The New Testament consistently says that marriage is a lifelong commitment that is not to be broken, or if spouses separate, they are not to remarry. The only exceptive clause is found twice in the same book -- Matthew -- so we have to wonder if we are misunderstanding something and if there is a cultural context to the statement. I have found some evidence to suggest that there is. I am no Greek scholar, so maybe those who are can look into these things further. We do know, however, that the readers in the original language should have known what the words meant.

Note: the purpose of this is to show that it is entirely possible for the Catholic position against divorce to be entirely Scriptural and not contradicting the Matthew passages.

First, let's look at the other Scriptures on the subject, included below in KJV:

-- Emily (jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), April 26, 2004

Answers

SCRIPTURES FORBIDDING DIVORCE

Malachi 2
15 And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
16 For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.
17 Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?

Romans 7
1 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

Mark 10
1 And he arose from thence, and cometh into the coasts of Judaea by the farther side of Jordan: and the people resort unto him again; and, as he was wont, he taught them again.
2 And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him.
3 And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you?
4 And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.
5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
7 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
8 And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.
9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
10 And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter.
11 And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.
12 And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.


-- Emily (jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), April 26, 2004.

Luke 16
18 Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.

1 Corinthians 7
10 And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:
11 But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.
12 But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.
13 And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.
14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.
15 But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.
16 For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?

NOTICE...

...that there are NO exceptive clauses in any of these allowing for divorce and remarriage. In 1 Cor. 7, we see that if the spouses depart, they must remain unmarried or be reconciled. This is something we should think about -- what about for those Christians who had no access to Matthew's gospel? If indeed there was supposed to be such an exception for divorce, why didn't they say so in the other places?

-- Emily (jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), April 26, 2004.

Now for the Matthew passages:

Matthew 19
3 The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?
4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?
8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.
9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.
10 His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.
11 But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given.
12 For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.

Matthew 5
31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.


-- Emily (jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), April 26, 2004.

A LOOK AT WORD MEANINGS

Careful consideration must be given to the word "fornication" here, since it is the only supposed exception for divorce in the entire New Testament. The Greek word used here is "porneia." Some Bibles translate it "adultery," "unchastity," or "sexual immorality."

In Matthew 15:19, we can see this word used:
19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

Interestingly, it is listed right next to "adulteries," so the two cannot possibly refer to the same thing. However, in the Matthew 5 & 19 passages, we see "fornication," clearly talking about within a marriage. This does not make sense with the meaning of the word fornication. That is why there are other translations of the word such as "sexual immorality." But that phrase possibly covers a wide range of things.

So why did Matthew use the word "porneia" instead of the normal word for "adultery" used in the rest of the NT, "moicheia"? I am arguing that it is because he was not referring to adultery at all. (See this website for more on porneia v. moicheia: Check the 10th question down, with Matthew 19:9 highlighted). Here we see that the meaning of porneia is "unlawful sexual intercourse."

-- Emily (jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), April 26, 2004.

UNLAWFUL MARRIAGE FORBIDDEN

Another occurence of the word "porneia" can be found in Acts 15, in the letter from the Jerusalem Counsel:
28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;
29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

These four things are all reflective of OT laws found in Lev. 17 & 18. There we find that God is forbidding incest. Further evidence that the Matthew 5 passage refers to incest when it uses the word "porneia" can be found at this foo tnote to the verse in the New American Bible. Here we see that:

It seems, however, that the unlawfulness that Matthew gives as a reason why a marriage must be broken refers to a situation peculiar to his community: the violation of Mosaic law forbidding marriage between persons of certain blood and/or legal relationship (Lev 18:6-18). Marriages of that sort were regarded as incest (porneia) , but some rabbis allowed Gentile converts to Judaism who had contracted such marriages to remain in them. Matthew's "exceptive clause" is against such permissiveness for Gentile converts to Christianity; cf the similar prohibition of porneia in Acts 15:20, 29. In this interpretation, the clause constitutes no exception to the absolute prohibition of divorce when the marriage is lawful.

Thus, we can conclude that the Catholic position against divorce is indeed a viable Biblical position, and in fact, it makes sense given the Biblical context. Divorce is never permitted, and there are no exceptions, under this interpretation, since the incestual relationship was an unlawful marriage in the first place. This would mean that the New American Bible's rendering of the Mt. 5 & 19 passages as "unlawful marriage" is accurate. It makes sense in the context of divorce being forbidden completely everywhere else.

For more information see:

* (esp. good site) Marriage Exception Matthew 19:9 - Porneia

NAB footnote on Mt. 19

-- Emily (jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), April 26, 2004.

I wonder what Elpidio is thinking. He is less than thrilled with Matthew's translations. This might be another one.

-- Luke Juarez (hubertdorm@yahoo.com), April 26, 2004.

Luke, what do you mean by "Matthew's translations?"

-- Emily (jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), April 26, 2004.

I should note that the Catholic Church permits civil divorce in certain cases, but that would mean that the person with a sacramentally valid marriage is still married in the eyes of the Catholic Church. This would be according to 1 Cor. 7 that allows couples to separate if they remain unmarried.

What the Catholic Church does not permit is sacramental divorce. Thus, a person who is divorced and remarried (unless it has been determined that they have an annulment for their unlawful marriage), cannot be in full communion with the Catholic Church or in right standing with God. In fact, the Catholic Church and the Bible both teach that such a person would be living in a continual state of adultery.

Just as a point of clarification, there is a difference between civil and sacramental divorce for Catholics. This allows for people (such as in abusive or unfaithful marriages) to become legally divorced, but they cannot remarry without and annulment or death of the spouse.

-- Emily (jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), April 26, 2004.

When I said, "In fact, the Catholic Church and the Bible both teach that such a person would be living in a continual state of adultery," I should have added, "unless they obstain from marital relations."

-- Emily (jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), April 26, 2004.