Hi Pilgrim,

First I must say that I fear I cannot do justice to our dialogue in terms of time or talent. I write painfully slowly and study, for me, is laborious and difficult. But, you have been generous and thoughtful in your responses and have asked a reasonable question, so I will try to answer.

Second, I believe that this topic is not one of the “main and plain” teachings of the Bible. Godly Christian men of much greater intellectual prowess and spiritual depth than I have studied every facet of divorce and remarriage and have arrived at different conclusions. Therefore, I freely admit that my belief on this matter may be wrong and that I could change my mind after further study and illumination by the Holy Spirit.

Here are my beliefs on divorce and remarriage.

1. I believe that it is far better to reconcile than to divorce, that divorce is never mandated, and that Christians should rarely divorce, even when Biblical cause exists.

2. I believe that Deut 24:1-4 does not apply to Christians and since the NT does not address the prohibition in Deut 24:1-4, I believe that Christians are free to remarry a divorced spouse, even after the wife has been married to another man.

3. I believe that divorced Christians should marry again only under three circumstances. First, when they divorced because their spouse was guilty of fornication (fornication, not adultery). Second, when their unbelieving spouse divorced them. (I am not certain that the Bible allows for these two exceptions, but the support for these two exceptions is strong enough that I can accept them.) Third, to remarry their divorced spouse.

I long for the day that all brothers and sisters in Christ celebrate at the marriage supper of the Lamb and we no longer have to deal with issues such as these.

Al