Remarriage - please explain?"

[levi501]

Why do Christian Churches remarry people that have been divorced for non-adultering reasons?

Christ clearly spoke against this yet churches condone these unions by hosting the ceremony.
Aren't the people that continue to stay in these relationships living in continuous adulterous sin?


Note - of course this topic is a result of my views on homosexuality, however the question is still pertinent.

The title should've said: Remarriage - Please Explain?

 

[DietCherryCola]

A few options:

1) When you repent for a sin, God does not just forgive, He forgets. The church should be at least this accomidating.

2) That particular church has woken up to the reality that it's not pleasing to God that a woman (or man, it happens!) stay in an abusive marriage.

3) The church does not believe that divorce is a sin.

 

[kopilo]

The person to be remarried (I take it you mean people who have been divorced and marry other people) is a widow from the previous marriege.
"till death do us part"

 

[Lynden1000]

Why do Christian Churches remarry people that have been divorced for non-adultering reasons?

Christ clearly spoke against this yet churches condone these unions by hosting the ceremony.
Aren't the people that continue to stay in these relationships living in continuous adulterous sin?


Note - of course this topic is a result of my views on homosexuality, however the question is still pertinent.

The title should've said: Remarriage - Please Explain?

Perhaps I'm not the best person to answer, since I'm not Christian, but I think the church has simply caved in to popular opinion. Jesus' teachings on the matter were about as unambiguous as biblical teachings get. American society doesn't find that teaching particularly convenient, and the church has sided with the public.

The Catholic Church, however, has remained true to their principles as far as this matter is concerned.

 

[NothingButTheBlood]

Why do Christian Churches remarry people that have been divorced for non-adultering reasons?
They shouldn't be.

Christ clearly spoke against this yet churches condone these unions by hosting the ceremony.
Aren't the people that continue to stay in these relationships living in continuous adulterous sin?
I think so.

 

[levi501]

The Catholic Church, however, has remained true to their principles as far as this matter is concerned.

A Catholic friend of mine was able to get a divorce of hers anulled by paying $300, thus allowing her to remarry. She had been married to her first husband for 4 years. I guess she found a loop hole.

 

[NothingButTheBlood]

The Catholic Church, however, has remained true to their principles as far as this matter is concerned.

The Catholic Church around here will marry a divorced person for non-adultery as long as you can get an anullment of the first marriage. My ex-boss got an annulment of her first marriage due to lack of emotional support.The church didn't even mind she was dating her new husband while she was still married. They have money though.

 

[kopilo]

A Catholic friend of mine was able to get a divorce of hers anulled by paying $300, thus allowing her to remarry. She had been married to her first husband for 4 years. I guess she found a loop hole.

Depends on which church is re-marrying her, not her per say faith.

 

[DietCherryCola]

Why do Christian Churches remarry people that have been divorced for non-adultering reasons?
They shouldn't be.

Christ clearly spoke against this yet churches condone these unions by hosting the ceremony.
Aren't the people that continue to stay in these relationships living in continuous adulterous sin?
I think so.

So a wife can continue to show up at work with injuries from "falling down the stairs" or "running into a doorknob" as long as her husband remains faithful?

 

[Lynden1000]

So a wife can continue to show up at work with injuries from "falling down the stairs" or "running into a doorknob" as long as her husband remains faithful?

As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, you could divorce your husband for your own self-protection, but you are still joined together in God's eyes and therefore cannot get re-married without committing the sin of adultery.

 

[Stpatterk]

Why do Christian Churches remarry people that have been divorced for non-adultering reasons?

Christ clearly spoke against this yet churches condone these unions by hosting the ceremony.
Aren't the people that continue to stay in these relationships living in continuous adulterous sin?


Note - of course this topic is a result of my views on homosexuality, however the question is still pertinent.

The title should've said: Remarriage - Please Explain?

May I add? Why does the bible consider a person marrying a divorced woman to be committing adultery in Mathew 5:32? Does that mean I can't marry such a woman?

 

[kopilo]

As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, you could divorce your husband for your own self-protection, but you are still joined together in God's eyes and therefore cannot get re-married without committing the sin of adultery.

Considering NothingButTheBlood shows a baptist symbol, I wonder if this is the same in the Baptist church as well.

 

[FadingWhispers3]

Aren't the people that continue to stay in these relationships living in continuous adulterous sin?

No. Otherwise to divorce out any but the first marriage would be perfectly fine. Instead, the latest vow is binding as much as the first.

 

[DietCherryCola]

As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, you could divorce your husband for your own self-protection, but you are still joined together in God's eyes and therefore cannot get re-married without committing the sin of adultery.

So our theoretical abuse victim is entitled to never being able to marry someone who does love her and to a life of celibacy? Charming. Punish the innocent victims-- gotta love it.

 

[george78]

http://www.desiringgod.org/library/topics/divorce_remarriage/div_rem_paper.html

Conclusions and Applications

In the New Testament the question about remarriage after divorce is not determined by:

1. The guilt or innocence of either spouse,
2. Nor by whether either spouse is a believer or not,
3. Nor by whether the divorce happened before or after either spouse's conversion,
4. Nor by the ease or difficulty of living as a single parent for the rest of life on earth,
5. Nor by whether there is adultery or desertion involved,
6. Nor by the on-going reality of the hardness of the human heart,
7. Nor by the cultural permissiveness of the surrounding society.

Rather it is determined by the fact that:

1. Marriage is a "one-flesh" relationship of divine establishment and extraordinary significance in the eyes of God (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:5; Mark 10:8),
2. Only God, not man, can end this one-flesh relationship (Matthew 19:6; Mark 10:9—this is why remarriage is called adultery by Jesus: he assumes that the first marriage is still binding, Matthew 5:32; Luke 16:18; Mark 10:11),
3. God ends the one-flesh relationship of marriage only through the death of one of the spouses (Romans 7:1-3; 1 Corinthians 7:39),
4. The grace and power of God are promised and sufficient to enable a trusting, divorced Christian to be single all this earthly life if necessary (Matthew 19:10-12,26; 1 Corinthians 10:13),
5. Temporal frustrations and disadvantages are much to be preferred over the disobedience of remarriage, and will yield deep and lasting joy both in this life and the life to come (Matthew 5:29-30).

Those who are already remarried:

1. Should acknowledge that the choice to remarry and the act of entering a second marriage was sin, and confess it as such and seek forgiveness
2. Should not attempt to return to the first partner after entering a second union (see 8.2 above)
3. Should not separate and live as single people thinking that this would result in less sin because all their sexual relations are acts of adultery. The Bible does not give prescriptions for this particular case, but it does treat second marriages as having significant standing in God's eyes. That is, there were promises made and there has been a union formed. It should not have been formed, but it was. It is not to be taken lightly. Promises are to be kept, and the union is to be sanctified to God. While not the ideal state, staying in a second marriage is God's will for a couple and their ongoing relations should not be looked on as adulterous.

---------------------------------

 

[bammertheblue]

As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, you could divorce your husband for your own self-protection, but you are still joined together in God's eyes and therefore cannot get re-married without committing the sin of adultery.

That is ridiculous! Are you sure?!?!
That makes me very very very sad

 

[george78]

Why do Christian Churches remarry people that have been divorced for non-adultering reasons?

BTW: That's a rather inclusive statement. There are more than a few Churches and Pastors who WILL NOT marry a person who has been previously divorced, with one sole exception, that the divorced person's spouse is now deceased.

Were you not aware of this?

 

[Lynden1000]

So our theoretical abuse victim is entitled to never being able to marry someone who does love her and to a life of celibacy? Charming. Punish the innocent victims-- gotta love it.

Yep, in the Church's eyes you've made a sacred and binding committment before God, and you can't break that committment just because you think it would make your life happier to do so.

Now in practice, this might be one of the instances when you can finagle an annulment, which is the Church's fancy way of saying that the initial conditions for a valid sacramental marriage were not met, so there was no real marriage to begin with. Contrary to popular belief, Canon law is pretty strict about the necessary conditions, and it doesn't all boil down to money.

 

[DietCherryCola]

Yep, in the Church's eyes you've made a sacred and binding committment before God, and you can't break that committment just because you think it would make your life happier to do so.

Now in practice, this might be one of the instances when you can finagle an annulment, which is the Church's fancy way of saying that the initial conditions for a valid sacramental marriage were not met, so there was no real marriage to begin with. Contrary to popular belief, Canon law is pretty strict about the necessary conditions, and it doesn't all boil down to money.

And it's not possible to think that maybe God understands that this committment becomes void when one of the parties breaks the vow (and beating your spouse is certainly now what you vowed)? To think God looks more favorably on an abusive union than the victimized party remarrying a true partner, strikes me as cruel and absurd. Can't we give God enough credit to figure out when a divorce is justified and when it isn't?

 

[levi501]

Those who are already remarried:

1. Should acknowledge that the choice to remarry and the act of entering a second marriage was sin, and confess it as such and seek forgiveness
2. Should not attempt to return to the first partner after entering a second union (see 8.2 above)
3. Should not separate and live as single people thinking that this would result in less sin because all their sexual relations are acts of adultery. The Bible does not give prescriptions for this particular case, but it does treat second marriages as having significant standing in God's eyes. That is, there were promises made and there has been a union formed. It should not have been formed, but it was. It is not to be taken lightly. Promises are to be kept, and the union is to be sanctified to God. While not the ideal state, staying in a second marriage is God's will for a couple and their ongoing relations should not be looked on as adulterous.

Luke 16:18
18"Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

I don't quite understand your rationalization.
If we agree that remarrying is a sin, then doing it is against the wishes of God. Do you believe it's then God's position that your remarriage is now valid when you knowlingly entered into this sin? Is this some sort of loop hole where you take the brunt of his condemnation initially and then once it's over your new union is sanctified? Is it ok to commit a sin because you know you'll be forgiven? It doesn't make sense that he would take a stance of, "yah what you did was wrong; but no don't stop continue with it." This appears to me to be unsound reasoning. It's like you think you've set the scenario where God will aprove because it's the lesser sin(breaking new marriage vows vs. continued adultry).