The Bond of Love: Catholic Teaching on Marriage & Sexual Ethics
by Willem Jacobus Cardinal Eijk
Contemporary attitudes toward marriage, family life, and human sexuality have undergone profound changes since the mid-twentieth century, spurred by a host of social and cultural factors. Large segments of the population in the West now hold views on marriage and sexual ethics that are very different from the values and norms taught by the Church. Indeed, Catholic teaching on the truth of marriage and human sexuality is open to strong criticism—including among groups of Catholics—and seems, at best, poorly understood.

In The Bond of Love, Willem Jacobus Cardinal Eijk provides a comprehensive and unflinching account of the Church's teaching on marriage and sexual ethics, dispelling misconceptions and elucidating its truth with grace and clarity. As he demonstrates, far from being a set of arbitrary rules that constrain human freedom, this teaching is instead a deep wisdom for human flourishing, anchored in the truth of God and man divinely revealed within Scripture, Tradition, and the Gospel. Eijk first locates Catholic teaching on marriage and sexuality in relation to the currently dominant views in Western society. He follows this with an exposition of the fundamental starting point of the Church's teaching on the nature of marriage and sexuality, rooted in theological anthropology. Next discussed is the virtue of chastity—the integration of the sexual faculties into the personality—and what it requires of both married and unmarried persons. The volume concludes by addressing practices and circumstances that violate the essence of marriage.

This powerful witness to the truth and beauty of Catholic teaching on marriage and sexual ethics is a vital resource for pastors, teachers, and all of the Church's faithful striving to live in the love and communion that is grounded in Christ.