Abstract / DOI
«Marriage for all» and the Church’s Understanding of Marriage. Since the german parliament recently decided to legalize same sex marriage (the so called «Ehe für alle»), this comment reconsiders the essential features of marriage. On the one hand, the church’s view of marriage and its biblical foundation is displayed, built upon the four pillars freedom, faithfulness, indissolubility and (biological and social) fruitfulness. On the other hand, there is a gradually altered understanding of marriage in society. This comment questions the supposition of the proponents of same sex marriage, that there is an altered societal notion of marriage as a mere arbitrary intimate relation of two persons. The human bisexualism has an anthropological impact and is moreover a legal requirement of the german constitution’s notion of marriage. The equal acknowledgement of civil unions (registered partnerships) can be strengthened without a further weakening of the understanding of marriage.