by Conias 18 Replies latest jw friends
Is there a biblical basis for separation or divorce?
In the event that one of the spouses is being psychologically mistreated in a very serious manner where his health is severely damaged and even his own life is in danger. Is there a biblical basis for Jehovah's Witnesses for separation or divorce?
No, but you can tell the Jehovah's Witnesses to go fawk themselves and divorce.
Seriously, if having that organization madating a person to put up with psychological mistreatment and his/her own life in danger, you have to consider who matters more, their stupid Jehovah or the battered spouse?
Welcome Conias.
Yes there is.
Separation. (Legal non scriptural divorce may be taken too)
Wilful non-support (financially)
Extreme physical abuse
Absolute endangerment of one's spirituality.
It is up to the individual to decide if his/her situation fits and take action. They will likely get pressure from busy bodies/including elders.
But it is up to them.
The problem is those that are abused by a dominant spouse find it difficult to think straight and get support to make a stand.
The only biblical reason for divorce and remarriage is adultery and death of a spouse. .
The Watchtower added "Absolute endangerment of one's spirituality."
This is code language referring to talking too much about Jesus rather than "the organization".
Is there a biblical basis for separation or divorce?
This is what the Jewish law originally stated:
When a man takes a wife and is intimate with her, and it happens that she does not find favor in his eyes because he discovers in her an unseemly matter, and he writes for her a document of severance, gives it into her hand, and sends her away from his house. She leaves his house and goes and marries another man -- Deuteronomy 24:1-2.
This is supposed to have been changed by the words placed in Jesus' mouth in Matthew's gospel (Matt. 19:3-9).
3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”
4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’[a] 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’[b]? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”
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 sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
As I'm sure everyone appreciates, the written gospels were authored a couple of decades after Jesus' death. How much do you remember from someone's speeches given 20 years ago?
So why the change?
Do you think it may have had something to do with the changes to Roman divorce law made by the Emperor Augustus?
Quote: Marriage in ancient Rome was a strictly monogamous institution: a Roman citizen by law could have only one spouse at a time. The practice of monogamy distinguished the Greeks and Romans from other ancient civilizations, in which elite males typically had multiple wives. ... It is one aspect of ancient Roman culture that was embraced by early Christianity, which in turn perpetuated it as an ideal in later Western culture. (Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_in_ancient_Rome
If Matthew 19 reflects Roman law rather than Jewish law, we may conclude that the "divinity' behind the change was not YHWH. or even that secondary divinity JESUS, but the ROMAN DIVINITY, Caesar Augustus!
It also tells us something of the processes that produced the NT.
The key words in the OP are "biblical basis". This is a hot button topic for me. It's what started me down the path to awakening. Answer: Yes. Jesus' words have already been quoted. But also see 1 Cor 7:10-17.
Now, something I recently caught in Jesus words:
“Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?” Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”
Why did Jesus put the blame on Moses? The was part of the Law that GOD gave Moses. I have not researched this, yet, but it seems to me something is amiss here.
When a man takes a wife and is intimate with her, and it happens that she does not find favor in his eyes because he discovers in her an unseemly matter, and he writes for her a document of severance, gives it into her hand, and sends her away from his house. She leaves his house and goes and marries another man -- Deuteronomy 24:1-2.
Translation:
"If a man marries a woman and finds out she is actually not a virgin, you can give her back"
What else to expect from middle eastern misogynistic desert dwellers?
Perry you said:
The only biblical reason for divorce and remarriage is adultery and death of a spouse. .
The Watchtower added "Absolute endangerment of one's spirituality."
------------But the WTS does not allow remarriage because of absolute endangerment....only separation (but you will not be df'd if you get a divorce as long as you do not remarry)
Separation might at times be justified. Willful nonsupport, extreme physical abuse, and the absolute endangerment of one’s spiritual life are exceptional situations that some have viewed as reasons for separation.
Posted: Why did Jesus put the blame on Moses? The was part of the Law that GOD gave Moses. I have not researched this, yet, but it seems to me something is amiss here.
It was the the gospel writer that constructed the sense of the text, not necessarily Jesus.
Who really believes that after 20+ years anyone recalled precisely the words Jesus may have uttered. Our memories do not work that way (i.e. They are not tape recorders).
As the early church spread outside the Jewish homeland, they had to reconcile dogma with other customs and laws. You could give consideration to the possibility that your looking at one of the earliest "new light" moments.
You are correct Blondie.
If a spouse starts getting a little too excited about Jesus, especially to the point where one might actually consider a direct relationship without a church organization, that is considered to be a threat to Watchtower spirituality and therefore grounds for separation, divorce, but not remarriage.
