1. Marriage and the Family
Sex outside Marriage
pre-marital sex (promiscuity, cohabitation)
Extra-marital sex (adultery)

2. Sex outside marriage = pre-marital sex AND adultery

3. Changing attitudes to sex
1960’s ’s
No sex till married Most do
1-2 sexual partners 10 or more
Married by 25 Married in 30’s
Married in church Less in church
Cohabitation not Cohabitation OK
good

4. Christian attitudes to Sex
Pre-marital
Wrong:
sex given to humans by God for procreation of children which should be in marriage
BIBLE says its sinful
BUT some accept cohabitation as long as a step towards marriage because Church has to accept modern life and Jesus said love is most important thing

5. Christian attitudes to SEX
Adultery
WRONG:
Breaks wedding vows said before God “forsaking all others”
Breaks Ten Commandments “Do not commit adultery”
Condemned by Jesus in Sermon of the Mount

6. Islam and Sex Pre-Marital Wrong: Forbidden in Qur’an
Shari’ah says sex is for the procreation of children so should take place in marriage
Qur’an says girls and boys should be socially separated after puberty to prevent this

7. Islam and Sex Adultery Serious sin Condemned by Allah in Qur’an
Breaks the marriage contract
Likely to harm the family

8. MARRIAGE

9. Christian Marriage Main Features of Wedding ceremony
Readings from the Bible
Exchanging vows
Exchanging rings
Welcome and talk from priest about nature of marriage
Prayers asking God’s blessing on the couple and help of the Holy Spirit to make the marriage work
Purposes of Marriage
So that a couple can have a life long relationship
So that the couple has love, support, companionship of each other
To have sex in the way God intended (within a marriage)
For the procreation of children
For bringing up a Christian family
For a relationship which is blessed by God

10. Islam and Marriage Purposes of Marriage
Follow example of Prophet Muhammad
Have children
Bring them up as Muslims
Have sex
Love
Features of wedding ceremony
Stating in front of witnesses both partners agree to marry
Signing marriage contract
Sermon, prayers, readings from the Qur’an

11. DIVORCE

12. Outline how attitudes to divorce have changed (6 marks)
Used to be: difficult to get and expensive so very few took place. People looked down on if divorced and couldn’t remarry in Church.
Now: accepted as normal, cheaper and easier, no stigma attached, can remarry in Church

13. Explain WHY attitudes to divorce have changed/there are more divorces now (8 marks)
Expectations of marriage changed
Women not prepared to accept unequal treatment
Women financially independent
Changes in life expectancy – “life” is much longer now than it used to be
Divorce has been made easier and cheaper

14. Islam and Divorce
SOME – marriage for life; no divorce Hadith says divorce is the most hated of things allowed by Allah
MOST – divorce allowed; marriage is a contract; allow remarriage
- Qur’an permits divorce; has rules to follow such as man must announce his intention to divorce 3 times with a month in between = iddah – try to make marriage work, live together but sleep separately
- marriage is a contract and contracts can be broken
- better to divorce than live in hatred and argue all the time

15. Christianity and Divorce
Some Christians - CATHOLIC
NO DIVORCE AND NO REMARRIAGE
Marriage can only be dissolved by death
Jesus taught divorce is wrong
Couple made promise to God in sacrament of marriage – cannot be broken

16. Christianity and Divorce
Some Christians – PROTESTANT
DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE ALLOWED
Lesser of two evils
Jesus allowed divorce for adultery
Christianity is about forgiveness – should have second chance
Better to divorce than live in hatred and quarrel all the time

17. FAMILY LIFE

18. Family life has changed…
More single parent families because attitudes to sex have changed
More parents are not married because attitudes to cohabitation have changed
More step families because attitudes to divorce have changed

19. Christianity/Islam and the family
Teachings on family life:
Parents should love children, provide them with food, shelter, etc. raise their children in the religion
Children should respect their parents, look after them when they are old
Why family is important
Created by God to keep society together
Children taught right and wrong so less evil in the world
To continue the faith
ISLAM also to follow eg of Muhammad

20. How Church/mosque help family life
Family services
Brownies, Cubs, Scouts, youth clubs
Church schools
Sunday schools
Counselling from priests\ministers
MOSQUE
Madrasahs
Social activities for young people
Family committees – distribute charity to help families
Muslim schools