Jesus' original hearers vs. Fifteen centuries of church history

George Santayana once said, "Those wo do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." I believe there is a lot of truth in that. I do believe we can avoid repeating the tragedies of history if we learn from its mistakes. But I think it is equally possible that we can forgot those parts of the past where they got it right, and in doing so we invent the mistakes of a new day.

 When I look back at the history of the church regarding the issue of divorce and remarriage, it strikes me as odd that for the first 15 centuries of the church, divorce and remarriage appears to be universally seen as a state of adultery. Not an ACT of adultery, but a STATE of adultery that needed to be repented of. And yet, in the last 50 years or so, it seems that even in strong evangelical Christian circles, the predominant view in the church is that God allows for divorce and remarriage under some circumstances, and approves of and blesses those second marriages.

I will not say I understand all of the issues of church history on this issue. But if Stephen Wilcox is correct, then perhaps that was the period in time in the 1500's (by means of Luther and Erasmus) where, on the issue of divorce and remarriage, the camel got its nose under the tent; and what was sowed to the wind then is now being reaped as a whirlwind.

Please follow the link above, and see for yourself what he says. According to Wilcox (as I understand him) it seems that Erasmus was a rather pragmatic and agnostic "theologian" who "approved" divorce to appease King Henry the 8th. And Luther, who was rather frustrated with many of the issues he had with the Roman Catholic church, was perhaps a little too quick to toss the baby with the muddy theological bathwaters of his day. Until then, it seems all of church history records a pretty much clear voice on the issue of divorce and remarriage: remarrying while a former spouse was still alive was always seen as a continuous state of adultery, and was something that required repentence to recognize the original marriage as a covenant which could only be broken by death.

There are many voices that speak today from conservative evangelical circles regarding this issue of divorce and remarriage. They hold all kinds of positions, all with what appear to be strong biblical reasons why they are right and the others are wrong. Bill Gothard would say the original marriage is the only one God recognizes, and a remarriage while the original spouse is alive needs to be undone, because it is not a valid marriage in God's eyes. Jay Adams would say that God allows divorce and remarriage for adultery or for desertion by an unbeliever; Craig S. Keener would say that God allows it for more reasons than these, such as cruelty or abuse. His book, "...And Marries Another" is a very well researched book, which gives perhaps the best defense of this position I have seen. And then there are men like Voddie Baucham and John Piper who would argue that even though the first marriage has a covenant which cannot be broken, and remarriage is not allowed, if a couple is currently in that position, they need to keep the remarriage intact anyway. Their idea is that divorcing the new spouse is wrong; two wrongs don't make a right.

It is no wonder that, with so many dissenting positions by good, God-fearing Christian teachers and theologians, there is much disagreement among Christians today about whether or not God permits divorce and remarriage. The average Christian will notice that there are bible teachers who are well known and effective in teaching people about Christ, and some of these people are divorced and remarried, with God blessing their ministries. So perhaps God is OK with the divorce and remarriage after all?

I have two thoughts on this. First of all, I think that God blesses a ministry, not because the minister always get everything exactly doctrinally correct, but in spite of the fact that he or she does not. God looks for obedient hearts, and I believe any good bible teacher that God is using has, as his or her central theme, the idea that God is always God, and we are not. We need to be totally surrendered to Him, no matter the cost. Doctrine is a means to that end. And if you look at the heart of the message coming from Jay Adams, Craig S. Keener, John MacArthur, Bill Gothard, Voddie Baucham, John Piper and others, it is always this. And because this is their heart, God blesses their ministries because they are surrendered, as best they can be, to the lordship of Jesus Christ.

The second thought I have with it is this. Just because someone is seeking God's heart and is surrendered to the lordship of Jesus Christ, it doesn't automatically mean they will always get it right. And for this reason, you need to compare their ideas one against the other, and against the reference standard of the word of God, praying and seeking God about what He wants you to do. These bible teachers would all tell you the same thing. And in the end, you need to act on what you believe God is showing you. I have learned from hard experience that if you are seeking hard after God, and you are heading in the wrong direction, He has an uncanny abiliity to get through to you about it. And so you need to be careful and much in prayer about an issue such as this one. Because it is also possible to hear clearly from God, and yet be blinded to that truth after not doing what He tells you. And He WILL let you do the wrong thing. And He WILL let the consequences hurt you, to get your attention.

Just because the prevailing opinion in the church in our day leans in the direction that divorce and remarriage are alright by God's measure, doesn't mean God really is alright with it. (It doesn't mean He's not, either. That's just the point - the prevailing opinion needs to be constantly examined and course-corrected.) If you went back in history, many in the church believed slavery was alright, too. Many in the church, who 30 and 40 years ago believed in a pretribulation rapture of the church, no longer do. The idea of a premillenial, pre-tribulation rapture of the church didn't even exist until the later 1800's. In the last 30 years, the "pre-trib" part has fallen out of favor. Opinions and popular concensus change over time. What was considered right in the past might not be now. What the church of the future may find someday is that some of our 21st century ideas were rather unfortunate, to say the least.

When I think back on what I remember from Keener's book (I read it a long time ago; I'll admit I've only glanced again at it lately, and see it differently now, after viewing some arguments from the other side) what I remember is a lot of thorough research which pointed to the idea that Jesus' followers in his day would have all heard his sayings through ears that would have understood the same exceptions to his rules, and so these exceptions weren't even written because they were taken for granted with the original audience. For instance, Keener believes all his hearers would have heard the "adultery" exception on remarriage, though only Matthew records it. But now that I read how all of the early church history spoke of divorce and remarriage, it makes me wonder how the whole church missed it for all of those centuries. Those people in the early centuries of the church, who understood the greek of the New Testament better than any of us likely do - because it was their mother tongue - must have all gotten it wrong, if Keener has gotten it right. I am forced to the conclusion that they better understood what it said, but understood less what it meant. I am forced to conclude that, though they knew well what the bible said, they no longer had a clue what it meant by about one or two generations after Jesus walked among us.

I'm not sure if I can take that ball and run with it. If the bible is our measure of faith and conduct, how are we to have any idea if we have it right, if we don't all have an intimate knowledge of the Hebrew culture to which Jesus spoke? I remember speaking to a Jewish rabbi once, who told me that evangelical Christians know what the bible SAYS, but the Jews know what it MEANS. This seems to be a train that could be heading down the tracks fast...

As always, your thoughts are welcome. And if I've got the history or the positions wrong, please feel free to correct. (in a spirit of grace, though. I want this to be a family-friendly blog.)