of the marriage bond. The validity of this reasoning will become further apparent when we recall the consideration already alluded to, that there are conditions, other than adultery, in which the whole ethical and spiritual truth of marriage is so destroyed that for the innocent person to continue in the married state would be abhorrent to all pure instincts, and would seem itself to be like a participation in an adulterous relation."[1]
It would seem to be the case that Christianity under modern conditions must affect marriage indirectly rather than directly. Take for instance the natural relationship itself, apart from legal and ecclesiastical regulation altogether. It is an agreed point that the essence of that natural relationship, that is, ultimately, the moral validity of the marriage covenant, depends upon the free, voluntary, intelligent, deliberate consent of both the parties. Now the meaning of all these adjectives will depend upon the standard of individual self-respect which the parties to the marriage accept.
Christianity ought certainly to have the effect of cleansing and exalting the act of
- ↑ See "Christian Ethics," p. 413f, Third Edition.
