Marriage and Family

SCL9
University of Santo Tomas
 Description
• This undergraduate Theology course provides a complete
understanding of marriage and family as a Christian vocation rooted in
the Catholic faith.
• This course focuses on marriage as a vocation to holiness and the
family as the institution willed by God to form faithful members of the
Church.
 Major Themes

I. Understanding the Family and its Current Challenges

II. Biblical and Theological Foundation of Marriage and Family
III. Education in Human Love
IV. Pastoral Response of the Church to the Issues affecting the family.
 Learning Outcomes:

The students are expected to:

Uphold the sanctity of marriage
promote the family as a domestic church
Become responsible Christians in discerning and making
decisions with regard to their vocation
 SOCIAL and CHRISTIAN
DIMENSIONS OF THE FAMILY

ENRIQUE M. JAMILLA

UST Institute of Religion

 ARTICLE XV
THE FAMILY
(1987 PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION)

The State recognizes the Filipino family as the

• Section 1.
foundation of the nation. Accordingly, it shall strengthen its
solidarity and actively promote its total development.

Marriage, as an inviolable social institution, is the

• Section 2.
foundation of the family and shall be protected by the State.
 ARTICLE XV
THE FAMILY
(1987 PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION)
• Section 3. The State shall defend:
• (1) The right of spouses to found a family in accordance with their religious convictions
and the demands of responsible parenthood;
• (2) The right of children to assistance, including proper care and nutrition, and special
protection from all forms of neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation and other conditions
prejudicial to their development;
• (3) The right of the family to a family living wage and income; and
• (4) The right of families or family associations to participate in the planning and
implementation of policies and programs that affect them.
• Section 4. The family has the duty to care for its elderly members but the State may also
do so through just programs of social security.
 THE FAMILY AS A UNIVERSAL SOCIAL
INSTITUTION

❑ There is no society, no matter the era in which it

functioned and has developed, in which family is
missing.
❑The family is the most common form of social
organization.
• Family is one of the most important social institutions.
• It is an important primary group in the society.
• Family is the most pervasive and universal social
institution.
• It plays a vital role in the socialisation of individuals.
• Family is regarded as the first society of human beings.
•It is known as the first school of citizenship.
•Family is the backbone of social structure.
•It occupies a nuclear position in society.
Family –
A “SOCIAL GROUP CHARACTERIZED BY COMMON
RESIDENCE, ECONOMIC COOPERATION, AND
REPRODUCTION. IT INCLUDES ADULTS OF BOTH
SEXES, AT LEAST TWO OF WHOM MAINTAIN A
SOCIALLY APPROVED SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP, AND
ONE OR MORE CHILDREN, OWN OR ADOPTED, OF
THE SEXUALLY COHABITING ADULTS”
– George Murdock
Social Structure. The MacMillan Company, New York, 1949.
• As a K. Davis defines, “Family is a group of
persons whose relations to one another are
based upon consanguinity and who are,
therefore, kin to one another”.

According to Burgess and Locke, “Family is a

group of persons united by the ties of
marriage, blood or adoption; consisting a
single household, interacting and
intercommunicating with each other in their
social roles of husband and wife, mother and
father, son and daughter, brother and sister
creating a common culture”.
According to Elliot and Meril, “Family is the
biological social unit composed of husband,
wife and children.

Biesanz writes “The family may be

described as a woman with a child and a
man to look after them”.

According to Maclver and Page, “Family is

a group defined by a sex relationship,
sufficiently precise and enduring to provide
for the procreation and upbringing of
children”.
Strictly defined, family consists of
parents and children. Its members
are more closely related to one
another through the process of
reproduction. It is a universal
institution found in every age and
in every society.
 Characteristics of Family

1. A Mating Relationship
2. A Form of Marriage
3. A Common Habitation
4. A System of Nomenclature
5. An Economic Provision
6. System of Interaction and Communication

Family: The Meaning, Features, Types and Functions

Puja Mondal
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/family/family-the-meaning-features-types-
and-functions-5230-words/8588
 Characteristics of Family

1. A Mating Relationship
A family comes into existence
when a man and woman establish
mating relation between them.

Family: The Meaning, Features, Types and Functions

Puja Mondal
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/family/family-the-meaning-features-types-and-functions-
5230-words/8588
 Characteristics of Family

2. A Form of Marriage
Mating relationship is established through the
institution of marriage. The society regulates
sexual behaviour between opposite sexes
through the institution of marriage. Through the
institution of marriage, mating relationship is
established. Without marriage family is not
possible. Hence, family is a form of marriage.

Family: The Meaning, Features, Types and Functions

Puja Mondal
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/family/family-the-meaning-features-types-and-functions-5230-
words/8588
 Characteristics of Family
3. A Common Habitation

A family requires a home or household

for its living.Without a dwelling place
the task of child-bearing and child
rearing cannot be adequately
performed. The members of a family
have a common habitation or household.

Family: The Meaning, Features, Types and Functions

Puja Mondal
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/family/family-the-meaning-features-types-and-functions-
5230-words/8588
 Characteristics of Family

4. A System of Nomenclature
Every family is known by a particular
name. It has own system of reckoning
descent. Descent may be recognized
through male line or through the mother’s
line. In patrilineal families descent is
recognized through male line. Similarly, in
matrilineal families descent is recognized
through mother’s line.
Family: The Meaning, Features, Types and Functions
Puja Mondal
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/family/family-the-meaning-features-types-and-functions-
5230-words/8588
 Characteristics of Family

5. An Economic Provision

Every family needs an economic

provision to satisfy the economic
needs. The head of the family
carries on certain profession and
earns to maintain the family.
Family: The Meaning, Features, Types and Functions
Puja Mondal
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/family/family-the-meaning-features-types-and-functions-
5230-words/8588
 Characteristics of Family
6. System of Interaction and Communication

The family is composed of persons who interact

and communicate with each other in their social
roles such as husband and wife, mother and
father, son and daughter etc.

It is important to mention that the family is

composed of persons united by ties of marriage,
blood or adoption. The family maintains a
common but a distinctive culture.
Family: The Meaning, Features, Types and Functions
Puja Mondal
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/family/family-the-meaning-features-types-and-functions-5230-
words/8588
 FOUR BASIC SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF A FAMILY:
(GEORGE MURDOCK)

• Sexual regulations –
• There is no society which leaves people to express their sexual behaviours as they
want, but there are a whole set of written and unwritten rules/norms that prohibit
certain ways of sexual behaviour.
• Family regulates and give better chance to the adult members to satisfy their
sexual needs and sexual behavior of the members is standardized.

• Reproduction-
• Each society needs new generations of young people to replace the old people.
• Reproduction provide the chance to give birth to the children. These children are
the nucleus of society and perpetuates human race.
 FOUR BASIC SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF A FAMILY:
(GEORGE MURDOCK)

• Economic cooperation -
• the family constitutes the basic economic unity. It has the role of satisfy the basic needs of its members,
which consist mainly in food, housing, health and comfort in general.
• Family provide its member the facilities and requirements of basic needs like food supply, house and
clothing. These things are to be provided by the family to its members.

• Socialization/education –
• Family is the primary agent of socialization. The socialization of a child depends on love and affection
which leads to personality development.
• If there is no love and affection, the children would be socially and mentally retarded.
• So, it is the basic institution which regulates these outstanding duties.
• It is the primary and basic school for a child to learn initial knowledge within it. It is the imparting place
of knowledge and learning. Child socialization takes place within it and thus has personality can be
developed.
 OTHER FUNCTIONS:

To provide affection, protection and emotional

support.

“The family is the best / adequate group to satisfy these needs and
that is because it is involved at all levels - biological, psychological
and social - but also because its primary group structure gives it a
huge advantage over the other agents of socialization.”
- IONUŢ ANASTASIU, Ph.D,
Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest
 DIMENSIONS OF THE FAMILY

❑ The Family is the smallest unit of the society, the basic

component fundamental to the life of the society.

❑ Society has to recognize its identity and to accept its

status as a subject in its organizational setup.
 DIMENSIONS OF THE FAMILY

• The family is the natural environment where

the first seeds of development are nurtured,
where the child, like sponge, absorbs
everything necessary for its growth.
• “The family is the first and most important natural community….it is the
place where the first interpersonal relationships develop. It is the
foundation of the society ; all social arrangements proceed from it.”
- DOCAT #114
 WHAT DOES THE FAMILY DO FOR SOCIETY?
• 1. Family is the place where the continuation of society is ensured.
2. The family performs the specific task of socializing and raising
children.
3. The family cares for all members of the household and offers them a
safe, private place in which to grow and relax.
4. The family provides loving care for household members who are sick
or handicapped or no longer able to earn money. - DOCAT #119
 WHAT CAN STATE AND SOCIETY DO FOR
FAMILIES?
• It is important for both society and the State to acknowledge the
family as something special and central and therefore to protect
and support its unique character. - DOCAT #132
CHRISTIAN DIMENSIONS OF THE FAMILY
FOUR GENERAL TASKS FOR THE FAMILY:

❑ forming a community of persons;

❑ serving life;
❑ participating in the development of society;
❑ sharing in the life and mission of the Church.
 “The family, which is founded and given life by love, in a
community of persons: of husband and wife, of parents and
children, of relatives…with love the family is not a
community of persons and, in the same way, without love
the family cannot love, grow and perfect itself as a
community of persons” (FC #18).
•The family is “the place
where one learns to live
and to belong to others,
and where parents
transmit faith to their
children.”
- Pope Francis
• Meeting with Engaged Couples at the Vatican,
• St. Valentine’s Day 2014
…the family, like the Church, ought to be a place
where the Gospel is transmitted and from which the
Gospel radiates…the future of evangelization
depends in great part on the Church of the home”
(FC #51-52).
The Family as a Domestic Church
 Family activity
Family life is Sacred is holy

Families have a Families are an

unique ministry evangelizing community

Four Cornerstones of the

The Family as a Domestic Church
 QUESTIONS FOR SHARING:

• 1. What does my family mean to me?

• 2.What is the greatest blessing that my family has received?
• 3. What is the most challenging thing my family has
experienced?
• 4. How did these experiences shape my family today?
 GROUP TASK FOR NEXT MEETING:

• Prepare a short presentation highlighting the realities

and challenges of a family and the joys and benefits
that a family provides to its members and to the society
in general.
(Max: 5 mins.)
Visit:
http://sirjamilla.jimdo.com
1. Identify the strengths and weakness of their family
2. How did they overcome their weaknesses?
3. What can they do to further strengthen their bond as a family?
4. With whose character can you identify yourself with?
5. With whose family can you identity your family with?
5. What lesson about life and family did you learn from the movie?
 FINAL QUESTION FOR REFLECTION:

What does your family mean to you and

what do you consider as your family’s
greatest blessing?
MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY (SCL 9)

MARRIAGE, FAMILY AND

THE SOCIETY

E. M. JAMILLA
UST INSTITUTE OF RELIGION
The marriage relationship is at the very heart of the moral fiber
of any people. Our nation is being vitally affected by what its
people are doing in regard to marriage.

The moral fiber of the nation cannot rise above its attitudes
and practices in marriage. The family is the basic unit of the
society. Once it is broken our nation will suffer.
It is estimated that the average child will spend,
between birth and twenty one, ninety two
thousand hours in the home; thus as the home
goes, so goes the nation.
Ave. of 12 hours /day X 365 days X 21 years =
91, 980 hours
An ancient proverb holds:

“If there is
righteousness within the
individual there will be
happiness within the
home; if there be
happiness within the
home there will be
harmony in the nation;
if there be harmony in
the nation there will be
peace in the world.”
 A civilization is
sound as the homes
that make up that
civilization are
sound; and a
civilization is weak
when the homes
that make up that
civilization are
weak.
“The stability of our social order depends upon the
basic institution of the home, and the stability of the
home depends upon the moral and spiritual
integrity of the husband and wife.” (Carl Spain)
 “People who
It will either
marry will, in
tend to
that marriage
integrate one’s
gain a little
personality
taste of
and help him
heaven or a
to be the kind
little taste of
of person he
hell. Marriage
should be, or
can either
else it will tend
degrade or
to disintegrate
elevate every
his
person who is
personality.”
involved in it. (Thomas Warren)
“The highest happiness on
earth is in marriage.
Every man who is happily
married is a successful
man even if he has failed
in everything else. And
every man whose
marriage is a failure is not
a successful man even if
he has succeeded in
everything else. “
William Lyon Phelps
 The atmosphere (love or hate) in which
children grow up will determine their
personalities. What happens in the home,
good or bad, will also vitally affect the lives of
parents, friends and other family members.
Marriage is the foundation of the family; and
the family is the basic unit of the society.

Any attack on marriage is an affront to the family;

any attack on the family is an attack to the society.
EXPERIENCES AND
CHALLENGES OF FAMILIES
Pope Francis
Amoris Laetitia
REALITIES
“Culture of the Ephemeral”
 The speed with which people move from one affective
relationship to another
 We treat affective relationships the way we treat objects and
the environment: everything is disposable!

AMORIS LAETITIA, 39
POPE FRANCIS
CULTURAL TENDENCIES TO SET NO LIMITS
ON A PERSON’S AFFECTIVITY

“A NARCISSISTIC, UNSTABLE OR UNCHANGEABLE

AFFECTIVITY DOES NOT ALWAYS ALLOW A PERSON TO
GROW IN MATURITY.”

CRISIS IN A COUPLE’S RELATIONSHIP DESTABILIZES

THE FAMILY AND MAY LEAD, THROUGH
SEPARATION AND DIVORCE, TO SERIOUS
CONSEQUENCES FOR ADULTS, CHILDREN AND
SOCIETY AS A WHOLE, WEAKENING ITS
INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIAL BONDS. Amoris Laetitia, 41
Pope Francis
The spread of pornography and the

commercialization of the body brought
about by misuse of the internet, and those
people who were forced into prostitution.

AMORIS LAETITIA, 41
POPE FRANCIS
Mentality against having
children resulting to decline in
population promoted by world
politics and reproductive
health.

AMORIS LAETITIA, 42
POPE FRANCIS
Weakening of faith
and religious practices
in some societies has
an effect on families
leaving them more
isolated amid their
difficulties.

AMORIS LAETITIA, 43
POPE FRANCIS
Lack of dignified or affordable
housing leads to postponement of
formal relationships.

 Present day economic situation is

keeping people from participating
in societies…more workdays are
long and oftentimes made more
burdensome by extended periods
away from home.

AMORIS LAETITIA, 44
POPE FRANCIS
 A great number of children are born
outside of wedlock, many of whom
subsequently grow up with just one of their
parents or in a blended or reconstituted
family.

 Sexual exploitation of children

AMORIS LAETITIA, 45
POPE FRANCIS
Migration is another sign of the times to be faced
and understood in terms of its negative effects on
family life.

AMORIS LAETITIA, 46
POPE FRANCIS
CHALLENGES FACING FAMILIES
 Families of persons with special needs

 Care for the elderly

AMORIS LAETITIA, 47-48

POPE FRANCIS
FAMILIES LIVING IN DIRE
POVERTY AND GREAT
LIMITATIONS
DUE TO THE NEED TO WORK, PARENTS
COME HOME EXHAUSTED, NOT WANTING
TO TALK, AND MANY FAMILIES NO
LONGER EVEN SHARE A COMMON MEAL.

AMORIS LAETITIA, 49-50

POPE FRANCIS
Drug use – as one of the scourges of our
time, causing immense suffering and
even break-up for many families.

 Alcoholism, gambling and other addictions

 Violence within families breeds new form of
social aggression
 Violence within the family is a breeding
ground of resentment and hatred in the
most basic human relationship.

AMORIS LAETITIA, 51
POPE FRANCIS
 Some societies still maintain the practice
of polygamy…in various countries,
legislation facilitates a growing variety of
alternatives to marriage.
 The strength of the family “lies in its
capacity to love and to teach how to
love. For all a family’s problems, it can
always grow, beginning with love.”
 Discrimination and violence against
women.

AMORIS LAETITIA, 53-54

POPE FRANCIS
Absentee Fathers
 The absence of a father
gravely affects family life and
the upbringing of children and
their integration into society.
 This absence, which maybe
be physical, emotional,
psychological, and spiritual
deprives children of a
suitable father figure.

AMORIS LAETITIA, 55
POPE FRANCIS
 Various forms of an ideology of gender that “denies the
difference and reciprocity in nature of a man and a
woman and envisages a society without sexual
differences, thereby eliminating the anthropological basis
of the family.
 Promotion of a personal identity and emotional intimacy
radically separated from the biological difference
between male and female.
 Biological sex and the socio-cultural role of sex (gender)
can be distinguished but not separated.

AMORIS LAETITIA, 56
POPE FRANCIS
Prepared by:
Enrique M. Jamilla
http://sirjamilla.jimdo.com
Additional Notes/Other Studies on
Families:
Top 10 Issues Facing Today's Family:

1.Anti-Christian culture
2.Divorce
3.Busyness
4.Absent father figure
5.Lack of discipline
6.Financial pressures
7.Lack of communication
8.Negative media influences
9.Balance of work and family
10.Materialism From: Survey conducted by LifeWay Christian Resources
https://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/dr-paul-j-dean/top-ten-issues-facing-families-1398624.html
 SCL 9
MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY

Basic Realities of Marriage

Prepared by:
E. M. JAMILLA
UST INSTITUTE OF RELIGION
 Marriage as a
Profound Human Reality

Marriage is a
human secular
reality but at the
same time tied
with the sacred,
thus, making it
also a sacred
reality.
 Marriage as a
Profound Human Reality

Marriage is
considered a
human institution,
at the same time a
divine institution.
 Marriage as a
Profound Human Reality

Marriage is ordinarily
understood as a
“state”, but this can
be better
appreciated if it is
also understood as
an “event” that
continues in the life
of married couple.
 Marriage as a
Profound Human Reality

Marriage as a union of a man and a

woman can be considered a contract
and yet its meaning is enriched in the
context of a covenant.
Marriage as a Profound Human Reality

Marriage is a deeply personal affair

between two persons in love and
yet it introduces the couple not only
to a human procreative community
but also to a greater community
affected by their marital life.
 It takes recognition and
understanding of the
various human and divine
facets of marriage to make
this covenant and personal
affair become what it
should be, the way GOD
planned:

a loving union of husband

and wife, parents and
children, in community
with God.
To see more of the class notes, visit my site:

http://sirjamilla.jimdo.com
EXPERIENCES AND
CHALLENGES OF FAMILIES
Pope Francis
Amoris Laetitia
REALITIES
“Culture of the Ephemeral”
 The speed with which people move from one affective
relationship to another
 We treat affective relationships the way we treat objects and
the environment: everything is disposable!

AMORIS LAETITIA, 39
POPE FRANCIS
CULTURAL TENDENCIES TO SET NO LIMITS
ON A PERSON’S AFFECTIVITY

“A NARCISSISTIC, UNSTABLE OR UNCHANGEABLE

AFFECTIVITY DOES NOT ALWAYS ALLOW A PERSON TO
GROW IN MATURITY.”

CRISIS IN A COUPLE’S RELATIONSHIP DESTABILIZES

THE FAMILY AND MAY LEAD, THROUGH
SEPARATION AND DIVORCE, TO SERIOUS
CONSEQUENCES FOR ADULTS, CHILDREN AND
SOCIETY AS A WHOLE, WEAKENING ITS
INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIAL BONDS. Amoris Laetitia, 41
Pope Francis
The spread of pornography and the

commercialization of the body brought
about by misuse of the internet, and those
people who were forced into prostitution.

AMORIS LAETITIA, 41
POPE FRANCIS
Mentality against having
children resulting to decline in
population promoted by world
politics and reproductive
health.

AMORIS LAETITIA, 42
POPE FRANCIS
Weakening of faith
and religious practices
in some societies has
an effect on families
leaving them more
isolated amid their
difficulties.

AMORIS LAETITIA, 43
POPE FRANCIS
Lack of dignified or affordable
housing leads to postponement of
formal relationships.

 Present day economic situation is

keeping people from participating
in societies…more workdays are
long and oftentimes made more
burdensome by extended periods
away from home.

AMORIS LAETITIA, 44
POPE FRANCIS
 A great number of children are born
outside of wedlock, many of whom
subsequently grow up with just one of their
parents or in a blended or reconstituted
family.

 Sexual exploitation of children

AMORIS LAETITIA, 45
POPE FRANCIS
Migration is another sign of the times to be faced
and understood in terms of its negative effects on
family life.

AMORIS LAETITIA, 46
POPE FRANCIS
CHALLENGES FACING FAMILIES
 Families of persons with special needs

 Care for the elderly

AMORIS LAETITIA, 47-48

POPE FRANCIS
FAMILIES LIVING IN DIRE
POVERTY AND GREAT
LIMITATIONS
DUE TO THE NEED TO WORK, PARENTS
COME HOME EXHAUSTED, NOT WANTING
TO TALK, AND MANY FAMILIES NO
LONGER EVEN SHARE A COMMON MEAL.

AMORIS LAETITIA, 49-50

POPE FRANCIS
Drug use – as one of the scourges of our
time, causing immense suffering and
even break-up for many families.

 Alcoholism, gambling and other addictions

 Violence within families breeds new form of
social aggression
 Violence within the family is a breeding
ground of resentment and hatred in the
most basic human relationship.

AMORIS LAETITIA, 51
POPE FRANCIS
 Some societies still maintain the practice
of polygamy…in various countries,
legislation facilitates a growing variety of
alternatives to marriage.
 The strength of the family “lies in its
capacity to love and to teach how to
love. For all a family’s problems, it can
always grow, beginning with love.”
 Discrimination and violence against
women.

AMORIS LAETITIA, 53-54

POPE FRANCIS
Absentee Fathers
 The absence of a father
gravely affects family life and
the upbringing of children and
their integration into society.
 This absence, which maybe
be physical, emotional,
psychological, and spiritual
deprives children of a
suitable father figure.

AMORIS LAETITIA, 55
POPE FRANCIS
 Various forms of an ideology of gender that “denies the
difference and reciprocity in nature of a man and a
woman and envisages a society without sexual
differences, thereby eliminating the anthropological basis
of the family.
 Promotion of a personal identity and emotional intimacy
radically separated from the biological difference
between male and female.
 Biological sex and the socio-cultural role of sex (gender)
can be distinguished but not separated.

AMORIS LAETITIA, 56
POPE FRANCIS
Prepared by:
Enrique M. Jamilla
http://sirjamilla.jimdo.com
Additional Notes/Other Studies on
Families:
Top 10 Issues Facing Today's Family:

1.Anti-Christian culture
2.Divorce
3.Busyness
4.Absent father figure
5.Lack of discipline
6.Financial pressures
7.Lack of communication
8.Negative media influences
9.Balance of work and family
10.Materialism From: Survey conducted by LifeWay Christian Resources
https://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/dr-paul-j-dean/top-ten-issues-facing-families-1398624.html
God’s Design for Marriage

Marriage and Family (SCL9)

E.M Jamilla
UST Institute of Religion
 Marriage in the Bible
Genesis Accounts of Creation:

• Genesis Chapter 1: Priestly Account

• Genesis Chapter 2: Yahwist Account
 Genesis Chapter 1:

• V.27. So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
• V.28. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and
increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the
fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living
creature that moves on the ground.”
 It reveals the PROCREATIVE dimension of
marriage:
“Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth
and subdue it. (Gen. 1: 28)

One purpose of marriage is procreation or the

building of a family.
• This procreation is only
possible between a man and
woman.
“male and female he created
them…” Gen. 1:27

Complementarity of the sexes

v7. The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the
ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,
and the man became a living being.
v18. The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be
alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
v21. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep
sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the
man's ribs† and closed up the place with flesh.
v22. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib† he
had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the
man.
v23. The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”
v24. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother
and be united to his wife, and they will become one
flesh.
God gifted man with the gift of
sexuality.
“It is not good for the man to
be alone. I will make a helper
suitable for him.” Gen. 2: 18

GIFT OF SEXUALITY
A response of God to man’s
longing to be with another
v23. The man said,
“This is now bone of
my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called
‘woman,’
for she was taken out
of man.”
v24. For this reason a
man will leave his
father and mother
and be united to his
wife, and they will
become one flesh.
UNITIVE DIMENSION
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh…” Gen
2:23
This verse reveals to us the
UNITIVE dimension of
marriage.
Marriage is meant to unite the
man and the woman and bind
them into one.
“For this reason a man will leave
his father and mother and be
united to his wife, and they will
become one flesh.” Gen. 2:24
Character: Exclusive and Permanent
 Original Human Experiences
(Theology of the Body by Pope John Paul II)

• Original Solitude
• Original Unity
• Original Nakedness
• Original Sin
 Original Unity

• Alone with another

human being
• Created to be
relational
• Capacity to give and to
receive
 Original Nakedness

• Symbolizes
freedom
• Openness
• Intimacy
• Absence of
disordered
passions
Before original sin
Order and Harmony
 Man- God =
intimacy and
openness
 Man-woman =
mutual attraction
and love
 Man-rest of
creation= respect
and care
 Original Sin
 Temptation of the serpent
 The desire to be like God
 Disobedience
 Abuse of Freedom
 Pride
 Arrogance
 Guilt and shame
 Original Sin
 they realized they were
naked
 they hid and tried to
cover their naked bodies
 Nakedness symbolizes
now shame and guilt
 malice entered the scene
 mutual attraction and love
turned into domination and
lust
original nakedness was lost
 Original Sin
 they hid from God and covered
their naked bodies
 man felt the guilt of
disobedience
 instead of accepting the
responsibility, man blamed the
woman
 the woman, in turn, put the
blame on the serpent
 break in the relationship and
communication
 original order and harmony
were disturbed
 original unity was lost
 Original Sin
 pride caused man to desire
more than what he ought to be
 it led to the abuse of freedom
 pride and arrogance
prevented man from humbly
admitting his mistakes
 guilt and shame led them to
leave the garden of Eden
 man’s intimacy with God, with
the woman and with rest of the
world was affected
 Original solitude was lost
 Consequences of the Fall of Man
Before After
• Mutual attraction and • Domination and lust
affection • Emergence of Sexual
Hierarchy
• Woman • Pain in childbirth
• Man • Needs to work and to till
the soil to have something
• Serpent to eat
• Will crawl on his belly and
eat the dusts of the ground
 Consequences of the Fall of Man
Relationship between the man and the woman
• Sexual hierarchy led to the domination of man over the
woman
• Woman would assert her right and try to rule it over the
man
• It led to the mixing and interchanging of gender roles as
a result of their confused understanding of their
respective roles
• Emergence of confused sexual identity and behaviors
• Continuous struggle and rivalry between the man and
the woman.
 God’s original plan and design for marriage was affected by man
and woman’s disobedience of God.
By his refusal to acknowledge God’s plan of love , man severed his
relationship with God and thus lived his life outside His grace .

All future generations especially in the area of marriage and

family would experience the effect of this damaged relationship
causing heartaches, sufferings, separations , brokenness and even
death.