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Title: Het huwelijk als mensenwerk
Subtitle: Schillebeeckx’ receptie van het personalisme en zijn commentaar op Humanae vitae
Author(s): DE TAVERNIER, Johan , KNIEPS-PORT LE ROI, Thomas
Journal: Tijdschrift voor Theologie
Volume: 54    Issue: 4   Date: 2014   
Pages: 364-383
DOI: 10.2143/TVT.54.4.3200493

Abstract :
Bijna 35 jaar na het verschijnen van Familiaris consortio, de apostolische exhortatie waarin Paus Johannes Paulus II in 1981 zijn stempel drukte op de kerkelijke leer over seksualiteit, huwelijk en gezin, buigt de katholieke kerk zich vandaag opnieuw over deze thematiek. Met de twee bijeenkomsten van de bisschoppensynode in 2014 en 2015 erkent en reageert de kerk op ‘het constateerbare feit dat er tussen de menselijke levenssituaties en de voorgehouden 'objectieve normen' een enorme afstand is ontstaan’– zo althans beschrijft Edward Schillebeeckx reeds in 1964 de problematiek van de kerkelijke seksuele moraal, een analyse die hij in 1983 in een bijdrage over het ‘Kerkelijke spreken over seksualiteit en huwelijk’ herhaalt: ‘Er is geen terrein waarin de discrepantie tussen het ambtelijk spreken van de kerk en de praktisch geleefde overtuigingen van vele gelovigen zo groot is als op het terrein van seksualiteit en huwelijk’.



The recent episcopal synod on the family is a reason for the two authors to remind us of Edward Schillebeeckx’s ideas with regard to some fundamental questions in general and sexual and conjugal ethics in particular. The article starts by placing Schillebeeckx’s ideas in the context of the personalist turn in twentieth century moral theology. It discusses the scope of human autonomy in the ethical decisions, the importance of anthropological constants and negative contrast experiences, the correlation between Christian identity and human integrity, and the question whether there is such a thing as a specifically Christian ethics. Next, the article presents Schillebeeckx’s ideas about sexuality and marriage, which he mainly developed during the 1960s. Starting point in this is the theological position that marriage is a profane reality in which God’s salvific acts manifest themselves. This implies, among other things, that each theological- ethical discourse in marriage should take into account what science tells us about humanity, and the concrete experiences of couples in a specific time and context. It means that marriage is a historical reality that changes with time. Even theology does not offer a timeless view on a so-called unchanging essence of marriage. Schillebeeckx does however stand by the idea that humanity progresses in its experience of sexuality and marriage. In this, the progressive and self-explanatory ethos of marriage is mainly driven by a growing ethical awareness of the worthiness of sexuality within marriage. Schillebeeckx thinks that humanity cannot find criteria for the value of sexual relations in a biologically predetermined nature, but only in the confrontation with the other and the reality that keep reminding it of the need for a free and responsible way of dealing with it. This also illustrates Schillebeeckx’s position with regard to the issues addressed in Humanae vitae: first of all, the legality or illegality of any form of contraception can never be based on a biological order, and second, a distinction should be made between a general project of marriage which essentially includes an openness to children, and the individual sexual act that does not have to realize married life to its full extent.

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