The Trouble with Marriage: Characteristic Damage and Christian Marriage

In The Dangers of Christian Practice , Lauren Winner argues that certain Christian practices are damaged and extend damage in ways intrinsic to the practice itself, termed “characteristic damage.” Since the shape of Christian marriage in the West is related to organizing rights and privileges concerning material wealth and inheritance and to selectively legitimizing certain forms of companionate relationships, its characteristic damage is the disparate treatment of certain relationship forms. Surveying the history of Christian marriage in the West and putting this history into conversation with Michael Warner’s contribution to queer discourse that militated against the selective legal and social legitimacy and the differential rights and benefits of marriage, this article examines the historical and ongoing characteristic damage associated with the shape of Christian marriage. It concludes with brief suggestions for pastoral care, advocacy, and policymaking in the Anglican context.