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
Catholic attitudes to death
• do not believe death is the end
• believe in eternal life because Jesus defeated death by resurrecting
• death is the beginning of a new life because St Paul says ‘I declare to you that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God’
• ‘we will not all sleep: but we will be changed’ - therefore death is not the end of life but a change to life
• St Paul says, ‘Death, where is your sting?’ - no pain or end, it has no victory
• ‘Those who believe in me will live even though they die’ - John 11:25
• Catholics hope to go to heaven and spend eternity with God
• cannot accept euthanasia
• prepare to die at the end of their lives through: palliative care, praying for the sick, anointing of the sick
Roman Catholic attitude to divorce
• doesn’t allow for divorce or remarriage because they have made a promise to God
• does allow for annulment
• wedding vows are a sacrament, therefore solemn vow which cannot be undone
• in cases of violence, can allow for separation but hope for reconciliation because ‘what god has put together, let no man separate’
Protestant view on divorce/remarriage
• divorce is wrong, but sometimes maybe the ‘lesser of two evils’
• allows in some circumstances
• remarriage is possible at the discretion of individual, churches and ministers
• however, may not agree - ‘anyone who divorces his wife , except for sexual immorality, and marries another… commits adultery’ - Matthew
Changes in society
• divorce reform act - cheaper, easier to obtain - no need to prove ‘fault’
• ‘irretrievable breakdown’
• before 1969 - expensive and frowned upon, led to isolation
• 28,000 - 155,000 in numbers
What is annulment?
Legal procedure which erases a marriage as if it didn’t occur. It usually take place in the first year of marriage. Your marriage would have to be voidable or invalid, e.g.
one of you was already married
it was not consummated
your spouse was pregnant by someone else when you married
Mark 10:6-12 on divorce
‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her’
‘A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two become one flesh’
‘What God has joined together, let no man separate’
Issues raised by interfaith marriage
• what should children be told about death/the after life? (Should not be taught anything until they decide)
• what if partners have different beliefs about moral issues, eg contraception? (discuss what they are/aren’t comfortable with, compromise)
• what if families and religious communities refuse to accept the marriage? (Have an open discussion and try to compromise)
• what if their are different expectations about gender roles? (Have discussions about what they are comfortable with)
• how can religious dietary rules be followed in the home? (Try each others food, or follow their own diets)
• which festivals should the family celebrate? (Try and be open to celebrating both)
• which religious should the children be raised in? (Try both or stay neutral until they decide)
‘Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit’
• therefore casual sex is wrong - promiscuity is frowned upon
Christian attitudes to adultery
• marriage is sexually exclusive and should not be shared with anyone else
• seen as a sin - but Jesus can forgive sin
• Ten Commandments forbid adultery - ‘Thou shall not commit adultery ‘
• breaks marriage vows to God of faithfulness
• destroys special relationship between husband and wife
• doesn’t model the faithfulness Christ has for the church
• marriage is a sacrament in the Catholic Church
• gift from God in all churches
• adultery does against this
Patriarchal
A society or family controlled by men
Matriarchal meaning
A society or family controlled by women
Gender equality
People of all genders enjoying the same rights and opportunities in all aspects of their lives.
Patriarchal family
• men are the bread makers - go to work and earn money
• do physical jobs around the house
• women do cooking, cleaning, ironing, looking after husband and children
• women are expected to have children and look after them
• women don’t go to work
Family equality in other religions
• Sikhism - women and men are equal in every aspect
• Hinduism - both have different but complementary roles
Matriarchal family
• women work to make money and support the family
• men stay at home and look after children, cook and clean, do school run etc
Women SHOULD be equal in all aspects of the church community
• St Paul’s letter - women are crucial - message to the Romans that we should value women equally
• sister Phoebe had a letter sharing life teaching/news of Jesus in Rome
• you could argue that Mary and Martha were female disciples
• in early Christian history, there was an egalitarian take of who should lead - Fresco from the 2nd century shows women priests and ordained priests
• when Romans adapted Christianity, they used it to lead soldiers - so stripped women of power
• faith relied on women in early Christian history
Reasons why women should not be equal in all aspects of church community
• believe ‘men’ were made in the image of God - therefore must be a man to be a priest
• not in the nature of a woman to be a priest
• Roman Catholics believe women cannot be priests
• Holy Communion is carried out by men because Jesus was a man, so replicating this
SOW that support women having an equal role in the church
• ‘there is neither male or female… for you are all one in Jesus Christ’ (Galantians 3:28)
• ‘woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as women came from man, so also man is born of woman’ - (1 Corinthians 11b-12a)
SOW that do not support equal roles of women in church
• ‘wives, submit to your husband as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Church’ (Ephesians 5:22-23)
• ‘a woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve’ (1 Timothy 2:11-13)
Importance of family for Christians
• family is important because God created Adam and Eve to be a family unit
• they also see everyone in the world as a family because God created everyone. Jesus died for everyone on the cross
What is vocation?
Some Christians believe they should put god first and so don’t have a family life - they spend their time worshipping God. They can be: Monks or Nuns. Catholic priests do not marry so that they can devote their lives to their parishioners.
Women priests
Salvation Army allow both men and women to be leaders
Story of Martha and Mary shows that Jesus was willing to teach women. Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene first when he rose from the dead
