A friend of ours that is relatively new to Christianity has had a relatively rough road in her marriage for quite sometime. They've been separated for about 3 months now. Now I realize that in Matthew 5:32 and Matthew 19:9 it declares adultery as being a justifiable cause for divorce, and in 1 Corinthians 7:15 it discusses abandonment by a non believer as cause as well. That being said she brought up an interesting point... In Matthew 5:27-28 it says...Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And with that in mind, she made it clear to us that her husband would regularly watch pornography under the guise of "Hey I'm a guy, this is what guys do" type of mentality. So, on the surface, if you take Jesus' interpretation of adultery as defined in Matt. 5 it would seem pretty simple that under Matt. 5:32 she could justifiably divorce her husband. But here is the problem I have with that justification...God hates divorce and he makes that very clear in scripture. I'd say its pretty safe to assume that every man and woman has looked upon another with lust, and therefore, every man and woman are guilty, by Gods definition, of adultery, there fore every divorce is Biblicaly justified. I have a tough time swallowing that. So with all that in mind, I was wondering if any of my brothers or sisters in Christ have any input or Biblical clarification regarding this subject? Thanks.
I'm not a Christian, but I'll take a shot at it anyway. That verse provides no justification for divorce, only clarification of what constitutes adultery. In any case, I suggest the woman revoke his bedroom privileges until he stops acting like a 12 year old. If she does that with a good spirit, eventually he'll either come around or divorce her for some bimbo. Either way, she wins.
Maybe it was Matthew 19:9 that i was thinking of...."And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.” Which makes me think that adultery offers Biblical jutification for divorce.
I don't think that verse supports the argument any better. It doesn't say divorcing her for adultery is OK, only that if he does so and marries someone else, he's not thereby committing adultery - whereas there could be other sinful motivations for divorcing her such as the desire for revenge or whatever.
What means "had a relatively rough road" and why are they separated since three month now? Is her man an agressive drunkard or something like this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBumgq5yVrA
Did your friends separate because one of them had a relationship with a third person? What was the cause of their separation? Before talikng about "divorce" it is recommended first to check if any possile reconciliation. Still, the cause of the conflict might guide to know if a divorce is acceptable by biblical means
Divorce in Judaism comes ONLY from the man in the relationship, so even if he thought about other women, Jesus is saying that men can NOT simply get divorced. They are stuck with their bride forever,... so be wise.
