In today's Church it is deemed alright to remarry after divorce by many. Some say only if adultery was involved is the innocent party free to remarry. Old denominations such as the RCC say divorce is not possible under any circumstances. I'm curious how much of our mindset is from the compromising age of Laodecia that we live in. What was the mindset of the early Christians? I like to read what they believed.
There is a piece of Christian literature from the late first century, the Shepherd of Hermas, found in the Codex Sinaiticus along with the Epistle of Barnabas also written in the 1st century, that may give us a clue as to why Montanists of the second century went so far as believing in only one marriage. For them, no second marriage was allowed, even after the death of a spouse, let alone divorce.
This same piece of literature shows that remarriage after adultery, even by the innocent party is adultery. How many of us today want to accept that as fact? Even 1 Corinthians 7 allows for divorce (not being bound) but says nothing about then being free to remarry - that we've added ourselves. In fact, at the end of the chapter it clarifies that only after the death of the party is one free to remarry. Mark 10:11-12 also shows that remarriage after divorce is adultery. I've seen some liberals say that adultery is not the unpardonable sin, so even if the two adulterers who left their spouses for one another marry, they just need to repent and are allowed to stay married to each other. How is that turning away from their sin? I doubt that God sees it that way. What a tangled mess we get into when we take sin to higher levels of sin.
Deuteronomy 24:1-4 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, 2 when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3 if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, 4 then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the Lord, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
The Shepherd of Hermas differs from Deuteronomy 24 in that the first husband may take back the wife if they repentant, but it must be their first repentance. In Deuteronomy this only applied to the female, as the males could have more than one wife, but why this was so is not clear, as it wasn't so from the beginning, and again not so at the time of Jesus.
Shepherd of Hermas
1[29]:1 "I charge thee, "saith he, "to keep purity, and let not a thought enter into thy heart concerning another's wife, or concerning fornication, or concerning any such like evil deeds; for in so doing thou commitest a great sin. But remember thine own wife always, and thou shalt never go wrong.
1[29]:2 For should this desire enter into thine heart, thou wilt go wrong, and should any other as evil as this, thou commitest sin. For this desire in a servant of God is a great sin; and if any man doeth this evil deed, he worketh out death for himself.
1[29]:3 Look to it therefore. Abstain from this desire; for, where holiness dwelleth, there lawlessness ought not to enter into the heart of a righteous man."
1[29]:4 I say to him, "Sir, permit me to ask thee a few more questions" "Say on," saith he. "Sir," say I, "if a man who has a wife that is faithful in the Lord detect her in adultery, doth the husband sin in living with her?"
1[29]:5 "So long as he is ignorant," saith he, "he sinneth not; but if the husband know of her sin, and the wife repent not, but continue in her fornication, and her husband live with her, he makes himself responsible for her sin and an accomplice in her adultery."
1[29]:6 "What then, Sir," say I, "shall the husband do, if the wife continue in this case?" "Let him divorce her," saith he, "and let the husband abide alone: but if after divorcing his wife he shall marry another, he likewise committeth adultery."
1[29]:7 "If then, Sir," say I, "after the wife is divorced, she repent and desire to return to her own husband, shall she not be received?"
1[29]:8 "Certainly," saith he, "if the husband receiveth her not, he sinneth and bringeth great sin upon himself; nay, one who hath sinned and repented must be received, yet not often; for there is but one repentance for the servants of God. For the sake of her repentance therefore the husband ought not to marry. This is the manner of acting enjoined on husband and wife.
1[29]:9 Not only," saith he, "is it adultery, if a man pollute his flesh, but whosoever doeth things like unto the heathen committeth adultery. If therefore in such deeds as these likewise a man continue and repent not, keep away from him, and live not with him. Otherwise, thou also art a partaker of his sin.
1[29]:10 For this cause ye were enjoined to remain single, whether husband or wife; for in such cases repentance is possible.
1[29]:11 I," said he, "am not giving an excuse that this matter should be concluded thus, but to the end that the sinner should sin no more. But as concerning his former sin, there is One Who is able to give healing; it is He Who hath authority over all things."
There is a piece of Christian literature from the late first century, the Shepherd of Hermas, found in the Codex Sinaiticus along with the Epistle of Barnabas also written in the 1st century, that may give us a clue as to why Montanists of the second century went so far as believing in only one marriage. For them, no second marriage was allowed, even after the death of a spouse, let alone divorce.
This same piece of literature shows that remarriage after adultery, even by the innocent party is adultery. How many of us today want to accept that as fact? Even 1 Corinthians 7 allows for divorce (not being bound) but says nothing about then being free to remarry - that we've added ourselves. In fact, at the end of the chapter it clarifies that only after the death of the party is one free to remarry. Mark 10:11-12 also shows that remarriage after divorce is adultery. I've seen some liberals say that adultery is not the unpardonable sin, so even if the two adulterers who left their spouses for one another marry, they just need to repent and are allowed to stay married to each other. How is that turning away from their sin? I doubt that God sees it that way. What a tangled mess we get into when we take sin to higher levels of sin.
Deuteronomy 24:1-4 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, 2 when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3 if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, 4 then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the Lord, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
The Shepherd of Hermas differs from Deuteronomy 24 in that the first husband may take back the wife if they repentant, but it must be their first repentance. In Deuteronomy this only applied to the female, as the males could have more than one wife, but why this was so is not clear, as it wasn't so from the beginning, and again not so at the time of Jesus.
Shepherd of Hermas
1[29]:1 "I charge thee, "saith he, "to keep purity, and let not a thought enter into thy heart concerning another's wife, or concerning fornication, or concerning any such like evil deeds; for in so doing thou commitest a great sin. But remember thine own wife always, and thou shalt never go wrong.
1[29]:2 For should this desire enter into thine heart, thou wilt go wrong, and should any other as evil as this, thou commitest sin. For this desire in a servant of God is a great sin; and if any man doeth this evil deed, he worketh out death for himself.
1[29]:3 Look to it therefore. Abstain from this desire; for, where holiness dwelleth, there lawlessness ought not to enter into the heart of a righteous man."
1[29]:4 I say to him, "Sir, permit me to ask thee a few more questions" "Say on," saith he. "Sir," say I, "if a man who has a wife that is faithful in the Lord detect her in adultery, doth the husband sin in living with her?"
1[29]:5 "So long as he is ignorant," saith he, "he sinneth not; but if the husband know of her sin, and the wife repent not, but continue in her fornication, and her husband live with her, he makes himself responsible for her sin and an accomplice in her adultery."
1[29]:6 "What then, Sir," say I, "shall the husband do, if the wife continue in this case?" "Let him divorce her," saith he, "and let the husband abide alone: but if after divorcing his wife he shall marry another, he likewise committeth adultery."
1[29]:7 "If then, Sir," say I, "after the wife is divorced, she repent and desire to return to her own husband, shall she not be received?"
1[29]:8 "Certainly," saith he, "if the husband receiveth her not, he sinneth and bringeth great sin upon himself; nay, one who hath sinned and repented must be received, yet not often; for there is but one repentance for the servants of God. For the sake of her repentance therefore the husband ought not to marry. This is the manner of acting enjoined on husband and wife.
1[29]:9 Not only," saith he, "is it adultery, if a man pollute his flesh, but whosoever doeth things like unto the heathen committeth adultery. If therefore in such deeds as these likewise a man continue and repent not, keep away from him, and live not with him. Otherwise, thou also art a partaker of his sin.
1[29]:10 For this cause ye were enjoined to remain single, whether husband or wife; for in such cases repentance is possible.
1[29]:11 I," said he, "am not giving an excuse that this matter should be concluded thus, but to the end that the sinner should sin no more. But as concerning his former sin, there is One Who is able to give healing; it is He Who hath authority over all things."
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