From Sacrament to Contract: Marriage, Religion, and Law in the Western Tradition

by John Witte Jr.

This newly revised and enlarged edition of John Witte's authoritative historical study explores the interplay of law, theology, and marriage in the Western tradition. Witte uncovers the core beliefs that formed the theological genetic code of Western marriage and family law. He explores the systematic models of marriage developed by Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists, Anglicans, and Enlightenment thinkers, and the transformative influence of each model on Western marriage law. In addition, he traces the millennium-long reduction of marriage from a complex spiritual, social, contractual, and natural institution into a simple private contract with freedom of entrance, exercise, and exit for husband and wife alike.

This second edition updates and expands each chapter and the bibliography. It also includes three new chapters on classical, biblical, and patristic sources.

Genres: Theology, History, Marriage, Law, Cultural, Family

411 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 1997

About the author

John Witte Jr. (b.1959) is the Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law and Ethics, Alonzo L. McDonald Distinguished Professor, and Director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University (Atlanta, GA).

Professor Witte specializes in legal history, religious liberty, and marriage law.

Reviews

[Eleanor Rice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Witte gave an excellent and clear analysis of how marriage has gone from being perceived as a religious sacrament to what we see as a mere status update. How can Christians work to redeem marriage if we don't know what it is and how we got here?

[Mary Wieszczek · Rating 4 out of 5]

informative and weighs in heavily on the transformation of our understanding of marriage in the western tradition due to the protestant reformation, as well as the continual stripping of the sacramental and sacred nature in f marriage by enlightenment thinkers

[Platypus Lord · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 stars)
The 3.5 stars is to take into consideration how dense it is to get through, often without great stopping points. Going based on informativeness and how interesting it is, it would have a higher score.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnificent!

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly easy and interesting to read, especially considering the scope and complexity of the topic.

[Luke Daghir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great on history of marriage. I didn't read the whole thing as it was for class; however, the first half is stellar from Plato to St. Augustine.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meticulously researched and overall well written. This is not going to be your beach read, or even a regular reread, but it is a significant and very helpful work of scholarship.

[Adam T. Calvert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great resource on the history of how the church viewed/views the institution of marriage.

The author shows five views in church history, roughly summarized by the following (from the table of contents):

Marriage as Sacrament (Roman Catholic View)
Marriage as Social Estate (Lutheran View)
Marriage as Covenant (Calvinist View)
Marriage as Commonwealth (Anglican View)
Marriage as Contract (Enlightenment View)

It is a complex issue, to be sure, and so there is a lot of overlap between various views. However, the author does a great job of sorting these views out both categorically and historically. This makes it a very helpful read.

It’s a little disappointing (to the heart) as I got the feeling the author does not himself belong to Christ, as he displays throughout the book his satisfaction with the “Enlightenment” (so-called) contractarian model of marriage (which leaves God completely out of the picture).

Yet it was still a terrific resource from a historical standpoint, and one worth reading if interested in the history of the church’s view of the institution of marriage.

[Emma Garber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be extremely informative of how marriage has changed throughout history and the religious views on marriage as well. I was an easy read, with lots of rich information on these multiple perspectives and viewpoints that have shaped the idea of marriage in our current society today.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extremely clear narrative of theological and legal accounts of marriage in Europe, with a focus on the changes wrought by the different strands of the Protestant Reformation. A second edition (which I have not yet looked at) apparently has stronger Biblical and patristic material as well.

[Nakhati Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Witte, Jr wrote an excellent survey of the development of marriage throughout Church history. His incomparable insights into the different perspectives on marriage make this book a must-read for any serious practitioner of marriage.