What did we study?
Religion and human relationships
Religion and human relationships
Roles of men and women in the
family
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Roles of men and women in a Christian family
Roles of men and women in the Church family
Marriage and marriage ceremonies
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Marriage ceremonies
The ways in which the ceremonies reflect and emphasise Christian
teaching about marriage
Responses to civil partnerships
Divorce
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Beliefs about the ethics of divorce
Beliefs about the ethics of re-marriage
Sexual relationships and
contraception
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Beliefs about sexual relationships
Beliefs about contraception
Key words
Adultery
Annulment
Civil partnership
Cohabitation
Commitment
Contraception
Divorce
Pre-marital sex
Promiscuity
Re-marriage
Sacrament
Vows
Key words
Definitions
Adultery
A married person having a sexual relationship
with someone to whom they are not
married.
Annulment
A marriage terminated by the Church because
it was not valid.
Civil partnership
Legal recognition of a same-sex relationship
with a registry office ceremony.
Cohabitation
To live together, especially without being
formally married.
Commitment
A bond between a couple.
Contraception
The prevention of pregnancy by using artificial
or natural methods.
Divorce
The legal ending of a marriage.
Pre-marital sex
Having a sexual relationship before marriage.
Promiscuity
Having many sexual partners without
commitment.
Re-marriage
Marrying again after divorce. Also after
annulment or widowhood.
Sacrament
A special action which brings Christians closer
to God.
Vows
Sacred promises a couple make at their
marriage.
“Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the
man.” (Genesis 2:22)
Some Christians believe that the role of men is more important than the role
of women, who are intended to be men’s helpers.
“I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must
be silent. For Adam was formed first and then Eve.” (1Timothy 2:12-13)
The Bible seems to teach that women should not be allowed to speak in
church, or be teachers and leaders.
“Wives … be submissive to your husbands … Husbands, in the same way be
considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as
the weaker partner.” (1 Peter 3:1,7)
Some Christians believe that women are weaker and more likely to sin than
men, because in the Bible Eve sinned first and tempted Adam to copy her.
“Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head
of the wife as Christ is the head of the church.” (Ephesians 5:22-23)
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are
all one in Christ Jesus.”
“…what God has joined together, let man not separate.” (Galatians 3: 26-28)
Paul taught that men and women are equal in Christ.
“…anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her
to be an adulteress.” (Matthew 5:32)
A Bible teaching against divorce.
“For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will
also forgive you.” (Matthew 6:14)
Christians believe it is important to accept that sometimes people make
mistakes.
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” (Matthew 7:1)
Christians believe that while divorce is not ideal, it is not up to them to judge
whether it is right or wrong for other people to get divorced.
“Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the
man.” (Genesis 2:22)
Some Christians believe that the role of men is more important than the role
of women, who are intended to be men’s helpers.
“I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must
be silent. For Adam was formed first and then Eve.” (1Timothy 2:12-13)
The Bible seems to teach that women should not be allowed to speak in
church, or be teachers and leaders.
“Wives … be submissive to your husbands … Husbands, in the same way be
considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as
the weaker partner.” (1 Peter 3:1,7)
Some Christians believe that women are weaker and more likely to sin than
men, because in the Bible Eve sinned first and tempted Adam to copy her.
“Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head
of the wife as Christ is the head of the church.” (Ephesians 5:22-23)
6 March, 2011
Religion and human relationships
Topics to revise:
1. Roles of men and women in the Christian and
Church family
2. Marriage and marriage ceremonies
3. Christian responses to civil partnerships
4. Christian beliefs about divorce and
remarriage
5. Christian beliefs about sexual relationships
6. Christian beliefs about contraception
1. Roles of men and women in the Christian and
Church family
There are still Christians, and Christian
denominations, who believe that a woman
should stay at home and care for the
children and her husband. However, most
people would probably take the view in
Paul’s epistle (letter) to the Galatians that
all Christians are equal whether male of
female.
•In the first creation story in Genesis it says ‘... God created man in his
own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created
them’.
•In the second creation story in Genesis, man was created first and then
woman was created as a companion and helpmate to man. Some Christians
might use this story to argue that women have a lesser, or at least
different, role to men.
•In the Old Testament many women are seen as strong and important
people rulers, e.g. Jael and the Queen of Sheba.
•Jesus’ attitude towards women in the gospel accounts shows him treating
women as equals.
•In the New Testament there are examples of women such as Priscilla and
Lydia who appear to be in positions of authority within the early Church.
•The first female Methodist minister was ordained in 1880. The Anglican
Church ordained its first women priests in 1994 in Britain.
•Neither the Roman Catholic nor Orthodox Churches allow women to be
ordained.
•The reasons given are that Jesus only chose men to be his disciples and at
the Eucharist the priest represents Jesus.
2. Marriage and marriage ceremonies
Marriage provides a relationship through which
husband and wife support each other; this
relationship is built on love and faithfulness. It also
provides a secure environment for the bringing up of
children.
•Marriage is seen as a gift from God and part of God’s
plan for creation.
•The importance of marriage is stressed by Jesus:
‘Therefore what God has joined together, let man not
separate’ and these words are stated in the marriage
ceremony.
•The words of the marriage ceremony stress that the
promises of the bride and groom are made before God.
• At the beginning of the service the priest or minister
reminds the couple of the seriousness of marriage.
They are told that it symbolises the relationship
between Christ and the Church and that a marriage was
the occasion of Jesus’ first miracle.
• The couple answers these vows: Will you love her/him,
comfort her/him, honour and protest him/her, and,
forsaking all others, be faithful to her/him as long as
you both shall live?
• They promise that they will stay together: for better,
for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in
health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part;
according to God’s holy law.
• The couple may exchange rings. The circle represents
eternity and their unending love for each other.
•One of the most important aspects of a Christian
marriage is that, for Roman Catholics and the Orthodox
Church, it is regarded as a sacrament: an action that
brings the couple closer to God.
• In a Roman Catholic marriage the service is followed
by a special Eucharist called a nuptial mass.
The Christian Church believes that it is a sin for
people to have sexual relations with each other
unless they are married because of the vow to be
faithful taken before God.
Some Christians believe sexual relations before
marriage also break the seventh commandment ‘do
not commit adultery’.
3. Christian responses to civil partnerships
The reaction of the Churches to civil partnerships is
based on biblical teaching where it appears that
homosexual activity is condemned in both the Old and
New Testaments. Examples are the destruction of
Sodom and Gomorrah and Paul’s teachings in 1
Corinthians.
• In December 2005 civil partnerships became legal in
the UK.
• Civil partnership services are formal ceremonies for
same-sex couples in which they make promises to each
other and which gives them the same legal status as
married heterosexual couples.
3. Christian responses to civil partnerships
• Civil partnership ceremonies, by law, do not have any
religious content to them.
•The Roman Catholic Church and Church of England are
opposed to civil partnerships because they teach that
marriage is the proper place for sexual activity to occur and
that one of the main purposes of sex should be to create a
new life which homosexual sex cannot do.
•The Roman Catholic Church sees homosexual activity as
essentially being masturbation, which it believes is always
wrong because it is misuse of the sexual genitalia and is seen
as the sin of Onan.
• The Methodist Church has always been open to
discussion of homosexuality but states that it: ‘does
not consider that homosexual genital practice
[homosexual sex] ... is acceptable’. So although they
accept a person as being homosexual they would
condemn the person acting on homosexual instincts.
The Church will not bless civil partnerships.
• Only the Quakers fully accepts homosexual couples
in their meetings.
• Individual Christians may have quite different
opinions to the Churches. They may feel that
everyone is created in God’s image and that therefore
they are equal and should be treated equally.
4. Christian beliefs about divorce and remarriage
Christians see marriage as being for life and consider
that the promises the couple made were to God as well
as to each other. Because of this divorce is always
viewed very seriously. However, Christians have
different attitudes on the subject of divorce.
• Divorce is not welcomed in the teachings of the Old
Testament:
o
Moses taught that divorce was permitted if a man
found out something indecent about his wife.
o
In Malachi, God says ‘I hate divorce’.
• In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that divorce was
wrong and that the Old Testament rules about divorce were
not strict enough.
• Jesus said that adultery was grounds for divorce.
• In 1981 the Church of England decided that although a
person had been divorced this should not prevent them
from marrying someone else in a church ceremony.
• The Orthodox Church does allow divorce people to
marry a second or third time.
• The Roman Catholic Church accepts that people may
get a divorce, which is a civil matter, but they are still
seen as married because a sacrament cannot be undone.
If they have a sexual relationship with another person
or get married again in a civil ceremony they are not
allowed to receive communion as what they are doing is
seen as a sin.
• In certain circumstances, the Pope may grant an
annulment to a couple who wish to divorce. An
annulment says that the original marriage was
flawed and therefore did not actually take place.
This only happens in certain circumstances: for
example, if the couple were not mentally fit to
understand the seriousness of marriage. Once an
annulment has been granted the couple are free to
marry again in church.
5. Christian beliefs about sexual relationships
Even though many people now choose to live together
in relationships without being married, this is not
welcomed by the Christian Church.
• Christianity teaches that the sexual act must take
place exclusively within marriage. In Genesis 2:24 men
and women are told to ‘become one flesh’. Outside of
marriage sexual activity always constitutes a grave sin.
• St Paul remained unmarried and appears to have
thought that the ideal was for everyone to be celibate.
This might have been because he believed people should
not be diverted away from following Jesus.
• Some scholars have suggested that Paul thought
that Jesus’ return – the second coming or Parousia –
would happen very soon and that people should stay
celibate and wait for this.
• In the Roman Catholic Church, priests are required
to take a vow of celibacy as the Church believes that
if a priest was married he would be distracted from
loving and serving God.
• Agape – is the unconditional love exemplified by
Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. It is given to everyone
no matter who they are, what they have done or
whether they return that love.
• The Christian Churches are all opposed to adultery,
fornication and, with few exceptions, homosexuality.
They view all of these as going against the unitive and
creative purpose of sex within marriage. Some
Churches are prepared to allow cohabiting couples
into their congregations but the majority will not.
6. Christian beliefs about contraception
Christians believe that life is a gift from God and
sacred, and that the purpose of sexual activity is to
create new life. Because of this the Roman Catholic
Church does not approve of artificial contraception.
Some other Churches accept the use of artificial
contraception in order to ensure children are planned
and wanted.
• Although there are no specific teachings within the
Bible about contraception, Christians believe that life is a
gift from God and sacred and therefore many of them
feel that contraception (or birth control) is preventing a
new life which God wishes to be born and is therefore a
sin.
• Many others believe that the Bible should be
interpreted for the age in which Christians live.
Although they think that the teachings on life being
sacred within the Bible should be considered carefully,
because the world is becoming overpopulated and there
is a great deal of poverty, they believe contraception
should be allowed.
• The Roman Catholic Church considers that conception
is a natural outcome of sexual intercourse and that
anything which prevents this is wrong. It teaches that
married couples have an obligation to obey God’s
command to Adam and Eve to ‘Be fruitful and increase in
number’.
• The only form of contraception which is permitted by
the Roman Catholic Church is the ‘rhythm method’
sometimes called ‘natural family planning’. This involves
planning sex around the most infertile times in a
woman’s monthly cycle.
• The Anglican Church teaches that decisions about the
number of children in a family and when to have them
is a matter for the parents’ conscience which is
influenced by God.
• The Orthodox Churches do not have a single view
about contraception except that abortifacients such as
the morning-after pill are not permitted.