International Catholic University
I. Biblical Basis
A. OT: a development, divine pedagogy
1. Early Israel starts with customs drawn from neighbors
a. Inequality: wife property of husband (ba'al).
b. Purely civil contract (probably written, Tb 7:16)
c. polygamy: patriarchs, kings
d. Divorce allowed Dt 24:1
2. Development
a. Gen 2:18-25 shows God's original intent: Man & woman created for one another. Equality. Dignity. CCC 1605
b. Gen 3:16 shows dominion to be consequence of sin
c. Covenant theology of prophets
(1) Hosea marriage covenant & Israel's covenant with Yahweh.
(2) Mal 2:14 "The Lord was witness to the covenant between you and the wife of your youth to whom you have been faithless."
d. Later Writings: from Polygamy to monogamy, wife's dignity
(1) Prv 2:17; Prv 5:15-19; Prv 31:10-31
(2) Ez 16:8
(3) Song of Songs
(4) Eccl 9:9; Sir 26:1-4, Tobit
B. NT: restoration of God's original intent as expressed in Genesis 2
1. Jesus & indissolubility
a. Mk 10:11f & Lk 16:18 admit of no exception.
b. Mt 5:32; 19:3-12 "except for unchastity (porneia)" (RSV)
(1) NAB translates it "unless the marriage is unlawful"
(2) probably refers to Gentile marriage within forbidden degrees of kinship (Lv 18:6-18) cf. Acts 15:20)
(3) see RNAB note on Mat 5:31-2(1)
c. Jesus seeks to restore matrimony to the ideal presented in Gen 2
d. Jesus compares heaven to marriage feast Mt 22:14
e. celibacy for the sake of the kingdom: Mt 19:29; Lk 14:20; 18:29
2. St. Paul
a. rejects divorce (1 Cor 7:10-16). Pauline privilege.
b. Christian marriage and celibacy for the sake of the kingdom are both charisms for Paul, gifts of the Spirit. 1 Cor 7:7
c. a great mysterion (sacrament) in marriage: foreshadows the bond between Christ and the Church Eph 5: 25-33, Col 3:18
II. Historical Development of Doctrine: Implicit > Explicit
A. Ante-Nicene Fathers through 8th Century
1. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to Polycarp 5: "It is proper for those who marry to be united with the consent of the bishop, so that the marriage may be according to the Lord and not according to lust."
2. Tertullian: reference to Christian marriage ceremony with eucharist, Letter to his wife, 2.9 (CCC 1642). "Sealed by the oblation."
3. 2nd marriage after death of spouse
a. following Paul, allowed generally by way of concession. 1 Cor 7:9 "It is better to marry than to be on fire."
b. Yet some saw it as sin, e.g., Anathegoras' Plea (C. Richardson, Early Christian Fathers).
c. See I Tim 3:2. "A bishop must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, dignified . . ."
4. Augustine forms the western Tradition: examines marriage in terms of 3 goods: kids, partnership & sacramental sign
B. Eastern Churches
1. called the "mystery of Crowning"
2. second marriages of innocent party in a divorce allowed by Orthodox; period of penance before admission to communion
C. Latin Medieval Period
1. Pope Alexander III in 12th century: consent & consummation CF 1801
2. Council of Florence 1439, Decree for Armenians: 7th sacrament CF 1803
D. Reformers & Trent
1. Protestants deny that it is sacrament, pertaining to the order of grace; rather, a natural, not supernatural, institution
2. Trent 24th Sess 1563 reaffirms it as sacrament instituted by Christ CF 1806-8
E. 20th Century: Personalism (Relationship more than institution)
1. Pius XI encyclical Casti Connubii (1930): partnership, means to holiness
2. Vatican II: GS 48, LG 11, Canon Law, Catechism
a. covenant language instead of contract (see CIC 1055)
b. GS 48 intimate community of life and love
1. Matthew's "exceptive clauses" are understood by some as a modification of the absolute prohibition. It seems, however, that the unlawfulness that Matthew gives as a reason why a marriage must be broken refers to a situation peculiar to his community; the violation of Mosaic law forbidding marriage between persons of certain blood and/or legal relationships (Lv 18, 6-18). Marriages of that sort were regarded as incest (porneia), but some rabbis allowed Gentile converts to Judaism who had contracted such marriages to remain in them. Matthew's "exceptive clause" is against such permissiveness for Gentile converts to Christianity; cf. The similar prohibition of porneia in Acts 15, 20, 29. In this interpretation, the clause constitutes no exception to the absolute prohbition of divorce when the marriage is lawful."