Marital Intimacy As Eschatological Foretaste
Marital Intimacy as Eschatological Foretaste
The concept of marital intimacy as an eschatological foretaste is rooted in biblical imagery that portrays the relationship between God and his people as a marital union. The prophets Jeremiah and Hosea used this metaphor to describe God's covenant with Israel, with Jeremiah 2:2 likening Israel to a bride [9]. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul extends this imagery, describing the church as the bride of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2) [5].
In Christian theology, this metaphorical understanding of marriage informs the view of marital intimacy. According to Charles Hodge, the marriage relation is a symbol of the relation between God and his people, illustrating God's love and commitment [8]. The intimacy between spouses is seen as a reflection of the deeper, spiritual union between Christ and the church.
The early church fathers also understood marriage in this context. Tertullian notes that a Christian wife married to a non-Christian husband can still be considered sanctified, with the hope of "making a gain" through her marriage [2]. Augustine further develops this idea, highlighting the three goods of marriage: offspring, fidelity, and the sacramental bond [7].
The sacramental aspect of marriage is a key element in understanding marital intimacy as an eschatological foretaste. Aquinas argues that, just as carnal procreation gives natural being, the sacraments give spiritual being, creating a spiritual tie between spouses [4]. This sacramental understanding underscores the idea that marital intimacy is not merely a physical act but a participation in the divine love.
Reformed theologians like Hodge emphasize the community of life between husband and wife, suggesting that their union is a microcosm of the larger community of believers [6]. The mutual yielding of authority over one's body to one's spouse, as described in 1 Corinthians 7:3-4, is seen as a manifestation of this communal aspect [3].
The Jewish tradition also recognizes the significance of marital intimacy. Maimonides teaches that a husband's conduct towards his wife can have spiritual and ethical benefits, and that their union can result in offspring who are "handsome and modest, worthy of wisdom and piety" [1].
The understanding of marital intimacy as an eschatological foretaste is thus a rich and multifaceted concept, drawing on biblical imagery, patristic thought, and sacramental theology. It highlights the profound significance of the marital union, not just as a human experience but as a reflection of the divine love and a foretaste of the heavenly union between Christ and his church.
Sources
- Mishneh Torah (Maimonides) (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Mishneh Torah (Maimonides), Mishneh Torah%2C Human Dispositions 5:5: Whoever conducts himself in this manner [may be assured that] not only does he sanctify his soul, purify himself, and refine his character, but, furthermore, 1 in addition to these spiritual and ethical benefits,... if he has children, 2 The Rambam does not promise that children will be conceived. However, if conception takes place,... they 3 the offspring will be handsome 4 Note the passage from Nedarim quoted in the previous halachah. and modest, worthy of wisdom and piety. 5 Iggeret HaKodesh states: When a person joins tog”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 4: Tertullian IV, Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen — CHAP, VII.--THE CASE OF A HEATHEN WHOSE WIFE IS CONVERTED AFTER MARRIAGE WITH HIM VERY DIFFERENT, AND MUCH MORE HOPEFUL.: If these things may happen to those women also who, having attained the faith while in (the state of) Gentile matrimony, continue in that state, still they are excused, as having been "apprehended by God"[8] in these very circumstances; and they are bidden to persevere in their married state, and are sanctified, and have hope of "making a gain"[9] held out to them. "If, then, a marriage of this kind (contracted b”
- 1 Corinthians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 1 Corinthians 7:3: 7:3-4 Because of the temptation to sexual immorality, married Christians must always be considerate of the sexual needs of their spouses. Sexual intimacy is a mutual right for both spouses in a marriage and must not be withheld. Marriage includes yielding the authority over one’s body to one’s spouse, though such authority is clearly not to be abused.”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Supplement (Supplementum), Of the Impediment of Spiritual Relationship, Art. 1: Article: Whether spiritual relationship is an impediment to marriage? I answer that, Just as by carnal procreation man receives natural being, so by the sacraments he receives the spiritual being of grace. Wherefore just as the tie that is contracted by carnal procreation is natural to man, inasmuch as he is a natural being, so the tie that is contracted from the reception of the sacraments is after a fashion natural to man, inasmuch as he is a member of the Church. Therefore as carnal re”
- 2 Corinthians (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 2 Corinthians 11:2: For I am jealous--The justification of his self-commendations lies in his zealous care lest they should fall from Christ, to whom he, as "the friend of the Bridegroom" (Joh 3:29), has espoused them; in order to lead them back from the false apostles to Christ, he is obliged to boast as an apostle of Christ, in a way which, but for the motive, would be "folly." godly jealousy--literally, "jealousy of God" (compare Co2 1:12, "godly sincerity," literally, "sincerity of God"). "If I am immoderate, I am immoderate to God" [BENGEL]. A jealousy which”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 49: to its full development in the present state of existence; that there are capacities, feelings, and virtues which are not otherwise or elsewhere called into exercise. All this may be true, but it is not the whole truth. (4.) There is, in a certain sense, a community of life between husband and wife. We are accustomed to say, and to say truly, that the life of parents is communicated to their children. Each nation and every historical family has a form of life by which it is distinguished. As, therefore, the 385 life of a father and the li”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 5: Augustine — Anti-Pelagian — CHAP. 19 [XVII.]--BLESSING OF MATRIMONY.: In matrimony, however, let these nuptial blessings be the objects of our love--offspring, fidelity, the sacramental bond.[9] Offspring, not that it be born only, but born again; for it is born to punishment unless it be born again to life. Fidelity, not such as even unbelievers observe one towards the other, in their ardent love of the flesh. For what husband, however impious himself, likes an adulterous wife? Or what wife, however impious she be, likes an adulterous husband? This is indeed a natural good in ma”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 49: prophets, apostles, confessors, and martyrs, have been married men. If marriage was not a degradation to them, surely it cannot be to monks and priests. The strongest proof of the sanctity of the marriage relation in the sight of God, is to be found in the fact that both in the Old and in the New Testaments, it is made the symbol of the relation between God and his people. “Thy Maker is thy husband,” are the words of God, and contain a world of truth, of grace, and of love. The departure of the people from God, is illustrated by a referen”
- Jeremiah (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Jeremiah 2:1: 2:1-13 Jeremiah used images of marriage, infidelity, and divorce to represent Judah’s spiritual apostasy.”