The Augustinian Legacy of the Procreative Marriage

Contemporary Implications and Alternatives

Bibliographic Data

ID14949254
AuthorsCristina Richie (0000-0002-7885-9136, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume23
Issue1
Pages18-36
Publication date2014-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFeminist Theology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0966-7350 • E-ISSN: 1745-5189
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0966735014542376
OpenAlexW1963961471
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited10

Augustine’s legacy, particularly his view of marriage as being primarily procreative and the sin of mutually desired non-procreative sex, has had a lasting impact on sexual theology and ethics in the Catholic Church. Yet indulging in the Augustinian legacy without reflection and regarding children as the end goal of marriage has led to the unchallenged assumption that children are needed in every marriage. I will examine the problematic concept of matrimony as a necessary producer of children through a variety of ethical lenses – the environmental, the feminist, and the bioethical – and provide an alternative to the procreative norm of sexual expression. By focusing on the unitive aspect of marital love instead of the procreative, partners are liberated to realize their union as fully mature, regardless of biological generation thus addressing ethical concerns and providing a theological alternative to the procreative marriage

Bioethics · Environmental ethics · Human sexuality · Political science · Sexual ethics · Sociology · Augustinian Studies and Theology · Gender Studies · Law · Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations · Philosophy · Theology and Philosophy of Evil

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