Download marriage and family revision guide part 1

Marriage and the Family
Christianity and Islam
Key Words
Adultery
Civil
Partnership
Cohabitation
A sexual act between a married person and someone other than
their marriage partner
A legal ceremony giving a homosexual couple the same legal
rights as the husband and wife
Living together without being married
Contraception Intentionally preventing pregnancy from occurring
Faithfulness
Staying with your marriage partner and having sex only with
them
Homosexuality Sexual attraction to the same sex
Nuclear Family Mother, father and children living as a unit
Pre marital sex Sex before marriage
Procreation
Making a new life
Promiscuity
Having sex with a number of partners without commitment
Re Where two sets of children 9step brothers and step sisters)
Constituted
become one family when their divorced parents marry each
family
other
Re – marriage Marrying again after being divorced from a previous marriage
Changing attitudes to marriage and family life
In the UK in the 1960’s , it was expected that young people only had sex when they were married, most
people married young, in church and for life. Families were a husband, wife and children (nuclear) and
homosexuality was a criminal offence
How the attitudes have changed:

Most people now have sex before marriage

Most couples now life together (cohabit) before marriage

The average age for marrying has increased

Most marriages do not take place in Church

Divorce is accepted and not frowned upon anymore

There are more single parent families

There are more re constituted families

Mothers are often in full time employment and so grandparents often look after the children

More children are brought up by cohabiting parents

Civil partnerships are now allowed and society treats homosexuals as equal

Some children are brought up by parents of the same sex
Reasons for the changes
Cohabitation and marriage
Divorce
Family Life
Effective contraception
makes it safer to have sex
before marriage
New laws have made
divorce much cheaper and
easier for ordinary people
The popularity of cohabitation
means that there are more
cohabiting families
Fewer people went to
church and were not
encouraged to keep sex until
marriage
Increased equality for
women means they are no
longer prepared to suffer
unequal treatment from
men
The increase in divorce has led
to more remarriage so there are
more reconstituted families
The media and celebrities
popularised cohabitation
The media and celebrities
popularised pre marital sex
Women no longer depend
on their husbands wages
People live longer
More mothers are in paid
employments so grandparents
look after the children
Society accepts unmarried
mothers
Homosexuality
Changed in the law made it
easier to be openly
homosexual so society are
more aware
Media coverage of gay
celebrities led to a greater
acceptance
The work of gay rights
organisations led to a
greater acceptance of
equal rights and
homosexuality is natural
Changing attitudes to sex outside marriage
Remember: Sex outside marriage is pre marital sex and adultery. Both Muslims and
Christians believe that sex outside marriage is wrong
Christian attitudes to sex outside marriage
God gave sex for the procreation of children who should be
brought up in a Christian family, so sex should only take place
within a marriage
The Bible says that sex outside marriage is sinful and
Christians should follow the Bible as the word of God
Catholic Christians should follow the teachings of the
catechism and they catechism says that sex outside marriage
is sinful
Islam and sex outside marriage
Sex before marriage is forbidden in the Qur’an and the
Qur’an is the word of God
The Shari’ah law says that sex should only take place in a
marriage
Islam teaches that sex is for the procreation of children
and this should only take place in a marriage
Adultery is condemned by God in the Qur’an
Adultery is a sin as it goes against one of the 10
commandments
Adultery breaks the marriage contract that both the
husband and wife have agreed to
Adultery will break the wedding vows which are promises
made in front of God
Adultery is likely to harm the family and harming the family
is condemned by both the Qur’an and the Sheridan law
Adultery is condemned by Jesus and Christians should follow
Jesus’ teachings
Remember from the other paper- Muslims will allow
capital punishment for adultery but often the punishment
is 100 lashes
Evaluation Questions
1. If you are asked to argue for and against allowing sex before marriage then you can use the following
arguments:
People who agree with sex before marriage are likely to say: Sex is a natural part of being in love and there is no
reason to wait for marriage, they may not be a religious couple, there are more modern forms of contraception
which means that there is less if a risk of pregnancy, sex outside marriage is now accepted by society
People who do not agree with sex before marriage will use the religious points above in the table
2. If you are asked to argue for and against cohabitation then you can use the following arguments:
People who agree with cohabitation are likely to say: It is a better way of getting to know your partner before you
marry them, it is cheaper than getting married, couples who cohabit can be just as happy as married couples,
cohabitation allows you to spend money on the home and children and not the wedding, you might not be religious
and so don’t believe in marriage
People who don’t agree are likely to say: Marriage is a gift from God, marriage is the only way children should be
brought up, the Bible teaches that sex should only take place in a marriage, statistics show married couples are more
likely to stay together than cohabiting ones, the Church teaches marriage is the basis of society
Christian attitudes to divorce
There are two attitudes to divorce in Christianity

Jesus taught that divorce was wrong and Christians should follow his
teachings

The couple
have made a promise with God that they will stay
Protectio
together until death parts them and this cannot be broken by man

The catechism teaches that a marriage cannot be resolved and so
religious divorce is impossible

There can be no re marriage as there can be no religious divorce, so
re marriage would be both bigamy (having more than one
husband/wife) and adultery

However if it can be proven that the marriage was never a true
Christian marriage then they can have an annulment which makes
them free to marry again
Attitude 2

Jesus allowed divorce for a partners adultery
Other Christians think that
divorce is wrong but allow
it if the marriage has
broken down and permit
divorced couples to re
marry. They are sometimes
asked to promise that this
time their marriage will be
for life.

If marriage has really broken down then the effects of the couple
not divorcing could be a greater evil than the divorce itself

If Christians repent (say sorry for their sins) then they should be
allowed a second chance

It is better to divorce than to live in hatred and argue all the time
Attitude 1
The Catholic Church does
not allow divorce or re
marriage and the only way a
marriage can be ended in
Gods eyes is through death.
However the Catholic
Church does allow civil
divorce if that will be better
for the children but the
couple are still married in
the eyes of God
Islam and Divorce
Divorce and remarriage are actually allowed in Islam but there are two different attitudes
amongst Muslims to it
Most Muslims will allow divorce because:
The Qur’an allows divorce and actually sets out the terms for
the custody of children and divorced wives AND THE Qur’an
is the word of God
The Shari’ah allows divorce and has many laws about how
divorce and remarriage should operate
Some Muslims will not allow divorce because:
Muhammad said that divorce is the most hated of all
things and Muslims must follow his example
Most Muslims marriages are arranged by the families and
so there is family pressure against divorce
Most Muslims believe that divorce is a lesser evil than
forcing a couple to live in hatred and bitterness
Many Muslims believe that they will be sent to hell if they
harm their children and divorce is likely to harm the
children
Marriage is a contract in Islam and contracts can be broken.
The contract states what will happen in the event of a
divorce
The Qur’an teaches that families should try and rescue the
marriage before they divorce and the Qur’an is the word
of God
Religious attitudes to family life
Why family life is important in Christianity
One of the main purposes of a Christian marriage is to have
children and bring them up in a Christian environment so
that they become good Christians
Christianity teaches that the family was created by God as
the basis of society and the only place to bring up children
Christian teachings on divorce shows that the family is too
important to be broken
Without a family, children would not learn the difference
between right and wrong
Family life is very important for Christianity to grow
However: Jesus taught that there were more important than
the family which is why Catholic priests, nuns and monks
leave their families and devote their lives to God (they also
never marry)
Why family life is important in Islam
Life is a test and Muslim parents will be judged on how
well they have brought their children up in their family. If
family life decides whether a Muslim will go to heaven
then it must be important
The Qur’an teaches that the family was created by God as
the basic unit of society and the only place where children
should be brought up and the Qur’an is the word of God
Muhammad had a family and was married and Muslims
must follow his example
Without a family, children would not learn the difference
between right and wrong
Family life is very important for Christianity to grow
Evaluation Questions
1. You will more than likely be asked to argue for and against equal rights to homosexuals
To argue for: The British law gives equal rights to homosexuals and this is a basic human right, medical
research has shown that homosexuality is genetic and therefore natural and so homosexuals should be
treated equally, the major Christian belief of love and acceptance is more important than condemning
someone for being homosexual
To argue against: The Bible condemns homosexual activity, it is the teaching of the Church that sex should be
for the procreation of children, Churches have always taught that homosexuality is wrong
2. There is also a strong possibility that you will be asked to argue for and against civil partnerships. This
has been on the news a lot lately)
To argue for: Civil partnerships allows commitment and equality and so it should be allowed, it enables
homosexuals to share their belongings, pensions etc in the same way as heterosexual couples, It is a good way
of encouraging faithfulness and love
To argue against: Christianity teaches that marriage is for the procreation of children, Christianity teaches
that marriages is given to a man and woman by God and not people of the same sex, any of the religious
arguments and any of the arguments you heard from the worst place in the world to be gay
Christian attitudes to contraception
There are two main attitudes amongst Christians to contraception
Attitude
What it is
The Catholic Attitude
The Catholic church has always
taught responsible parenthood
which involves deciding how many
children to have and when to have
them. However the Catholic way to
achieve this is through natural
family planning (such as the
withdrawal method) and not
through artificial contraceptives
like the pill and condoms
Why they believe this
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Pope Pius XI condemns all forms of artificial
contraception
Pope Pius XII declared that Catholics could use
natural methods of contraception
Pope Paul V1 stated that the only allowable
forms of contraception are natural methods –
his teachings have been confirmed in the
catechism of the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church that sex should be about
bringing people together to create new life
The Catholic Church believes that artificial
contraception leads to people being
promiscuous, broken families, divorce and
The non – Catholic
Christian Attitude

All forms of contraception are
allowed



sexually transmitted diseases
Christianity is about love and justice and
contraception improves women’s health and
raises the standards of living
God created sex for enjoyment and to
strengthen marriage so there does not have
to be the possibility of Children
There is nothing in the Bible that forbids it
It is the best way to combat STI’s such as HIV
Aids
Islam and contraception
All Muslims believe that they should have children, but there are different attitudes as to whether
contraception can be used to limit the number of children
Attitude
Some Muslims believe
that Contraception
should never be used
Some Muslims believe
that it is permitted for
Muslims to use
contraception to limit the
number of children
Why they believe this
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


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
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The Qur’an commands ‘you shall not kill your children for fear of want’
God created sex for having children
They are against abortion and believe that contraception is preventing a birth
They believe it is the duty of Muslims to have large families
There are several Hadiths which record the Prophet allowing contraception and
Muslims should follow his example
The Qur’an says that God does not place extra burdens of his followers and
contraception stops extra burdens
If pregnancy risks a mother’s health then contraception must be allowed as Islam
puts the mother’s life first
Muslim lawyers agree that contraception is different from abortion and so should be
allowed
Islam and Homosexuality
The Majority Attitude
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Homosexuality is condemned by the Qur’an and
the Qur’an is the word of God
The Prophet Muhammad condemned
homosexuality (said it was wrong) and Muslims
should follow his example
God says in the Qur’an that marriage between a
man and woman is the only lawful form of sex
Islam teaches that any sexual activity should have
the possibility of creating children
The Minority Attitude


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Islam is a religion of tolerance not a religion of
hatred
God created and loves all people whatever their
sexual orientation
Scientific evidence about homosexuality means that
God made some people homosexual

All Muslims should try and create a family and
homosexuals can’t do this
Christian attitudes to homosexuality
There are several attitudes to homosexuality in Christianity
Attitude 1: The Catholic Attitude
Being homosexual is not a sin but
homosexual sex is. The Catholic Church
asks homosexuals to live without sexual
activity.
The Church also believes it is a sin to
criticise or attack homosexual
behaviour
Attitude 2:
Some Christians believe that
homosexuality is a sin and that
homosexuals can be changed by the
power of the Holy Spirit
Remember the documentary ‘the
worst place in the world to be gay’
they had this view
Christian Attitude 3
Some Christians welcome
homosexuals into Church
and accept homosexual
relationships. Some liberal
Protestants provide
blessings for civil
partnerships
The Bible condemns homosexual activity and the Bible is the word
of God
The Church says that sex should be for the procreation of children
The Church teaches that people cannot help their sexual
orientation but can control their sexual activity
Discriminating against people because of their sexual orientation
is similar to racism which is a sin
The Bible says that homosexuality is a sin and the Bible is the
word of God
They believe that the salvation of Christ can remove all sins
including homosexuality
All Churches have taught that homosexuality is wrong (even
though some now say it isn’t)
They believe that Bible texts show belief at the time and not belief that
we should have now – it is outdated
A major Christian belief is love and acceptance and so homosexuals will
be accepted
It is a way of treating others the way you wish to be treated
It is a way of loving your neighbour
Many Christians feel that God will approve of homosexual relationships
and Christians should be encouraged to be open and truthful