Page:Christian Marriage.djvu/99

 and legal aspects of marriage. The third created the sentiment of chivalry. The last created the ecclesiastical conception of marriage as a "sacrament." These notions constitute the elements out of which the conception of Christian marriage, as it exists to-day, have been fashioned. Chastity, law, chivalry, the sacramental idea—every one of these is capable of dangerous exaggeration, and in point of fact has been dangerously exaggerated, but none of them can be let slip out of the complete doctrine of marriage. It will be our task to distinguish and appraise these four historical conditions of Christian development.

I.—Asceticism, as we have seen, had already made its presence felt when the New Testament was in process of formation. The apostles themselves were not unaffected by it, although it is true to say that in the main they threw their influence steadily against it; but, with the expansion of Christianity in the corrupt society of the Empire, a strong current