Modern Marriage
In light of all the current debate in the church about marriage, this article in the Washington Post gives quite a good summary of some of the recent research that has been done into the history of marriage and how much it has changed over the last several hundred years. The author, Stephanie Coontz, teaches family history at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, USA, and is author of the recently published book, Marriage, a History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage.
This quote from the article summarizes one of her main arguments:
The origins of modern marital instability lie largely in the triumph of what many people believe to be marriage’s traditional role — providing love, intimacy, fidelity and mutual fulfillment. The truth is that for centuries, marriage was stable precisely because it was not expected to provide such benefits. As soon as love became the driving force behind marriage, people began to demand the right to remain single if they had not found love or to divorce if they fell out of love.
I am certain that many people will disagree with a number of her conclusions, but the article is definitely good food for thought.
