Chrześcijanie IV i V wieku wobec nauki Kościoła o nierozerwalności związku małżeńskiego

Abstract

The 4th and 5th centuries were in the Christian antiquity the period when the Christian religion not only was granted denominational freedom, but it started being supported by the state. This resulted in a very fast increase in the number of its confessors. As a consequence it contributed to the appearance of several new problems inside the still young Church. The article is an attempt at showing how the old customs and the still binding state legislation influenced the Christians’ attitudes towards the teaching of the Church on the indissolubility of marriage. This can be clearly seen when one analyzes the statements by the Fathers of the Church from that period. Very often they were forced to assume an attitude towards particular cases occurring in their pastoral work, which, in turn, were born from the faithful’s attachment to the old, pagan customs and the binding old Roman law that regulated the questions connected with concluding marriage, the conditions for its cessation, and admissibility of divorce.