Customer Reviews

Divorce and remarriage: Recovering the biblical view

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Luck demonstrates the value of sound exegesis and careful thinking as he painstakingly considers the Bible's teachings regarding adultery, divorce, and remarriage.

He is comprehensive in his approach paying careful attention to biblical passages that many writers fail to address. Beginning with Genesis he examines the nature of the marriage covenant. Next, he considers the teachings of the Law and the Prophets. He then gives three chapters to the teaching of Jesus and two to Paul's teaching on the subject. He finishes with a multi-page summary of the Bible's teachings and includes appendices that provide other helpful information.

No simplistic arguments here! The writer is consistent in his methodology, careful in his analysis, and ready to interact with other scholars who have published their understanding of this important subject. One should read each chapter paying careful attention to the endnotes noting sources, documentation, and frequent lengthy explanations.

After ten years of research he has succeeded in presenting a unified theology of divorce and remarriage without turning a blind eye to the text or avoiding difficult questions. Though he was raised in a context that encouraged him to judge every divorce as sinful and every divorcee as disqualified from ministry, he has moved toward the Word and beyond those simplistic views. Admittedly, this author's conclusions are far from the traditional view. He, himself, even struggled to accept the conclusions that followed his study.

I would recommend this book to anyone who desires to understand what the Bible says about these matters. It would be especially helpful to the individual who has done a considerable amount of thinking about this subject and is ready to interact at a more challenging level.

William Luck has definitly produced an excellent work in this book - I would very much recommend it to everyone who is researching this important subject -- it's a shame that the book is currently out of print. However, it's not impossible to find, and if you can get your hands on a copy, it's well worthwile.

Luck gives an excellent overview of what the nature of the marriage contract/covenant is, in accordance with the framework of the New Testament - that being the Old Testament. Keeping in mind that Jesus specifically stated that he did not "come to destroy the law, or the prophets:" (Matthew 5:17), Luck shows how Jesus' words and Paul's words to not in any way contradict the clear statements in the Old Testament, which permit divorce and remarriage.

Luck shows that the breaking of the marriage vows sunders the marriage relationship, whether that be through a groundless divorce, or through unfaithfulness, neglect, or abuse which results in the 'innocent' party's ability to officialy divorce someone as a disciplinary action. The innocent party has the right to remarry another, and so does the guilty if all means of reconcilliation have been exhausted, and they have truly repented of their sin.

Although some would say that this cheapens marriage, I believe that this view actually gives much more strength to the marriage, and shows that the marriage vows shouldn't be taken lightly, as they often are.

For another very similar view, from a much more recent author, look at Dr. David Instone-Brewer's book, "Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible: The Social and Literary Context" (Eerdmans, 2002), or his much shorter version of the same material, "Divorce and Remarriage in the Church" (Paternoster Press, 2003), which is available from Amazon.co.uk

This is probably one of the best books I've read on marriage and divorce in the Biblical context, along with Rubel Shelly's book on the same subject.

This will not be received well by all because some have such a difficult time removing themselves from the Catholic traditional view on the subject. The traditions of men on this subject have become so entrenched in so many churches that it's difficult to see the truth of the Bible on this subject.

Even in Matthew 5:32 & 33 when Jesus makes it clear who has sinned, "He causes her..." yet we still want to place the blame on the woman, but not on the heartless husband who has put his wife in such a position. Jesus had it right, not we just need to get it right!

In John 4, we would make the woman at the well retrace her steps through her 5 marriages to see what she must do to undo the damage, but not Jesus. He offers her "living water."

Jesus was condemning the hardness of heart of many a husband (Matthew 19), who would divorce their wife so that they could marry another. Adultery is caused by the divorcing whether or not someone marries. This is a great book!