<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>[color:"blue"]In the mandate for children to obey their parents, there is no qualifier. Children are to obey their parents, period.</font><hr></blockquote><p><br><br>Well, that is not entirely true. Children do not have to obey their parents if their parents command them to sin. But besides that point, there is a point in time when children are not obligated to obey their parents. When a daughter gets married she is under the authority of her husband and is not bound to obey her parents against the wishes of her husband. So, it is clear that certain situations in life abrogate the legal jurisdiction that a parent has over a child, such that a child is no longer required to "obey". Honor? Yes, always, but not obey ... not indefinitely anyway.<br><br>So my question is particularly dealing with a divorce situation in which, say the father, has been guilty of adultery, disciplined by the church, and gets divorced from the mother who has custody over the child and is the innocent party in the divorce. I would say that such a man has deserted the family and no longer serves as a lawful authority over the child. A child should continue to honor him as a father but not feel obligated to obey him since he has forfeited that area of jurisdiction. Make sense?<br><br>Sincerely in Christ,<br><br>~Jason<br>