Customer Reviews

And Marries Another: Divorce and Remarriage in the Teaching of the New Testament

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I appreciated the author's explanation of the cultural context of the New Testament writings on divorce and remarriage. It is clear both from the text and the bibliography that his research was of the highest quality. The author is clearly an expert on New Testament culture and does a thorough job of applying that expertise to develop insight into the scriptures he examines, namely Matthew 5, Matthew 19, and I Corinthians 7.

The author does a good job of being balanced and unbiased although he makes no secret of the fact that he is motivated by compassion in his writing.

The one thing the author does not attempt is to delve deeply into the Greek grammar of the particular scriptures he examines, although he appears to have the understanding and ability to do so, something I would have been interested in and the only reason I don't give the book five stars. However, a deeper examination of the Greek, beyond understanding the conversational or teaching point that Jesus or Paul was making, is outside what the author is trying to accomplish. His point is to educate us on how the Jesus' and Paul's audiences would have understood what they said about divorce and remarriage. The author achieved that aim with excellence.

Keener here provides a superb treatment of how the Biblical passages on divorce and remarriage would have impacted first century hearers. This book is NOT another summary of how Scriptural directives should be applied today. Instead, it is a look at these particular verses in their first-century, Jewish, Greek and Roman historical contexts.

Many readers may not agree with the conclusions Keener draws, but all readers will benefit from his presentation of first-century customs regarding divorce and remarriage. I highly recommend this work to teachers and preachers who want to research this controversial area of Christian teaching. It is definitely well-worth the price!

Craig Keener has written a well-documented yet easy to comprehend book on a very difficult and controversial issue: Divorce and Remarriage in the church. Although I'm not divorced myself, I have taken great interest in this topic over the past couple years (see my other reviews) as part of my seminary experience, and in seeing close friends who are divorced: this is an ethical topic that I believe every Christian must come to grips with.

The most important thing that I can say in review of this book is that the reader must understand that Keener does not believe in the doctrine of the perspicuity of scripture like say J. Carl Laney. Keener recognizes that scripture was written during the time of a certain culture, and that we need to understand that culture in order to see what scripture is really saying to our context: this is a basic hermeneutical practice that is important to observe as we read scripture. It is true that because of this we must work harder to interpret what's really being said in scripture, and therefore a review like Samuel Chapman's is certainly understandable, but really this is a necessary step in being faithful to the bible.

Keener's basic conclusion is that the bible is decidedly against divorce, but there are exceptions in extreme cases of broken marital vows, and that in these situations the innocent party is certainly free to remarry, and hold offices in the church. This he concludes from extensive study of the relevant scriptures passages and from relevant primary and secondary sources from the first century when the New Testament was written.

For a further and even more extensive look at divorce and remarriage and the issues around it, read Dr. David Instone-Brewer's book 'Divorce and Remarriage: the Social and Literary Context.'

Sensitive and scholarly exploration of all biblical texts on divorce and remarriage. Sets standard for marriage as permanent, and also frames divorce and remarriage in a fallen and sinful world. Compassionate handling of the divorced. I would highly recommend this book for those who have been spiritually abused by legalistic and condemning interpretations of these Scripture.

Keener does a superb job of exegeting the relevant texts for understanding the Bible's teaching on divorce. Keener allows the reader to hear the words of scripture in their original context. Keener in no way condones divorce as a cavalier exercise of Christian liberty, but he challenges us as Christians to rethink some of our cherished theological constructs. For the reviewer who says that Keener downplays scripture in this book does not understand the purpose of the book. Keener can tell you where any verse is located in the New Testament and give you the cultural background to go along with it (I played this game with him). For any pastor or person struggling with what the Bible has to say about divorce, Keener's "...And Marries Another" is for you. The book is well worth the price!

Legalism vs grace..and having the openness of mind to look at the research, culteral impacts and entire counsel of the word.

This book has a very heavy cultural emphasis and its writer has a disdain for the use of "proof texts". It is so reliant on culture that at times it appears to make the scriptures into a subjective text. It even goes as far as referring to Christ's teaching in the Gospels as "hyperbole". However the conclusions are that divorces are to be made official, that the innocent victims should be treated as other singles and that the guilty should be encouraged to repent and then to make reconciliation if possible, so it captures some of the emphasis of Christian teaching, if not all its detail. The book has a tremendous amount of notes, as any cultural/historical work must, but there is a danger of pushing people towards the line that they can only understand the bible on divorce if they understand all the history and extra-biblical sources - which is a way of restricting the truth to academics and priests.

Here it is! Isn't funny how we can sooth our minds with books but never our spirit? I agree, I would have given it a 0 if I could too. Starts off with "unclear" passages as his premise. We should always begin with "clear" passages first. I recommend Joseph Webb's Till Death Do Us Part. I don't like this book either but can't prove it wrong! <G>

I have 3 goods by Craig and he is a great NT teacher, his commenary on Revelation is delightful, but here Craig is clearly wrong: That Jesus clearly said NO to divorce for adultery or for any other reason it's quit clear. A book written by an spanish NT exegete and judaism scholar Diez Macho proved this in a clear way several years ago.
Jesus was and is smart enough to have left gaps in His teaching and that's one of the reasons that Jesus didn't accept divorce, not even in case of adultery. Let me give you a ficticious example.
Johny is a christian and meets Laura who is also a christian. They fell in love and they get married. Time goes by, Johny finds that his wife is not as beautiful as before and knows Joana, and well, he finds her atractive in all the aspects. He decides that he deserves a second chance, and he commits adultery. He tells her wife "Things are not going right, I found someone else, and I have a relationship with this other woman, let's get the divorce, because my plans with Joana are for real. Jesus gives you the right". The wife gives him the divorce. Johny is free, that's what divorce is all about. He marries again (he surely elects a different pastor to perform the new marriage, or maybe not just to prove him that "this time is for real") and yes he can go to church the very next sunday with the new wife, who can be sure about his love, until maybe he finds once again that he was wrong and that the right one was Carla, Jeniffer and go on.
The names are obviously pure fantasy, but the case are so typical. Did Jesus allow divorce for adultery? I don't think so, Jesus doesn't let anybody fool him. Let's not fool ourselves, if we want to avoid divorce let's not get married with wrong persons.

It is so questionable these harsh words and the way that orthdox Christians understand them are really from Jesus's mouth. It is so simplistic and so out of line with Christ's character. And do you know how many people emotionally and spriturally died because of it. And the Church said "if only you be obedient with the commandment, you will get your eternal reward after you die. Talk about behavioral control!