DIVORCE

[Episaw]

I see your profile states Australia. I'm not familiar with that country's laws. But in the USA, divorce laws have been liberalized over the last 40 years. To my knowledge, all states allow no-fault divorce. A legal divorce can be granted simply for irreconcilable differences, without a requirement to prove misconduct by either spouse. So it's only natural. Easier divorce = more divorces.

But that does not alter the fact that Christians are guided by scripture, not the world. No fault divorce arrived here in 1973 and when it did I told them that divorce would skyrocket and it did. I did not expect the same to happen with Christians.

P.S. I have been married for 48 years to the same lady.

 

[Episaw]

Divorce was an Old Testament provision for the hard hearted. After Christ fulfilled the Law on the cross, the New Covenant replaced it. Some of the Ten Commandments found their way into the New Covenant as commentary and instruction. But divorce, a peripheral doctrine of the Law did not. Simply stated, divorce is not an option for believers in the NT. And people are just as married leaving divorce court as they were when they arrived. Divorce laws are as valid today as abortion laws. They are not worth the paper they are written on.

I believe it is the product of no-fault divorce. If it is no one's fault I can go on my merry way and get married again.

 

[Tanj]

Some of the books and articles that I have read point out that Christians are divorcing at the same rate as non-Christians. I have difficulty comprehending such a thing.

Interesting.

So the question is, how on earth can you be an example to the non-believer if you have been divorced? Doesn't your divorce queer the pitch for every believer?

It's not an issue for me, for what it's worth.

Morals can't save anybody, but Salvation can give us power to live in righteousness.

Given that divorce is not the only arena in which Christians do it as often as non, it appears no-one is using that power.

 

[Dave L]

Matthew 5:32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

I Corinthians 7:13-15 And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, he must not send her husband away for the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy. Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace.

There are actually 2 exclusions listed in Scripture in which both divorce and remarriage for a Believer is permitted. The first is adultery. The second, is when an unbelieving spouse leaves. I think Paul's exposition in Corinthians really demonstrates the uniqueness of Christian marriage.

Divorce was an OT arrangement abolished by the New Covenant. It still exists in every culture but it is nowhere sanctioned by God in the New Covenant. This is why Paul told divorcees not to remarry. But also told them they are not bound to the unbeliever who divorces. But they are still married and should remain single.

Did you ever notice what Matthew 19:9 really teaches? The innocent wife divorced from the adulterous husband commits adultery when she remarries. along with her new husband....

 

[Rajni]

Did you know that the #1 cause of divorce is marriage?
True story.



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[Brightmoon]

Interesting.



It's not an issue for me, for what it's worth.




Given that divorce is not the only arena in which Christians do it as often as non, it appears no-one is using that power.

. The real reason the divorce rate skyrocketed is because
1 women aren’t treated like they’re harlots because they did get a divorce ( that was more common when I was a child)
2 people are divorcing for violence, financial abuse or emotional abuse which they COULDNT do before.
3 people don’t feel they have to stay with an alcoholic or drug abuser if that addiction is making them unsafe or causes trauma.
4 There are other reasons but just adultery isn’t the only reason anymore.
As far as remarriage, the government stays out of those decisions so people feel free to remarry if they choose. In some faiths the church comes between you and a hopefully better relationship by denying you the opportunity to do better. Why should you let a poor decision when you’re young affect you permanently especially since it doesn’t have to. My church recognizes remarriage after divorce because they understand that being trapped by a toxic person is pure hell.
No-fault divorce isn’t exactly what I’d call it there still has to be either irreconcilable differences( emotional or financial abuse) or some physical abuse involved.

 

[Traveling teacher]

the reason people and yes christians divorce is SIN....bottom line

the reason the divorce rate is 30-40% in the church
is because the church in America is weak and backsliden

Jesus says these days would come....they are now here..welcome to the last days
matthew 24:12
And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold
luke 17:27
in the last days they will be married and given in marriage
married and given in marriage
married and given in marriage

2 of my closest brothers in Christ have been married a total of 7 times
1 has almost lost his faith

my advice for those who want to judge others who have been divorced is to forgive....

my advice for those christians who have been divorced
is stop making excuses and turn from sin and selfishness that is causing your divorce

 

[Dave L]

Did you know that the #1 cause of divorce is marriage?
True story.



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The problem is, once married it is for life terminated only by the death of a spouse. God does not underwrite divorce, especially for Christians, in the New Covenant. People are just as married leaving divorce court as they were entering.

 

[Brightmoon]

All Religious beliefs are opinions and that’s true whether you’re a believer or an atheist. Other people having unverifiable opinions shouldn’t trap you into destroying yourself , hating yourself, or denying yourself a better life.

 

[Brightmoon]

If divorcing someone who makes you feel demeaned, devalued , and who treats you like a punching bag , is vilified then you’re being treated like an object. I’ll tell any one in an abusive relationship. ”Dump that creep and get a better spouse.”

 

[Dave L]

If divorcing someone who makes you feel demeaned, devalued , and who treats you like a punching bag , is vilified then you’re being treated like an object. I’ll tell any one in an abusive relationship. ”Dump that creep and get a better spouse.”

This would be adultery. But we should not suffer abuse. The early Christians always fled violence. But divorce doesn't break the marriage bond, it only separates the married.

 

[Episaw]

If divorcing someone who makes you feel demeaned, devalued , and who treats you like a punching bag , is vilified then you’re being treated like an object. I’ll tell any one in an abusive relationship. ”Dump that creep and get a better spouse.”

According to scripture, the only reason you can divorce is adultery. If there is an abusive relationship, the church should have stepped in a long time ago and endeavored to stop the relationship from getting this far.

 

[Brightmoon]

According to scripture, the only reason you can divorce is adultery. If there is an abusive relationship, the church should have stepped in a long time ago and endeavored to stop the relationship from getting this far.

abusers just hide their abuse or they threaten harm to the family members IF they care what others think. This was one of the reasons that police in a lot of jurisdictions won’t allow a victim to retract her story and they don’t prosecute in the victims name . The state prosecutes you.
The Bible treats women like the property of a man. It’s a dysfunctional relic of the Bronze Age Semitic tribe the Bible came from. The fact that women had no say in how they were treated back then is well illustrated by the way Lot treated his daughters. Offering them up for gang rape to protect male strangers as if their being male was more important than his children’s physical safety. I don’t follow Bible teachings on the submissive status of women because they are misogynistic and can cause abusive behavior.

 

[Episaw]

abusers just hide their abuse or they threaten harm to the family members IF they care what others think. This was one of the reasons that police in a lot of jurisdictions won’t allow a victim to retract her story and they don’t prosecute in the victims name . The state prosecutes you.
The Bible treats women like the property of a man. It’s a dysfunctional relic of the Bronze Age Semitic tribe the Bible came from. The fact that women had no say in how they were treated back then is well illustrated by the way Lot treated his daughters. Offering them up for gang rape to protect male strangers as if their being male was more important than his children’s physical safety. I don’t follow Bible teachings on the submissive status of women because they are misogynistic and can cause abusive behavior.

Your interpretation of scripture in regards to women is so out of whack it is laughable.

You quoted Lot. Did you know there is a book in the Old Testament called Song of Solomon where women are described in glowing terms?

Did you know that the Old Testament was a book for the Jews before the New Covenant?

Did you know that the New Testament was written after the Old Testament?

Did you know that when Christianity came into being, women were treated with respect and cared for, unlike they were in pagan society?

Did you know that the NT church cared for widows who were not able to care for or support themselves?

Did you know that the NT church forbad the abuse of anyone?

Did you know that you can pull one verse or passage of scripture and say "there you are, that proves my point?"

Did you know that to understand what the scripture teaches about anything you have to do an exegesis of the topic, not pick one verse or passage?

Do you now that it is unacceptable to teach or interpret scripture with your own experience as the yardstick?

If you do not know these things, may I suggest you avoid teaching what the scripture says as it will do you no good or anyone else?

 

[Brightmoon]

My church teaches that male and female He made us. That’s why we teach women’s equality not women should be submissive.

 

[Traveling teacher]

the bible didnt say Lot was righteous in the way he treated his daughters.....
it just says thats what he did

remember Abraham tried to rescue Lot from sodom
and get him out of there

men abused women in the bible...just like today....
women manipulated controlled and nagged their husbands
in the bible just like today...

they are both wrong

 

[Episaw]

My church teaches that male and female He made us. That’s why we teach women’s equality not women should be submissive.

They should teach what is in scripture which is more nuanced than just men and women being equal.

 

[Brightmoon]

“Male and female He made them” is scripture. Males dominating females is actually chimpanzee behavior . Neither bonobos nor humans act like that normally. If you’re not socialized into being submissive, girls don’t act as if they’re not worthy of time, money, and attention. All you have to do is look at how marriage laws have changed from the 1600s until now to see how unfair and abusive these biblical ideas were to women.

 

[Episaw]

“Male and female He made them” is scripture. Males dominating females is actually chimpanzee behavior . Neither bonobos nor humans act like that normally. If you’re not socialized into being submissive, girls don’t act as if they’re not worthy of time, money, and attention. All you have to do is look at how marriage laws have changed from the 1600s until now to see how unfair and abusive these biblical ideas were to women.

Males dominating females is animal behaviour and secular ideology.

The New Testament Christian Church emancipated women from the Roman ideology that women were chattels to be used for man's pleasure, that is why it was so attractive to women and that is why the church took care of widows that could not care for themselves.

Please do your homework before you start teaching us how the church treated women.

 

[Brightmoon]

Up until Victorian times widows didn’t have the right to their husbands property after his death. They couldn’t eat at a restaurant without a man . They certainly couldn’t take most jobs . They certainly couldn’t vote . Mainly Because of Bible based misogyny calling for women’s submission. Romans, pshaw!