Sin's Impact On Marriage Roles And Extremes

Marriage, as instituted by God, predates the fall and retains its essential goodness even after sin entered the world. Augustine insists that "the entire good of the nuptial institution" includes offspring, faithfulness, and the marital bond—all of which remain intact despite humanity's fallen condition ^[3]. The divine blessing "Be fruitful and multiply" was not a prophecy of future sin but "a benediction upon the fertility of marriage," spoken before any transgression occurred ^[6]. Marriage itself, therefore, cannot be blamed as the source of human sinfulness, even though every child born within it inherits a corrupted nature.

The Entrance of Lust and Shame

Sin's impact on marriage manifests most clearly in the transformation of sexual desire from ordered will to disordered passion. Before the fall, Augustine argues, the "nuptial acts of that primeval marriage were quietly discharged, undisturbed by lustful passion," with bodily members directed "by the choice of the will" rather than "instigated by the ardour of lust" ^[7]. The entrance of sin introduced what Augustine calls "concupiscence"—a shameful compulsion that even married persons experience, though marriage "uses aright" this disordered desire by channeling it toward procreation ^[1]. This concupiscence is simultaneously "the daughter and mother of sin": it results from the original transgression and perpetuates sinfulness in subsequent generations ^[1].

The shame now associated with sexual organs and acts reflects this fundamental disruption. What would have been a simple exercise of will became something requiring modesty and restraint. Augustine notes that marriage retains its honor "in all the goods which properly appertain to it," yet even the marriage bed, though "undefiled" by adultery or fornication, occasions shame because of the lustful passion involved ^[1]. This is not to condemn marriage itself but to acknowledge the distortion sin introduced into what was originally a purely volitional act.

Marriage Unchanged in Structure, Altered in Experience

Despite sin's effects, the institution of marriage remains fundamentally what God established at creation. Augustine explicitly rejects any notion that "marriages as are now enacted are the invention of the devil," insisting they "are absolutely the same marriages as God made at the very first" ^[2]. God has not withdrawn His blessing on procreation from fallen humanity any more than He has removed other natural gifts like reason or bodily faculties ^[2]. The structure endures; the experience has been compromised.

This distinction matters when considering the transmission of original sin. The Pelagians, whom Augustine opposed, attempted to argue that if children inherit sin through birth, then marriage itself must be evil and parents guilty merely for procreating ^[9]. Augustine's response is that marriage "was instituted not for the purpose of sinning, but of producing children," and while every child born in wedlock is born with sin, this does not make marriage the cause of that sin ^[5]. The devil does not hold infants guilty because of "the good by which marriage is good, but of the evil of concupiscence" that accompanies procreation in the fallen state ^[1].

Extremes and Dissolution

Sin's corruption of marriage extends beyond internal disorder to external violations. The Mosaic law treated adultery as a capital offense, prescribing death for both parties ^[8]. This severity reflects the heinousness of violating the marriage covenant, even though "fools are most apt to make a mock" of such sins ^[8]. In scholastic theology, Aquinas identifies fornication and unbelief as having "special contrariety to the goods of marriage," though he maintains that once a marriage is ratified and consummated, neither adultery nor apostasy dissolves the bond itself ^[4]. Incest with a spouse's relative before marriage constitutes grounds for annulment, but if it occurs after consummation, the marriage must not be dissolved entirely ^[10].

The permanence of the marriage bond, even in the face of grave sin, testifies to the sacramental character of the union—what Augustine calls "a great one in the case of Christ and the Church" and "a very small one in the case of a man and his wife" ^[11]. Sin distorts marriage roles and introduces shame, compulsion, and the possibility of profound betrayal, yet the institution itself remains God's work, bearing witness to a prelapsarian design that sin has marred but not destroyed.

Sources

Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 5: Augustine — Anti-Pelagian — CHAP. 27 [XXIV.]--THROUGH LUST ORIGINAL SIN IS TRANSMITTED; VENIAL SINS IN MARRIED PERSONS; CONCUPISCENCE OF THE FLESH, THE: DAUGHTER AND MOTHER OF SIN. Wherefore the devil holds infants guilty who are born, not of the good by which marriage is good, but of the evil of concupiscence, which, indeed, marriage uses aright, but at which even marriage has occasion to feel shame. Marriage is itself "honourable in all"[5] the goods which properly appertain to it; but even when it has 275 its "bed undefiled" (not only by fornication and adultery, which are damn”
Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 5: Augustine — Anti-Pelagian — CHAP. 54 [XXXII.]--HOW MARRIAGE IS NOW DIFFERENT SINCE THE EXISTENCE OF SIN. (part 1): God forbid that we should say, what this man pretends we say, "Such marriages as are now enacted are the invention of the devil." Why, they are absolutely the same marriages as God made at the very first. For this blessing of His, which He appointed for the procreation of mankind, He has not taken away even from men under condemnation, any more than He has deprived them of their senses and bodily limbs, which are no doubt His gifts, although they are condemned to die ”
Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 5: Augustine — Anti-Pelagian — CHAP. 13.--IN THE MARRIAGE OF MARY AND JOSEPH THERE WERE ALL THE BLESSINGS OF THE WEDDED STATE; ALL THAT IS BORN OF CONCUBINAGE IS SINFUL FLESH.: The entire good, therefore, of the nuptial institution was effected in the case of these parents of Christ: there was offspring, there was faithfulness, there was the bond.[11] As offspring, we recognise the Lord Jesus Himself; the fidelity, in that there was no adultery; the bond,[11] because there was no divorce. [XII.] Only there was no nuptial cohabitation; because He who was to be without sin, and was sen”
theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Supplement (Supplementum), Of Disparity of Worship As an Impediment to Marriage, Art. 6: Article: Whether other sins dissolve marriage? I answer that, Bodily fornication and unbelief have a special contrariety to the goods of marriage, as stated above (Article [3]). Hence they are specially effective in dissolving marriages. Nevertheless it must be observed that marriage is dissolved in two ways. In one way as to the marriage tie, and thus marriage cannot be dissolved after it is ratified, neither by unbelief nor by adultery. But if it be not ratified, the tie is dis”
Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 5: Augustine — Anti-Pelagian — CHAP. 42.--THE PELAGIANS TRY TO GET RID OF ORIGINAL SIN BY THEIR PRAISE OF GOD'S WORKS; MARRIAGE, IN ITS NATURE AND BY ITS INSTITUTION, IS NOT THE CAUSE OF SIN. (part 2): is a good, is not the cause of evil; and that consequently from it no man could be born in a sinful state, and having need of a Saviour: just as if we said that marriage is the cause of sin, though it is true that the human being which is born in wedlock is not born without sin. Marriage was instituted not for the purpose of sinning, but of producing children. Accordingly the Lord's bl”
Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 5: Augustine — Anti-Pelagian — CHAP. 40 [XXXV.]--MARRIAGE EXISTED BEFORE SIN WAS COMMITTED. HOW GOD'S BLESSING OPERATED IN OUR FIRST PARENTS.: There was, however, undoubtedly marriage, even when sin had no prior existence; and for no other reason was it that woman, and not a second man, was created as a help for the man. Moreover, those words of God, "Be fruitful and multiply,"[11] are not prophetic of sins to be condemned, but a benediction upon the fertility of marriage. For by these ineffable words of His, I mean by the divine methods which are inherent in the truth of His wis”
Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 5: Augustine — Anti-Pelagian — CHAP. 41 [XXXVI.]--LUST AND TRAVAIL COME FROM SIN. WHENCE OUR MEMBERS BECAME A CAUSE OF SHAME.: Granted, therefore, that we have no means of showing both that the nuptial acts of that primeval marriage were quietly discharged, undisturbed by lustful passion, and that the motion of the organs of generation, like that of any other members of the body, was not instigated by the ardour of lust, but directed by the choice of the will (which would have continued such with marriage had not the disgrace of sin intervened); still, from all that is stated in the ”
Leviticus (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Leviticus 20:10: Sins against the seventh commandment are here ordered to be severely punished. These are sins which, of all others, fools are most apt to make a mock at; but God would teach those the heinousness of the guilt by the extremity of the punishment that would not otherwise be taught it. I. Lying with another man's wife was made a capital crime. The adulterer and the adulteress that had joined in the sin must fall alike under the sentence: they shall both be put to death, Lev 20:10. Long before this, even in Job's time, this was reputed a heinous crime and an iniqui”
Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 5: Augustine — Anti-Pelagian — CHAP. 44 [XXVII.]--THE PELAGIANS ARGUE THAT IF SIN COMES BY BIRTH, ALL MARRIED PEOPLE DESERVE CONDEMNATION.: What, then, is his object when he inquires of us, "By what means sin may be found in an infant, through the will, or through marriage, or through its parents"? He speaks, indeed, in such a way as if he had an answer to all these questions, and as if by clearing all of sin together he would have nothing remain in the infant whence sin could be found. I beg your attention to his very words: "Through what," says he, "is sin found in an infant? Throu”
theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Supplement (Supplementum), Of the Impediments of Impotence, Spell, Frenzy or Madness, Incest and Defective Age, Art. 4: Article: Whether marriage is annulled by the husband committing incest with his wife's sister? I answer that, If a man has connection with the sister or other relative of his wife before contracting marriage, even after his betrothal, the marriage should be broken off on account of the resultant affinity. If, however, the connection take place after the marriage has been contracted and consummated, the marriage must not be altogether dissolved: but ”
Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 5: Augustine — Anti-Pelagian — CHAP. 23 [XXI.]--SIN HAS NOT ARISEN OUT OF THE GOODNESS OF MARRIAGE; THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY A GREAT ONE IN THE CASE OF CHRIST AND THE CHURCH--A VERY SMALL ONE IN THE CASE OF A MAN AND HIS WIFE.: If now we interrogate, so to speak, those goods of marriage to which we have often referred,[3] and inquire how it is that sin could possibly have been propagated from them to infants, we shall get this answer from the first of them--the work of procreation of offspring: "My happiness would in paradise have been greater if sin had not been committed. For to”

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