A Theology of Marriage

German theologian Walter Kasper writes ofmarriage as a sacrament and a vocation within the Catholic tradition. Here is an edited summary of his book A Theology of Christian marriage. We have occasionally abridged Dr. Kasper's text and added some headings, links and emphasis.

1. Classical Meaning of Marriage

Many different answers have been given throughout human history to the question of the meaning of the shared life of man and woman in marriage. There is little historical support for the notion of monogamy as the earliest form of marriage or that polygamy represents a decadent form of it. The opposite view, that sexual practice began as a universal promiscuity, continued as polygamous, and ended as monogamy, is also an uncertain construct, based on liberal presuppositions. Still, it must be accepted that the modern understanding of marriage as a partnership was hardly the norm from the beginning; in fact, historically, married life was seen mainly in the context of the tribe, clan or extended family.

The varied ways in which marriage has been understood and practised in the plurality of human cultures shows how sexuality has always a certain openness and flexibility and that it has to be given form and definition by society. It is remarkable that all the great movements of the modern era- liberalism, socialism and conservativism- have produced not only their own political and economic theory, but also a distinctive view of human sexuality and marriage.

This raises the question whether the nature of marriage as such is in any sense fixed. Thomas Aquinas was concerned with this question, and his teaching about the natural law has become classical. To the question whether the bond of marriage is natural, he answers that while there is a natural inclination in man to marry, each actual marriage takes place through an act of human freedom. With regard to marriage, Thomas maintained that human nature was quite changeable. This allowed him to accept the multiplicity of forms in which marriage had expressed itself at various stages of human history. Thomas's conclusion is that marriage can only exist in historical forms and that it is in the nature of marriage to be historical. The task of the Christian revelation is to help people who are inclined to error and weakened by sin, to know the meaning of human nature at a deeper level, and to make it a noble reality.

The Christian reality of marriage is therefore something that modifies through history. Christianity has to remain open to culture and to historical change. It is therefore hardly surprising that across the centuries Catholic teaching and law about marriage have considerably modified. Sexuality and marriage have frequently been devalued in the history of Christianity. On the other hand, the dignity of marriage has again and again been defended against many dangerous tendencies. In this historical process, the Christian understanding of marriage may in some sense be called “the womb of our western culture and its spiritual attitudes.

Thomas Aquinas wrote his great theological synthesis (the Summa) in an attempt to express in an all-embracing form a Christian view of all human values, including those of marriage. His aim was to integrate marriage into a total understanding of humanity and the world. He did this by going back to Augustine's doctrine of the three goods or values ("bona") of marriage: descendants, mutual love and faithfulness, and the sacramental sign. Whereas Augustine was concerned principally with the justifying grounds for marriage, however, Thomas wanted also to express the dignity of marriage.

Merely sensual love tends, according to Aquinas, tends to break away from humanity's total orientation in life. If it is allowed to assume an independent value of its own it can threaten the dignity of human beings. However, sensuality is integrated into the total meaning of human life by the three goods of marriage. Sexuality was placed at the service of mankind within marriage for the begetting of descendants. It was incorporated into personal love and self-surrender by the mutual love and faithfulness of the two spouses; this also provided a guarantee that a woman was valued not simply as a sexual being, but as a li