A definite shift in the Catholic Church's theological understanding of marriage took place at the Second Vatican Council. Rather than perceiving marriage as a contract whose primary purpose was the procreation of children, the council spoke of marriage as an intimate partnership of life and love. Then, recapturing an earlier tradition, it went on to describe the family as a domestic church. In Christian Marriage and Family seven theologians who have lectured and written extensively on marriage probe the rich theology of marriage and family that emerged from Vatican II, and they explore some of the implications that flow from this theology.

The volume is divided into two sections: theological perspectives of Christian marriage and pastoral perspectives. The first five essays of part one reflect on the meaning of the sacrament of marriage in light of the history of the Catholic tradition and on the family as a church of the home. The second part examines some of the pastoral aspects of Christian marriage today: marriage in light of feminism, the link between sacramental marriage and baptismal commitment, and two approaches to a contemporary spirituality of marriage and of family. The book concludes with a report on an experience of teaching Christian marriage in a college setting and an essay on mediation as a pastoral approach to divorce.

Readers of Christian Marriage and Family will benefit from a deepened appreciation and understanding of the value of the sacrament of Christian marriage, for the lived experience of mutually satisfying and fruitful marriages reflects the never ending love of God.

Articles include: "Marriage and the Sacrament of Marriage," and "Faith, Contract, and Sacrament in Christian Marriage: A Theological Approach," by Michael G. Lawler; "The Family as Domestic Church: Contemporary Implications," and "Toward a Post-Vatican II Spirituality of Marriage," by William P. Roberts; "Feminism and Christian Marriage: A Progress Report," by Gaile M. Pohlhaus; "Living the Baptismal Commitment in Sacramental Marriage," and "Domestic Church: Guiding Beliefs and Daily Practices," by Joann Heaney-Hunter; "Ministry to Marriage: Pastoral Praxis and Theological Assumptions," and "Family Spirituality: A System Perspective," by John Trokan; "Teaching Marriage at a Catholic College," by Gloria Blanchfield Thomas; "Mediation as a Pastoral Approach to Divorce," and "Reformulating the Sacramental Theology of Marriage," by Brennan R. Hill.