Divorce and Remarriage
in the Church
Biblical Solutions
for Pastoral Realities

David Instone-Brewer

(Paternoster UK, 2003)
[Buy from Amazon UK]

(IVP USA, 2006)
[Buy from Amazon USA]

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Summary	Full text
Introd.	Preface Introduction: What's new?
Chap.1	Confessions of a Confused Minister So many questions Traditional church teaching No blinding flash "No-one can separate"? Looking forward Putting it in context Further Reading
Chap.2	A Marriage Made in Paradise God's perfect plan But in practice … The cruel world of the ancient Near East Moses makes things better Equality under the Law of Moses Are marriages any better today? To conclude: God's law in an imperfect world Further Reading
Chap.3	God the Reluctant Divorcee 'Thou shalt not commit adultery' Three more Biblical grounds for divorce Four marriage vows God's divorce A broken contract Israel's broken marriage vows God hates divorce To conclude: Practical laws for a sinful world Further Reading
Chap.4	The Church Can’t Do Without It Applying the Old Testament today The moral and ceremonial laws Jesus' view of the Old Testament Jesus highlighted principles, not details The basis of modern laws To conclude: Keeping the spirit of the Law Further Reading
Chap.5	Divorce on Demand? A new type of divorce, for men only The 'Any Cause' divorce "Nothing except 'Sexual Immorality'" Asking Jesus' opinion Understanding the jargon Answering their question Jesus' other teaching on marriage and divorce Divorce only for 'hard-heartedness' Dropping the bombshell Re-reading the Gospel passage Summarising Jesus' teaching To conclude: Questions which Jesus does not answer Further Reading
Chap.6	When Your Partner Walks Out Paul did not disapprove of marriage A question about sex Caring for each other Roman divorce was too easy Translating 'separate' What if you have used divorce-by-separation? What if you are a victim of divorce-by-separation? To conclude: Divorce should be the last option Further Reading
Chap.7	Till Death Us Do Part? Lifelong marriage can be a curse Texts which might imply lifelong marriage When silence speaks volumes Romans 7.2: The church as Christ's bride 1 Corinthians 7.39: widows' freedom to remarry To conclude: Case not proved Further Reading
Chap.8	Four Biblical Grounds for Divorce The church struggles to be just Why was Jesus silent about the victim's right to divorce? Didn't Jesus allow only one ground for divorce? Paul teaches four grounds for divorce Defining Biblical grounds for divorce How can one define 'conjugal love'? So what can we say to the abused? Behind the façade To conclude: God knows our secret suffering Further Reading
Chap.9	Can I Get Married Again? Mary and Joseph's divorce certificate "You are free to marry any man you wish" What the Dead Sea scrolls really say Everyone expected divorcees to remarry Paul quotes a divorce certificate Paul says abandoned believers can remarry Abandonment is 'neglect' Even the guilty partner can remarry - eventually To conclude: Paul allows remarriage Further Reading
Chap.10	Is Remarriage Adultery? Joseph's plan to divorce Mary An invalid divorce for valid reasons Invalid divorce for no good reason Preachers' rhetoric No-one said: Get divorced again Invalid divorces before conversion Deciding innocence or guilt To conclude: Divorce is forgivable
Chap.11	Promises, Promises The earliest English marriage service Our marriage vows come from Exodus 21 Valuable contracts in the rubbish room The vow "to obey" Roman women rebelled against submission Why early Christians decided to submit Should both brides and grooms promise to "obey"? When should we refuse remarriage in church? Helping divorcees know God's forgiveness Service of repentance for broken vows To conclude: Marriage vows are the key Further Reading
Chap.12	The Teaching which Time forgot Survival of Judaism after AD 70 Generations divided by language Missing punctuation God's word can cross the generations Modern readers have to work harder Scripture alone is not always enough An explosion of information To conclude: Crossing the gulf
Chap.13	Conspiracy? Revealing the Dead Sea scrolls A suppressed divorce document Jewish divorce changed in the 2nd century A world dominated by sex Church fears about sex New teaching for a new age Tradition versus Scripture Disputes about doctrines Discoveries ignored by theologians To conclude: Reversing the change in church doctrine Further Reading
Chap.14	What Should the Church Do Now? Summary of this book Similar conclusions by the Reformers without the recent discoveries Modern theologians with similar conclusions Biblical principles and church policy Contradictions in present church policy How can we apply these findings? To conclude: Principles for real life Further Reading
Chap.15	Dear Pastor… The theory is good, but does it work? Email from a woman who stayed with her abusive husband Email from a woman in a loveless marriage Email about a foolish marriage Email suggesting a solution: Jesus was only speaking about betrothal Email from a guilty and repentant church leader Email from a remarried man whose church wants him to get divorced Email from someone who wants a service of repentance when she marries Email about some new Christians who the church refused to marry Email from someone who admits being judgmental Email about a church where divorcees cannot be deacons Email from Mozambique about polygamy and divorce-by-separation Email from someone who wants to know my motives Email from someone who thinks I am teaching this for money It is for you to judge
Study Guides	Study Guides Study 1. Four grounds for divorce in the Old Testament Study 2. Jesus' teaching on adultery and the new 'Any Cause' divorces Study 3. Paul's teaching on the other three Biblical grounds. Study 4. 'Till death us do part' and remarriage Study 5. Wedding vows, and remarriage in church Study 6 (optional). How to read the Bible, including the Old Testament
	Endnotes

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