On questions relating to the Bible's treatment of family and morals, one might expect assurance, if not rigidity, from Evangelical Christianity. So, it may surprise many to learn how "live" the topic of divorce remains in Evangelical circles. Last month, the cover story of the monthly Christianity Today was titled "When to Separate What God has Joined: A Closer Reading on the Bible on Divorce." The heated controversy provoked by the story showed how Biblically flexible some Evangelicals can be - especially when God's word seems at odds not just with modern American behavior, but also with simple human kindness.

As the article's author, the British Evangelical scholar David Instone-Brewer, points out, for most of 2,000 years Christians have viewed divorce through two scriptural citations. In Matthew, the pharisees ask Christ, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?" Jesus refers to the Old Testament and then replies, "Whoever divorces a wife, except for sexual indecency, commits adultery." The apostle Paul adds in the book First Corinthians that a Christian is "not bound" to a non-Christian spouse who abandons him. Simple, right?

Instone-Brewer radically reinterprets the first passage using, of all things, quotation marks. The Greek of the New Testament didn't always contain them, and scholars agree that sometimes they must be added in to make sense of it. Instone-Brewer, an expert in Jewish thought during Jesus's era, writes that Christ's interlocutors were not asking him whether there was any cause at all for divorce, but whether he supported something called "any-cause" divorce, a term a little bit like "no-fault" that allowed husbands to divorce wives for any reason at all. Instone-Brewer claims Jesus's "no" was a response to this idea, and that his "except for sexual indecency" condition was not a statement of the sole exemption from God's blanket prohibition, but merely Christ's reiteration of one of several divorce permissions in the Old Testament - one he felt the "any-time" advocates had exaggerated. Finally, Instone-Brewer tallies four grounds for divorce he finds affirmed in both Old and New Testaments: adultery, emotional and sexual neglect, abandonment (by anyone) and abuse.

Christianity Today has written previously on divorce, often bemoaning how easy it is in today's America. However, the Instone-Brewer essay appeared to be its editors' attempt to offer Evangelicals an escape from a classic dilemma. The "plain sense" of Jesus's words without quotes seems clear enough, but also inhumane: how could a loving God forbid divorce, even by omission, in cases of wife-beating, or of abandonment by a Christian spouse?

Each branch of Christianity deals with divorce in its own way: Catholicism bans it entirely, but many divorced and remarried couples nonetheless find that their conscience permits them to take Communion. Liberal Protestantism accepted divorce some decades ago without much engagement of the scriptural issue. Evangelicals define themselves as being tightly bound by scripture. But besides the humanitarian problem, there are some uncomfortable facts on the ground: The divorce rate among Evangelicals, which first became news after polls released by the Barna Research Group in 2001, has been as high or higher than the national average.

The Evangelical movement has actually made tremendous accommodations given the strictures it lives under. Ministries for the newly divorced are common at megachurches; and on the historically less-rigid Pentecostal side of the spectrum, celebrity preachers Juanita Bynum and Paula White both recently announced their intention to divorce. Most experts interviewed for this story attested that whereas 30 years ago, a pastor might well order a battered woman home to return her husband, that is rare today.

More conservative Evangelicals remain uneasy about divorce. If a split itself is inescapable, notes Christianity Today editor Andy Crouch, "remarriage is where the rubber meets the road," and many remarried couples find themselves denied church membership. Says Russel Moore, dean of the 16.3 million-member Southern Baptist Convention's influential Southern Seminary, "We teach our future pastors that marriage is a lifelong, one-flesh union." Any woman in an abusive marriage should "leave that situation," he acknowledges, and a "majority" probably accept remarriage. Asked if he does, Moore demurred: "Let me think about that for a little bit. I could answer in a way that would be very easily misunderstood."

Evangelical conflict on the topic was obvious in reader response to the Instone Brewer essay. Initially the mail was heavily negative. The most stinging broadside sas a column by John Piper, a respected theological conservative, that called the essay not just weak but "tragic." The magazine's editor in chief, David Neff, felt the need to explain online that "Instone-Brewer's article did not, give people carte blanche on divorce." The mail eventually leveled off at 60% negative to 40% positive.

Still, the controversy suggests that even the country's most rule-bound Christians will search for a fresh understanding of scripture when it seems unjust to them. The implications? Flexibility on divorce may mean that evangelicals could also rethink their position on such things as gay marriage, as a generation of Christians far more accepting of homosexuality begins to move into power. (The ever-active Barna folks have found that 57% of "born-again" Christians age 16-29 criticize their own church for being "anti-homosexual." It could also give heart to a certain twice-divorced former New York mayor who is running for President and seeking the conservative vote. But that may be pushing things a bit.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20071106/us_time/anevangelicalrethinkondivorce

am thinking law and application is different.or how do u explain the percentages of divorces when they are against it.there are other issues but will start with this.

Mark 10:5 - And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. (Read Mark 10:1-5)

The above scripture is the response of Jesus Christ, when asked why Moses commanded divorce.

There is what is called the Law of first mention; which says that when you want to know the Truth about a matter, go to where it was first mentioned.

Jesus Christ said in the beginning it was not so, but because of the hardness of man's heart Moses gave them the law of divorce. but whenever man wants to exercise his will, it is alway difficult for another to stop him whether the cause is good or not. If you understand how powerful WILL POWER is you will understand how powerful God has created man to be. Not even God will trample upon man's will. Have you checked why man seek divorce, in most cases you will be alarmed.

Divorce is a serious issue in our world so the church cannot shy away from it. Because anywhere you turned this day you meet someone hurting because of divorce. Our hearts has failed us, we failed to know the truth about issues. Marriage is more than Love, marriage will task every known attributes/quality/morals you have and if any is not adequate and you are too proud to correct/strenghten it then it will fail in that area (The strenght of a chain is determined by its weakest link). Hardness of heart is one of the subset of pride.

Shalom!

The bible is against divorce.
No divorce for a Christian.

Backslider:

The bible is against divorce.
No divorce for a Christian.

so i suppose if ur sista is in a bad marriage,u'll encourage her to stay put until she is killed.same goes for men.kinda watched a vid where the wife was bigger than the hussie and beat him from one end of the street to the other end.

Seperation from a wife beater is definetely allowed.No sane person will tell you to live with a wife basher but divorce and remarriage is ABSOLUTELY against God's law.It sounds weird and inhumane considering the pain of loneliness and raising children but thats what God commands us.Most divorces occur because they were not based on the solid foundation-God.He instituted marriage b4 u or any of today's liberal but respected theologians were born.He knew what he wanted it to be.
Sometimes God's commandment seems hard but they are for our own good.Imagine a situation where divorce and remarriage was allowed,do u think the world will not be upside down.My pastor can just divorce his wife today and remarry my former wife tommorow.After spending some time with her and she doesnt seem good enough(which is why i left her in the first instance),he divorces her and moves on to another member's former wife.i also can also remarry the pastor's former wife and divorce her after testing her.How would that be?Interesting right?God's wisdom is supreme.His commandments were made not to satisfy him or make things dufficult for us but to guide and help us live a good life.King David said 'thy law is a lamp unto my feet'.

Today's divorce rate is undoubtedly alarming and the number seemed to have overwhelmed some keepers of the law-the pastors and bishops.The pain and trauma associated with marriage has made them start thinking like Aaron who made a calf for the Isrealites after being put under pressure and told them,the lifeless thing was their God.They have digged hard into the Gods word looking for a way to deaden what their conscience and the spirit tells them about divorce.No matter how hard they find excuses,Gods word remains solid and true.My heartfelt prayer ifor the unmarried is that God should guide us in our choice of whom to marry and more importantly he should give us the patience,wisdom and obedience to listen to his directions cos we(human beings) are naturally 'foolish'.For the married,i pray for God's streghth to change what they can and wisdom to deal with what they can't.

Shallom!

Posted it twice.Editted

damoche07:

Today's divorce rate is undoubtedly alarming and the number seemed to have overwhelmed some keepers of the law-the pastors and bishops.The pain and trauma associated with marriage has made them start thinking like Aaron who made a calf for the Isrealites after being put under pressure and told them,the lifeless thing was their God.They have digged hard into the Gods word looking for a way to deaden what their conscience and the spirit tells them about divorce.No matter how hard they find excuses,Gods word remains solid and true.My heartfelt prayer ifor the unmarried is that God should guide us in our choice of whom to marry and more importantly he should give us the patience,wisdom and obedience to listen to his directions because we(human beings) are naturally 'foolish'.For the married,i pray for God's streghth to change what they can and wisdom to deal with what they can't.

Shallom!

i think u are making a lot of sense here.

In the style of Jesus

So if you found the other person to be with the same problem what would do?

Backslider:

In the style of Jesus

So if you found the other person to be with the same problem what would do?

i suppose i never made mention of re-marriage.

Then There is nothing like Divorce Right?

well,i suppose we wouldn't be discussing it then.