The Bible NETWork ~ Impacting the World for Christ one post at a time!

The man who divorces his wife (without either one of them having been unfaithful during the marriage) and marries another woman, commits adultery.

Luke 16:18 Every one that putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and he that marrieth her that is put away from her husband, committeth adultery.

That means that the man is still married to his first wife, because you cannot commit adultery against someone you're not married to.

However, in the very act of remarrying, THE MAN FALLS UNDER THE "FORNICATION EXCEPTION" MENTIONED BY CHRIST because it constitutes adultery, which then allows him to remarry because his adulterous act dissolves the first marriage. But if his first marriage is dissolved, that means his second marriage is NOT adultery.

How could it be adultery? According to you, by getting remarried, the man just dissolved his first marriage. If his first marriage is dissolved, a second marriage cannot constitute adultery.

But if the second marriage is NOT adultery, HOW CAN THE FIRST MARRIAGE BE DISSOLVED? And if the first marriage is NOT dissolved, THEN THE SECOND MARRIAGE MUST BE ADULTERY. The man is attempting marriage to a woman while he is still married to someone else. Again, you can't commit adultery against someone you're not married to, so the first wife is still his wife.

Hence, your position entails saying that the second marriage IS adultery at the same time you say the second marriage IS NOT adultery.

However, Christ says THE SECOND MARRIAGE IS ADULTERY, because the man put away his wife and remarried even though both of them had been faithful during the marriage.

By asserting that a man can dissolve a marriage by committing adultery, you're admitting that Christ taught two opposing things, and that is an absurdity.

But adultery is a lawful ground for divorce to begin with, so this would make his first marriage with Susan legally or morally dissolved

The Lord is referring to Jewish law in the case of fornication. It says fornication, and it means fornication. The set up is Matthew 19: "And there came to him the Pharisees tempting him, and saying: Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?" Jesus says you can't have divorce period. The Jews pounce on this and ask about Moses. Jesus says this was do to hardness in heart, then gives the famous quote: "And I say to you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and he that shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery."

The "fornication" is in regards to this Jewish Law, see Deut. 22:

"If a man marry a wife, and afterwards hate her, And seek occasions to put her away, laying to her charge a very ill name, and say: I took this woman to wife, and going in to her, I found her not a virgin: Her father and mother shall take her, and shall bring with them the tokens of her virginity to the ancients of the city that are in the gate: And the father shall say: I gave my daughter unto this man to wife: and because he hateth her, He layeth to her charge a very ill name, so as to say: I found not thy daughter a virgin: and behold these are the tokens of my daughter's virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the ancients of the city: And the ancients of that city shall take that man, and beat him, Condemning him besides in a hundred sides of silver, which he shall give to the damsel's father, because he hath defamed by a very ill name a virgin of Israel: and he shall have her to wife, and may not put her away all the days of his life. But if what he charged her with be true, and virginity be not found in the damsel: They shall cast her out of the doors of her father's house, and the men of the city shall stone her to death, and she shall die: because she hath done a wicked thing in Israel, to play the whore in her father's house: and thou shalt take away the evil out of the midst of thee."

Jesus takes away the Moses exception. However, if you find that your virgin wife is not a virgin on your wedding night, then the marriage is invalid. It was fraudulent. In other words, it is an invalid wedding. This does not mean that you can't marry a virgin. It means if you married her thinking she was a virgin, and she represented it as such, and you find out by the "tokens of her virginity" that she wasn't a virgin, then you can put her away and remarry. This "virginity test" (a white cloth), or rather, the failing of the virginity test, is what the Jews refer to as fornication in marriage. That is why the Lord switches words. You can't divorce your wife, except for Fornication, or you will commit Adultery if you remarry.

I'm pointing out the mystery of the Lord changing words. Put it this way. You are a Jew at that time and listen in. You hear Jesus say, "You can not get a divorce and remarry, except in the case of fornication, or it will be adultery." How would the Jew interpret that? He would interpret it according to standing Jewish law, which covers the "fornication" case. The Jew would know exactly what the Lord is talking about.

The other problem is that Jesus says, "and shall marry another". The "Except for cases of Fornication" is referencing the whole phrase, divorce and remarriage. Now if you go this route, and believe it is ok to divorce and remarry in the case of adultery, all you need to do is screw your secretary and you can get a divorce. If you both want a divorce (as is often the case), then both agree to screw your boyfriend/girlfriend and then get your divorce. It reduces the Lord's law to a meaningless formula.

TI have a quote from my "Hard Sayings of the Bible," by Davids, Bruce, Waltke, Baruch, pp. 431-435. "Is it wise to take Jesus' rulings or other practical issues and give them legislative force?...It is better, probably, to let his words stand in their uncompromising rigor as the ideal at which his followers ought to aim." p. 435