Living Together and Christian Ethics

by Thatcher, Adrian

• ISBN13: 9780511032493
• ISBN10: 0511032498
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2002-03-21
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Living Together and Christian Ethics is the first positive, in-depth study of cohabitation outside marriage from a mainstream Christian theological perspective. The book retrieves the traditions of betrothal from the Bible and church history, and shows how these can transform Christian attitudes to living together before marriage. A crucial distinction is made between prenuptial cohabitation where marriage is intended, and nonnuptial cohabitation where it is avoided. Since betrothal was widely understood as a real beginning of marriage, the book argues for a complete pastoral, theological and liturgical renewal that reclaims the riches of forgotten Christian marital traditions and redeploys them in conveying the good news of the faith to women and men who are not yet married. The book takes issue with theologians who marginalize marriage, and suggests that the recognition of marital values can act as a helpful bridge between Christian teaching and people who are not formally married.

Table of Contents

General Editor's Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xii
Living Together as a Theological Problem	p. 2
A Guide to Living Together	p. 3
Living Together: a Preliminary Theological Analysis	p. 39
Testing the Betrothal Solution	p. 76
An Exercise in Retrieval: Bringing Back Betrothal	p. 118
The Bible and Betrothal	p. 119
Evidence from Liturgy and Law	p. 151
Whatever Happened to Betrothal?	p. 182
Extending the Marital Norm	p. 210
Betrothal, Consent and Consummation	p. 211
The Sacramental Beginning of Marriage	p. 237
Extending the Marital Norm	p. 264
Rite of Betrothal Before Marriage	p. 276
Bibliography	p. 280
Index	p. 295
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