Abstract:
Marriage, according to Martin Luther, is an institution both secular
and sacred. It is secular because it is an order of this earthly life.
But its institution goes back to the beginning of the human race and
that makes marriage sacred, a divine and holy order. It does not –
like the sacraments – nourish and strengthen faith or prepare
people for the life to come; but it is a secular order in which people
can prove faith and love, even though they are apt to fail without the
help of the Word and the sacrament. The author applies this view of
Luther in terms of two unacceptable extremes: the creation
ordinances of Brunner and the analogy of relation of Barth. The
dialectic of Law and Gospel should never be dispensed.
