Divorce and Remarriage: Varying Christian Views

Posted by Sappho on August 23rd, 2005 filed in Marriage

yamb just anticipated where my next post is going: another line taken by Christians to reconcile respect for Jesus’ apparent disapproval of divorce with accomodation of human failings is to allow divorce, at least under some circumstances, but forbid or restrict remarriage. The basis for this understanding can be seen in both Matthew 5:31-32 and Matthew 19:3-9, where Jesus’ admonitions against divorce are immediately followed by a statement that remarriage would constitute adultery.

An alternative view of the reference to remarriage turned up in my (Episcopalian) Education for Ministry guide, the year before last; in this view, Matthew is perhaps referring to a halakhic prohibition on marriage of an adulterous woman, after she is divorced, to her paramour.

Christian denominations have a broad range of practice regarding remarriage. Depending on which denomination you look at, remarriage may be allowed freely (perhaps with an admonition to first examine the reasons why your first marriage failed), not allowed at all, or restricted (remarriage only under certain circumstances, or perhaps no more than a certain number of times). Here is a web page which has assembled statements on divorce and remarriage by a variety of Christian denominations in the US. For an example of a statement allowing civil divorce under certain circumstances, but not remarriage, here is the view of the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska:

Civil divorce does not end a marriage in the eyes of God or of the Church. Secular governments do not have any authority to dissolve valid marriages. For a most serious reason, a Catholic married person may obtain a civil divorce, for instance, because of adultery, by the other spouse, physical or spiritual abuse of spouse or children, or desertion, but this does not entitle a divorced person to date or remarry.

Note that the bishop of this particular diocese has a reputation of being theologically conservative; it is, to the best of my knowledge, standard Catholic teaching, not a loosening of standard Catholic teaching, to allow for civil divorce (but not remarriage or an ending of the sacramental bond) in severe cases like those involving abuse. Rough that your abusive spouse was your one chance in life at sex, but you are allowed to get out and make yourself safe (and if anyone reading this is stuck in an abusive marriage, please do get out and make yourself, and your children, safe).

There is also the possibility, under some circumstances, in the Catholic Church, that your marriage may prove not to have been valid to begin with, and may be annulled. Annulment will be the topic of my next post.

But first, a brief digression into the matter of adultery. It’s my understanding that the difference between Catholic and Protestant opinion hinges on the meaning of the word “porneia” (a fairly unspecific term for sexual sin) in Matthew, and whether it actually refers to adultery or to a marriage that was invalid to begin with because it involved someone that you weren’t supposed to have sex with. Here’s a web page arguing that Jesus doesn’t allow divorce even for adultery.