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Jimd,

Thank you for your information and opinion. In fighting, I did not mean an actual fight. I simply meant standing up for those who otherwise cannot stand up for themselves. But I see what you are saying and completely understand.

As far as my Churches "Leader Groups", well Im not sure if it is control locally so to say or by a larger power but it is something I will definitely look into.

Once again, thank you for all your input.

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The more we love God, the more we hate ourselves.

To answer your question if you actually study the verses in Timothy and the New Testament as a whole you will see that a divorced person period does not qualify to be a deacon or a preacher. People that could possibly make the claim that you could be in either position clearly aren't interpreting those passages correctly. There are other positions that divorced people can serve in, but those two positions are not it. Being divorced period is an automatic disqualification.

Actually "divorce" would not disqualify them from the deaconate according to the NT...according to any interpretation. Remarriage could, but not divorce. If divorce disqualified them it would not be because of any proposed interpretation of the text of 1 Timothy.

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You need to take the text as a whole. You can't pick a couple of words and just make it say what you want it to say. This is how people really mess up what the Bible says. They pick a verse or a few words from a verse and then twist it to say what they want it to say. My point is to take it further if you read on it says that your house has to be in order. Regardless of who was at fault or the situation if you were ever divorced under any circumstance your house cannot be in order if you have been divorced. An example that I could use is if you murder someone and then you become a christian after then just because you are a christian doesn't take away the fact that you have to face the consequences of what you did. So as a result you will either be in prison the rest of your life or put to death. What I am saying is even though you are a christian you still have to live with the consequences. Same thing with being a deacon or a pastor if you don't qualify you don't qualify. Clearly if you read the surrounding passages it is clear that a divorced person cannot successfully run the office of either one. God cannot go against what He says because He is perfect. So if someone that is divorced thinks that they are supposed to be a pastor or deacon they are clearly wrong. They do not meet the qualifications and God won't bend the rules sort of speak for anyone.

First, where does Paul say they cannot be divorced? He says they must be the "husband of one wife", but what does that mean in Paul's context? There is considerable debate about just that issue alone. If he had wished to actually say "they must not be divorced" he could have easily said so...but he didn't. So we must instead wrestle with what he has actually said. Does this mean they must be married (meaning they can't even be a widower)? That they can only have one wife at a time? That they cannot be remarried for any reason (whether their spouse abandoned the faith and them or whether their spouse has died)? Would concubines have posed a problem for Paul as they weren't officially a "wife"? These are serious questions if one wishes to treat this as a legal ruling...

Second, the "management of their own house" appears more in connection to the care of the children than actually to the wife (as if the wife was chattel. The syntax of both 1 Tim. 3:4-5 and 1 Tim. 3:12 connects it directly to the children and not to the spouse. This suggests something in relation to the wider house in relation to the management of the household affairs and not to the management of the wife (but loving his wife is). That is NOWHERE taught by Paul.

In other words, what I am saying is that divorce is not the issue for Paul in writing to Timothy...though possibly remarriage is (though possibly polygamous marriage is...or some other form of polygamous relation is). What you seem so "clearly" to see in the surrounding passage is nowhere to be found. I will gladly recant if you so kindly point me to Paul speaking of "divorce" in the context, but otherwise I simply do not see it there as a "clear" issue for Paul. Divorce would not inherently exclude anyone from leadership (otherwise Paul would clearly have indicated such, but he didn't), but issues of continuing and/or future relations might.

_________________
Everyone is equal at the foot of the cross...just some are more equal than others.
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