Relationships Flashcards
Important qualities for Christians when looking for love
• wants a partner that also prioritises Jesus
• don’t like any explicit behaviour (before marriage)
• they believe if they ask then God will give them the right partner
• wants another Christian partner
What is a sacrament?
An outward sign of an inward change change that involves God’s blessing, e.g. marriage, baptism
Christian wedding traditions
• Biblical readings during service
• Usually takes place at a church
• Make vows of faithfulness to their partner
• Bride wears white to show she is pure
• Prayers said to ask for God’s blessing
• Given rings to symbolise eternity
Purpose of vows during a Christian wedding
Reflect commitment and faith, promise is a promise to God too - therefore, dislike divorce because it breaks the promise to God
How many people have a religious wedding?
Halved over the last 20 years
Teachings about Christian weddings
• phrase used in services - ‘what God has joined together, let no man put asunder’ - means marriage is a lifelong service and should not be undone
• church teaches that marriage is a ‘gift of God in creation’ - marriage mirrors the relationship between Jesus and his church as the Church cannot exist without Jesus (‘for better or for worse’)
• ‘but at the beginning of creation, God made then male and female. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother to be United to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’ - Mark 10:6-8
Christian beliefs about marriage
• basis for creating an environment children can be born into
• not having children goes purpose of marriage
• lifelong commitment
• divine bond blessed by God
What is premarital sex?
• Sex that takes place before marriage
What is chastity?
Choosing not to have sex before marriage - sex as a gift for married couples
Responsibility
Actions or duties you are expected to carry out
Celibacy
The decision not to have sex, to remain celibate e.g. monks to a vow of celibacy
Purpose
The purpose of sex is to procreate and to express love between a married couple
Maturity definition
Being able to understand the emotional value of sex and responsibilities that come with it.
Promiscuity definition
Having more than one sexual partner
Commitment
A sense of dedication and obligation to someone or something, e.g. marriage partner
Christian attitudes to sex/marriage (1950s)
• 65% of people married in a church
• if born out of wedlock, referred to as a ‘bastard’ - outcast from society, stigma
• save sex for marriage (usually married by 25)
• Christian teachings believe that pre-marital sex is wrong because it goes against the message of the Ten Commandments (thou shall not commit adultery)
• ‘a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife and they become one flesh’ - Adam and Eve were created for each other because ‘it is not good for man to be alone’
Purpose of sex
• unitive and creative
• marriage also - why they come hand in hand
• believes God created sex for the joy and pleasure and bond of a marriage
• couple is united in love/faith
• cannot be separated (believed in Catholicism)
Christian attitudes to sex/marriage (2010s)
• 2010 - only 35% have church weddings
• 2010s - 97% have pre-marital sex
• 80% have more than one sexual partner (promiscuous)
• 2010s - most marriages at 32
Adultery definition
Voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not their spouse
Divorce definition
• to legally end a marriage
Cohabitation definition
To live together in a sexual relationship, without being married, or in a civil partnership
Contraception definition
Methods used to prevent a woman from becoming pregnant during or following sexual intercourse
Gender equality definition
People of all genders enjoying the same rights and opportunities in all aspects of their lives
Roles definition
Position, status or function of a person in society, as well as the characteristics and social behaviour expected of them
Roman Catholics attitudes towards contraception
• Against contraception because separates unitive and creative purposes of sex
• Contraception leads to sexual promiscuity , which lead to other problems (e.g. STI, broken families, unwanted children)
• Believes artificial contraception is morally wrong
• Believes it is like an early abortion (morally worth£
• Catholics for choice - agree with contraception - however most disagree
C of E attitudes towards contraception
• Believe contraception can be used responsibly
• Believe sex can be just unitive, doesn’t have to be joined to creativity all the time
• Bible doesn’t forbid use of contraception, so it is an issue of conscience and interpretation
• Artificial contraception can reduce spread of STIs, like HIV and AIDS
What is contraception?
A method used to prevent a couple from becoming pregnant, during or after sex. They may be natural or artificial
Beliefs about the pill
• taken orally, this releases hormones into the woman’s blood stream to prevent ovulation
• teaching which supports this - Christians believe that God gave us free will to use our conscience and decide what is right
• teaching to oppose - Roman Catholics believe you should not interfere with what is natural
Attitudes to the coil
• Fitted into the woman’s womb to prevent a fertilised egg form attaching to the lining of the womb. It can also release hormones to prevent ovulation
• Teaching to support - Christians believe that God gave us free will, intelligence and creativity to use their conscience to decide what is right
• Teaching to oppose - Roman Catholics believe that you should not interfere with what is natural
Attitudes to the rhythm method
• A couple work out the most and least fertile days of the woman’s menstrual cycle
• teaching to support - Roman Catholics believe that you should not interfere with what is natural and creates children.
• teaching to oppose - Christians believe that God gave us free will, intelligence and creativity to use their conscience to decide what is right
Attitudes about condoms
• Placed over a man’s penis to stop any sperm from the entering the woman
• supports - sex is an expression of love between a husband and wife - C of E believe this because sex is a gift of God
• opposes - Roman Catholics believe that every sperm is sacred and contraception is a moral issue/seen as wrong by Catholic Church.
Attitudes about sterilisation
Oppose - Roman Catholics believe the main point of sex is procreation
What is meant by roles?
Position, status or function of a person in society, as well as the characteristics and social behaviour expected of them
Leviticus and same sex relationships
• banned
• having sex with a man if you are a man - both put to death
Protestant view towards sex before marriage
• believe in chastity
• believe sex is a sacred act blessed by God and should be reserved for a marriage
• ‘your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit’ - see casual sex as wrong
• so some take a vow of chastity
What is the humanist view towards sex before marriage?
• think is unrealistic to wait until after marriage
• fact to support - not everyone can afford to get married today, which might influence them to feel they do not need a legal ceremony to show their commitment to their partner
• more realistic in a secular society
Heterosexuals definition
A person who is attracted to people of the opposite sex to themselves
Homosexual definition
A person who is attracted to people of the same sex
Homophobia definition
When someone discriminates against people because of their sexuality
Why do people have different attitudes towards sexuality?
• your own sexuality
• schools
• up-bringing
• preachers and protesters
• political influence
• environment/country
• lack of education or understanding
• influence of media
• TV
• social groups
Catholic Attitudes towards same-sex marriage - bible teachings and quotes
• Homosexual practise is forbidden in the book of Leviticus, ‘If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death’
• saint paul’s letters in the bible, condemns homosexuality as unrighteousness and claims men who practise it will not inherit God’s Kingdom
• Catholics prohibit same-sex marriage because they believe sexual relations should only exist between a man and a woman - homosexuality is against Natural Law
Anglican attitudes to same sex marriage
• Does not believe they should take place in a church, however dime clergyman may perform blessings
Quotes against same sex marriage
• God made Adam and Eve to ‘go forth and multiply’
• ‘law is made for lawbreakers and rebels - for those practising homosexuality’ - Timothy
Quotes supporting homosexuality
• ‘Jesus showed love, compassion and kindness to those around him’ - New Testament
• ‘To reject someone on the ground of their sexual behaviour is a denial of God’s creation’
Types of families
• nuclear - a mother, father and children
• single parent - one parent with children (due to separation)
• same sex - parents of the same sex
