{"id":813,"date":"2008-04-30T12:33:49","date_gmt":"2008-04-30T12:33:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/04\/mark_10_divorce.shtml"},"modified":"2021-05-29T02:45:30","modified_gmt":"2021-05-29T02:45:30","slug":"mark_10_divorce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/04\/mark_10_divorce.shtml","title":{"rendered":"Mark 10 – Divorce"},"content":{"rendered":"

I sat down the other day to get back to my Bible reading, but I didn’t get very far. Jesus’ words on divorce in the beginning of Mark 10 really made me think.<\/em>
\nMark 10:1-12 – Jesus in this passage gives no acceptable reason for divorce. None. Luke 16 agrees, but both Matthew 5 & Matthew 19 show Jesus making an exception for sexual immorality. Paul in 1 Corinthians 7 seems to broaden this slightly by allowing at least separation if an unbelieving spouse desires to leave the believer. Paul says the believer is no longer bound in such cases, which seems to imply that divorce is appropriate.
\nToday, of course, divorce happens for far more trivial reasons. Of course, there are reasons that aren’t so trivial such as abuse. Was there no spousal abuse in Jesus’ or Paul’s day that they did not feel compelled to address it? I hardly think that’s possible. So why didn’t they? It seems that the abused wife would be one whom Jesus would want to protect and address, yet he did not. So we are left to search our own souls and dig through he old and new testaments to determine for ourselves what is best.
\nOf course then there are situations where folks divorce and then become believers. Are they given a fresh start? Does it become like they were married? A lot of questions but not many definitive answers. The new testament only covers a couple of the many scenarios we might encounter. It seems that God is content to simply state that he hold marriage in high regard and we ought to as well. We must keep that in mind as we ponder these things and sort them out as we need to.
\nThis reminds me that Codepoke<\/a> has written some good, thought provoking stuff last year on divorce. This post<\/a> in particular speaks to a way to interpret Jesus’ words that handles the seemingly glaring omission of abuse. The big question being – What if the recorded words of Jesus weren’t his only convictions on the topic? Codepoke’s post was inspired by this compelling Christianity Today article<\/a> by David Instone-Brewer. He makes the argument that Jesus wasn’t answering a universal ‘when is divorce OK’ question but rather a specific question on a specific controversial kind of divorce popular in Jesus’ day called the ‘any cause’ divorce.
\nThese ideas are attractive to me for the same reasons they are attractive to Codepoke. They provide compassion and a path of escape for the victims of abuse and neglect. (Read this older post<\/a> from Codepoke too on how divorce might be seen, actually, as mercy from God.) Of course, that does not make it true or valid, but it does seem to mesh with our Lord’s compassion shown in other areas, like the woman caught in adultery or the good Samaritan as well as the constant drumbeat of the Old Testament about caring for the neglected and outcast. Codepoke points out the same, stating that he’s not yet completely comfortable with the position (or at least he wasn’t last November), no matter how attractive it may be or how neatly it seems to tie up some unclear loose ends. I’d say that most Christians have found the idea that a woman cannot escape an abusive marriage unless the man cheats a little uncomfortable and frankly have looked the other way when such a woman in fact gets a divorce.
\nI have to say that I’m more ready than Codepoke was to accept this. It makes too much sense to me for a lot of reasons. Have a read of Codepoke’s post (and the thoughtful comments as well) and the CT article and let me know what you think.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I sat down the other day to get back to my Bible reading, but I didn’t get very far. Jesus’ words on divorce in the beginning of Mark 10 reallyRead More Mark 10 – Divorce<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nMark 10 - Divorce - salguod.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/04\/mark_10_divorce.shtml\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mark 10 - Divorce - salguod.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I sat down the other day to get back to my Bible reading, but I didn’t get very far. 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How do churches get away with looking the other way? Certainly divorce is easier that staying together in may cases. A case could be made for divorce in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Salguod.net stuff"","block_context":{"text":"Salguod.net stuff","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/salguod-net-stuff"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1029,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2010\/04\/1_corinthians_7_-_marraige.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":813,"position":1},"title":"1 Corinthians 7 – Marraige","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"April 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"1 Corinthians 7:1-7 - As a man with the gift of celibacy, he has a remarkable grasp on the power that sexual temptation has over men and women. Perhaps it wasn't so much a gift as a devotion or a commitment, in which case his fighting to remain true to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":223,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2004\/11\/miracles.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":813,"position":2},"title":"Miracles","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"November 3, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Matthew 8:18-34, 9:18-34, 13:53-58, Mark 4:35-41, 5:1-43, 6:1-6, Luke 8:22-56, 9:57-62 Matthew 8:18-20, Luke 9:57-62 - These passages always troubled me. I know the traditional explanations of what Jesus likely meant and the explanations of what these men likely meant but it seems a little presumptuous. There's just not much\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":226,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2004\/11\/miracles_challe.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":813,"position":3},"title":"Miracles, Challenges and Parables","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"November 9, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Matthew 14:14-36, 15:1-20, Mark 6:34-56, 7:1-23, Luke 9:11-17, John 6:2-71, 7:1 Mark 6:34, Luke 9:11 - Here we see Jesus' teaching and healing was motivated by his compassion. Matthew 14:23-33, Mark 6:47-52, John 6:17-21 - This is one of my favorite miracles of Jesus. 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I would not claim to know it period, let alone explain it in a few\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quiet Time Journal"","block_context":{"text":"Quiet Time Journal","link":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/quiet-time-journal"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":770,"url":"https:\/\/salguod.net\/blog\/2008\/01\/luke_12.shtml","url_meta":{"origin":813,"position":5},"title":"Luke 12:1-34","author":"Doug Schaefer","date":"January 23, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Luke 12:4- - What are the implications of this teaching? Jesus is saying that pretty much anything that might happen to us on earth is trivial compared to what comes next. There's nothing to fear - no violence, disease, poverty, oppression - nothing. 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