"Marriage is not a picture of the Gospel when it is permanent. Marriage is permanent when it is a picture of the Gospel. A man physically, emotionally, spiritually or sexually abusing a woman (or child, or anyone) is preaching a FALSE GOSPEL." - SBC Voices
Periodically, throughout the years, I’ve re-visited the “when can Christians legitimately divorce” issue. First time was before seminary, when someone asked me if she had biblical grounds to leave a spouse who beat her. Second time was at seminary, where I was taught the “only for adultery and desertion” approach. Third, fourth and fifth times have been over the past decade-ish, since I’ve been a pastor.
Well, I come before you to declare I’ve figured everything out …
Just kidding.
This is a hard topic. I’ve had to think through this issue again, and so I present my conclusions here to you. I may be wrong, of course. Some will undoubtedly disagree with me. I don’t interact with opposing viewpoints; you can find whole books that will do that for you. This is not an exhaustive discussion, but a brief positive survey of the most primary texts. Perhaps it will change one day. You may find my complete paper here.
The bottom line is a Christian may divorce under the following scenarios, each of which is an egregious fracture of the marriage covenant:
"The Charlottesville, Virginia-based research organization [Institute for Family Studies] released the report on Tuesday, drawing data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey." - CPost
"I now believe that 1 Corinthians 7:15 implies that divorce may be legitimate in other circumstances that damage the marriage as severely as adultery or desertion. This change in my position has come because I reached a new understanding of Paul’s expression 'in such cases' in 1 Corinthians 7:15." - CBMW
Per the General Society Survey, divorced evangelical attendance outpaces other traditions, but still lags far behind married evangelicals. - Christianity Today
"I would love for all followers of Jesus to come to a better understanding of 1 Timothy 3:2; not just for my sake, but for the overall health and sanctification of Christ’s body. To that end, I am thankful for the faithful and gracious teaching of Dr. Thomas Schreiner in the video below." - John Ellis
"At last week’s annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, Grudem gave a talk titled 'Grounds for Divorce: Why I Now Believe There Are More Than Two.' In it, he cited biblical exegesis plus real-life examples for his revised position." - Church Leaders
"Indeed, divorce doesn't just lead to father absence but to mother absence as well. Not in quite the same way—most children of divorce live with their mothers. But those mothers aren't home. They're at work." - Suzanne Venker
