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Baylor University
Institute for Faith and Learning
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    • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture
      • 2022 Art Seeking Understanding
      • 2021 Living Accountably
      • 2019 The Character of the University
      • 2018 Stewardship of Creation
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      • 2016 Higher Learning
      • 2015 The Spirit of Sports
      • 2014 Faith and Film
      • 2013 Kierkegaard: A Christian Thinker for Our Time?
      • 2012 Technology and Human Flourishing
      • 2011 Educating for Wisdom in the 21st Century University
      • 2010 Human Dignity and the Future of Health Care
      • 2009 Secularization and Revival
      • 2008 Bottom-Up Approaches to Global Poverty
      • 2007 Friendship
    • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
      • Bailey Lecture Video Archive
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      • Starting Points
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    • Institute for Faith and Learning Video Archive
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    • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
    • Recommended Reading
    • External Resources
    • The Christian Reflection Project
      • Acedia
      • Advent Ethics
      • Aging
      • Anger
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      • The Book of Acts
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Baylor BU Institute for Faith and Learning Media and Resources The Christian Reflection Project Marriage
  • Faith Animating Online Education
  • Institute for Faith and Learning Video Archive
  • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture Video Archive
  • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
  • Recommended Reading
  • External Resources
  • The Christian Reflection Project
    • Acedia
    • Advent Ethics
    • Aging
    • Anger
    • Apocalyptic Vision
    • Attentive Patience
    • The Book of Acts
    • Caring for Creation
    • Catechism
    • Chastity
    • Children
    • Christianity and Islam
    • Christmas and Epiphany
    • Cities and Towns
    • Cloning
    • Consumerism
    • Death
    • Disability
    • Easter
    • Food and Hunger
    • Forgiveness
    • Freedom
    • Friendship
    • Gambling Culture
    • Generosity
    • Global Wealth
    • Health
    • Heaven and Hell
    • Hospitality
    • Immigration
    • Inklings of Glory
    • Lent
    • The Letter of James
    • Marriage
    • Membership
    • Monasticism Old and New
    • Moral Landscape of Creation
    • Mysticism
    • Parables
    • Patterns of Violence
    • Peace and War
    • Pentecost
    • Pornographic Culture
    • Prayer
    • Prison
    • Prophetic Ethics
    • Racism
    • Sabbath
    • Schools in a Pluralist Culture
    • Scripture
    • Sermon on the Mount
    • Singing Our Lives
    • Sports
    • Suffering
    • Traveling Well
    • Virtual Lives
    • Vocation
    • Where Wisdom Is Found
    • Women and the Church
    • Women in the Bible
    • Work

Marriage

How should we respond as marriage becomes deinstitutionalized in our culture? Our contributors articulate a Christian view of marriage and divorce. They also challenge us to live in faithful congregations, where we may be properly formed as husbands and wives in our commitments to each other and God.

David Gushee describes how a marriage needs a covenant that "takes faithless people and coerces them to keep faith." In public debates about marriage, Don Browning urges us to use a "twofold language" -- a philosophical language enriched with scriptural narratives and metaphors. Margaret Kim Peterson explains how this most intimate of human relationships is shaped by the cross.

When marriages become hurtful and dysfunctional, Bo Prosser reminds us "inclusion into the family of God brings freedom, healing, and redemption." David Instone-Brewer explains Jesus' and Paul's teachings on divorce and remarriage.

The study guides and lesson plans integrate Bible study, prayer, and worship to help us articulate and live into a Christian view of marriage. The guides can be used in a series or individually. You may download and reproduce them for personal or group use.

Download the entire Marriage issue and the set of six Study Guides. Or, download individual pieces by clicking the titles below.

Articles

  • "Who Needs a Covenant?" by David P. Gushee
  • "Christian Marriage and Public Policy," by Don Browning
  • "For Better or For Worse," by Margaret Kim Peterson
  • "Marriage in the Fellowship of the Faithful," by John Thompson
  • "What God Has Joined Together," by David Instone-Brewer

Art

  • "A Wedding Story," by Heidi J. Hornik, on Perugino's Marriage of the Virgin
  • "The Promise of Marriage," by Heidi J. Hornik, on Jan van Eyck's The Arnolfini Wedding
  • "Water into Wine," on Michele Tosini's Marriage at Cana

Hymns and Worship Service

  • "Two are Called to Live as One," by Terry W. York and C. David Bolin
  • Worship Service, by Sharon Kirkpatrick Felton

Inspirational Pieces

  • "The Changing Shape of Family," by Bo Prosser
  • "I Know Who She Is," by Ginny Bridges Ireland
  • Other Voices, Quotations on Marriage

Book Reviews

  • "Equality in Christian Marriage," by Lydia Huffman Hoyle
    • Robert W. Pierce and Rebecca Merrill Groothuis, eds., Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity Without Hierarchy
    • David Blankenhorn, Don Browning, and Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen, eds., Does Christianity Teach Male Headship? The Equal-Regard Marriage and Its Critics
  • "Where Do We Go From Here?" by Cameron Lee
    • Don Browning, Marriage and Modernization
    • John Whitte, Jr., From Sacrament to Contract: Marriage, Religion, and Law in the Western Tradition
    • David P. Gushee, Getting Marriage Right: Realistic Counsel for Saving and Strengthening Relationships

Study Guides and Lesson Plans(Download the set of six Study Guides)

  • "Who Needs a Covenant?"
  • "For Better or For Worse"
  • "Marriage in the Fellowship of the Faithful"
  • "Christian Marriage and Public Policy"
  • "The Changing Shape of Family"
  • "What God Has Joined Together"
Baylor BU Institute for Faith and Learning Media and Resources The Christian Reflection Project Marriage
  • About
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  • Conferences and Symposiums
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    • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture
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      • 2022 Art Seeking Understanding
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        • Plenary and Featured Speakers
      • 2021 Living Accountably
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        • Plenary and Featured Speakers
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      • 2019 The Character of the University
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        • Plenary and Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2018 Stewardship of Creation
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        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2017 The Bible and the Reformation
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        • Video Archive
      • 2016 Higher Learning
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        • Featured Speakers and Panels
        • Video Archive
      • 2015 The Spirit of Sports
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        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2014 Faith and Film
        Back
        • Video Archive
      • 2013 Kierkegaard: A Christian Thinker for Our Time?
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2012 Technology and Human Flourishing
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2011 Educating for Wisdom in the 21st Century University
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2010 Human Dignity and the Future of Health Care
        Back
        • Featured Speakers
        • Video Archive
      • 2009 Secularization and Revival
        Back
        • Video Archive
      • 2008 Bottom-Up Approaches to Global Poverty
      • 2007 Friendship
    • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
      Back
      • Bailey Lecture Video Archive
    • Other Conferences and Events
      Back
      • IFL@25
        Back
        • Select Pictures from IFL@25
      • 2019 LFP National Conference
        Back
        • Presenters
      • Art & Soul
      • Pruit Memorial Symposium
        Back
        • 2001 Celebrating Augustine's Confessions
        • 2002 Christianity and Economics
        • 2003 The Schooled Heart
        • 2004 Slavery, Oppression, and Prejudice
        • 2005 Global Christianity
      • Baylor University Medical Ethics Seminar
        Back
        • 2016 Medical Ethics Seminar
        • 2017 Medical Ethics Seminar
        • 2018 Medical Ethics Seminar
      • One-Time Conferences
  • Programs
    Back
    • Communio: A Retreat for Baylor Educators
    • William Carey Crane Scholars Program
      Back
      • Additional Information
    • Missio
    • Forming Character in the Classroom
      Back
      • About the Program: Called to Character
      • Past Workshops
    • Reading Groups and Guest Speakers
    • Soundings Project
  • Media and Resources
    Back
    • Faith Animating Online Education
      Back
      • Starting Points
      • A Christian Imagination about Online Education?
      • Cultivating Character and Online Learning
      • Additional Resources
    • Institute for Faith and Learning Video Archive
    • Baylor Symposium on Faith and Culture Video Archive
    • Bill and Roberta Bailey Family Lecture in Christian Ethics
    • Recommended Reading
    • External Resources
    • The Christian Reflection Project
      Back
      • Acedia
      • Advent Ethics
      • Aging
      • Anger
      • Apocalyptic Vision
      • Attentive Patience
      • The Book of Acts
      • Caring for Creation
      • Catechism
      • Chastity
      • Children
      • Christianity and Islam
      • Christmas and Epiphany
      • Cities and Towns
      • Cloning
      • Consumerism
      • Death
      • Disability
      • Easter
      • Food and Hunger
      • Forgiveness
      • Freedom
      • Friendship
      • Gambling Culture
      • Generosity
      • Global Wealth
      • Health
      • Heaven and Hell
      • Hospitality
      • Immigration
      • Inklings of Glory
      • Lent
      • The Letter of James
      • Marriage
      • Membership
      • Monasticism Old and New
      • Moral Landscape of Creation
      • Mysticism
      • Parables
      • Patterns of Violence
      • Peace and War
      • Pentecost
      • Pornographic Culture
      • Prayer
      • Prison
      • Prophetic Ethics
      • Racism
      • Sabbath
      • Schools in a Pluralist Culture
      • Scripture
      • Sermon on the Mount
      • Singing Our Lives
      • Sports
      • Suffering
      • Traveling Well
      • Virtual Lives
      • Vocation
      • Where Wisdom Is Found
      • Women and the Church
      • Women in the Bible
      • Work
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