General
Marriage Article by John S. Grabowski (2005)
Marriage as a Unitive and Procreative Partnership by John S. Grabowski, Ph.D., The Catholic University of America
Marriage as an institution has fallen upon hard times of late. News articles and scholarly studies alike call our attention to the high rate of failure among marriages, the widespread practice of cohabitation, and the growing number of persons who (for a variety of reasons) choose to never marry. These developments have led to the rise of an industry designed to cater to the needs of this new “generation ex” and the expansion of media and products aimed at playing on the uncertainties of a growing number of 20 and 30 somethings about the married state. The dispirited conclusion which some draw from these developments is that marriage is somehow defunct or reaching the end of its tenure in western civilization.
Yet there are reasons to believe that rumors of marriage’s untimely demise are, in fact, greatly exaggerated. The Judeo-Christian tradition has rich biblical and theological resources which can serve to ground marriage both a conceptualization and praxis of marriage even in the face of such unprecedented challenges. Specifically, this paper will contend that understanding marriage as unitive, as procreative, and as a partnership can serve to ground a compelling vision and a vibrant spirituality of marriage in our present context.