Finding Love in Sweden: A Tale of Theological Transformation in the Church of Sweden Público
Dry, Steven M. (2010)
Abstract
Finding Love in Sweden explores the civil, social, and
religious factors that led to
the theological transformation of the Church's of Sweden's
understanding of marriage
from heterosexual to gender-neutral. The first chapter follows the
social changes that
influenced the Swedish understanding of marriage. Originally, the
Church of Sweden and
the state agreed on a heterosexual understanding of marriage.
However, with the rise of
industrialization, secularization, and the welfare state, civil
understandings of marriage
and cohabitation began to diverge. By 2009, the state broke from
the Church's
understanding of marriage and legalized same-sex marriage. The
Church had to decide
whether to accept same-sex marriage or give up their rite to
marriage all together.
Chapter 2 explores the historical importance of marriage in the
church, tracing the
evolution of marriage from a secular institution to a religious
institution. The importance
of sex and procreation on early conceptions of marriage impacted
the Church's
development of a marital theology. Augustine, Aquinas, and Luther
each defined
marriage in slightly different ways, but all agreed on the
necessity of procreation in
marriage. This would become a very important lens through which the
church would look
at marriage scriptures. Chapter 3 returns to the Church of Sweden
to look at the impact of
previous civil legislation (contraception, homosexuality, and gay
civil partnerships) on
church doctrine, juxtaposing the slow, methodical nature of the
church's doctrinal
transformation regarding these issues with the swift nature of the
church's transformation
of their marriage theology. Chapter 4 discusses the change in
theology that opened up the
definition of marriage to same-sex couples. Whereas the old
theology relied on a
procreational definition of marriage in order to read marital
passages, the new theology
relied on a definition of marriage that focused on love. The
rereading of these influential
passages provided a space for same-sex marriage in the church. Many
questioned the
theological foundation for this change, given the speed of the
decision-making process.
The conclusion of this thesis explores how this new theology might
serve as a means of
resacramentalizing the institution of marriage.
Table of Contents
Introduction 6
-
Deconstructing Marriage: Tracing the Evolution of Various
Non-Traditional Forms of Cohabitation in Sweden 12
- Establishing a Social Construction of Marriage 20
- The Declining Importance of Marriage in Sweden 25
- The Deconstruction of the Social Construction of Marriage 29
-
Sacramentalizing Marriage: A Historical Analysis of the
Transformation of Marriage 34
- Augustine: Marriage as a Prison 45
- Sex Wars Part I: Catholics vs. Cathers 49
- Aquinas: Marriage as a Sacrament 52
- Marriage Wars Part II: Catholics vs. Protestants 55
-
Challenging Church Doctrine: The Effects of Civil
Legislation on Church Doctrine Formation 59
- Contraception: Thirty Years of Reluctance 68
- Homosexuality: A 20-year Struggle for Acceptance 73
- Gay Partnership Blessings: Another 20-year Discussion 75
- Gay Marriage: Swift Doctrinal Decisions in the Church of Sweden 82
-
Finding Love in Marriage: Moving Away from a Procreative
Marriage Theology 90
- Procreative Sex and Creation Theology 99
- Reading Procreative Sex into Biblical Theology 102
- In the Midst of Change: Diversity of Opinion in the Church of Sweden 108
- Understanding Lutheran Marriage Theology 110
- Love and Marriage in Sweden 111
- Towards a new (Gay) Marriage Theology 114
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