LESSON 6: THEOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING AND CHRISTIAN DIMENTIONS OF MARRIAGE
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STUDY
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• Is sexual intimacy important in marriage?
Sex should not equate to love in the married relationship
and being intimate should go beyond having sexual
RESEARCH
desires and physical contact. There are many
alternatives to sexual monogamous relationships
wherein the couple is given an opportunity to discover
new interests and be able to build and strengthen
emotional connections with each other.
ANALYSIS
The Theological Perspective on Marriage
What are the three main points that you have learned
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Augustine, the bishop of Hippo in Africa, lived from 354
to 430 AD. Before becoming a well-known doctor of the
Church, he was once a Manichean who believed that the
body was created by evil and therefore also evil, though it
holds a certain amount of goodness. After he converted
to the Catholic Faith and his eventual election as the
Bishop of Hippo, he wrote several treatises on marriage
wherein he defines the good of marriage namely: fides,
proles, and sacramentum—fidelity, procreation, and
sacrament.
The Three Goods of Marriage – Augustine:
(1) FIDELITY or FIDES
• Fidelity refers to a man or a woman remaining loyal and
exclusive to their spouses
• Fides or fidelity is the good of marriage whereby the
couple remains faithful to each other as well as offer
mutual service to each other.
• Augustine wrote: Furthermore, in performing their duty
to each other, even if this is claimed somewhat
excessively and without restraint, husband and wife have
a duty of fidelity to each other.
• Acknowledgment that in marriage, one’s body no longer
belongs to one’s self but rather belongs to the spouse is
to acknowledge surrendering one’s self to other.
Even though fides weigh heavier than proles, Augustine
notes that proles, or procreation is the first and foremost
good of marriage because it necessitates the continuation
of humanity.
(2) PROCREATION or PROLES
• Procreation refers to the introduction of children into the
world where they are nurtured and educated in the faith
• The importance of procreation in marriage is further
explained that procreation is the primary purpose of
intercourse.
• Matrimonium which highlights the role of motherhood
and give precedence to matrimony preparing the couple
for the duties of parenthood.
• A marriage without a child does not lose its character
and retains its full value as an institution.
(3) SACRAMENT or SACRAMENTUM
• Sacrament refers to the indissolubility of the union of
spouses.
• Sacramentum asserts the indissolubility of marriage as
well as the monogamous reality of the married
relationship. Augustine further explains that entering into
the marriage contract is a matter of such sacredness that
it is not annulled by that separation.
• Augustine further explains that entering into the
marriage contract is a matter of such sacredness that it is
not annulled by that separation.
• Augustine affirms marriage as something which is so
sacred that it cannot be dissolved even by physical
separation in as much as even if the couple no longer live
together.
• Sacramentum – visible sign of a hidden reality.
• The spiritual reality is revealed to the couple through the
sacramentality of marriage where the couple is given a
visible reminder of the union of Christ with His Church.
Three Goods of Matrimony according to St. Thomas
Aquinas:
(1) The first is that it is a function of nature in the sense
that it is ordered to the production and education of
offspring.
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LESSON 6: THEOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING AND CHRISTIAN DIMENTIONS OF MARRIAGE
(2) The second good is that it is remedy for desire which
is restricted to a definitive person and this good is called
fidelity.
(3) The third good is called the sacrament in as much as
it signifies the union of Christ and the Church.
Aquinas believes that since man is a rational creature, he
can identify things that can make him happy and thus,
pursue them, seeing them as ends and goods. He believes
that it cascades to marriage, giving it a certain rational
order, as a person is naturally inclined to choose certain
ends, like procreation which in turn fosters the
preservation of humanity.
The Procreative End of Marriage
• For Thomas Aquinas, the good of marriage namely,
proles do not merely pertain to the continuation of the
species but rather, a more meaningful one or as he would
call bonum prolis: the education of children
• First, as concerns its principal end, which is the good of
offspring: for nature does not intend only their generation,
but their upbringing, and their advancement to the perfect
state of man as man, which is the state of virtue.
The Unitive End of Marriage
• According to Aquinas, marriage does not only occur
among men for the procreation and nurturing of children
but also for the consortium of a shared life for the sake of
sharing the labors.
• With the idea of shared life in mind, Aquinas presents
that the second end of marriage supports the first end
wherein the parents seek to store up treasures for their
children who are their common good.
• Aquinas emphasizes the cooperation of the couple in
rearing the child and how it endures in their lifetime.
The apostle Paul gives insight regarding the role of sex in
marriage that could be of help regarding sexless
marriages: “Now for the matters you wrote about: “It is
good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”
But since sexual immorality is occurring, each man should
have sexual relations with his own wife, and each woman
with her own husband.
The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and
likewise the wife to her husband. The wife does not have
authority over her own body but yields it to her husband.
In the same way, the husband does not have authority
over his own body but yields it to his wife.
Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual
consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves
to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not
tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I say this
as a concession, not as a command. I wish that all of you
were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God;
one has this gift, another has that.” (1 Corinthians 7-9)
First, the apostle recognizes the importance of sexual
intimacy in marriage when he mentioned the need of the
husband and wife to have sexual relations with each other
as a means of fulfilling their “marital duty.”
This makes sex not just an end result of the relationship
of the couple but also a binding factor in their relationship
as well. With this in mind, sex becomes not only a part of
the procreative end of marriage but also of the unitive end
as well.
Second, Paul reminds us of Genesis that mentions man
and one becoming one body. Paul reiterates this by saying
that both man and woman in married relationship have
ownership over the sexuality and fertility of each other. He
acknowledges the natural sexual urges that come within
the relationship and reminds both couples to always seek
and be mindful of each other’s consent.
Augustine affirms Paul’s teaching when he stated: “Not
only do marriage people owe each other the fidelity of
sexual intercourse for the sake of procreation…They also
owe each other a sort of mutual service for the sustaining
of each other’s weakness, so that they may avoid illicit
intercourse. As a result, even if one of them would prefer
to adopt perpetual continence, it is not permitted without
the consent of the partner…
But while continence has greater merit, it is no sin to pay
the conjugal debt; and although to demand it beyond the
need for procreation is a forgivable fault, certainly
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LESSON 6: THEOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDING AND CHRISTIAN DIMENTIONS OF MARRIAGE
fornication and adultery are crimes that must be punished.
Therefore, the charity of marriage must be careful that, in
seeking greater honor for itself, it does not incur a
situation in which a spouse incurs damnation.”
Augustine, De bono Coniugali 6-7

Thomas Aquinas, affirms the words of Augustine in his

commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians:
“Hence it should be noted that the conjugal act is
sometimes meritorious and without any mortal or venial
sin, as when it is directed to the good of procreation and
education of a child for the worship of God; for then it is
an act of religion; or when it is performed for the sake of
rendering the debt, it is an act of justice. But every
virtuous act is meritorious if it is performed with charity.

Dimensions of Marriage:
(1) MARRIAGE AS A CONTRACT
Marriage is a special contract of permanent union
between a man and a woman entered into in accordance
of the law for the establishment of conjugal and family life.

(2) MARRIAGE AS A COVENANT

Unlike a Contract which binds the couple to the law and
upon the agreed upon terms, Covenant entails a deeper
layer of trust, love, and consent between the couple. This
covenant between husband and wife mirrors the covenant
God made with His people.

(3) MARRIAGE AS A SACRAMENT

Sacraments are sensible signs, instituted by Christ which
confer grace. Marriage becomes a Sacrament through the
mutual self-giving and acceptance of the couple which in
turn reflects the love of God to people around the couple.
They become a sacrament reminding people of the
presence of Christ. The one who instituted the sacrament
of marriage.

(4) MARRIAGE AS A VOCATION

Marriage is a call by God to join him in the creative act of
bringing new life into the world. It is a call to also join God
in being a steward, not just a co-creator but to also guide
this new life and affect goodness in the world.

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