In this groundbreaking book, David Matzko McCarthy challenges those accounts of marriage that treat the interpersonal aspects of marriage apart from economic and political questions, and proposes that marriage and family flourish when part of an interdependent network of households in community. Publishing due to market demand, this new edition brings with it a discussion of same sex union as well as other new material including single parent families and co-habitation. The book remains a key practical tool for teaching as part of a college course, in discussion groups, and among theologians interested in matters of marriage and family.