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To: Americanwolf; CitizenUSA; TheSpottedOwl
The Bible does not preach against divorce, but adultery. Re-marriage after divorce is considered adultery. This area has become greatly confused over the years. Christ recognized that not all marriages are salvagable, so divorce was okay. But, since your vowed before God to stay with the person you married, divorce does not justify dating again or re-marriage.

This is why the Catholic Church has been playing footloose and fancy-free with annulments these days (IMHO the indulgences of the 21st/22nd centuries). My uncle of 25+ years left my aunt for another woman, then got his marriage annuled on the grounds that my aunt never converted to Catholicism. For the Catholic Church to grant an annulment on those grounds is truly an abomination, no matter that it is trying to allow people to continue to receive communion ("what you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and what you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.").

40 posted on 11/25/2005 1:07:07 PM PST by GreatOne (You will bow down before me, son of Jor-el!)
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To: GreatOne
Great One: "The Bible does not preach against divorce, but adultery."

Sorry, but I disagree. Clearly divorce is not OK. Moses allowed it only because man was weak. Malachi said God hates divorce, and Christ only allowed it for cases of adultery. I think you are biblically correct on the issue of remarriage.

Divorce may be permissible in some circumstances, but it clearly isn't what God intends. God undoubtedly wants us to stay faithful for as long as we live. Anything less falls short of God's intent.

As for annulments, I've never found anything in the Bible to support them. Perhaps they are justified if the marriage is not consummated, but I agree your uncle's annulment is an abomination.

Oh, I also agree adultery is a terrible sin. It just seemed you were saying divorce is no big deal. If that was true, I believe Christ wouldn't have put any limits on it.

Malachi 2:16 (New International Version)
"I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel, "and I hate a man's covering himself [a] with violence as well as with his garment," says the LORD Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.

Matthew 19:8-9 (New International Version)
8 Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery."

Mark 10:3-5 (New International Version)
3 "What did Moses command you?" he replied. 4 They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away." 5 "It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law," Jesus replied.

1 Corinthians 7:10-12 (New International Version)
10 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. 11 But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. 12 To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.
41 posted on 11/25/2005 2:00:47 PM PST by CitizenUSA
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To: GreatOne

I not only had grounds for a Church anullment, but a civil one as well.


43 posted on 11/25/2005 8:07:06 PM PST by TheSpottedOwl ("President Bush, start building that wall"!)
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