by Martin Davie
Kenneth Kearon is a member of the Church of Ireland who was Director of the Irish School of Ecumenics, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion and Bishop of Limerick and Killaloe.
As he explains in his introduction, the purpose of his new book Marriage and Relationships: An Anglican Exploration (Dublin: Hinds Publishing 2026) is to:
‘Outline a path through some of the background material and current debates on marriage and relationships, written from the perspective of someone who is an Anglican, a member of the Church of Ireland, and who has watched the engagement between faith, society and culture in the area of personal relationships.
Anglicans, sometimes to the frustration of some non- Anglicans, do not seek or require unanimity or obedience to one authority or another on issues such as these, and instead place strong emphasis on personal responsibility in moral decision making, which conversely requires respect and tolerance for those who in sincerity decide differently. Given the need for personal decision, this book aims to provide a brief overview of some of the material, discussions and debates, and still help to resource the individual seeking to find their own way forward on some issues in this area.’ (p.1)
The contents of Kearon’s book
As he explains in chapter 1, the main body of Kearon’s book is divided into three sections
Section 1 (chapters 2-6) looks in turn at marriage in modern society, and the teaching about marriage found in the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Early Church, and the Reformation.
Section 2 (chapters 7-8) looks at the development of Anglican thinking on contraception and divorce.
Section 3 (chapters 9-10) looks at the Anglican debate on homosexuality and the place of scripture, tradition and reason in Anglican decision making and finishes by asking ‘So how do we decide?’ about homosexual relationships.