Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!bcm!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!porthos.rutgers.edu!christian From: ta00est@unccvax.uncc.edu (elizabeth s tallant) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: divorce and remarriage Message-ID: Date: 2 Nov 90 08:51:50 GMT Sender: hedrick@porthos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of NC at Charlotte Lines: 50 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article , jhpb@granjon.garage.att.com writes: > > What I do not understand > is, if I am reading it right, then why do so many churches allow a person > to remarry and actually assist/perform the second marriage? Wouldn't the > church then also be sinning by not only allowing the person to sin but also > causing them to stumble? Or is this a case where society has accepted the > idea of a second marriage and therefore the church has also? I hope we are > not compromising the law. > > I had a discussion with a Southern Baptist on this once. It came down > to one passage: > > Whosoever shall put away his wife, except for fornication, maketh > her to commit adultery, etc. (Mt. 5:32) > Here is another Southern Baptist point of view. I don't pretend to be an authority on divorce and remarriage, but even in my own church, there is a disagreement on this topic. What is seems to boil down to is the perfect will of God vs. the permissive will of God. My deacon's wife maintains that since the perfect will of God is one man and one woman, anything else is the permissive will of God, and since it is not the perfect will of God, divorce and remarriage shouldn't be permitted at all. On the other hand, my current pastor and two of my previous pastors disagree with her point of view. My current pastor, Ron Helms, interprets the passage "Whosoever shall put away his wife, except for fornication, and marries anothercommitts adultry... as saying that remarriage after fornication is not unlawful. Yet it is not the perfect will of God. He thinks that it's sort of like God is saying, OK, you've gotten into this mess and since you cannot undo what's already been done, I'm gone to give you a loophole so that you can remarry. Then, he noted that in the OT times, an adulteror or adultress was put to death. In Rev. Helms opinion, this symbolizes that adultry is like a death. He seems to be saying that in OT times, an adulteror was put to death and in this case, the remaining spouse could remarry because his/her former spouse was dead. Since we are now living during the age of grace, those who commit adultry are not put to death, but Rev. Helms maintains that unfaithful spouse is "dead" to the faithful spouse and therefore, divorce and remarriage is permitted. Elizabeth Tallant