I don't know whether this will help answer your question, but consider that the Catholic Church teaches that Sacramental Marriage builds on natural marriage. So it didn't acquire it's "definition" when it was elevated to sacramental dignity (in the sense of a specific ritual content); it has always had its basic definition, which is knowable to natural reason.
Cardinal Carlo Caffara, one of the 5 traditionalist or "anti-Kasper" cardinals who wrote that famous book, makes this essential point:
Link to SOURCE, about 2/5 of he way down the page.
"The first dimension of the anthropological question is the following: it is well known that according to Catholic teaching the sacrament of marriage coincides with natural marriage. I think that there can no longer be any theological doubt about the coinciding of the two... "Now what the Church meant and means by “natural marriage” has been demolished in contemporary culture. If I may put it this way, the “matter” has been removed from the sacrament of marriage. "Theologians, canonists, and pastors are rightly asking about the faith-sacrament relationship of marriage. But there is a more radical problem. Those who are asking for sacramental marriage, are they capable of natural marriage? Has there been such devastation, not of their faith but of their humanity, that they are no longer capable of marriage?" |
This is stunning. Caffara says that we are not only losing our marital "sacramentality," we are losing our humanity. The human, natural aspect of marriage has been eroded right out of the culture.
Thank you. The quote and your link were both very informative and helpful in putting Catholic teaching on marriage into context. By starting with Sacramental marriage, I was getting ahead of myself and not starting at step one.
As far as I know, all Christian churches have a history of defining marriage based upon natural marriage at least until recently. Rule changing denominations seem to deny that step one, natural marriage, is compelled by the Faith. I suppose my question with respect to protestant theology has to do with the importance of marriage, if it is not elevated to a Sacramental level. The Apolstles’ and Nicene Creeds don’t address marriage, so I assume the marriage question is at least one step down from what it means to be Christian.
If the consequence is living in the condition of sin, is there anything making that different from others who sin? I suppose denying the condition of sin can impair reconciliation, but reconciliation isn’t a protestant sacrament either. (Yeah I know, I’m stuck on the Sacraments today).