THEOLOGY REVIEWER
• MATRILINEAL FAMILY
UNIT 1 - LESSON 1: FAMILY AS SOCIAL
INSTITUTION/FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY
FAMILY
• Groups of people who are related by
genetics, marriage, or choice, and who
share material, emotional, and economic
resources (social institution)
• Most fundamental unit in society
• Most central function of which is the
biological transmission of life and the
care and education of children
• In general, it is seen as a group
consisting of a father, a mother, and their
children
• Has a tremendous influence in the life of
an individual from birth until death
• Bonded by certain values: caring, loving
and appreciating
CLASSIFICATION OF FAMILY
Based on birth:
• FAMILY OF ORIENTATION
o To which an individual is born
o The family where you grew up in
o Teaches you how families work
• FAMILY OF PROCREATION
o Where a person sets up after
marriage, his or her own family
o The family that you create as an
adult
Based on marriage:
• MONOGAMOUS
o Consist of one husband and one
wife including their children
o Marriage between two people
• POLYGYNOUS/POLYGYNY
o Composed of one husband and
multiple wives together with all
their children
• POLYYANDROUS/POLYANDRY
o A family made of one wife with
more than one husband and their
children
o Marriage of one woman to two or
more men
Based on residence:
• MATRILOCAL
o when a couple lives together in
the wife’s house
• PATRILOCAL
o when the family lives in the
husband’s house
Children can both have a:
o Based on the ancestors of their
mother
• PATRILINEAL FAMILY
o According to their father’s
descent
• MATRIARCHAL FAMILY
o Mother is the head of the family
and authority is vested on her
o Most often also matrilineal and
matrilocal
• PATRIARCHAL FAMILY
o Father is the head of the family
and is superior in authority
o Most often also patrilineal and
patrilocal
Classified according to structure:
• NUCLEAR FAMILY
o Composed of the father, the
mother and their own children
and lives apart of from the control
of their parental ancestors
o In all modern societies, nuclear
family is the most common type
of family
• EXTENDED FAMILY
o Constituted of three generations,
living together under the same
roof, sharing the same kitchen
and economic expenses
o Consisting of three nuclear
families living together
NORMATIVE NUCLEAR FAMILY
• Most common and enduring form of
family
• By nature, it is responsible for certain
roles central to the proper functioning of
society
• Plays a significant function without which
the whole structure of society would most
likely collapse
EMERGING ISSUES AND CHANGES ON THE
NATURE OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
• Rapid social change which weakens
traditional values, moral and religious
beliefs greatly affect the basic structure
or functions or marriage and family life
• The Filipino family is trapped between
the forces of traditional living and modern
lifestyle
• New set of values and new lifestyles
influence the weakening of the life-long
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 commitment in marriage, that eventually
cripples the stability of family life
FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY
1. REGULATION OF SEXUALITY
DEFINITION: The conjugal act is realized only if
it is essential part of the love by which man and
woman commit themselves totally to one another
until death
• Extramarital sexual intercourse is
unacceptable, sinful
o no other forms of sexual
pleasure should be allowed or
accepted, but only that which is
within the genuine joy of love
between man and woman who
are married
• Genesis 4:1-2: “The purpose of the
conjugal act is to express the mutual love
and respect of husband and wife, and to
deepen their intimacy. Its end is to unite
and procreate.”
o The catholic church teaches that
sex within marriage is both a
physical and spiritual act
o The integrity of human sexuality
and the procreative, relational
and erotic dimensions, require
the right context in which
sexuality can be honored
o Conjugal act must be considered
a sacred and holy act
• St. John Paul II’s “Theology of the
Body”: “there is sexual complementarity
between the husband and the wife”
o enables them to “give”
themselves to one another and
to receive one another and to
carry out responsibilities as
spouses and parents
o From the day they give and
receive their consent in
marriage, they freely give
themselves a new identity as
husband and wife, spouses
o They commit themselves to one
another throughout their entire
marriage life. And they must
freely choose to engage in the
conjugal act. The marital act
honors the unitive meaning of
human sexuality.
o This act is their willingness to
cooperate with God and be open
to procreation, welcoming life
with open arms, raise the child
and educate him/her in the love
of service of God and neighbor
2. RESPONSIBLE PROCREATION
DEFINITION: The process of procreation which
refers to the biological transmission of life. It
facilitates procreation; provides the proper
environment through which children receive the
proper care they need in order to grow as
individuals. It includes the provision of basic
needs to the family such as food, clothing, and
shelter and satisfaction of psychological needs
such as love, care, and a sense of identity and
belongingness
• Familiaris Consortio (No. 14)
o While procreation is not the only
purpose of marriage, it is one of
the benefits that can result from
marriage
o Genesis 1:28: “Procreation in
marriage is perceived as
cooperation with the God of love
and so must be exercised with
responsibility, prudence, and
unselfishness”
• In begetting life, husband and wife fulfill
one of the highest dimensions of the
Christian calling, which is to become
God’s co-worker and co-creator
• Responsible cooperation with God in the
order of human sexuality cannot be
reduced to the concept of fertility.
Procreation of children cannot be ignored
• Children are a gift that God gives man
and woman united in marriage
3. DEVELOPMENT OF PRIMARY
SOCIALIZATION
DEFINITION: The family is the place where
children learn how to interact with other
people while acquiring the formal and
informal norms of social interaction in the
process. Parenting basically involves
instructing children on general concepts of
right and wrong and explaining appropriate
behavior in various social situations. The
personal interaction between parents and
children provides the intimacy necessary in
transmitting these social rules and norms.
• Family is:
o The original cell of social life
o The community in which,
form childhood, one can
learn moral values, begin to
honor God, and make good
use of freedom
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 o An initiation into life in
society (CCC 2207)
o The cradle of life and love
where they are born and
grow
o Has a crucial role in society
by being a model of love for
their children
4. PROMOTION OF ECONOMIC
COOPERATION
DEFINITION: Families are in themselves
economic units because they contribute to the
production and allocation of basic goods and
services necessary for their well-being and that of
the society. By living in a community, goods can
be commonly shared increasing the economic
resources of the family for just and equitable
distribution. The unity of material resources
assures the proper functioning of the whole
household. Households also bring
advantages of specialization. Households can be
more productive if members specialize in
particular production tasks, or possibly if one
member specializes in market production and
one in home production.
• The progress of our society depends
completely on how strong the
families are
o If good values such as
kindness, generosity,
honesty, and the like, could
be practiced in every family
life, this will result in having a
tolerant, self-giving, fair and
just society as an outcome
• Parents must see to it that they may
guide children in order to bring them
up in the spirit of Christian maturity
o If the family is dysfunctional
and unhealthy, the whole
society will be dysfunctional
and unhealthy as well
ADDITIONAL NOTES FROM CRASH COURSE
VIDEO:
KINSHIP
• A social bond based on common
ancestry, marriage, or adoption
FICTIVE KIN
• Close friends are considered as family
• Sharing of resources and life
SINGLE PARENT
• One parent raising children
MARRIAGE
• Legally recognized relationship, usually
involving economic, social, economic,
and sexual bonds
ENDOGAMY
• Marriage between people of same social
category
• Example: college educated Americans
are more likely to marry college educated
Americans
EXOGAMY
• Marriage between people of different
social categories
• Example: A person of low socio-
economic status marries a person of high
socio-economic status
POLYGAMY
• Marriage to two or more spouses
BIGAMY
• Marrying another person while still
currently married to another
the NEOLOCALITY
• Living separately from the mother and
father’s family
UNIT 1 - LESSON 2: POSITIVE
CONTRIBUTION OF FAMILY
• Marriage and family confer essential
benefits for the well-being of the husband
and the wife, their children, and ultimately
for the good of the greater society
• Kelly Musick and Larry Bumpass claim
that traditional marriage-based families
are far more beneficial in maintaining the
well-being of the family compared with
non-marital relationships such as those
living in cohabitation relationships
o Mainly due to the institutional
character of marriage which
provides the normative and legal
structure that specifies rights,
responsibilities, and standards of
appropriate behavior for both
husband and wife together with
their children
• Marital roles facilitate interaction
between spouses by offering guidelines
about how to be a good wife or husband
• Marriage enables the husband and the
wife to develop moral and personal
discipline which contributes to a stable
domestic life within the family ensuring
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 the mutual support and stability needed
for the total well-being of the family
• The married family satisfies the children’s
need to know their biological origins
which connect them to both a mother and
a father
o Establishes a framework of love
for nurturing them which includes
providing them their education
and personal development and
supporting their identity
• Economic resources of spouses assure
the economic well-being of the whole
family which has a direct influence on the
well-being of the children and facilitates
effective family functioning
• Parental socialization provides children
with warmth and affection as well as the
discipline necessary for the guidance of
children towards exercising the right
behavior
• Juveniles who are strongly attached to
their parents are more likely to care about
normative expectations of parents which
protect them against delinquent impulses
• The stability of the family prevents family
conflict and disruption, enabling children
to have a stress-free environment where
they can live more in harmony and well-
being
• Relationships within the family serve as
the mechanism whereby members learn
and acquire virtues like generosity, self-
sacrifice, trust and self-discipline which
positively contribute to the well-being of
social life
• The human and social capital provided
by the family also contributes to the
development of the nation’s economy
o Continuous provision and
generation of productive workers
and taxpayers that the family
provides is a key ingredient in the
growth of the national economy
• From the Church’s perspective, the
positive contribution of marriage-based
families originates from the fact that it is
a part of God’s overall plan for humanity
o God = author of marriage =
various benefits and purposes,
assuring its stability
• Marriage has an institutional character
based on the mutual consent and
conjugal love between spouses, which is
total, exclusive, and permanent
o Relationship among family
members is also marked by a
sense of justice, of mutual rights
and duties
• Marriage is a sign and instrument of
grace
o covenant love between husband
and wife makes visible the
spousal love of Christ for the
Church revealing the fullest
meaning and truth of what
marriage is, a permanent sign of
God’s love for humanity in His
son Jesus Christ whose love
gives himself as the Savior of
humanity
SACRAMENTAL GRACE
• gives to Christian couples and parents a
power and a commitment to live their
vocation as laypeople and therefore to
“seek the kingdom of God by engaging in
temporal affairs and by ordering them
according to the plan of God”
• Family is a sign of unity for the world and
to exercise its prophetic role by bearing
witness to the kingdom and peace of
Christ
• Christian family = Domestic Church
• Family is “the first and irreplaceable
school of social life, and a stimulus for the
broader community relationships marked
by respect, justice, dialogue, and love”
o Serve as building blocks toward
a more solid family nucleus
which becomes a concrete and
decisive resource in enhancing
the quality of life in society
MAJOR KEYS TO HAPPINESS IN MARRIAGE
• MUTUAL RESPECT
o Sign of true conjugal love
o To put down one’s spouse is to
degrade him/her as a person
• FIDELITY
o Greatest gift a father could give
to his children is to love and to be
faithful to his wife
o Way of showing respect to his
wife’s dignity as a person and to
the family as a whole
• The family must live according to the
teachings of the church and should take
steps to ensure that laws and institutions
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 of the state are supporting and
safeguarding the rights and duties of the
family
o Familiaris Consortio (FC 45):
“Both the state and society must
defend the family and respect its
identity and its autonomy as a
way of fulfilling the requirements
of the principle of subsidiarity”
• MARRIAGE AS SACRED
o Exclusive for a man and woman
as ordained by God in the story
of creation
• Parents must show love to their children
by spending quality time with them,
educating them and see them mature to
be good Christians so that they can carry
out the mission of Christ when their turn
comes to pass on the gospel to their own
families
• Spouses must love each other according
to Christ’s pattern of love, which is kind,
patient, cherishing and nourishing each
other
• Conjugal love is the greatest blessing
that they could have for each other
UNIT 1 – LESSON 3: THE FAMILY AS A
DOMESTIC CHURCH
• Families are not expected to be perfect
nor ideal. However, it is very important
that they are spaces where members feel
safe, valued, respected and loved
because a healthy family contributes to
the positive development and human
growth of each member
o Meet physical needs (food,
shelter, protecting them from
physical abuse or harm)
o Meet emotional needs (being
sensitive to their feelings,
comforting them when they are
distressed
• Family is an important gift that God has
endowed man and the whole of humanity
o Community of grace
o A place of encounter with Christ
within the community especially
when members are actively
participating in the mission of
Christ entrusted to the Church
CHARACTERISTICS OF A HEALTHY AND
SUCCESSFUL FAMILY
• Presence of effective communication
patterns
o Clear, open and frequent
o Family members talk to each
other often and when they do,
they are honest and open with
each other
• Appreciation for all members of the family
o Encouragement, support,
nurturing of their individual
strengths and interests
• Commitment to the family
o Members know how to prioritize
the family’s well-being
• A religious and spiritual orientation
o Awareness and practice of moral
and social values
• A family’s ability to adapt to stressful and
potentially damaging events and
predictable life cycle changes
o Ability to absorb stress and cope
without compromising their
mental health
o Flexible in changing the power
structure, roles, and rules if
necessary
• They are not isolated; they are socially
connected to the wider society
o Can be measured in terms of
availability of external resources
in terms of friends, family,
neighbors as well as
participation in community
organization
• Clear roles and responsibilities
o In the face of crisis and the
problems members know their
respective roles
• Spending quality time together
o Make themselves available as
much as possible for the family
SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL
• The family is the “Ecclesia Domestica”
• It is in the bosom of the family that
parents are by word and example, the
first heralds of the faith with regard to
their children
• Family life is completely centered on the
Lordship of Christ wherein the love of
husband and wife mirrors the mystery of
Christ’s love for the church, his bride
• Families are expected to be effective
bearers of the Gospel in their community
(AL 200)
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 • The Christian family participates in the f. View and treat each member of
threefold mission of Jesus Christ: the family as the human person
prophetic, priestly, and kingly mission created according to God's
• The family must be a believing and image and destined to reach the
evangelizing community fullness of Christ which is the
o Actively participate in the true and original image of God
liturgical and sacramental
celebration of the church 2. AGENT OF LIFE (SANCTUARY OF
• The members of the family must become LIFE)
witnesses of Christ’s love in their day-to- a. The family is called to be at the
day life service of life which implies that
o Involved in the mission of the the identity of marriage as
Church communion personarum
reaches its fullness when both
4 TASKS THAT THE CHRISTIAN FAMILY husband and wife dispose
MUST FULFILL ACCORDING TO POPE JOHN themselves for the transmission
PAUL II’S FAMILIARIS CONSORTIO of human life
• To form a community of persons b. The revealing sign of authentic
• To serve life married love is openness to life
• To participate in the development of c. Mutual self-giving of husband
society and wife reaches its totality when
• To participate in the Church’s mission of they become “cooperators with
evangelization God for giving life to a new
human person”
THEY CAN FULFILL THESE 4 TASKS BY
BEING THE FOLLOWING 3. AGENT FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
1. AGENT OF UNITY (Seat of a. It is from the family that people
Communion) are born and within the family
a. Primary task of the family is to be that they are first humanized and
the seat of communion socialized by learning the basic
established through the principle values such as love, respect,
of mutual love between spouses and justice
and their children b. Anderson (following the thought
b. The proper way to exist and live of Pope John Paul II) identifies
together is by living in the Trinitarian structure of
communion, the end of which is communion as a theological
acceptance and love for each basis for the social and solidarity
person dimension of the family
c. Primarily built upon the conjugal i. Humans are called to
communion of husband and wife live in communion with
i. This unity, being others
covenant and a ii. When we act in solidarity
sacrament by nature, is and communion with our
expected to be absolute, neighbors, we make
total, faithful, and visible the solidarity and
indissoluble reflecting communion that exists
the love of Christ for his within the Trinitarian
spouse, the Church mystery
d. Husband and wife are called to iii. Man also makes
live in communion of love and to possible the building of a
mirror the love of the Trinity in the civilization of love which
world is a most necessary
e. The family is therefore given the fulfillment of humanity
task “to live, guard, reveal and c. Familiaris Consortio (by Pope
communicate love” John Paul II): fundamental
contribution of the family in the

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 development of society is the
promotion of an authentic
communion between persons
within the family
i. Living in communion =
members learn to
exercise the virtue of
justice and solidarity
where not only the
dignity of the human
person is given
importance but the good
of the whole community
is promoted as well
d. The family is the privileged place
for safeguarding the roots of
cultural traditions that have been
for the longest time a heritage for
the society
e. Families are agents of economic
life
i. Provide both the human
and professional
resources through which
production of goods and
services can be
facilitated for the
common good of the
larger society
ii. Families can influence
the shaping of society
and ethical order by
exercising the value of
work in the spirit of
service and integrity
f. Families can also participate in
political processes by being
actively involved in supporting
and positively defending the
rights and duties of the family
4. AGENT OF EVANGELIZATION
a. Family in its unique role as a
community of life and love
b. Husband and wife are called in a
specific way to be witnesses of
the Trinitarian love as a reflection
of their conjugal love
c. Vocation of the husband and
wife is to be in their conjugal and
family life, a credible and
significant sign of the love of God
for humanity and of Christ for the
Church
i. Their union reflects the
unity of the Divine trinity
and they indeed become
authentic witnesses of
the Gospel
d. Family is called to reach out and
build welcoming and inclusive
communities
e. Learning to be empathetic with
one another enables the family
to reach out with compassion to
the homeless, the oppressed,
and the afflicted in the wider
human family
f. Reflects the contemplative and
prophetic nature of the Church
i. Called to engage in
dialogue with God
through prayer and the
celebration of the
sacraments
g. Gomez supports John Paul II’s
declaration in Envagelium Vitae
i. The role of the family in
building a culture of life
is decisive and
irreplaceable
h. Bourg affirms that the family has
a great missionary potential
being the primary community
where the process of human life
begins and develops
UNIT 2 – LESSON 1: BIBLICAL
UNDERSTANDING OF MARRIAGE IN THE
SACRED SCRIPTURES
BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE OF MARRIAGE:
MARRIAGE IN CREATION
• The gift of marriage, both as social
institution and as a sacrament, traces its
origins in the Book of Genesis- as willed
by God in the very act of creation
o Marriage in the center of
Creation, Fall, and Redemption
of man
CREATION STORIES IN GENESIS SHOW
THAT
• GENESIS 1:27
o Man and woman are created in
God’s image, “male and female
He created them
o Called to love like God
• GENESIS 2:23
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 o “Bones of my bones and flesh of
my flesh”
o A man and woman (husband and
wife) uniquely complement each
other
o They are made for each other
o Husband and wife form a
communion of persons within
their family
• Creation of man and woman provides the
source of equality for both, forming an
indivisible union with each other
• When God removed a rib from Adam, He
did more than just create another human
being, He created a woman with the
same structure of genes, blood type,
DNA, and physical characteristics
o He created kinfolk
o God’s existence is eternal
kinship
o Presents a strong and
indissoluble bond that is present
between man and woman
• Recognition of kinship and gift of self
between man and woman is
encapsulated by the exclamation of man
upon meeting woman:
o “This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh!”
o The declaration means that they
are forever bound, man forms a
covenant with woman which
results in: man leaving his father
and mother to be with the
woman, and they become one
flesh
PAR EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTIAN
MARRIAGE (TOBIT 8:4B-9)
• Elevation of spiritual life
• Placement of nobility above lust
• Recollection of tradition
• Role of the family
STAGES OF JEWISH MARRIAGE IN THE OLD
TESTAMENT
1. CONTRACT OR BETHROTHAL
STAGE
a. Terms of responsibility and
payment were determined
b. Consists of the wedding dowry or
engagement gift which was
usually offered by the bride’s
father
2. CONSUMMATION STAGE
a. Also known as chuppah stage
b. Bride and groom would
consummate their union in the
chuppah, or bridal chamber
3. SEVEN BLESSINGS AND THE
MARRIAGE SUPPER
a. Includes 7 days of feasting as a
celebration of the marriage while
the seven blessings were recited
over the couple
ADDITIONAL NOTES FOR MARRIAGE IN THE
OLD TESTAMENT
• Israelite society followed a patriarchal
framework
• In ancient Jewish marriage, once the wife
becomes a mother, the role of
motherhood becomes a patent of nobility
for the woman where she acquires a
place in the family as well as a share in
the authority of the husband over the
children
• Naming in ancient tradition implies
ownership over the person or object
being named
• The failure of man in finding a suitable
mate and God proceeding to create
woman afterwards and presenting her to
man shows that woman is not a being
named by man, owned and subservient
to man, but rather a being equal to man,
created by God from man, two halves of
a whole, not just a mere, perfect,
biological compatible mate, but also a
partner for man, who shares kinship with
man in his life
o It is in the man and woman’s
differences do they complement
each other
• This complementarity and kinship are
solidified in the “matrimonial covenant”
that the man and woman establish
between themselves
• Marriage in the Old Testament mirrors
the marriage of Israel with Yahweh
o This marriage between Yahweh
and Israel presents God as the
compassionate and patient
husband who loves his wife even
in times of great conflict and
aggravation
• The unfaithfulness of Israel = Prophet
Jeremiah recognized their adultery and
calls for a journey of penitence,
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 reconciliation and renewal of the broken
bond between them and God
o Jeremiah felt that love was the
very foundation stone of the idea
of Covenant
o God alone was Divine, Husband
and protector, and Israel was
exclusively His
MARRIAGE IN THE GOSPELS
• The New Testament illustrates the union
of Christ and the Church, finally elevating
marriage to its eternal state while still fully
defending its original intent
• John the Baptist compared his role to
that of the best man whose role is to
assist the bridegroom (Jesus) in His
ministry
o He serves as the link of the Old
Testament prophetic era to the
New Testament’s arrival of the
Messiah
o He is suggesting that Jesus is
Israel’s awaited king and
Messiah
• Jesus insinuates that He is the
bridegroom
KATA MATHAION 19:3-11
• “I say to you, whoever divorces his wife
(unless the marriage is unlawful) and
marries another commits adultery”
MARRIAGE IS
• Exclusive
• Permanent union
IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF MARRIAGE
• UNITY
o No extra
o No polygamy
• INDISSOLUBILITY
o No divorce
o No remarriage
APOSTLE PAUL
• Presents Jesus as the bridegroom and
humanity the bride
• He teaches that like Christ, husbands
have to share the same love and
affection to their wives
QUALITIES OF AUTHENTIC LOVE
• SELF-SACRIFICE
oRequires surrendering my ego
and desires for someone else
o When love is perfect, the self-
sacrifice is total
• COMMITMENT
o Means I will sacrifice myself
when it is difficult, even painful
o When love is perfect, the
commitment is absolute
HUMAN MARRIAGE
• Is of divine origin founded in the mystery
of covenantal relationship with God
• Not simply a human tradition
• Not subject to majority vote
• Not a result of an executive order
• Not a supreme court decision
UNIT 2 – LESSON 2: THEOLOGICAL
UNDERSTANDING AND CHRISTIAN
DIMENSIONS OF MARRIAGE
THEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON
MARRIAGE
• 1 CORINTHIANS 7:3
o St. Paul recognizes the
importance of sexual intimacy in
marriage when he mentioned the
need of the husband and wife to
have sexual relations with each
other as a means of fulfilling their
“marital duty”
o Sex is a binding factor in a
relationship
o Not just a procreative end of
marriage but also a unitive end
• St. Paul says that both man and woman
in married relationship have ownership
over the sexuality and fertility of each
other
o Acknowledges the natural sexual
urges that come within the
relationship and reminds both
couples to always seek and be
mindful of each other’s consent
• The apostle reminds couples to not
deprive each other of this marital duty if
only for a time
ALEXANDRIA
• Intellectual capital of the Hellenistic world
2 KINDS OF GNOSTICS (ACCORDING TO
ALEXANDRIA)
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 • The kind who abstains from marriage and
sexual intercourse because they believe
them to be evil
• ANTINOMIANS
o Believe that they are saved no
matter what and are therefore,
above any law regarding
sexuality and marriage
CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA
• Claims that there is only one God, and
that God is good; marriage was created
by the one God and therefore is good
from its origin
IRENAEUS OF LYONS
• Mentions Marcion and Saturiuns, “who
are called the continent” and accuses
them of frustrating the ancient plan of
God and of finding fault with him “who
made both male and female for the
begetting of men”
LACTANTIUS
• “Just as God gave us eyes, not that we
might look upon and desire pleasure, but
that we might see those actions that
pertain to the necessity of life so also, we
have perceived the genital part of the
body for no other purpose than the
begetting of offspring, as the very name
itself teaches. This divine law is to be
obeyed with the greatest of devotion.”
o Sexual intercourse is for the
procreation of children
o Any such intercourse for purpose
other than procreation is a
violation of nature
o Any sexual intercourse when
conception is impossible is a
similar violation
ST. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO
• Bishop of Hippo in Africa
• Lived from 354 to 430 AD
• Once a Manichean who believed that the
body was created by evil and therefore is
also evil, though it holds a certain amount
of goodness
• After he converted, he wrote several
treatises on marriage wherein he defines
the good of marriage namely: fides
(fidelity), proles (procreation), and
sacramentum (sacrament
• Nuptial goods as objects of love:
offspring, fidelity, and unbreakable bond
BONUM PROLIS
• The “good” of offspring
• Fruitfulness of the union
• Procreativity or the openness to having
children
• DE BONO CONJUGALI, 10
o “Sexual intercourse for begetting
is free from blame, and itself is
alone worthy of marriage. But
which goes beyond this
necessity, no longer follows
reason, but lust”
o Marital intercourse should
express a selfless love directed
to another person beyond the
individual married spouse
• First and foremost good of marriage
because it necessitates the continuation
of humanity
BONUM FIDEI
• “fidelity” or “faithfulness” (fides)
• Rudimentary faithfulness that all married
people owe each other, that is, the duty
to abstain from adultery or sexual
relations with other persons
• FIDES (fidelity)
o Good of marriage whereby the
couple remains faithful to each
other as well as offer mutual
service to each other
o Included the positive duty of
married persons to engage in
sex in order to help each other
avoid adultery
o Sex purely to satisfy desire
o “a sort of mutual servitude” –
AUGUSTINE
BONUM SACRAMENTI
• The idea of sacrament was closely
related to the Greek word mysterion or
“mystery” which was translated as
sacramentum in early Latin versions of
the Bible
• Sacrament in marriage = sacred sign =
spiritual union of Christ and the Church
• Christian marriages had to be
indissoluble because they symbolized
the eternal union of Christ and the
Church
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 • Marriage was an eschatological sign, a
sign of the ultimate unity of God and
humanity, as embodied in the union of
Christ and the Church
• SACRAMENTUM
o Asserts the indissolubility of
marriage as well as the
monogamous reality of the
married relationship
o Not annulled by that separation
o Cannot be dissolved even by
physical separation in as much
as even if the couple no longer
lives together
SECOND LATERAN COUNCIL (1139)
• DS 718
o Condemned those who
“condemn the bonds of
legitimate marriage,” and
ordered them “to be coerced by
external powers” to accept the
legitimacy of this Sacrament
• Declared invalid all marriages of those in
major orders and of professed monks,
canons, lay brothers, and nuns
• Repudiated the heresies of the 12th
century concerning holy orders,
matrimony, infant baptism, and the
Eucharist
COUNCIL OF VERONA (1184)
• DS 761
o Marriage was first listed as a
Sacrament together with
Baptism and Eucharist
THOMAS AQUINAS
• Took over Augustine’s three goods of
marriage and transformed them on the
basis of his view of humanity, into three
ends of marriage
• His arguments about marriage:
o “has as its principal end, the
procreation and education of
offspring… and so offspring are
said to be a good of marriage”
o “has a secondary end in man
alone, the sharing of task which
are necessary in life, and from
this point of view, husband and
wife owe each other faithfulness,
which is one of the goods of
marriage.”
PROCREATIVE END OF MARRIAGE
(according to St. Thomas)
• Proles does not merely pertain to the
continuation of the species but rather, a
more meaningful one or as he would call:
bonum prolis
o Education of children
UNITIVE END (according to St. Thomas)
• Marriage does not only occur among
men for the procreation and nurturing of
children but also for the consortium of a
shared life for the sake of sharing the
labors
• Supports the first end wherein the
parents seek to store up treasures for
their children who are their common good
COUNCIL OF LYONS (1274)
• Listed marriage among the seven
sacraments (DS 860), which was
approved and listed again by the Council
of Florence 1439)
COUNCIL OF FLORENCE (1439)
• “The seventh sacrament is marriage,
which is a sign of the union between
Christ and His church… A triple good is
designated for marriage. The first is
offspring accepted and raised to worship
God; the second is fidelity, in which each
spouse ought to serve the other; the third
is the indivisibility of marriage because it
signifies the indivisible union of Christ
and Church.”
ROMANS
• What makes marriage sacramental is the
consent between a man and a woman
NORTHERN EUROPEANS
• What makes marriage sacramental is the
sexual intercourse between a man and a
woman after giving consent
GRACIA
• Harmonized the opinions of the Romans
and Northern Europeans
• Between spouses there should be
marriage, but only initiated
• Between spouses who have engaged in
sexual intercourse, there is ratified
marriage
• This law passed into the law of the
Roman Church, and was part of the Code
of Canon Law
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COUNCIL OF TRENT (1566)
• With authorization of the publication of a
Catechism of the Council of Trent,
defined marriage as a “conjugal union of
man and woman between legitimate
persons, which is to last throughout life”
• It taught marriage “is not a simple
donation but a mutual contract. It has
listed three goods of marriage: offspring,
faith, and sacrament”
POPE PIUS XI
• In December 1930, published an
important encyclical on marriage, Casti
Connubii, which emphasized that there
should be mutual love in a marriage and
not just about giving each other right over
his or her body
• “must have as its primary purpose that
man and wife help each other day by day
in forming and perfecting themselves in
the interior life... and above all that they
grow in true love toward God and their
neighbor.”
DIETRICH VON HILDREBRAND
• Influential German
• Stated that marriage is for the building up
of loving communion between the
spouses
• Conjugal love is the primary meaning and
ultimate end of marriage
COVENANT
SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL
• Marriage, according to the new Code is
“brought into being by the lawfully
manifested consent of persons who are
legally capable” (Can 1057,1)
• But that consent “is an act of the will by
which a man and a woman by irrevocable
covenant mutually give and accept one
another for the purpose of establishing a
marriage.” (Can 1057,2)
NEW PERSPECTIVE ON MARRIAGE
• A covenant not just a contract
• Mutual love is not secondary to
“begetting children”
• Mutual love is what is sanctified by the
sacrament
• Marriage’s sacramentality requires faith
• The full consummation of marriage is
more than a biological act
• The sacrament incorporates one more
fully into the mystery of the Church
DIMENSIONS OF MARRIAGE
1. MARRIAGE AS A CONTRACT
a. Marriage is a special contract of
permanent union between a man
and a woman entered into in
accordance with the law for the
establishment of conjugal and
family life
b. In a marital contract, one’s rights
are protected and limits
responsibilities while in marital
covenant, one sacrifices his/her
rights and assumes
responsibility
2. MARRIAGE AS A COVENANT
a. Entails a deeper layer of trust,
love and consent between the
couple
b. Mirrors the covenant God made
with His people
c. In the marital covenant, both are
asked to sacrificially love one
another till the day they die
d. In Old Testament, it uses the
image of marital love to reveal
the relationship binding God and
his people
e. In New Testament, the
sacramental marriage of
Christians signifies the love
uniting Christ and His Church
• A solemn, binding arrangement between
two parties and entails a variety of
responsibilities, benefits, and penalties
depending on the specific covenant
which is being studies
• Meant to last a lifetime
• Parties come together to make a
sacrificial permanent bond which is
sustained and nurtured by the
commitment of both parties
• Motivated by sacrifice and love (I am
yours and you are mine) while contract is
motivated by self-interest (This is yours
and this is mine)
• Initiated by God for the good of humanity
• Etymology:
• Convenire (Latin)
o Means to “come together, unite;
be suitable, agree”
• Testamentum (Latin)
o Means to “witness or testify”
• Diatheke (Greek)
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 o A common technical word used
in the Greco-Roman law to
describe the settlement of an
inheritance and used in the NT to
describe the “self-commitment,
promises, and conditions by
which God entered into
relationship with man”
• Berith (Hebrew)
o Describes a compact made by
passing between pieces of flesh

3. MARRIAGE AS A SACRAMENT
a. Sacraments are sensible signs,
instituted by Christ which confer
grace
b. Mutual giving and acceptance of
the couple which in turn reflects
the love of God to people around
the couple
c. Reminds people of the presence
of Christ

4. MARRIAGE AS A VOCATION
a. A call by God to join him in the
creative act of bringing new life
into the world
b. A call to join God in being a
steward, not just a co-creator,
but also to guide this new life and
affect goodness in the world

CTRB