Marriage After Modernity: Christian Marriage in Postmodern Times

by Adrian Thatcher

Overview

For most Christians, marriage is considered a sacrament, created and uniquely blessed by God. Yet, the theology of marriage rarely matches the actual experience. Marriage is too often a violent, loveless institution-and it is increasingly delayed, avoided, or terminated.
Marriage After Modernity offers new hope for Christian marriage at a time of unprecedented social and theological change. It provides an unreserved commendation of Christian marriage, reaffirming its status as a sacrament and institution of mutual self-giving. At the same time, it breaks new ground. It draws on earlier traditions of betrothal and informal marriage to accept some forms of pre-marital cohabitation and provides a new defense of the link between marriage and procreation by sketching a theology of liberation for children. Chapters shed new light on divorce and legitimate theological grounds for 'the parting of the ways,' contraception, and the question of whether marriage is a heterosexual institution. Particular attention is paid throughout the book to overcoming the androcentric bias of much Christian thought and the distorting effect it has had on marriage.
Marriage After Modernity argues for a vision of marriage which does not abandon its history, and which draws upon its premodern roots to grapple with our current social, cultural, and intellectual upheavals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814782514
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	09/01/1999
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.74(d)

About the Author

Adrian Thatcher is Professor of Applied Theology at the University College of St Mark and St John in Plymouth, England.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	7
Chapter 1	Marriage, Method and Modernity	9
1.	Christian Marriage	9
2.	Method	12
3.	Modernity	25
Chapter 2	Christian Marriage: The Two Dialogues	31
1.	The Internal Dialogue	31
2.	The External Dialogue	47
3.	Christian Marriage: The Revised Agenda	61
Chapter 3	The Biblical Models of Marriage	67
1.	The Biblical Models of Marriage	68
2.	Reclaiming the Biblical Models	87
Chapter 4	Cohabitation, Betrothal and the Entry into Marriage	103
1.	Cohabitation and Something to Celebrate	103
2.	Revisiting the Tradition	108
3.	Betrothal: Reclamation and Reinstatement	120
Chapter 5	A Theology of Liberation for Children	132
1.	Beginning with Children	132
2.	A Theology of Liberation for Children	142
Chapter 6	Betrothal, Marriage and Contraception	171
1.	The Problem: The Place of Contraception in Betrothal and Christian Marriage	171
2.	Three Types of Argument against Contraception, and their Transformation	182
3.	Conclusion: Contraception in Christian Marriage	204
Chapter 7	Marriage: Communal Partnership, Mutually Administered Sacrament	209
1.	Marriage as Communal Partnership	210
2.	Marriage as a Sacrament	232
Chapter 8	The Parting of the Ways	249
1.	Divorce and Remarriage: A Conventional Perspective	250
2.	Divorce and Remarriage: A 'Re-visionary Perspective'	256
3.	Divorce, Annulment and Remarriage	272
Chapter 9	Christian Marriage after Modernity	289
1.	Christian Marriage after Patriarchy	290
2.	Christian Marriage 'after Heterosexuality'?	294
3.	Christian Marriage after Modernity	302
	Bibliography	305
	Index of References	317
	Index of Subjects	320
	Index of Authors	325