Philip Lyndon Reynolds (Aquinas Professor of Historical Theology, Emory) has revisited the formation of the sacramental marriage doctrine in the long Middle Ages in his magisterial new book, How Marriage Became One of the Sacraments. It can partially be regarded as an update and continuation of Reynolds's previous major book on matrimony, Marriage in the Western Church: The Christianization of Marriage During the Patristic and Early Medieval Periods (Brill, 1994) and some of his following articles.
Reynolds's monumental work meticulously analyses a long period of time, from Augustine of Hippo (354–430) to the Council of Trent (1545–1563). The author has steadfastly ploughed his way through an imposing plethora of primary sources on matrimony and sacramental theology. Reynolds minutely describes and analyses the works of many towering figures, such as Gratian, Peter Lombard and Thomas Aquinas. Yet, the book also features many treatises by anonymous or less known theologians, for example, Isaac of Stella (d. ca. 1169), Guy of Orchelles (d. ca. 1230), and Bruno the Carthusian (d. 1101). A couple of them are missing from the index; if one is dying to know what Bruno the Carthusian or William Melitona said on matrimony, one must read most of the book (at least 69, 216; 640–641).
How Marriage Became One of the Sacraments is divided into five parts and twenty chapters. Before the first part of the book, there is a long introductory chapter (1–98). As Reynolds has observed, Augustine's teachings (part 1) and notions on the three goods or “benefits” of marriage (bona matrimonii) (especially 66–68, 101–153) formed the basis of medieval marriage doctrines. These came to guide all further discussions on the sacramentality of marriage and the development of marriage law. Next, Reynolds revisits and to some extent reinterprets the often–summarized story of rival theories on the key element(s) of marriage formation until the late–twelfth century (part 2) as well as the ensuing development of the perception of marriage as a sacrament (part 3). Part 4 explores the formation of the “classical sacramental doctrine” during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, while part 5 is dedicated to reformatory challenges and the codification of the seven sacraments by the Council of Trent.
During several centuries, theologians had to reconcile the sacramental status of matrimony with prima facie inconsistencies. The validity of the chaste marriage of Mary and Joseph was naturally of paramount concern. The question of how to relate the sinful and possibly intrinsically evil act of marital intercourse to the sacrament was another. Masters had to resolve apparent contradictions: if present-tense consent created the irrevocable sacrament of marriage, how could an unconsummated marriage be dissolved unilaterally by one party entering into religion? When God instituted marriage, could the matrimony of infidels have a sacramental status and thus be indissoluble? Could sexual intercourse have been sinless in Paradise? Reynolds explores how answers to these questions changed from century to century. To what degree marriage was contractual or sacramental evolved into a central issue, especially after clandestine marriage became a focus of criticism but also a key to remedy the problem of clandestinity. The Tridentine reforms were explained only to alter the contract, not the sacrament.
The more than 1000-page book is not particularly user-friendly. Parts of the book lack concluding chapters, nor does the book have a general conclusion tying all the strings neatly together. Considering the sheer length of the book, a ten to fifteen-page conclusion would hardly have been excessive. There are some “conclusions” and “summaries” at the end of certain chapters, but not systematically at the end of the five parts. Regular conclusions at the end of each part would have enabled the reader to follow the arguments of the author throughout the book.
An impatient reader wishing to know in a nutshell the key features of the development of more than a millennium of sacramental matrimonial theology will be disappointed. Nor does one easily get a picture of how and where Reynolds's contribution reinterprets traditional perceptions on the sacramental theology of marriage. However, the introduction can perhaps serve as a partial summary of the contents of the book.
One of the key strengths of the book is the very thoroughness with which Reynolds investigates his topic. Yet, this thoroughness is simultaneously a point of criticism. The book is weighty in more senses than one (over one and a half kilograms). I read the heavy volume on airplanes and airports, by the desk, and in the bed. The experience is the same in all localities: it is difficult to handle and peruse because of its bulk. Dividing its 1000 pages into three volumes (formation of the classical sacramental doctrine, its consolidation, and the Tridentine codifications and modifications) would have made three manageable volumes without sacrificing the substantial content.
Could the book have been slimmed down by omitting some more incidental information? My answer is a cautious yes. Some sections seem less relevant, even somewhat superfluous, for the topic and argumentation of the book, such as the discussions of the sacramentality of circumcision (635–640), a lengthy introduction to sentential literature (291–316) or Aquinas's theory on laws (687–695). Some overall cutting here and there would have been possible. Even the title could have been the short and sweet The Catholic Sacramental Theology of Marriage ca. 300–1600.
Yet even if reading the book may be physically challenging, it is destined to become an absolute classic in the field of the theology of marriage and medieval theology in general. It is also extremely valuable for those studying the canon law of marriage or medieval marriage more generally. Perhaps not everyone will read it from cover to cover. However, a great many scholars will use Reynolds's erudite and awe-inspiring work, summing up over a quarter of a century of painstaking research.
