Divorce (22)
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Jesus therefore opposed how mainstream Judaism before, during, and after his earthly ministry viewed divorce and remarriage.Remarriage in Early Christianity, 82, Eerdmans
Jesus teaching in both Mark and Luke would have been taken as shocking, countercultural, and absolute. These authors would have needed to provide their reading indication that divorce would be acceptable in certain instances. After the absolute statements, the readers could not be expected to assume it.Remarriage in Early Christianity, 104, Eerdmans
Craig Keener claims with respect to Matthew's Gospel: "If the divorce is valid, so is the remarriage.... To argue that remarriage is forbidden after a valid divorce is to argue on the basis of an inference not stated in the text."And Marries Another, 44
One must take each gospel on its own terms and not hastily interject or overlay another gospel's context onto it. For that matter, Jesus's absolute prohibition in Mark 10:11 is of remarriage after the divorce. The Matthean exception clauses may pertain only to the prohibition against divorce, which would imply just as absolute a prohibition of remarriage there as well.Remarriage in the Early Church, 98
An interpretation of Mark that finds its inspiration in the exception clauses of Matthew is problematic and unlikely. First, the Pharisees' question in Mark 10:2 is whether divorce is at all lawful. Mark's Jesus does not respond by permitting divorce in instances of sexual sin but implies that divorce is against God's will and command, period.Remarriage in the Early Church, 98
despite the almost universal tendency on the part of NT exegetes to explain Jesus' prohibition of divorce against the "background" of the debate between the House of Shammai and the House of Hillel, this tendency may actually be a prime example of the anachronistic use of later texts to explain earlier ones. That is, a text written down for the first time at the beginning of the 3rd century A.D. (the Mishna) is called upon to educate a teaching of Jesus reaching back to the early part of the 1st century A.D., with written attestation in the 50s by Paul and ca. 70 by Mark. Considering the dearth of any clear attestation of the dispute over the grounds of divorce between the Houses in the pre-70 period, we would do well, at least initially, to explain Jesus' teaching on divorce soley in light of what is truly prior to and contemporary with the Palestinian Judaism of the 1st century A.D.Law and Love, 95
In a world of widespread divorce and remarriage, Paul's Jesus taught that the marital bond had long-term implications. If divorced, remarriage was not an option.Remarriage in Early Christianity, 67, Eerdmans
if a strict view on divorce and remarriage were taught in our churches, there would be fewer divorces among believers. Marriage would be entered into with more caution, and marriage partners would seek to preserve that union at all cost, for there would be no second chance. If for no other reason, a husband's sexual needs will motivate him to maintain the marriage in a healthy condition, for if he fails he will be left to a single life!Divorce Myth, 123-124
Since the God-ordained marriage union is lifelong, to marry a divorced person would be to enter into an existing marriage and hence, to commit adultery.Divorce Myth, 121
God's commands are His enablings! If you are single due to divorce, know that God will sustain you and minister to you as a single. Don't compromise the teachings of the Bible to justify remarriage just so you can be "fulfilled." Know that the single life can be a fulfilling experience for you as you obey God and trust Him to enable you to live for Him.Divorce Myth, 111
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As Matthew writes for a Jewish audience sensitive to the pressures (or, for many, requirement) to divorce the sexually unfaithful, an absolute prohibition of divorce would have been a stumbling block. Matthew's Jesus clarifies that the prohibition did not keep the husbands from divorcing adulterous wives, as expected in their legal traditions. Divorce would be permissible in these circumstances.Remarriage in Early Christianity, 155
In allowing divorce under these circumstances, it is striking, nevertheless, that Matthew does not say that the aggrieved husband could remarry. The absolute form of Jesus's teaching in Mark and Luke warns against simply assuming that the divorced husband enjoys that freedom.Remarriage in Early Christianity, 157
For its original audience, Luke 16:18 would have made clear that there was to be no remarriage for either partner of a divorce, without exception.Remarriage in the Early Church, 102
Since God's "divorce of Israel" is metaphorical, there is no implication that a divorced believer would be biblically qualified for the office of pastor/elder or deacon.Divorce Myth, 106
If an unbelieving husband divorces his wife, she is no longer bound to her husband, but she is still bound to the law of God. The freedom of a deserted believer does not imply the freedom to marry.Divorce Myth, 87
Now, how does Ezra 9-10 relate to the issue of divorce and remarriage? This passage of Scripture records a unique situation in which divorce occurred and was in fact commanded when backslidden Jews married Gentile idolators. Such marriages violated the prohibition recorded Deuteronomy 7:1-4, and the situation could be remedied only by separation. This was a unique attempt on the part of the leaders of the restoration community to keep the messianic line pure and the Hebrew faith uncontaminated as a result of mixed marriages with idolatrous heathen.The Divorce Myth, 40
The United States Census Bureau reports that in 1920 there was one divorce for every seven marriages, in 1940 one divorce for every six marriages, in 1960 one divorce for every four marriages, in 1972 one divorce for every three marriages, and in 1977 one divorce for every two marriages.The Divorce Myth, 12
That Scripture counsels marriage, however, and never allows any release from the union, is expressly contained in the law: 'You shall not divorce a wife, except for reason of immorality.' And it regards as adultery the marriage of a spouse, while the one from whom a separation was made is still alive. 'Whoever takes a divorced woman as wife commits adultery,' it says; for 'if anyone divorce his wife, he debauches her'; that is, he compels her to commit adultery. And not only does he that divorces her become the cause of this, but also he that takes the woman and gives her the opportunity of sinning; for if he did not take her, she would return to her husbandMiscellanies 2:23:145:3 [A.D. 208]
This we now say, that, according to this condition of being born and dying, which we know, and in which we have been created, the marriage of male and female is some good; the compact whereof divine Scripture so commends, as that neither is it allowed one put away by her husband to marry, so long as her husband lives: nor is it allowed one put away by his wife to marry another, unless she who have separated from him be dead. Therefore, concerning the good of marriage, which the Lord also confirmed in the Gospel, not only in that He forbade to put away a wife, save because of fornication, but also in that He came by invitation to a marriagehttps://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1309.htm#:~:text=This%20we%20now%20say%2C%20that,long%20as%20her%20husband%20lives%3A
The craziest thing about marriage is that one cannot get divorced. We just do not seem to make it out of intimate relationships. It is obviously possible to divide up property and to decide not to live together any more, but it is impossible to go back to being single. Marriage is like a stew that has reversible and irrevocable characteristics that the parts cannot be rid of. Divorce is leaving a part of the self behind, like the rabbit who escapes the trap by gnawing one leg off.NIVAC, Mark (pp. 384-385). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
It is, in other words, a text of concession, not a text of intention. You do not learn to fly an airplane by following the instructions for making a crash landing; you will not be successful in war if you train by the rules for beating a retreat. The same is true of marriage and divorce. The exceptional measures necessary when a marriage fails are of no help in discovering the meaning and intention for marriage. Jesus endeavors to recover God's will for marriage, not to argue about possible exceptions to it. His opponents ask what is permissible, he points to what is commanded.Pillar Commentary
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