From the Foundation to the Capstone. On the Fate of Christian Marriage in Conversations with Young People. Book Review: Regnerus M. (2020) The Future of Christian Marriage. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Abstract

The article discusses the book by sociologist M. Regnerus “On the Future of Christian Marriage”. It presents the results of a comparative sociological study on the attitudes of young Christians to marriage in seven countries, including Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox. On the one hand, the book echoes the results of many other studies discussing the deinstitutionalization and devaluation of marriage in the modern world. Turning to the study not of the “average citizens”, but of the so-called “religious youth”, who are closer by values to the religious core, the author shows that their perceptions of Christian marriage start to mimic the “secular majority”. On the other hand, the main thesis of Regnerus’ book is that in the minds of young Christians, marriage has not ceased to have value. On the contrary, along with the high value of marriage, the decision price has also increased ― the expected fear of divorce, the uncertainty of double employment, asymmetric expectations between men and women, etc. He calls this transformation of the meaning of marriage the transition “from the foundation to the capstone”, when marriage is perceived as the completion of the process of self-realization and the result of self-sufficiency.

The author of the book does not hide that he is a “fan” of marriage, therefore, based on the results of his research, he offers eight tips for reanimating Christian marriage in different countries of the world, including in Russia. Despite the decision to discuss the future of Christian marriage based on the variability of countries and denominations, the selected countries are too different to build some kind of common and simultaneously relevant model for each of them.

Acknowledgments. The author expresses gratitude to the Active Tradition Foundation, which supported the project “Awareness of family life by young couples. An analysis of three waves of interviews from the perspective of relational sociology”.