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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 February 2009
From an ecumenical point of view the theological examination of marriage and its indissolubility is one of the most urgent tasks to be undertaken by the Churches of the Reformation. It has been repeatedly stated by them that as long as the Roman Church makes the validity of so-called mixed marriages between Protestants and Roman Catholics depend on the observance of the ‘canonical form’ and refuses to grant freedom to the partners of a mixed marriage in the education of their children the ecumenism of Rome—to say the least of it—will remain suspect. The Instructio Matrimonii Sacramentum of 1966 which for all practical purposes reiterates the legislation laid down by the Codex Iuris Canonici of 1918 shows that in spite of Vatican II the official attitude of the Holy See has remained intransigent. Nevertheless although the Roman Church has arbitrarily erected canonical barriers which interfere with or even (from a Roman Catholic point of view) invalidate the most intimate human relationship, we have no intention of doubting the ecumenical honesty and sincerity of Roman Catholics. It should be remembered that the Instructio is as unsatisfactory to many leading Roman Catholics as it is to the Churches of the Reformation. This can be deduced from the fact that at the First International Synod of Bishops (1967) 31 per cent of its members voted in favour of the removal of the present impediment of mixta religio including the promise to educate the children of a mixed marriage in the Roman Catholic faith.
page 291 note 1 Can. 1094. Those marriages only are valid which are contracted either before the parish priest or before the local Ordinary or before a priest delegated by either and at least two witnesses.…
page 291 note 2 Hereafter referred to as Instructio.
page 291 note 3 Hereafter referred to as CIC.
page 291 note 4 Beaupère, René et al. , Die Mischehe in Ökumenischer Sicht, Freiburg, Basel, Wien, 1968, p. 16.Google Scholar
page 292 note 1 Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 7 (1943), p. 199.
page 292 note 2 AAS, 42 (1950), p. 571.
page 292 note 3 Haec Ecclesia, in hoc mundo ut societas constitula et ordinata, subsistit in Ecclesia catholica, a successore Petri et Episcopis in eius communione gubernata.
page 292 note 4 Para. 8. Cf. Abbott, Walter (ed.), The Documents of Vatican II, London, Dubin, 1966, pp. 22–23Google Scholar. Hereafter referred to as Documents.
page 293 note 1 Documents, pp. 33–34.
page 293 note 2 Instructio, E.T. Glasgow, 1966, p. 3.
page 294 note 1 Rahner, Karl et al. (eds.), Sacramentum Mundi, An Encyclopedia of Theology, Vol. III, New York, London, etc., 1969, pp. 393–394.Google Scholar
page 294 note 2 Calvin, John, Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. McNeill, John T., Philadelphia, 1950, 2.8.41.Google Scholar
page 295 note 1 ibid., 2.8.42.
page 295 note 2 1 Cor. 7.2.
page 295 note 3 Canon 1013, para. 1.
page 295 note 4 ibid., 2.8.43.
page 295 note 5 1 Cor. 7.9.
page 295 note 6 Chapter 24.2.
page 296 note 1 Documents, p. 253.
page 296 note 2 Documents, p. 254.
page 296 note 3 cf. Van Vliet, A. H. and Breed, C. G., Marriage and Canon Law, London, 1964, p. 4.Google Scholar
page 296 note 4 Gen. 2.18.
page 296 note 5 Gen. 1.28.
page 296 note 6 cf. Torrance, Thomas F., Unpublished Sermon on Matt, 19.4.6, Edinburgh, 1963.Google Scholar
page 297 note 1 Gen. 1.27.
page 297 note 2 Gen. 2.22.
page 297 note 3 Gen. 2.23.
page 297 note 4 Matt. 19.5, Gen. 2.24.
page 297 note 5 Calvin, John, Commentaries on the First Book of Moses called Genesis, Vol. I (trs. King, John), Edinburgh, 1847, p. 97.Google Scholar
page 297 note 6 cf. Ioannis Calvini Opera, Vol. XXIII, Brunsvigae, 1882, p. 28.Google Scholar
page 297 note 7 ut uxor sit quasi dimidia pars viri, cf. Ioannis Calvini Opera, Vol. XLIV, Brunsvigae, 1890, p. 452.Google Scholar
page 298 note 1 masculus quasi dimidiam partem facit, et uxor alterant dimidiam, cf. ibid., p. 455.
page 298 note 2 vir est quasi dimidium hominis, et mulier etiam quasi dimidium hominis, cf. ibid., p. 455. Calvin, John, Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets, Vol. V (trs. Owen, John), Edinburgh, 1849, pp. 553–554, 557.Google Scholar
page 298 note 3 ut duo efficerent integrum hominem, cf. Ioannis Calvini Opera, Vol. XLV, Brunsvigae, 1891, p. 528.Google Scholar
page 298 note 4 Calvin, John, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Vol. II (trs. Pringle, William), Edinburgh, 1845, pp. 378, 380Google Scholar. Hereafter referred to as Harmony.
page 298 note 5 cf. Barth, Karl, Church Dogmatics (ed. Bromiley, G. W. and Torrance, T. F.), Vol. III.4, Edinburgh, 1961, p. 117.Google Scholar
page 299 note 1 Gen. 3.7.
page 299 note 2 cf. Eph. 5.28–32.
page 301 note 1 Canon 1013, para. 2.
page 301 note 2 Harmony, Vol. I (trs. Pringle, William), Edinburgh, 1845, p. 293.Google Scholar
page 301 note 3 Harmony, Vol. II, pp. 378–9.
page 301 note 4 cf. Rom. 7.2; 1 Cor. 7.39.
page 301 note 5 cf. Barth, Karl, Evangelium und Gesetz, 3rd ed., München, 1935Google Scholar; Theologische Exislenz heute, Vol. 50, 1961, pp. 6f, 11f, 13; Church Dogmatics, Vol. II.2, p. 511.
page 301 note 6 Matt. 19.6; Mark. 10.9.
page 302 note 1 cf. Council of Trent, Session XXIV, Denz. 1797–1798.
page 302 note 2 A. H. Van Vliet and C. G. Breed, op. cit., p. 170.
page 302 note 3 cf. CIC, Canons 1128–31.
page 303 note 1 Privilegium fidei either in the form of the Pauline privilege (1 Cor. 7.8–15) or of the Petrine privilege.
page 303 note 2 We are not concerned here with the question of whether the exceptive clause is a dominical saying or a later addition.
page 303 note 3 Harmony, Vol. II, p. 384.
page 304 note 1 First Book of Discipline in John Knox's History of the Reformation in Scotland (ed. Dickinson, William Croft), Vol. II, London, Edinburgh, etc., 1949, p. 318. Here-after referred to as First Book of Discipline.Google Scholar
page 304 note 2 First Book of Discipline, p. 318.
page 304 note 3 First Book of Discipline, p. 318.
page 305 note 1 First Book of Discipline, p. 319.
page 305 note 2 Chapter XXIV.5.
page 305 note 3 cf. First Book of Discipline, pp. 318–19.
page 305 note 4 Jer. 3.14.
page 305 note 5 John 8.11.
page 306 note 1 Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland, ed. Cox, James T., fifth edition ed. Longmuir, J. B., Edinburgh and London, 1964, pp. 56–57.Google Scholar
page 306 note 2 The Church of Scotland, Reports to the General Assembly with the Legislative Acts, Edinburgh, 1969, pp. 523–524. Hereafter referred to as Reports.Google Scholar
page 306 note 3 Reports, p. 523.
page 306 note 4 Reports, p. 524.
page 309 note 1 cf. Isa. 1.3.
page 309 note 2 a Cor. 5.19.