Divorce and

Remarriage

in the Church

BIBLICAL SOLUTIONS FOR PASTORAL REALITIES

DAVID INSTONE-BREWER

Preface

Introduction: What’s New?

1 CONFESSIONS OF A CONFUSED MINISTER
  Jesus never said, “What God has joined, no one can separate.”

2 A MARRIAGE MADE IN PARADISE
  Moses’ certificate of divorce.

3 GOD THE RELUCTANT DIVORCEE
  God’s marriage contract and the grounds for his divorce from Israel.

4 THE CHURCH CAN’T DO WITHOUT IT
  Jesus criticized those who abandoned Old Testament law.

5 DIVORCE ON DEMAND?
  Jesus taught us to forgive the repentant partner.

6 WHEN YOUR PARTNER WALKS OUT
  Christians shouldn’t cause divorce, but sometimes they have to accept it.

7 TILL DEATH US DO PART?
  Is a divorcee still married in God’s eyes?

8 FOUR BIBLICAL GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE
  These include abuse and neglect.

9 CAN I GET MARRIED AGAIN?
  A valid divorce implies the right to remarry.

10 IS REMARRIAGE ADULTERY?
    Don’t redivorce, because two wrongs don’t make a right.

11 PROMISES, PROMISES
    Marriage vows and remarriage in church.

12 THE TEACHING THAT TIME FORGOT
    Why did the church misunderstand Jesus so soon?

13 CONSPIRACY?
    Why has no one explained all this before?

14 WHAT SHOULD THE CHURCH DO NOW?
    Putting biblical principles into practice.

15 DEAR PASTOR…
    Real-life problems from my mailbox.

Study Group Briefing Notes and Discussion Questions

Notes

Praise for Divorce and Remarriage in the Church

About the Author

More Titles from InterVarsity Press

Copyright Page

PREFACE

This book has been through several incarnations and has benefited from the input of many people, especially the congregation of Llanishen Baptist Church and my fellow minister Michael Ball, who all suffered several sermons on this subject while I was working through these ideas. My wife, Enid, has been equally long-suffering and has frequently steered me from theory to practical issues.

Most of the academic work that forms the foundation of this book has been published as papers in various scholarly journals and in my academic book on this topic, Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible: The Social and Literary Context (Eerdmans, 2002). I carried out most of this work as a research fellow at Tyndale House in Cambridge; I do not think it would have been possible to fully investigate all the varied aspects of the cultural background to the biblical text without the unequaled resources of Tyndale’s superb library.

The readability of this book is due solely to Sheron Rice, who edited so diligently that she virtually rewrote the whole work and still managed to use most of my words. This book would not exist without her.

My aim in writing this book is to share insights that enabled me to understand the issue of divorce and remarriage through the eyes of the first readers of the New Testament. My hope is that the church will rediscover the biblical principles that divorce should occur only when marriage vows are broken and that only the wronged partner may decide ...