Page:Christian Marriage.djvu/98

 of women among the ancients—"we have to deal with a condition of feeling so extremely remote from that of our own day that the difficulty is pre-eminently great."

The gradual revolution in feeling with respect to sexual relationships is the salient fact of the history, when the effect of Christianity on marriage is discussed. This revolution was effected under the influence of four powerful factors, which in succession dominated Christian thought and practice. These were external to Christianity, but they served the purpose of helping the Church to fashion what we understand by "Christian Marriage."

In their historic order these factors are the following: I. Asceticism; II. The Imperial Codes; III. The German Spirit; IV. The Canon Law. The first stamped on the human conscience an exalted regard for the virtue of chastity. The next emphasised the social