Marriage and family life
Key Words
Cohabitation living together without being married
Marriage a man and woman legally joined so they can live together and have children
Faithfulness staying with your partner and not having sex with anyone else
Pre-marital sex sex before marriage
Promiscuity having sex with lots of people but not wanting a relationship
Adultery having an affair
Divorce legal ending of a marriage
Re-marriage marrying again after a divorce
Nuclear family mum, dad and kids living together
Extended family grandparents, aunts and uncles living together or very close together
Reconstituted family when 2 sets of children become one family when their parents marry each other
BACKGROUND
More couples live together before getting married
Less people are getting married
More marriages end in divorce
This is because:
- It is easier to divorce
- It is cheaper to divorce
- People don’t see divorce as a bad thing anymore
- People live longer so they get bored of each other
- Women will not put up with bad treatment from their husbands
There are more single parent families because there are more divorces.
There are less extended families because people travel to find better work.
SEX OUTSIDE MARRIAGE
Christian Ideas
All Christians think that ADULTERY
(having an affair) is wrong.
This is because:
- It breaks the marriage vows
- The 7th Commandment says “do not commit adultery”
Most Christians think that you should be married to have sex so PRE-MARITAL SEX is wrong.
This is because:
- The Bible says it is wrong
- Church leaders say it is a sin
Some Christians think that if a couple are planning to get married in the future it is ok for them to have sex before marriage.
This is because:
- Jesus said that love is the most important thing
- The Bible doesn’t exactly say sex before marriage is wrong
- The Church needs to be more modern
MARRIAGE
Christian Ideas
Marriage is a gift from God, but Christians don’t have to marry.
Christian marriage is for life- one of the vows says “to love and to cherish in sickness and in health till death do us part”
Reasons for getting married (why do they get married?)
- To live together in love
- To have sex
- To have comfort and friendship
- To have children
- To bring up a Christian family
Features of a Christian Wedding (what happens at a Christian wedding?)
- Vows (promises to God)
- Giving of rings
- Prayers
- Bible readings
- Sermon (talk) on the duties of marriage
FAMILY LIFE
Christian Ideas
Christians believe that children should have a mum and dad (unless one of them has died)
They believe that:
- Parents should love and look after their children
- Parents should set a good example to their children and encourage them to be Christians
- Children should respect their parents and do as they are told
- Children should look after their parents when they are old.
Christians believe family life is important because:
- The Bible says it is
- The marriage service says it is
- God created the family as a way to keep society together
- The family is the basis of society
HOW CHURCHES HELP
WITH FAMILY LIFE
Churches help Christian parents to bring up their children by doing the following things:
Baptism- parents make promises and say prayers to help bring up the child in a Christian environment
Church Schools- some churches run schools which teach the National Curriculum in a Christian environment
Sunday School- children are introduced to Christianity in a fun way when they are still young
Family Services- Churches run special services to appeal to families at Christmas and Easter
Cubs/Brownies- Churches run uniformed clubs for children to help them develop and make friends in a Christian environment
Family Guidance- Vicars act as counsellors to help give advice on family problems