SMS Q's divorce and adultery 2

Does not the church re-marry couples? What are the churches reasoning?

This is a really good question. The answer is hard because different people think differently about what the Bible says. In Mark 10:2-10 Jesus teaches his disciples about divorce. He explains that: “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.” It seems that he is talking about people who get divorced in order to marry someone else. That thought might be behind the other passages in 1 Cor 7 and the other gospels. However, although many people who get divorced do so in order to marry someone else, some get divorced for other reasons, like brutality. If Jesus is saying that only people who get divorced to marry someone else are committing adultery, then those people who get divorced for other reasons are not committing adultery. However, some ministers think that Jesus is saying that there is no ground for divorce and if a Christian gets divorced then they are to remain single or remarry their spouse. I know of one couple who did exactly that. Got divorced and later remarried each other.

It is really helpful for married Christians who are struggling to talk with their minister/pastor about what they think the Bible says about divorce. We need to put in the hard work of working out what the Bible says and be clear in our own minds so we don’t go against what we think the Bible says, for that would be disobedience. And we need to do that before our marriages get too far down the road to divorce .

Neil.
(thoughts or questions - neil@nac.asn.au)