Answers about divorce

Was Paul married? If so, what happened to his wife?

The information that we have in the Bible says that Paul wasn’t married when he wrote 1 Corinthians: To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am. [1Cor. 7:8] However, we don’t know with absolute certainty if Paul was married before or after this — [...]

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Is it ever okay for a Christian to divorce their non-Christian spouse?

Guidance for marriage can be found throughout the Bible. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians includes advice for married couples, widows and those who are unmarried. To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else [...]

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Can you commit adultery by marrying a divorced person?

The idea that marrying someone who is divorced may be adultery comes from two things Jesus says: “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.”  Luk 16:18 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate [...]

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Why was polygamy tolerated in the OT when God’s original design was obviously monogamy?

Polygamy was obviously not part of God’s original design for marriage (Gen 2:24; also see 1 Tim 3:2, Tit 1:6), yet it does seem that polygamy was permitted under the Law of Moses and practiced by several famous OT character (e.g. Jacob, David, etc.). To help us understand why, it is useful to look at [...]

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Are divorced Christains that have remarried required to divorce that spouse and remarry their first spouse?

Nowhere in the Old or New Testaments does God say that people who have remarried need to divorce their new spouse and remarry their first spouse. In fact, under the Law of Moses, the closest scenario strictly forbids remarrying the first spouse: {1} When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she [...]

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Does a spouse’s remarriage disqualify you from being a deacon or elder?

The full question was: “Can my husband qualify as a Deacon or Elder? He has only had one wife, me, but I was married once before and divorced when young. So he is the husband of one wife.” The source verses: Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their [...]

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What does the Bible say about remarriage after divorce?

God’s rules have been clear from the beginning: one husband, one wife. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” (Gen 2:24). Jesus commented on this: “So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, [...]

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