A Case for Covenant: Defining Christian Commitment Through Covenantal Fidelity

This paper articulates an Anglican theological account of committed relationships grounded in covenant. Drawing on the biblical accounts of God’s faithful love for Israel and Christ’s self-giving fidelity to the Church, it argues that covenantal fidelity provides the normative grammar for Anglican moral reflection on intimacy and commitment. Against this standard, polyamorous and consensual non-monogamous (CNM) relationships, though often defended empirically, fail to embody the exclusivity and permanence intrinsic to covenantal fidelity. The paper adopts a posture of pastoral realism, acknowledging that relationships evolve over time. Familiar examples include engaged couples who cohabit before marriage and lifelong partnerships lacking formal recognition, such as those that develop later in life within geriatric communities. Such cases call for careful discernment and pastoral accompaniment, without collapsing theological norms into mere description. The paper also holds room for proponents of CNM relationships to enter theological conversation with the Church, applying the same rigor as other innovations.