4154 — Marriage and Divorce
By Editor
Is it allowable, for any cause, to dissolve the marriage vow? and if the marriage is dissolved, can either or both parties marry again? This question is asked, we presume, that it may be answered from the Bible view-point; for from the purely legal point of view, marriage bonds are easily dissolved, and generally in this country both parties are free to marry again. God suffered these conditions during the commonwealth of Israel. If a wife did not please her husband, he could, under certain restrictions, give her a bill of divorcement and send her away. See Deut. 24:1-4. In the divine ordination of marriage, such a thing as sin was not contemplated. The great Creator, as He gave woman to man, expressly declared, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." Gen. 2:24. Our Lord, in the church He was establishing, sought to lift the marriage to its primitive exalted foundation, and upon this we have the following utterances: "It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: but I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery." Matt. 5: 31, 32. "The Pharisees also came unto Him, tempting Him, and saying unto Him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And He answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. They say unto Him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery." Matt. 19:3-9. "And in the house His disciples asked Him again of the same matter. And He saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery." Mark 10:10-12. "Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery." Luke 16:18. Now it is a right principle of interpretation of all law that the broader, fuller statement shall govern, or modify, the meaning of the more meager. Two of the above, Mark and Luke, make the simple, broad statement, with no qualifications whatever, while the two statements in Matthew qualify by the expressions "saving for the cause of fornication," and "except it be for fornication." The first of these is given in the broad statement of our Lord's teaching in the sermon on the mount; the second is called out by direct questions of the Pharisees. The two other statements are the expression of the general positive side, with no mention of any modification or exceptions. The two latter should be understood in the light of the former. It is therefore clearly evident that our Lord recognized one proper cause for divorce, namely, fornication, or adultery. That is, the innocent party, husband or wife, could divorce the guilty party, husband or wife; but He recognizes no other cause. One may find a hundred defects in wife or husband. For none of these may divorce be obtained unless there is involved a transgression of the seventh commandment. Anything less than this is not cause for final separation; and consequently no true marriage can follow. And he who marries the one divorced without just cause, is guilty, because the one he marries is still, in God's sight, joined to another. Then, too, if a man puts away an innocent wife, he says to the world, She is guilty, and thus places upon her the stigma of adultery. It is therefore to the innocent person put away that our Lord refers in the expression, "Whosoever marrieth her when she is put away committeth adultery." See Matt. 5:32, last part; 19:9, last part; Luke 16:18, last part. That a divorce is proper if one party to the marriage prove false is evident from a little study of our Lord's words. He would not have His children guilty of fornication primarily or secondarily, either practising such things themselves, or living in life union with one that does, and so become partakers with the guilty; for "Know ye not that he that is joined to a harlot is one body? for, The twain, saith He, shall become one flesh. . . . Flee fornication." See 1 Cor. 6:15-18. Therefore for a Christian to hold as inviolate the marriage bonds with one who proves false to marriage vows and so continues, is to make himself a partaker of fornication. Such a separation is therefore final. They are no longer one flesh. One has broken the vow, and, according to our Lord's words, has made just cause for its dissolution. The innocent party, after legal separation, stands alone. The adulterer or adulteress is no longer with him or her one flesh, and he or she is free to marry another. He is dead to his former wife, or she to him. But how about the innocent divorced party? May she marry?—No, not till her former husband dies, or is guilty of fornication, so that she may secure divorce on proper ground. Then, and not until then, may she properly marry. What of the guilty?—Of such the Lord says nothing. They are separate from His plan, out in the world. If they come to Him, are born again, become new creatures in Christ Jesus, to our mind, they could properly marry; but not to former spouses. But the matter ought to be made a subject of prayer, and the clear guidance of God ought to be manifest to others besides the interested parties.