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Christianity Today, October, 2007 |

What God Has Joined

What does the Bible really teach about divorce?

David Instone-Brewer | posted 10/05/2007 08:39AM

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Adultery (in Deuteronomy 24:1, affirmed by Jesus in Matthew 19)
Emotional and physical neglect (in Exodus 21:10-11, affirmed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 7)
Abandonment and abuse (included in neglect, as affirmed in 1 Corinthians 7)

Jewish couples listed these biblical grounds for divorce in their marriage vows. We reiterate them as love, honor, and keep and be faithful to each other. When these vows were broken, it threatened to break up the marriage. As in any broken contract, the wronged party had the right to say, "I forgive you; let's carry on," or, "I can't go on, because this marriage is broken."

Therefore, while divorce should never happen, God allows it (and subsequent remarriage) when your partner breaks the marriage vows.

Reading the Bible and ancient Jewish documents side-by-side helped me understand much more of the Bible's teaching about divorce and marriage, not all of which I can summarize here. Dusty scraps of parchment rescued from synagogue rubbish rooms, desert caves, and neglected scholarly collections shone fresh light on the New Testament. Theologians who have long felt that divorce should be allowed for abuse and abandonment may be vindicated. And, more importantly, victims of broken marriages can see that God's law is both practical and loving.

David Instone-Brewer is senior research fellow in rabbinics and the New Testament at Tyndale House, Cambridge. He is married with two daughters.

Related Elsewhere:

David Instone-Brewer and David Neff responded to concerns about this article in CT Liveblog.

Christianity Today's articles on divorce and remarriage include:

Lives of Quiet Turbulence | Elizabeth Marquardt on what happens in the souls of children of divorce. (March 1, 2006)

Dissecting Divorce | A new book by Elizabeth Marquardt offers a child's-eye-view of divorce. (Oct. 25, 2005)

The Next Sexual Revolution | By practicing what it preaches on marriage, the church could transform society. A Christianity Today editorial (August 27, 2003)

Can One Become Two? | What Scripture says about Christians and divorce. (August 31, 2000)

Remarriage: Two Views | Two New Testament professors debate whether remarriage is acceptable for Christians. (August 31, 2000)

Divorce and Remarriage from Augustine to Zwingli | How Christian understanding about marriage has changed—and stayed the same—through history. (August 31, 2000)

Directions: You're Divorced—Can You Remarry? | The New Testament seems to support divorce for a narrow range of reasons, but does it support remarriage? (October 4, 1999)

Also see our section on divorce & remarriage.

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October 2007, Vol. 51, No. 10

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Jacob Hantla

Posted: October 21, 2007 12:00 AM

How can we use extrabiblical documents to make the Bible say what it doesn't say? David Instone-Brewer does an excellent job of saying "that's not really what the Bible says" in his article on divorce in Christianity today. Piper comments on the article: Instone-Brewer’s interpretation is an example (common, it seems, in New Testament studies today) of taking extra-biblical observations and using them to silence the fairly plain meaning of biblical texts. Notice as you read all of Instone-Brewer's arguments that say that Jesus wasn't really prohibiting divorce in Matthew 19, Luke 16, and Matthew 5:32 and that Paul was authorizing divorce for Adultery, emotional or physical neglect, or abandonment or abuse that the crux of all of his arguments rest in extra-biblical rabbinic documents that make the text say the precise opposite thing that a clear reading of the text shows.

Jim S.

Posted: October 19, 2007 7:52 AM

Should actually be 0 stars. This is simply another case of one who uses extra-biblical writings to justify a weak, non-biblical position on divorce. Basically it seems that we can get a divorce for most any reason, and remarry without any crisis of conscience. Perhaps this article represents the title of the magazine well: Christianity TODAY. May God be merciful to us and raise up a generation of teachers and leaders who will honor His word and not allow the sins of the culture to neutralize or diminish the timeless truths of YHWH. Soli deo gloria!

Patrick

Posted: October 19, 2007 4:50 AM

I cannot believe that CT would publish such a misinterpreted, secular-world-pleasing view of the scriptures stance on divorce. Has God-centeredness ceased to exist? Are we here to please ourselves, live a decent life, and avoid unpleasent situations (i.e. an abusive spouse)? No, we are called to live radical, tough, God-centered, God-glorifying lives at any cost, even those very lives, just like our Lord Jesus Christ. I pain over the constant stray from TRUE biblical theology the church has committed itself to when such world-pleasing teachings are both published here and taught on Sunday.

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