Theology

Theology (and Church doctrine) is an important theme in the novel “Wolf Hall” by Hilary Mantel. Theology – the study of God and the Christian faith, specifically, the Catholic Church in this instance – becomes essential and central to the plot of the story in which Henry VIII seeks the annulment of his marriage to Queen Katherine of Aragon.

In the theological tradition and doctrine of the Catholic Church, marriage is held to be integral and sacred in Christendom. It is from marriage that families are made, and future generations are born. Marriage is not merely a legal arrangement, but is a joining of man and woman overseen by God, and as such, marriage is a divinely-attended, consequential, and incredibly important sacrament in the Church. It is held to be inviolable in exception for the most extreme of reasons, and then, annulments are few and far between. Henry...