i need more info, protestants please take a look and see if you can help me?

Question

I am catholic, yet at times, to be brutally honest i wish i was protestant?
but its for purely selfish reasons not because i believe in your "protest". You see, my Church will not give me Her blessing to divorce but i really wouldnt mind the option. well i figured if the Queen, bless her heart, if she can give Prince Charles her blessing to divorce (albeit reluctantly no doubt) surely she wouldnt frown on me getting one too.
Actually im confusing myself now...pls tell me just who is the visible head of the Protestant Church?

dear people
to clarify, i am catholic, yes Roman Catholic. my beliefs wont allow me to be otherwise. take my words literally dont interpret it for me. (no disrespect intended). The Catholic Church does not grant divorces fullstop. i can apply for an annulment but i dont like my chances. sure i can get a civil divorce but my Church wont recognise it. im just being brutally honest, if protestant i wouldnt struggle with this decision as divorce is permitted

is divorce permitted or not in the protestant faith?...or anglican faith?...or your faith?

i reposted this question cos im getting differing answers and im not sure which is correct

Is the Church of England protestant? or Anglican? is there a visible head for the Protestant Church or not? and it the protestant church is really many churches are you preaching the same message?

good day...its much more complicated than that dont ya think?

i dont fear man, i do fear God. if i dont believe the Catholic Church then ill have to believe the Bible instead (the Bible says God says NO to divorce) .....and be a member of His (invisible?) church that has no Name. i dont get it.

lion of judah...love the name!...thanx for the info...i agree divorce rate sux....so much pain in so many homes.

Catherine V...my dear sister in Christ
thank you for your love and encouragement. God bless you girlfriend.

im not looking for advice just looking for protestant views on divorce. it is not consistent. nor is it necessarily biblical.

lion of judah...thanx 4 the link...very interesting...however in quoting scripture he admits very honestly that it is only his opinion....and therein lies the problem. In protestantism one interprets the bible according to their on opinions. Catholics rely on the Church's teaching not on their pastor or priest's or even each others opinion.

Answer 1

Church of England is Anglican. England broke away from the Catholic church during the reign of Henry VIII, over divorce. Queen Elizabeth II is the head of the Church of England. And, yes they are protestant.

As for protestant, there are many main line protestant denominations. Everything from Lutheran to Methodist to Anglican to Baptist, etc. There is no one visible HEAD of the protestant side of Christianity. Every denomination has it's only heirarchy and it's only leadership. There is no common leadership.

Divorce is not such a big stigma in any of these denominations, as marriage is not a sacrament as in the Catholic church. While divorce is frowned upon and preferred as a last resort, it will not keep you from being married again.

However, to deny your Catholic faith over divorce is a pretty major step. If you are intent on staying in your faith and marrying again within the Catholic church, you need to do whatever you can to gain the annulment.

Answer 2

Divorce is a growing problem in America. The casual attitude of divorce in the secular world is spilling over into the church where the statistics are only slightly lower. Consider the following statistics from the US Census Bureau:
In 1920, there was 1 divorce for every 7 marriages. That is 14%.
In 1940, there was 1 divorce for every 6 marriages. That is 17%.
In 1960, there was 1 divorce for every 4 marriages. That is 25%.
In 1972, there was 1 divorce for every 3 marriages. That is 33%.
In 1977, there was 1 divorce for every 2 marriages. That is 50%.(1)
Of course, the divorce rate has stayed around 50% since the 70's, but has recently exceeded that.

Marriage was first instituted by God in the Garden of Eden. It is a monogamous, physical and spiritual union between a man and a woman (Gen. 2:21-24), where adultery was forbidden (Exodus 20:14), and dissolution was not allowed. But it didn't take long for the monogamous arrangement to become corrupted. Polygamy became an accepted social custom (Gen. 16:1-2; Deut. 21:15). In fact, many of the Kings of Israel were polygamists. The norm, however, was, and still is, monogamy.

Answer 3

Dear Orita,

I am a Catholic, too. Orita, have you spoken to your pastor about the difficulties within your marriage? I would encourage you to do so. If there is physical or emotional abuse going on, your pastor will be most supportive in encouraging you to do what you need to do to make yourself and your children safe.

Civil divorce, and a restraining order, is sometimes necessary, even for Catholics. In these kinds of cases, an anullment is more likely than not forthcoming.

Orita, if it is not a question of that, if the two of you are not physically or emotionally endangering each other, but have simply lost the magic, won't you please consider meeting with your pastor to see if you can work things out?

Orita, I don't know about you, but I need God's blessing in all that I do. How can any of us succeed in anything without His blessing? Do you suppose that if you were to one day simply turn your back on Him and go your own way, that things would go well with you? Orita, aren't your life and your happiness too precious to take a chance with?

I will be praying for you and for your family, my dear. God bless you.

Answer 4

There are hundreds of different individual "denominations" in Protestantism and they can be very, VERY different from each other. There is no one "head" of all the Protestant churches, and not all of them allow divorces as easily as you seem to think.

If you in your heart are a Catholic, I would stick with trying to get an annulment.

Answer 5

Yes - in general divorce is permitted in most Protestant denominations; although we have no "visible head of the Protestant Church" like the Pope - and even though Jesus Christ Himself plainly taught that there was only one reason to grant a divorce (adultery); but even in that situation if you divorced you were never permitted to re-marry because divorce and re-marriage would be the exact same thing as adultery.

In short - you're screwed. Are you sure you can't work things out with your spouse???

Answer 6

Why do you make it the Catholic church's business?
It is fine to be a Catholic, but can't you step back a notch or two and keep you private life private.
You really do not need men's approval in your life, just take it to the Lord.
Are they really your beliefs or the church's beliefs?
Just go to mass, live Catholic life, and keep your private business private, and love the Lord, read your bible and seek God's counsel.

Answer 7

I am personally non-denominational but was raised Catholic and after my mother divorced we moved to Episcopalian. It is the closest to Catholic that I know of and divorce is possible. It has been 20 years since I went there so I don't know if it has changed.

To answer another part of your question Jesus is the head of the church no man is. There are several Protestant churches with several different leaders that is why I am non-denominational.

Answer 8

Hey wait a minute... The higher rate of divorce indcates that the old religious rule of "one man for one woman only for ever" does'nt work... so we need to come up with something that can work better... maybe divorce is not the answer!!!

Answer 9

You guys are really confused people.