINITY IS CONSIDERED HIGHLY
POST-CONSTATINE CHURCH - how developed?
ST AUGUSTINE – DEVELOPED THE SACRAMENTALITY OF CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE without calling it a sacrament.
ON THE GOOD OF MARRIAGE - TEXT EXPRESSES
EXPLAINS WHY IT IS A SACRAMENT BY IDENTIFIYING 3 VALUES OF MARRIAGE MAKING IT SACRED AND NOT A SINFUL ACT.
VIRGINITY IS HIGH, HOWEVER NOT A CALLING FOR ALL
FIDELITY is more about sexual fidelity it is about FAITH IN GOD AND OTHERS
INDISSOLUBILITY – A sign of eternal unity of the blessing/blessed because GOD UNITES THE TWO
OFFSPRING – continuation of God’s love and praise of God
MIDDLE AGES – BEGINNING OF THE IDEA OF THE SACRAMENTALITY OF MARRIAGE CONTEXT
MIDDLE AGES – BEGINNING OF THE IDEA OF THE SACRAMENTALITY OF MARRIAGE CONTEXT
MARRIAGE WAS A CONTRACT BETWEEN FAMILIES FOR CLASS, POWER, STATUS, AUTHORITY, AND BLOODLINE PRESERVATION
DUE TO SEX, MARRIAGE NOT FULLY ACCEPTED AS A SACRAMENT
PRIVATE MATTER BETWEEN A COUPLE, LOVE IS NOT OFTEN EXPRESSED
INFIDELITY WAS COMMON
