Quote:
Originally Posted by n david
From reading 1 Corinthians, I believe the only other allowance for divorce is if the unbelieving spouse leaves the believing spouse. In that case, the Bible says "But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace."
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That passage is claimed by every side of the debate.
A pagan man whose wife converted would not "depart", but would instead put her out. Furthermore, what role did the civil authority play? A Christian woman whose pagan husband "left" wasn't bound per Paul? So she remarries and gets arrested and executed by the civil authorities for being an adulteress? Would the Corinthian court system have given any heed to this "apostle Paul guy" and his arguments? Seems like this would invoke a scandal with Christianity being charged with homewrecking? Not sure if that ever happened (the claim, I mean).
I'd like to see a more thorough consideration of the subject that takes account of then existing civil marriage laws and how Paul's and Christ's teachings interacted with those laws.