Reviewed by: The Indissolubility of Marriage and the Council of Trent by E. Christian Brugger Mark A. Gurtner E. Christian Brugger The Indissolubility of Marriage and the Council of Trent Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2017 xvi + 296 pages. Hardbound. $69.95. At a time in the Church when a tumultuous discussion ensues concerning the nature of the marriage bond, especially as it relates to its perpetuity, E. Christian Brugger offers us a study of a similar [End Page 104] debate held centuries ago concerning the nature of the indissolubility of marriage. In the wake of the theological challenges of the Protestant reformers, the Council of Trent sought to respond, including to those challenges toward the unquestioned Catholic doctrine of the indissolubility of a consummated Christian marriage. As Brugger lays it out, the question really turns on the interpretation of the exception clause in the Gospel of Saint Matthew regarding adultery. Martin Luther firmly held that adultery allows a married person to divorce and remarry as "authorized" by the "exception clause" of Matthew 19. This is further expanded by Luther (and other Protestant reformers) into all other manner of "exceptions," such as refusal to engage in sexual relations, prolonged absences, enmity between the spouses, etc. Indeed, in a phrase that can be heard echoing even in some ecclesial voices today, Luther stated, "God will not demand the impossible because of the disobedience of the other." The thesis of this book is that, in response to these theological challenges to the doctrine of the indissolubility of marriage, the Council of Trent intended to teach that a consummated Christian marriage was absolutely indissoluble and that the council intended to teach this as an article which must be believed with divine and Catholic faith. The author proposes four objections most found in the literature, which necessitate a defense of this thesis. The objections are: first, Trent was mainly concerned with Luther's denial of papal prerogative and not with substantive issues concerning and raised by the nature of marriage; second, the bishops at Trent were doubtful as to whether absolute indissolubility was a truth of divine and Catholic faith and thus grounded their conclusions as a matter of ecclesial discipline and not as a theological belief; third, because certain Church Fathers seemed to believe that remarriage after adultery was not always excluded to the innocent party, the council feared that a direct anathematization of this proposition would subject these Fathers to condemnation; fourth, the bishops moderated their teaching because, although they wished to condemn the Protestant errors, they were aware that any anathema [End Page 105] directly condemning divorce and remarriage would fall too upon Greek Christians who had had the ancient practice of allowing it. In its twenty-fourth session in November 1563, Trent published twelve canons on marriage preceded by a doctrinal introduction; two bear directly on the indissolubility of marriage: canons 5 and 7. Canon 5 is a direct anathema on those who say that the marriage bond is dissolved because of "heresy, or irksome cohabitation, or the willful desertion of one of the spouses," but canon 7, instead of directly anathematizing those who say that adultery dissolves the bond of marriage, merely anathematizes those who say that the Church errs when she teaches that the bond of marriage is not dissolved on account of adultery. Brugger then offers a detailed, even pain-staking, analysis of the proceedings of the Council of Trent to counter the preceding arguments and to substantiate his thesis. For some, such a detailed recounting of council voting, interventions, etc. over the course of the several sessions of the council might be difficult ground to cover. However, in such an analysis, Brugger has offered not only a well-argued proof for his thesis, but also an interesting historical picture of the proceedings of the council as it relates to this topic. By progressing through these details, one finds oneself transported back in time, into the narrative of the council, as its proceedings come to life in Brugger's discussion. In the end, the evidence expounded upon by Brugger reveals a council that was nearly unanimous in its defense of the absolute indissolubility of...
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Sep 12, 2018
Javier Robla Costales + 3
Open Access