What makes you think I'm a rigid legalist?
Far from it. In fact, I resent being called that just because I think we should adhere to what Jesus said.
What is the spirit of the law when it comes to divorce?
Jesus said there is to be no divorce except in cases of fornication.
That is not what Jesus said, that is what Protestants claim Jesus said.
The CC has changed this and made up their own rules as to who can be divorced. Also their own version of annulment. Which is on the increase because of Amoris Laetitia, as I'm sure you understand.
You don't understand. Amoris Laetitia did not cause more annulments, that's absurd.
I have a big problem reconciling what Jesus commanded with a person having to remain alone a whole lifetime. So do I listen to Jesus or a church?
Did Paul even understand what Jesus wanted??[/quote] Your big problem is not understanding what Jesus commanded, which is the same as what the Church teaches. In fact, separating what Jesus commanded from what the Church teaches is Protestantism to the core. Therefore you don't know what the Church teaches or you are a closet Protestant.
The CC DOES allow divorce. I'll give you two reasons, you can check this out with your priest:
1. The husband or wife is depleting the monetary resources of a family due to gambling or any other reason. This breaks down a family and shows no respect for the covenant of marriage.
2. Physical or mental abuse. The husband or wife is not following Ephesians 5. Same as no. 1
There is no divorce in the CC. We cannot summarize reasons for divorce in a forum because each case is different. You have blurred the difference between divorce and annulments. Most of the readers in this forum are anti-Catholic and you are sowing seeds of confusion and I am left with giving long explanations of divorce and annulment that's off topic. You should read the Catholic understanding of Matthew 19:9 and leave the erroneous Protestant view alone.
The above has nothing to do with annulment which is totally different. Many excuses are being found today to annul a marriage just so persons could get remarried.
Oh, we can't have people pick up the pieces of their shattered lives, and get married (there is no remarriage). Let's keep them miserable. Tribunals don't let excuses go by that easily. Again, you don't know what you are talking about.
So the church says it's ok. Does God say it's ok?
I have a problem with this. Please don't call me a legalist because of this.
Your faulty interpretation of a complex document is not ok. But you are under the influence of cheap media tabloids that twist Amoris Laetitia and numerous other church documents into something that is unrecognizable.
"...yours is the Protestant position and it is based on a misunderstanding of the application of the Exception Clause. Here is why. Protestants want to except adultery from porneia because they incorrectly interpret the Exception Clause to apply to both the divorce and remarriage. They (at least many of them) correctly believe that it is immoral to divorce and remarry for adultery. Thus, they believe that porneia cannot mean adultery because, according to their interpretation, it is permissible to divorce and remarry for reasons other than adultery (i.e., incest). If porneia included adultery, then, according to their interpretation, it would be okay to divorce and remarry for adultery but this is not true. That is why they argue that porneia does NOT include adultery. You have fallen into this error, and it makes your exegesis of Matthew 19:9 also erroneous.
The weight of the exegetical evidence, as well as the Church Fathers and Medievals (Clement of Alexandria, Basil, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, Gregory the Great, Lombard, Bonaventure, Aquinas, Bellarmine) and the Council of Trent, all side with the Catholic position (which, of course, happens to be my position as well): the Exception Clause applies to the divorce only, not the remarriage.
Porneia, Divorce, and Remarriage ::
