Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage for Christians
It is a source of great sorrow that in the society we live in today the breakdown of marriage (when couples do indeed decide to get married) is a commonplace phenomenon, and even more sadly marital breakdown is regularly encountered in Christian families as well. As a result, there are multitudes of Christian folk whose lives are affected by divorce and remarriage with the accompanying guilt, hurt and shame; and also, regrettably, the sometimes unfair and ill-thought-out condemnation from fellow believers who do not fully comprehend the issues.
The end of a marriage, whilst not being what God would have intended, is not the unpardonable sin and God's compassion, goodness and forgiveness are so far-reaching that, although the consequences of the failure of a marriage can be extensive and last a lifetime, by His grace and mercy He does enable His suffering people to move on to live fulfilled lives.
The purpose of this book is to provide a concise and easy-to-read survey into the issue of divorce and remarriage for those contemplating whether divorce is permissible, are suffering divorce, have recently suffered divorce, as well as for Christians at large in order that they can empathize with those experiencing the trauma of divorce from a biblical standpoint.
In order to cover the subject in a biblical manner the intention is to look at what Scripture has to say, using the Bible, taken in context, as the sole point of reference.
This volume has purposefully been designed to be concise for the reason that many going through the pain of divorce may not have the appetite to absorb the vast amount of teaching the Bible has to say on the subject.
It is regrettable that some who hold strong views on the subject do not appear to have studied what the Bible actually has to say in any real depth and simply fall back on a few seemingly 'proof texts', without putting them in their context to ascertain what the whole counsel of Scripture has to say. Such views can be at the very least unhelpful, condescending and judgemental, and it is hoped that such people will come to realize the hurt they can cause.
The question of precisely what are the permissible grounds for divorce has been the subject of endless controversy and debate, with one end of the spectrum saying that divorce is never permissible under any circumstances whatsoever, to the other extreme where all sorts of shallow excuses are allowed. Neither of these views to the writer's mind can be correct. It is the author's belief that where Scripture is consciously imprecise it is to allow its readers to make informed decisions that are applicable to each individual situation.
In this discourse the writer has endeavoured to steer a clear, but biblically sound, middle course, bearing in mind on one hand God's holy character which loathes divorce, and on the other takes into account His love and compassion for fallen sinful mankind whom He loves with an unfathomably deep love. As with all such matters, readers should prayerfully consider what is proposed here but bear in mind that only Scripture is totally infallible.
The author is only too aware that anyone who proposes views on the subject of divorce and remarriage is likely to be criticized as being either too lenient or too strict, but I hope the reader will respect the writer's sincerely held beliefs that have come as a result of a good deal of study.
The chapters include:
- Introduction
- Marriage Instituted by God
- Weddings in Bible Times and Today
- Bible Passages Concerning Divorce
- The Biblical Grounds for Divorce
- The Pharisees Test Jesus on Divorce
- Teaching of the Rabbis, Teachers and Commentators
- The Certificate of Divorce
- Remarriage
- Singleness
- Protecting Marriage
- The Problem of Guilt
- Summary
- Notes to the Text
- Bibliography
