Divorce and Remarriage in the Church: Biblical Solutions for Pastoral Realities by David Instone-Brewer (Paternoster 2003)  Practical, pastoral and very readable  Based on ground-breaking new research  Acclaimed by church leaders & academics  Welcomed by counselling organisations  Buy a UK copy       Read the book       Buy a USA copy

The message of the book:

 The Bible is God's word to all generations which we have to translate 
    from the language of an ancient civilization
 Jesus outlawed a Jewish type of divorce called the ‘Any Cause’ divorce
 Jesus and Paul discouraged all divorce but allowed it for specific grounds
 Biblical grounds for divorce include adultery, abuse and abandonment
 Divorce itself is not sinful, but breaking your marriage vows is sinful
 Only the victim of broken marriage vows may decide to divorce
 Paul allowed remarriage if someone was divorced against their will

This book interprets the words of Jesus and Paul through the eyes of first century readers who knew about the ‘Any Cause’ divorce which Jesus was asked about ("Is it lawful to divorce for ‘Any Cause’" – Mt.19.3). Christians in following generations forgot about the ‘Any Cause’ divorce and misunderstood Jesus.

The 'Any Cause' divorce was invented by some Pharisees who divided up the phrase "a cause of indecency" (Dt.24.1) into two grounds for divorce: "indecency" (porneia which they interpreted as ‘Adultery’) and "a cause" (ie ‘Any Cause’). Jesus said the phrase could not be split up and that it meant "nothing except porneia". Although almost everyone was using this new type of divorce, Jesus told them that it was invalid, so remarriage was adulterous because they were still married.

The Old Testament allowed divorce for the breaking of marriage vows, including neglect and abuse, based on Exod.21.10f. Jesus was not asked about these biblical grounds for divorce, though Paul alluded to them in 1Cor.7 as the basis of marriage obligations. This book argues that God never repealed these biblical grounds based on marriage vows. They were exemplified by Christ (according to Eph.5.28f) and they became the basis of Christian marriage vows (love, honour, and keep).    
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My Internet access here in Russia is limited and slow....and costly since I pay by the hour. Is there a way to get a download of the pdf rather than trying to read this online?
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I've just got divorced and I want to know where I stand. Can you give me a quick summary of what you have found out?
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I fell in love with a married woman who was having serious marital problems. She fell also in love with me. I was an unbaptised new believer who was 27 at the time. She divorced, and we married. She has since become a believer. We both now are more mature in our walk with God, and fear that we are, and have been, in adultery. We are ready to obey what God's will is for us. Should we remain married, or should we divorce or seek an anullment? If we do the latter two, are either of us free to remarry, or should we remain single and chaste? We are concerned for our salvation if we are in continued sin.
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