Should a woman who has been raped be forced to marry her attacker (DEUT. 22:28-29)?

Question

I know some of you will say that the NT is not like this, but I encourage you to look at Matthew 5:17 - Jesus clearly supports this.

Answer 1

Only if I can be a polygamist and they are legally and/or morally obligated to be good wives to me. j/k

Seriously though,our modern ethics have no place for biblical literalness. The average Christian isn't. It's the ones that are that should worry you.

Answer 2

this is not accepted in many societies today..

however, long ago, and in some countries today, if a woman is not a virgin, it was very shameful and it was very unlikely that a man would agree to marry her. therefore the fact that the raper would end up marrying the woman was the best solution. first, the raper is forced to marry this woman that he forcefully deflowered and will have to go through all the "burden" of having to build a family with her..and the woman although very unfortunate for her that she was raped and will end up marrying this man, but then again, in most cases, it would be better than not being able to marry at all...

however, there are very few cases where people actually did that, since we live in such a free minded careless generation that being a virgin nowadays is ironically quite unique and special..

Answer 3

You are right. Jesus does clearly support this. how ever you will be lucky if some of the Christians don't report you as insulting them. They can't stand the heat or truth.
The only other religion which basically says the same thing is Islam.
Under Islam in some cases a woman may have to marry her rapist as she is automatically at fault. For a woman under Islamic law to have a man arrested for rape she must produce 4 males who will testify for her that she was raped. In many cases she is killed or jailed for life for bring accusations against her attacker.
If you study your bible you will find that women were considered less than human, and treated little respect as in other major religions.

Answer 4

In Deut, if you read the entire chapter or even the verses prior, you would see that the discussion is about adultry or men lying about their wives. women who were not virgins were not fit to marry. men would marry women, find "something better" and then go back and say - she wasn't really a virgin. sorry charlie, you loose.
In Matthew Christ is there to support the laws, to fulfill the laws.
True Christians who follow the bible can and would be okay with the above. for yes, if a man marries a women they are to love one another. YES the bible says a woman is to submit to her husband as he is the head of the family -- but let's not forget what is also said.... men treat your wives as yourself. Love your wife as your own flesh. hence the phrase two become one.

Answer 5

My good man you are taking Jesus out of context here. He came here to fulfill the law. If you read any of the rest of the NT you will find that Paul writes later that the Gentiles do not have to follow all of the Laws found in the OT. Look in Acts 15 you will find that only a few things were required of the gentile believers in order to be accepted into the faith. Marriage to your rapist is not one of them. Plus in Deuteronomy that law is in place to protect the woman. In those times if she wasnt a virgin no man would marry her. She would then have no one to support her and she would have likely had to have become a PROSTITUTE or a beggar. He had to marry her because he had to provide for her for the rest of her life. It was a way of making restitution in a manner of speaking.

Answer 6

Read Matthew 5 several times.

It talks about adultery. Not a word about rape.

But if a rapist had to marry the woman he raped, it would sure put a crimp in the rape statistics don't you think ? She could immediately divorce him and take half of all he has. A few of those and he might prefer jail.

Answer 7

In those days a virgin was considered the property of her father, and if she eloped with a man it was considered rape; the translation into modern English is not good. But it was considered that the woman was stolen (raped) from her father, so the man is now obligated to care for her. The word "rape" is from the same root as the word "rapture," meaning "to carry away."

Answer 8

Actually, that is an ignorant way of reading Matthew 5:17. He wasn't there to destroy Judaism and form his own religion, but rather he was part of it and taking it into a new phase, per se.

I'm not religious, so don't try to call me an apologist.

Answer 9

first of all, the old testement is before the"law" - back in those days, they sold women.. after the new law (ten commandments) all that changed. In Matthew Jesus speaks of the new law.
My personal opinion is this.... if a woman was raped and forced to marry her attacker , seems to me she liked it and wasnt raped at all !!!!

Answer 10

Jesus lived 2000 years ago in a culture where women were considered a commodity.
Look how different our culture has changed in only 40 yrs.
The bible may be a good guide but not a blue print.