Christian views on divorce
Christian views on divorce find their basis both in biblical sources and in texts authored by the Church Fathers of the early Christian Church, who were unanimous in the teaching regarding the issue.[1]
According to the synoptic Gospels, Jesus emphasized the permanence of marriage (see Mark 10 at verses 1 to 12,[2] Matthew 19;[3] Luke 16:18)[4] but also its integrity. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus says "Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she commits adultery."[5][6] The Gospel of Luke adds that those who marry divorced persons also commit adultery, as recorded in Luke 16;18.[7] 1 Corinthians 6:9–10[8] states that adulterers "shall not inherit the kingdom of God".[5] The only lawful ground for divorce available to the innocent spouse is fornication, or adultery, on the part of the guilty mate, as recorded in Matthew 19:9.[9] Nevertheless, The Shepherd of Hermas, an early Christian work on the subject, teaches that while fornication is the only reason that divorce can ever be permitted, remarriage with another person is forbidden to allow repentance and reconciliation of the husband and wife (those who refuse to forgive and receive their spouse are guilty of a grave sin).[1] This Christian teaching is echoed in 1 Corinthians 7:10–11,[10] which forbids divorce and states that those spouses who have deserted their husband/wife should return their partner; if that is absolutely impossible, the husband and wife should remain chaste.[1]
Both in the Gospel of Matthew and of Mark, Jesus remembers and quotes Genesis 1:27 ("male and female created He them"),[11] and Genesis 2:24 ("shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twaine shall be one flesh.").[12] Paul the Apostle concurred but added an exception, interpreted according to Roman Catholicism as the Pauline privilege; this interpretation of Paul's words teaches that in the case of a non-Christian couple (neither party has ever received the sacrament of baptism) where one of the parties converts to Christianity and receives the sacrament of baptism, that party is allowed to enter into a Christian marriage if and only if the non-Christian spouse departs.[13]
The Catholic Church does not prohibit civil divorce; however, a Catholic may not remarry after a civil divorce unless they have received an annulment (a finding that the marriage was not canonically valid) under a narrow set of circumstances.[14][15][16][17][18] The Eastern Orthodox Church permits divorce and remarriage in church in certain circumstances,[19] though its rules are generally more restrictive than the civil divorce rules of most countries. Most Protestant churches discourage divorce though the way divorce is addressed varies by denomination; for example, the United Church of Christ permits divorce and allows for the possibility of remarriage,[20] while denominations such as the Mennonite Christian Fellowship and Evangelical Methodist Church Conference forbid divorce except in the case of fornication and do not allow for the remarriage of divorced persons.[21][22]
With respect to Christian states, the Christian emperors Constantine and Theodosius restricted the grounds for divorce to grave cause, but this was relaxed by Justinian in the 6th century. After the fall of the empire, familial life was regulated more by ecclesiastical authority than civil authority.
Roman Catholic Church[edit]
Although marriage was not yet dogmatically defined sacrament, by the ninth or tenth century, the divorce rate had been greatly reduced under the influence of the Roman Catholic Church,[23] which considered marriage to be instituted by God and Christ indissoluble by mere human action.[24] Marriage was later dogmatically defined as a sacrament, beginning in 1208, when Pope Innocent III required members of another religious movement to recognize that marriage was a sacrament as a condition for being received back into the Catholic Church.[25] In 1254, Catholics accused Waldensians of condemning the sacrament of marriage, "saying that married persons sin mortally if they come together without the hope of offspring".[26] In 1439 the Council of Florence defined marriage as a sacrament, solidifying the development of doctrine from the previous twelve centuries and described marriage as 'insoluble' "since it signifies the indivisible union of Christ and the church." The passage follows, "Although the separation of bed is lawful on account of fornication, it is not lawful to contract another marriage since the bond of a legitimately contracted marriage is perpetual."[27]
Although divorce, as known today, was generally allowed in Western Europe after the 10th century, separation of husband and wife and the annulment of marriage were also well-known. What is today referred to as "separate maintenance" (or "legal separation") was termed "divorce a mensa et thoro" ("divorce from bed-and-board"). The husband and wife were physically separated and were forbidden to live or cohabit together, but their marital relationship did not fully terminate.[28] Civil courts had no power over marriage or divorce.
The Catholic Church historically opposed the legalization of civil divorce in Catholic countries. For example, when Republican Spain legalized divorce in Spain for the first time, Pope Pius XI wrote: 'the new Spanish legislation, with the deleterious introduction of divorce, dares to profane the sanctuary of the family, thus implanting, with the attempted dissolution of domestic society, the germs of saddest ruin for civil well-being.'[29]
Canon law makes no provision for divorce, but a declaration of nullity may be granted when the proof is produced that essential conditions for contracting a valid marriage were absent—i.e., that the sacrament did not take place due to some impediment. The grounds for annulment are determined by Church authority and applied in ecclesiastical courts. Annulment was known as "divorce a vinculo matrimonii", or "divorce from all the bonds of marriage", for canonical causes of impediment existing at the time of the marriage. "For in cases of total divorce, the marriage is declared null, as having been unlawful ab initio."[30][31][32]
The Church holds that the sacrament of marriage produces one person from two, inseparable from each other: "Holy Scripture affirms that man and woman were created for one another: 'It is not good that the man should be alone.' The woman, 'flesh of his flesh,' his equal, his nearest in all things, is given to him by God as a 'helpmate'; she thus represents God from whom comes our help. 'Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.' The Lord himself shows that this signifies an unbreakable union of their two lives by recalling what the plan of the Creator had been 'in the beginning': 'So they are no longer two, but one flesh. '"[33] Since husband and wife became one person upon marriage, that oneness can only be seen as null if the parties improperly entered into the marriage initially, in which case the marriage does not validly exist.
In 2016, Pope Francis published Amoris laetitia, which pertains to the reception of Holy Communion by the divorced and remarried who live together "more uxorial". However, there have been no updates to Roman Catholic Canon Law as a result of this apostolic exhortation.
Eastern Orthodox Church[edit]
The Eastern Orthodox Church does recognize that there are occasions when couples should separate, and permit remarriage in Church,[19] though its divorce rules are stricter than civil divorce in most countries. For the Eastern Orthodox, the marriage is "indissoluble" as in it should not be broken, the violation of such a union, perceived as holy, being an offence resulting from either adultery or the prolonged absence of one of the partners. Thus, permitting remarriage is an act of compassion of the Church towards sinful man.[34] A very low rate of divorce among Orthodox Christians in Greece may suggest that the same may be said for Orthodox Christians in the U.S. However, U.S. rates are inconclusive. The actual divorce rate is probably somewhat higher due to civil divorces obtained without an accompanying ecclesiastical divorce.[35] Divorced individuals are usually allowed to remarry though there is usually imposed on them a penance by their bishop and the services for the second marriage, in this case, are more penitential than joyful. The Orthodox Church traditionally states that "it blesses the first marriage, performs the second, tolerates the third, and forbids the fourth". Widowed spouses are permitted to remarry without repercussion and their second marriage is considered just as blessed as the first. One exception to this rule is the clergy and their wives. Should a married priest die, it is expected that his widow will not remarry. Widowed priests are not allowed to remarry either and frequently end up in monasteries.
Oriental Orthodox Churches[edit]
The Oriental Orthodox Churches are more severe than the Eastern Orthodox Church in terms of divorce and adopt an intermediate position between Rome and Constantinople, allowing it only in the case of adultery. This position is true for both the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church.[36][37]
Anabaptist Churches[edit]
Certain Anabaptist denominations, such as the Southeastern Mennonite Conference, teach the indissolubility of marriage.[38] In the same vein, the Mennonite Christian Fellowship teaches the "sinfulness of remarriage following divorce".[21] The Biblical Mennonite Alliance holds that divorced and remarried persons are living in adultery and are therefore in "an ongoing state of sin that can only be truly forgiven when divorced and remarried persons separate."[39]
Lutheran Churches[edit]
Martin Luther deplored divorce and "thought it clear, both from the ordinance of creation and the teaching of Christ, that marriage is meant to last throughout life".[40] He taught that the innocent party in adultery and the innocent party in desertion were exceptions in which divorce was allowed on Scriptural grounds.[40] With regard to the innocent party in adultery, Luther held that "the guilty party severed the marriage tie so that the innocent one can act as though his spouse has died and he is free to marry again".[40] Concerning the innocent party in desertion, Luther taught that this was an extension of the Pauline privilege as "any husband or wife who deserted the home proved themselves to be unbelievers in fact, whatever they might be in name, and therefore should be treated as such."[40]
Reformed Churches[edit]
The Westminster Confession of Faith[53] (WCF), which is a secondary standard of the Presbyterian Church, allows for divorce under certain circumstances. In chapter 24, section 5, it states that the contract of marriage may be dissolved in the case of adultery or abandonment, citing Matthew 5.31 as proof.[54]
The Reformed Church in America affirms "providing support and help during marital stress and during the difficult period of reconstruction after divorce; and to ensure as far as possible the success of any remarriage that takes place".[55]
Pentecostal Churches[edit]
Holiness Pentecostalism[edit]
The Apostolic Faith Church, a Holiness Pentecostal denomination, teaches that marriage is a "covenant relationship which establishes a bond between a man and a woman that is dissolved only when death causes the inevitable separation."[68] It teaches, however, that despite a Christian's best efforts to maintain a marriage "even when a believer has been abandoned and divorced by an unfaithful spouse, Scripture makes no allowance for remarriage while the first companion lives."[68] With respect to an existing interfaith marriage, "When a believer is married to an unbeliever, the saved individual is not given license to divorce the unsaved."[68]
Finished Work Pentecostalism[edit]
The Assemblies of God, a Finished Work Pentecostal denomination affirms divorce, yet restricts some divorcees from taking the office of elder in certain cases, stating: