THESIS STATEMENTS:

1. An accurate understanding of man from his experience of conscience as an attraction to

good [OConnell], thus indicating a certain connaturality between man and value, the doing
of which fulfills and realizes him. This understanding of man is expressed in Sacred
Scripture as a vocation to life, cocreatorship, ad to covenant relation with Yahweh, a
covenant renewed and clarified by jesus Christ. [OConnell]

2. This theological anthropology is elaborated by Magesterium as a fundamental vocation to

love [FC 11] and to holiness [LG 39-41]; it is clarified by the social sciences, in a special way
by Scott Peck, through the elucidation he offers concerning the qualities of genuine love.

3. Sin does not consist only in discreet and isolate actions and decisions; more accurately sin
occurs on the level of the fundamental option or direction; not only in what man does but
also and more especially in the kind of person that he becomes.

4. This understanding of sin arises from and is premised on an understanding of the human
person that he has a basic core identity, developed in freedom [categorical and
transcendental] and over time; that man is always a work in progress, a homo viator, a man
on the way to becoming.

5. A richer theology of marriage can be developed by correctly understanding:

a. Its evolution from a rather negative presentation arising from certain assertions in
Pauline corpus;
b. The development it underwent from its predominantly agricultural context to a
highly urbanized and heavily industrialized society;
c. Its structure that the sacrament is first a human reality possessed of the bona of
community and friendship, children, and fidelity and commitment.

A Theology of Marriage: An Introduction (Dacanay)

Traditional View of Marriage
o Marriage as an inferior response to the fundamental vocation of all men to love and
holiness. (Note: this is a result of a particular world view that views it and everything
connected to it as evil, an opportunity for sin)
o 1 Cor 7 || Marriage is to avoid immoralities
Man should not touch woman therefore they each should have respective
wives/husbands
If no self-control then marry. It is better to marry than to be aflame with
passion
Virgins are closer to God is a false belief
Marriage is meant to be good and not seen to avoid immoralities
Justifying sexual pleasures through marriage
o Context: They thought that the world is passing away (Parousia) therefore they want
people to devote their time to God and spend time preparing for the last judgement and
not be divided by the attention by their spouses/family.
Unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord the married man is
anxious about the affairs of the world.
 New view of Marriage (Eph 7)
o More positive, wholesome, and more appreciative of the values of the human relationship
and commitment that is possible I marriage
Wives subject to your husbands husbands, love your wives
Just as Christ loved the church ( Marriage: Compare the relationship of
husband and wife to the relationship of the selfless love between Christ and the
Church)
A comparison:
o In the first view: Service and response offered to God is individual
o However we should not that a life to holiness matters when one faithfully lives, commits
and fulfill his responsibility implied in the state of life.
o It should also be considered that we worship God not as individuals but as a community
o Genuine commitment to God does not separate us from people;
o Service and love of God -> one can love God through the service of other people which
can be done also in marriage.

A Historical Introduction to Marriage (Schillebeeckx)

Marriage as an economic/political decision (before)
o Married life was supported by society
o Love was not precluded
o Marriage meant extended family
o Love ends where marriage begins
o Functional
The decline of the social function ( as a result of the rapid industrialization and
compartmentalization of society)
o Marriage has a new meaning - > love + personal
o However, newly married couples today dont have a firm exterior support to rely on
o A more friendly relationship of companionship and comradeship has taken place in
marriage.

Sacraments and Human Reality

Human Reality is what becomes a sacrament
Sacraments piggy back on the human reality
Bona -> good/value

Commitment and freedom

o Freedom from and freedom for
o Freedom is not the ultimate values
o Freedom is only an instrumental value; man is only in the state of pottery
o Commitment is freedom exercised
Why should marriage be a committed relationship
o Better way towards maturity other than committed relationship is yet to be found
o Unless the relationship is committed and this commitment is supported by the community
via its values and enforced by its laws a person could forever be skimming the surface of
relations
o Unless committed a person could go through life in his self-centered ways
Is there an acceptable human reason to walk away from a committed relationship?
o Yes, if the human person is harmed
 The human person is of higher value than fidelity and commitment
o Fidelity and commitment are values related to the ultimate value of the person
This claim is made more often than warranted

6. . The indissolubility of marriage was affirmed by Jesus to be the original intention of the
Creator [Mk 10, 1-9]. It is this characteristic which conspicuously endows marriage with the
potential to be the language to image Gods unconditional fidelity to his people [Hos 1-3].
Paul understands this to be the task and responsibility of the Christian spouses so they can
be a faithful witness to this same unconditional fidelity of God [Eph 5].

Kulang: Notes on Paschal Mystery

Human Reality of Marriage according to Scripture

Genesis 1, 27-31; 2, 18-26
o Being male or female is not just a gender but a way of being in the world
Different way of reacting/viewing the world
Union in marriage is part of Gods plan = good
God intended marriage to be good
M and F together in marriage are complementary (fuller/more complete img. Of
God)
Original plan marriage was GOOD and does not have to be justified
Hosea 1-3
o Hosea is an aggressively faithful husband
Marriage was corrupted
Gomer was a harlot
Hosea still accepted her, stayed loyal and even if it was easier if he did not stay
loyal. He was given a legitimate reason to leave his wife
This is the reality of constant fidelity
o Hosea being a Prophet, through his marriage, revealed Yahwehs fidelity to his people

Necessity of human reality

It is the language/reality that we understand
Yahweh could not have spoken through Hoseas marriage if he had been
unfaithful
Mark 10 compared Mathew 19
o Mark 10 introduces a new meaning
therefore what God put together let n man put asssunder

o Mark
No human being must separate
o Matthew
Assumes divorce is allowed
When wife commits sexual immoralities you can file a divorce
Or if marriage is unlawful
o Note they both talk about the divorce in Dt 4. Which is an easily get out of marriage type
of divorce
o The indissolubility introduced by Mark does not mean no divorce at all but the point is
marriage should not be easily get out of
 Marriage is supposed to be stable
For example, in the catholic church, divorce is allowed if the marriage is not
consummated
Genesis 2:24
o Nobility/fundamental value of marriage (leave there family/leaving important people)
o Equality of man and woman ( 2 become one body)
Eph 5:31-37
o Third layer of meaning ( specifically Christian interpretation of marriage)
o Mystery (in reference to Christ and the church)
Divine plan of salvation / object of revelation
Proof about God and our salvation
Hidden from the beginning -> Job off the apostles to be made known
Gradually revealed through prophets, fully revealed through Christ
o A comparison of marriage to the union of Christ and Church
Infidelity is compared to idolatry
Fidelity of God + truth revealed by Jesus Christ
Is continued to be revealed today through the marriage of man and
woman
o Therefore, Marriage = mystery

7. A proper understanding of the sacraments, and therefore of marriage, must include the
following aspects:

a. sacraments are essentially acts of the Church towards the accomplishment of the
mission entrusted to it by Christ.
b. they are sign revelatory of diving realities
c. they are moments of grace, mans way to fullness of life with God

Kulang: Notes on Dynamism (Sacrament Part)

Aspect/Dimension
Jesus Christ
o Primary reference/fundamental
o Sign of God
o Historical presence of God in the World
Structure of the Sacrament
General
o Sensate : visual symbol
Historical Jesus, the church, human realties
o Supra-sensate: meaning communicated
God, Jesus Christ, meaning in the sacraments
Concerning the sensate
o Bases of sacraments are human acts
o Transformed into symbols through the process of human spiritual dynamism
o Transformed into sacraments through the process of divine spiritual dynamism
Sacraments as official acts of the church
Salvific/redemptive/moment of grace
o Language through which God speaks/reveals himself
 o A revelatory of a divine spiritual meaning
Sacrament as Act of God
Certainty principle God himself who works
Faith = comprehensive yes to God
The intention is directed by a faith that believes in God
o Revealed by historical Jesus. Jesus lives an works in the church. Church continues its
presence and work through human realities
Christianity is very anthropomorphic

Marriage
Marriage is a natural reality
o People do not marry because they are Christian/catholic
o People marry because they are human beings
When 2 baptized people marry:
o Human reality of marriage is given a new layer of reality
o Intention to participate in a human ritual in which we believe Christ is present at work
Non Sacramental vs Sacramental Marriage
o The difference is on the level of meaning
o Added responsibility for sacramental marriages
Witness of Christ spouses is clearer

8. Gaudium et spes renews the understanding of marriage by collocating it under the paradigm
of consortium totius vitae, thus broadening the restrictive model of contract which sees
marriage primarily as an exchange of rights. This renewed understanding makes it possible
to see marriage as healing, in which intimacy and sexual relation are a positive value, and
where they are collocated as belonging naturally and constitutively to the human matrix
assumed and elevated into the economy of salvation.

Historical (Augustine)
2 Periods
o Before Eating of Forbidden Fruit
people act according to reason
following the will of God
therefore: no uncontrollable passions
everything done in moderation
meaning of sex = Procreation
o After Eating of Forbidden Fruit
breakdown of the relationship between God and man
man's desire for pleasure came out
sex = Procreation + Pleasure
Viewed first sin is rebellion against man in parallel with the rebellion of man w/in himself
o default design is good sin causes self-destruction
Viewed marriage as a contract.
o Contract: Jus in Corpus (Right to have sex with the body of the partner)
very biological/physical understanding of marriage.
14 girl and 16 boy can get married because biologically able
Sex is marital debt
 Exchange of rights
Stand alone reality
o "For the weak"
Basically u can only have sex with one person, so doing it with one person only.
in a way reduces pleasure
therefore sex could be done in moderation
"limit the frequency of sinfulness
Procreation should be the only legitimate reason for sex.
So this view: Marriage = salvific in a negative sense.

New View (Gaudium et Spes)

Consortium Totius Vitae
o Partnership
o New paradigm to understand marriage
o GS 49: conjugal love is perfected and expressed through the marital act in a manner that
is purely human
Re-understanding of the purpose of marriage and the sexual act
Exclusive and committed
Sex = procreation, pleasure, perfect expression of love
Expressing and symbolizing of love nourishes the relationship.
Physical expression/external manifestation of love (sex) is part of the
process of building and creating and strengthening the relationship
Sexual act leads to greater love
o Not a stand-alone reality
Marriage requires many elements
Rooted in everyday life of the values of trust, fidelity, responsibility, friendship,
etc.

9. Marital union is not only a contract but a covenanting grace and faith, a relationship freely
chosen, founded on friendship, and actively nurtured through love and sacrifice. In its
human aspects, marriage is a sign of Gods love and mans engagement in Gods work in the
world. The active faith of the couple is an essential prerequisite not only for the fruitfulness
of the sacrament but also for its very validity.

Marriage as Salvific
Gaudium et Spes

Spouses can become better persons

o Other centered
o Mature
In marriage man could grow
o Human reality of becoming less self centered uunderstood as a fuller life with God,
therefore salvation
Redemptive

Mackin
o Fear (rejection.vulnerability)
Shrinks ones life
 Sin is similar
Strangulate life
Limits life
o Overcoming fear is like overcoming sin
o Trust
Goud
o Safety tendency
o Courage Tendency (risk)
One must overcome the safety instinct

Being in an accepting loving supportive relationship will help overcome fear and have courage

Maslow
o Hierarchy of needs
One can grow/maximize when backed up by supportive loving relationships

All these are true in a wholesome marriage therefore marriage is a way of overcoming fear and sin and is
therefore redemptive.

10. Moral life is not primarily the following of external imposed moral codes but the realization
of values. Knowledge and freedom and circumstances are factors to determine the quality of
a moral act while emotional and intellect affect the exercise of freedom. Patterned human
responses are emotional and intellectual dispositions that are the substance of virtue and
vice.

11. To properly understand the moral teaching of the sexual act should be done only in the
context of marriage, it is necessary to assert that:
a. There is a close affinity of meaning between the sexual act and marriage;
b. That the sexual act carries a meaning that is independent of the subjective invent of
partners;
c. That the integrity of the mean can be fully respected only in a committed
relationship;
d. That this commitment be expressed formally and publicly.

12. According to the constant doctrine of the Church, masturbation is a gravely disordered act;
It is however necessary to take into account the individuals affective maturity, the force of
acquired habit, conditions of anxiety, or the psychological and social factors that may
extenuate freedom and therefore moral culpability.

13. Homosexuality is a moral question that must be evaluated in its complexity. There have
been shifts in the understanding of the relationship between procreative and unitive
dimensions of marriage which have been taken to affect the moral evaluation of the issue.
Of the four positions as a regards the moral evaluation of homosexual acts that can be
discerned in contemporary ethical literature, the orientation indicated by the Magisterium,
while, questioned by some, offers the more adequate point of view.
14.If there are motives to space out births, the Church teaches that is licit to take into account
the natural rhythms immanent in generative functions for the use of marriage in the moral
principles [HV 16]. This teaching must be understood in the broader context of the
Churchs moral doctrine.