Theology of marriage - Research Paper Example

Theology of marriage The present paper aims to discuss the of marriage with reference to its role and significance in religious, social and cultural viewpoints. The main reason behind elaborating the topic under consideration includes its popularity as a primitive social institution, which has been ratified and supported by religious faiths and beliefs systems, as well as almost all political establishments at universal scale. The paper will also elucidate the types of marriages have been in vogue in various cultures, and the variation in respect of the rights and obligations appear in the wake of the individuals’ entering into marital knot with one another. The paper is also interested in defining the alterations the world has observed in the contemporary era in the structure and functioning of the institution of marriage, where cohabitation as well as same-sex civil rights, have also obtained the status of a legal marriage in recent years. Additionally, the paper will also discuss the causes and consequences of the unprecedented rise in the ratio of the break-up of marriages in modern era, which result into the permanent separation of the spouses in the form of divorce. Introduction: Marriage is rightly regarded to be one of the oldest social institutions, which exists in all human societies and cultures of the world without discrimination since the known history of human civilization. Hence, marriage certainly appears to be a universal phenomenon, which is widely accepted and observed in every part of the globe at large (Ember & Ember 2010). One of the most significant reasons behind its popularity includes its determining the specific mode for the fulfillment of the carnal desires in a prescribed manner, which is an essential part of all living organisms, particularly the humans and animals. Secondly, being the only legal and accredited source of reproducing the young ones, marriages are arranged in order to legitimize the sexual relationships between the individuals on the one hand, and for providing their young ones a respectable status in society as the product of lawful association between their parents on the other. Hence, marriage maintains direct relationship with religion and society since ever. Sociological Significance of Marriage: Another very prominent aspect of marriage phenomenon includes its great sociological significance in various aspects. Theorists are of the opinion that it is marriage that paves the way towards the formation of the most primary institution of society i.e. family (Macionis, 2007). It is family that portrays the dynamic and colorful picture of strong bondage between its members, and plays most imperative role in the nourishment, education and socialization of the individuals. In addition, the members of a family generally keep in touch with one another throughout their life, and provide one another financial and moral support at the hour of need. The entire blessings of family life are completely dependent of marriage, without which there could be no concept of family altogether. Hence, the maxim ‘men make houses, women make homes’ also relies upon marriage for the accomplishment of the same. Since family is the basic unit of a social establishment, and a happy domestic life ensures peace and solidarity in society, psychologist theorists particularly lay stress upon the devising of a social system that could strive for the creation of strong ties between the spouses for the peace and harmony of society at large. The religious teachings and dogmatism also declare decline of social values and increase in the anarchical sate of affairs in contemporary world as the outcome of disturbances in family life, and high increase of divorce rates, which pave the way towards tremendous increase in deviancies, perversion and committing of crimes and offences of various kinds. Family break-up and absence of father, according to Mendle et al. (2009), turn the girls insecure and unprotected; as a result, there are high probabilities of their entering into sexual relationships at very young age of life. Thus, the children of broken homes not only lead comparatively an imbalanced life, but also feel themselves as unsafe and unprotected throughout their life span. Hence, marriage and family provide the children with love, food, clothing, shelter and protection, and thus turns out to be highly supportive in developing a healthy and peaceful society subsequently. Consequently, no other social institution could be so powerful in respect of bestowing love, compassion and dedication upon the individuals in such a manner attributed to family, which is dependent of marriage actually for coming into existence. Relation between Religion and Marriage: The institution of religion not only lays stress upon making arrangements for the marriage and family life, but also explains the systematic ways for the conducting and execution of the same. A marriage, according to the Abrahamic faiths, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam, is the source of enjoyment and reproduction, which gives birth to domestic life, and hence increases the number of their followers subsequently. Abrahamic faiths seek the relationship between man and woman in their Scriptures, depicting the mythology of creation, where Almighty God had created Eve from the rib of Adam (Genesis 2:21-22), for the termination of his loneliness while his abode in the Eden Garden, as Almighty God has stated in the Bible in these words: “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” (Genesis 2:18) Consequently, the institution of marriage came into existence in the high heavens, even before man’s arrival on the earth. Thus, Adam and Eve had been the source of love and affection for each other, and their physical relationships paved the way towards the creation of the hundreds of thousands generations of human beings for the future centuries to come. Thus, it vehemently proves the very fact that man and woman not only complement each other, but also share the joys and sorrows and blessings and difficulties life offer to them. The Jewish teachings demonstrate the affectionate relationship between the patriarch couples, including Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Rachel, where these sacred couples maintained great love towards their respective spouses (Diamont, 2003). Similarly, the Islamic traditions reveal that the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his sacred spouse Khadija observed great respect and affection for each other. It is therefore, Khadija dedicated all her riches for the welfare of the needy as well as for the spread of Islam. She bought the poor converted slaves, and set them free in the name of Almighty God. In addition Ali and Fatima, the Prophet’s son-in-law and daughter respectively, also presented a role model of a ideal sacred couple (Syed, 2003). However, the institution of marriage is not confined to the followers of the Abrahamic faiths; on the contrary, people belonging to all tribes, creeds, clans, communities and cultures observe the same, though the manners and traits appear to be varying from one culture to the other. The ancient Greek mythological tales allude to the marriages of gods and goddesses with one another. Somehow, the ancient deities enter into matrimonial association without taking the relation with the other member into least consideration. For instance, Hera was the sister as well as spouse of the king of gods i.e. Zeus, and they had many children including Athena, Ares, Hephaestus, Hebe and others (Graves, 1990). Hence, there was no concept of incestuous restrains among the Greek deities, and marriage and union were regarded to be justified acts without taking blood relationships into concentration. Somehow, the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations did not allow such type of marriages to be taken place in society. Nevertheless, society used to discourage late marriages, and urge the citizens to enter into matrimonial relationship without undue delays on growing young. Somehow, incestuous marriages had been in vogue among the people of ancient Egypt and Rome, where the royalty is noted to be getting involved into sibling marriages. Incestuous marriages, Jones (2010) asserts, used to take place during the dynasties of various Egyptian Pharaohs. It was particularly common during the 18th and 19th Egyptian dynasties, where Pharaohs including Tao II, Ahmose, Amenhotep I, Thutmose I, Thutmose II, Thutmose III, Amenhotep II, and Thutmose IV probably married their half sisters. The same practice could also be observed while exploring the ancient Roman culture, where the people of Rome married their full sisters for almost two hundred and fifty years, and also raised their families out of these incestuous marriages. However, Roman law strongly imposed an absolute restriction on the close-kin marriages during the same era by declaring incestuous marriages to be vehemently sacrilegious ones in nature (Strong, 2012). The same was the case with the Abrahamic faiths, which strictly prohibit man’s marriage with mother, full and half sisters, grandmothers, real aunts and their niece altogether. Thus, there could be possibility of incestuous marriages according to the Mosaic and Muhammad laws. In addition, Abrahamic faiths strongly have belief in the marriages between the individuals belonging to opposite genders. The same tradition has also been in practice in other religions of the world too, where Hinduism, Buddhism and other belief systems also allow heterosexual marriages only, and there are no records of any tradition of same sex marriages. Eskridge (1993) seeks the origins of same sex marriages in the Roman Empire during 4th century, where two male lovers, Sergius and Bacchus, were punished to death for displaying the desire of getting married to each other. Moreover, traditions of same sex marriages in Zuni community belonging to southwestern Native American nation and Igbo tribes of present day east Nigeria have also been found by the anthropologists. Hence, Eskridge (1993:1419) noticed a politically influential man of celebrated Zuni Ihamana tribe named We’wha married a man during the nineteenth century. Similarly, a female of Igbo tribe Ifeyinwa Olinke also maintained the female husband to many women (Eskridge, 1993:1420). The desire for same sex marriages has also appeared during the latter half of twentieth century, where several countries of the world have granted same sex courting and gay cohabitations as the status of civil marriage. The ray of legitimizing gay and lesbian marriages got the attention of political authorities during the last decade of last century; as a result, over ten modern states of the world, including Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Iceland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Portugal, Mexico City, Spain, South Africa and others, have legalized same sex marriages, which have invited the displeasure of the religious circles to a great extent. On the contrary, Judaism, Christianity and Islam would not allow type of relationships, which not are absolutely unnatural ones, but could invite the wrath of God in the wake of them. They cite the horrible incident of the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:20), which were destroyed by Almighty God for openly practicing homosexuality at a massive scale. Since men and women are created for one another, the sexual gratification must be obtained by entering into straight sexual encounters between the legal husbands and wife from opposite genders, instead of seeking the same from homosexual practices. Furthermore, homosexual marriages are not only an outcome of temporary sexual arousal, due to the very reality that these feelings start fading away with the passage of time because of barrenness of the relationship. In addition, being a completely futile and sterile association, it cannot offer reproduction altogether to the homosexual couples. On the contrary, heterosexual marriages offer humans the chances of reproducing their progeny, and hence, man can live long in the world in the person of his children and grandchildren after his departure from the world as a result of death and expiration eventually. However, the Abrahamic faiths allow polygamy, where a man can marry to more than one woman at a time. The cultural studies signify the existence of different forms of marriages, which include bigamy, polygamy and polyandry. In case of bigamy, a male can keep two wives at a time as his spouse, while polygamy allows more than two wives at a time to male stratum as legal spouses (Ember & Ember, 2010). On the other hand, in case of polyandry, a woman keeps many husbands at a time, which is not a popular phenomenon, and hence is confined to few primitive and backward tribes and communities only including Tibet and India (Mead, 1930). Polyandry is forbidden according to the Biblical teachings (Leviticus, 20:10), according to which, no woman could be allowed to marry more than one man at a time. The institution of marriage, in the eyes of religion, is not only the source of the fulfillment of sexual desires and physical appetite; on the other hand, it also contains spiritual background in it, which unites the souls and hearts of the couple along with offering them physical pleasures as well. Marriage protects the couple from going astray by quenching the thirst of their sexual desires out of wed-lock, which may lead towards the spread of fornication and adultery in societies. Immorality and wickedness, according to Devlin (1965), weaken the foundations of a society, and promote conflicts, disorder and chaos in their wake. Since Almighty God does not allow people’s deviating from the right path of glory, He has decreed the commandment regarding the people’s entering into matrimonial relationships according to the manners prescribed in the Holy Scripture, for escaping the sinful life. Thus, sexual union beyond matrimonial status is an entirely a shameful and condemnable act in the eyes of the Lord. In addition, if men and women are allowed to enter into the unrestricted sexual encounters with anyone, no one could identify the fatherhood of the children born out of such immoral unions. Hence, the introduction of the people would be at grave jeopardy subsequently. As a result, the marriage produces new blood and legal relationships, and the children become the legal heirs of the belongings and properties of their parents. According to the researches, conducted on the causes of constant decline in family life, Popenoe (1999) argues that one of the most dominant reasons behind the failure of marriages in the modern era is the alterations have been made in respect of selecting the mate by the individuals themselves by negating the role of parents and elders in this regards. There was a time when the parents of bride and groom used to meet one another, and made suggestions for the possibility of entering of both the families into matrimonial association. It is therefore the couples feared the opposition of their elders provided they divorce each other. As a result, the mutual consultation of the elders aptly played influential part for the revocation of divorces and settling out the disputed matters between the couple. Hence, the experienced elders had acquaintance with the significance of the institution of marriage; it is therefore, they tried utmost to save a home from ruination at large. In addition, another hazardous trend challenging the continuity and popularity of the institution of marriage has appeared in the wake of cohabitation phenomenon in modern societies during the contemporary era. The studies reveal the bitter truth that the (immoral) cohabitations do not create the same feelings of love and devotion between the couples as it is attributed to the married people due to the very reality that living together does not make a family as well as the blessings married life bestowed upon humans. It is therefore, the married couples appear to be leading a more peaceful and tranquil life in comparison with those either living a life of celibacy or an immoral life without entering into marital-knot altogether (Lamb et al., 2003). One of the most effective reasons behind the married couples’ living happier than the singles, divorced and widowed etc appear to be because of the fact that the married couples develop the feelings of intimacy and mutual love for each other; consequently, they get worried on the sufferings of one another, and apply best methods to pacify and console each other at the eve of undergoing domestic, financial and professional difficulties on the one hand, and while experiencing emotional and sentimental collapses. Additionally, the spouses also take care of each other while one of them is ailing, and hence stand in the service of each other by considering it to be their moral duty and ethical obligation as well. Conclusion: To conclude, it becomes crystal clear that marriage serves as one of the most influential, dynamic and primary institutions of society, which seeks its roots in primitive cultures and civilizations on the one hand, and in the Holy Scriptures on the other. Being the most traditional institution, it is practiced by the subjects all over the world without any discrimination of class, community, clan, region, religion, race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status at large. There are various types of marriages, including polygamy, polyandry, bigamy and others. In addition, incest and same sex marriages also take place in some negligent and backward tribes. Nevertheless, heterosexual marriages are the most popular marriages all over the world, where one man and one woman enter into matrimonial relationship according to the statutes of prevailing law, moral values and religious cults. However, the marriage institution has witnessed decline during the modern era because of the popularity of love marriages, courting, cohabitations and high divorce rate. Somehow, another important reason behind family decline in present era is the women’s active participation in professional activities, which disturbs their domestic life because of the occurrence of imbalance in life. It not only has changed the entire scenario of conventional domestic life, but has also weakened the foundations of family in its wake (Popenoe, 1999). References Devlin, Lord Patrick (1965) The Enforcement of Morals Oxford University Press Diamont, Max I. (2003) Jews, God and History 2nd Edition New American Library Ember, Carol & Ember, Mervin (2010) Cultural Anthropology Pearson Eskringe Jr., William N. (1993) A History of Same Sex Marriages Yale Law School Legal Scholarship Repository Retrieved from Accessed on 11-12-2012 Jones, Ashley (2011) Incest in Ancient Egypt Retrieved from Accessed on 11-12-2012 Lamb, Kathleen A., Lee Gary R., & DeMaris, Alfred (2003) Union Formation and Depression: Selection and Relationship Effects Journal of Marriage and Family November 2003 pp. 953-962 Macionis, John J. (2007) Sociology 11th Edition Pearson Prentice-Hall Mead, Margaret (2001) Sex and Temperament: in Three Primitive Societies Harper-Collins Mendle, J., Harden, K. P., Turkheimer, E., Hulle, Carl A. Van., D’Onofrio, Brian M., Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne., Rodgers, Joseph L., Emery, Robert E., & Lahey, Benjamin B. (2009) Associations between Father Absence and Age of First Sexual Intercourse Child Development, September/October Volume 80, Number 5, pp. 1463–1480 Popenoe, David (1999) Can the Nuclear Family be revived? Society 36: pp. 28-30. Retrieved from http://www.csub.edu> Accessed on 11-12-2012 Ritzer, George. (2007) Modern Sociological Theory 3rd Edition McGraw-Hill Higher Education Strong, Anise K. (2010) Incest Laws and Absent Taboos in Roman Egypt Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/205164/Incest_Laws_and_Absent_Taboos_in_Roman_Egypt Accessed on 11-12-2012 Syed, Ameer Ali (2003) The Spirit of Islam Kessinger Publishing Read More