The Meanings of Marriage (Witte, 2002)
In discussing the meanings of marriage, we need to understand that modern Anglo-American marriage law was formed out of two traditions, one rooted in Christianity, a second in the Enlightenment. Each of these traditions has contributed a variety of familiar legal ideas and institutions some overlapping, some conflicting. It is in the overlapping and creatively juxtaposed legal contributions of the Christian and Enlightenment traditions that one sees some of the ingredients of a third way respecting marriage.