Faithfulness#Religions
{{short description|Act of remaining true to one's life partner}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
File:E-codices sbs-0008 007v Hosea mit erhobener Hand.TIF with his arm raised. Klosterneuburger Evangelienwerk, fol. 7v. {{Circa|1340}}]]
Faithfulness means unfailingly remaining loyal to someone or something, and putting that loyalty into consistent practice regardless of extenuating circumstances. It may be exhibited, for example, by a husband or wife who does not engage in sexual relationships outside of the marriage.{{cite web |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/faithful |title=Meaning of faithful in English |publisher=Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary |access-date=October 15, 2018 }} It can also mean keeping one's promises no matter the prevailing circumstances, such as in certain communities of monks who take a vow of silence.{{cite web |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/faithful |title= faithful |publisher=Merriam Webster |access-date=June 7, 2018 }} Literally, it is the state of being full of faith in the sense of steady devotion to a person, thing, or concept.
Etymology
Its etymology is distantly related to that of fidelity; indeed, in modern electronic devices, a machine with high "fidelity" is considered "faithful" to its source material.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}} Similarly, a spouse who, inside a sexually exclusive relationship, has sexual relations outside of marriage could be considered as being "unfaithful" and as having committed "infidelity".{{cite book|first1=David M.|last1=Newman|first2=Elizabeth|last2=Grauerholz|title=Sociology of Families|publisher=Pine Forge Press|location=U.S.A.|year=2002|page=267}}
Religions
Sexual faithfulness within a marriage is a required tenet in Christianity—one of the four pillars of marriage.{{cite web|website=Catechism of the Catholic Church|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c3a7.htm|url-status=dead|title=The sacrament of Matrimony|access-date=May 27, 2017|archive-date=26 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200326071455/http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c3a7.htm}} It is also required in Jewish marriage,{{cite book|first1=Don S.|last1=Browning|first2=M.|last2=Christian|last3=Green|first3=John Witte Jr.|title=Sex, Marriage, and Family in World Religions|publisher=Columbia University Press|location=U.S.A.|year=2009|page=2}} and Islam.{{cite book|first=Ina|last=Taylor|title=Religion and Life with Christianity and Islam|publisher=Heinemann|location=U.K.|year=2005|page=50}}