Putting Asunder: Divorce and remarriage in biblical and pastoral perspective
By Stephen Clark
Brynterion Press. 312 pages. £39.99
ISBN 1 85049 155 0
There have been many attempts by evangelicals to solve the seemingly contradictory NT teaching about divorce and remarriage. Jesus appeared to allow divorce only in cases of adultery and Paul allowed divorce only if one was deserted by an unbelieving spouse.
Perhaps the most logical and thorough attempt was by Heth and Wenham, Jesus and Divorce, Hodder, 1984, who concluded that neither exception applies today. Jesus allowed divorce for adultery because this was compulsory in a Jewish society, and in the Graeco-Roman world of Paul's readers desertion was regarded as a legal divorce. In other words, there are no allowable grounds for divorce, and even if one is divorced against one's will, remarriage is not allowed till the death of one's former partner. Divorce and Remarriage, Hodder, 1993, tried to make this conclusion slightly more acceptable by allowing separation (though not divorce) if one was suffering so much abuse that one's life was in danger. But even with this concession, one is left with a pastorally impossible teaching.
Most evangelicals accept that there are two grounds for divorce, but find nothing in the NT to help those who are suffering emotional or physical abuse. Other evangelicals have attempted to remain faithful to the words of Scripture while stretching them to include abuse. Some have stretched the meaning of Jesus's 'indecency' in Matt.19.9 while others have stretched the meaning of Paul's 'separate' in 1 Cor.7.15. Stephen Clark does the latter, though with more rigorous justification than has been attempted before.
Lawyer and pastor
A lawyer by training, he begins with a very clear summary of the new developments in UK law and dispels some of the fears expressed by Christian groups. He then turns his legal thinking towards these scripture texts and their many interpretations, which he does with commendable thoroughness. He now works as a pastor, so he is looking for something practical which will help those who are suffering in abusive marriages. He develops Paul's exception in a similar way to that popularised by Jay Adams, Marriage Divorce & Remarriage in the Bible, Presbyterian and Reformed, though with more rigour. Paul's exception only applies to someone deserted by a non-believer. But if a believer refuses to be reconciled and even rejects the discipline of the church, then Matthew 18.17 can be applied to say that they should be regarded as a non-believer.
Stephen Clark takes this further by saying that this non-believer does not actually have to leave, because the believer is only required to maintain the marriage if the non-believer wishes to remain (1Corinthians 7.12f). This means, he says, that any behaviour which is detrimental to the marriage can be regarded as an indication that they do not wish the marriage to continue. He appears to have discovered a legal loophole by which believers can divorce their abusive spouse.
Whether this is acceptable or not depends on one's acceptance of this type of argument, but this is no more contrived than other loopholes which have been applied in the past. Luther, for example, concluded that one can remarry after divorcing an adulterer because this was theoretically a capital offence, so the adulterer was legally dead.
For myself, I find such legalistic arguments difficult. But the attentive reader will realise that I am biased, because this book interacts with my own views in almost every chapter. He feels that Jesus' teaching should be completely different from the OT while I say that Paul allowed divorce for emotional and physical abuse on the basis of Ex.21.10f. However, we come to roughly the same conclusions, both based on the Bible, so the reader can choose.
Stephen Clark has made a valuable contribution in this difficult and unresolved area, and has looked at it with fresh eyes. Whatever one's conclusions, his ideas are well thought out and command respect.
Dr David Instone Brewer,
Tyndale House, Cambridge,
David is an ordained Baptist Minister. For the last five years he has worked at Tyndale House as a Research Fellow with special interest in early rabbinic background to the NT. He is married with two young daughters.
