Christians only... can a christian get married after a first divorce?

Question

are there any circumstances were it cant happen.
are there any circumstances were it can happen.

i ask Christians only as i will only accept biblical responses. i personally believe a person can not get remarried unless a divorce was caused by adultery (not on your part).

Gail R.. God is forgiving BUT if you live in adultery then you cant be forgiven until you repent, how can you repent (turn away) of a sin that you continually do.

If God turns a blind eye to a unrepented sin then he would have to do the same for EVERYONE, God is Just, and he upholds his law.

This is why choosing a husband/wife is not to be taken lightly (and we shouldn't have premarital sex, but thats another thing)

Answer 1

God looks down on getting divorced.

The Bible says you should not get remarried after a divorce, nor should someone marry you after you have been divorced because you are not pure. Or something like that.

Sorry, my mom was reading it to me out of the Bible a couple of weeks ago and I can't remember exactly what the scripture said.

Answer 2

Some of the responses seem to be combining divorce and remarriage as the same thing.

In the Catholic Church, divorce is the civil end to the marriage, but does not negate the marriage vows.

The sin is in remarrying. We truly believe in "to death do us part".

As for annulment, many people including some Catholics, think annulment is a scam for money. I believe they are misinformed. A marriage can only be annulled if it was invalid in the first place. That is, if one of the parties in some way defrauded the other. If one said they had never been married before, and it turned out they were married, that would be a fraud. There are many other ways to defraud a marriage partner but cheating after the wedding isn't one of them. There is financial aid available for those who cannot afford to pay the lawyers involved in an annulment.

So the "sin" is the remarriage. I used parentheses because this is something Catholics and a few other Christian groups believe. Many people with more secular beliefs disagree.

Answer 3

I have heard the statement that only adultry is reason for divorce. But I say Bullfeathers! If a person has a spouse that beats them or their children they must get away to guarantee it does not continue as it could kill them. Stay married, even with a court order, the courts will not long support you or protect you from beatings if you remain married. Not allowing a person to remarry for such as this amounts to punishing the abused. Not allowing a woman to remarry might result in depriving her children of future, place them hungry and living on the streets
A point could be made here. On one occassion God let his anger get away when he began killing Israelites because King David took a census in the wrong manner. King David appealed and asked God to punish him, not innocent people. King Solomon had 300 wives and 700 concubines. He also had his general Uriah murdered so the could not only continue his adulterous affair but marry her. And remember Solomon was not only king but he was also a prophet. And prophets were said to be above sin. A prophet sinning or giving false prophesy was to be answered by stoning to death.

For adultry being the only just cause for divorce, I believe you are too heavily relying on the Old Testament. Jesus taught of a loving and fair God, If a person divorces they should put the past behind and move on. By the way, the only way a man in Old Testament times could commit adultry was by taking another man's wife. Men were entitled to have multiple wives, concubines and even see prostitutes. (read the Bible more carefully and you will see several prophets met with prostitutes and had more than a night long conversation)Women were the property of husbands and had no rights.

Want to apply Old Testament laws on adultry? Go to Saudi Arabia. Not only will they not allow an adulteress to remarry, she will be stoned to death for the offense. Problem of that dile,a solved by a truck load of stone in a souk (like a shopping mall)

I am a Christian, current Episcopal, probably more a Presbyterian. Bachelor's Degree in Ancient History of the Levant (Mesopotamia). I also attended a Baptist seminary in Redlands California for 8 months. Best investment, stock plan, and real estate training I ever got. Shockingly, 85% of the students there did not even believe in God, well not the commonly thought of God. Their god was money and made no secret of it.

Answer 4

You're right about the adultery part. If the divorce is a result of adultery, the offended party can remarry with no repercussions. The adulterer must seek forgiveness from God before remarriage.

Answer 5

What the Bible says is that the ONLY reason for a spouse to lay aside (divorce) their spouse is for the reason of adultery. If a husband should put aside his wife for any other reason than this, and he remarries, he commits adultery, and having done so, should she remarry, he causes the one that marries her to commit adultery. In the instance that a man puts aside his wife, but then is saved in acceptance of God's word and remarries, no it would not be considered adultery because Gos says that once you are saved and have been forgiven your sins, that those sins no longer exist.

Answer 6

Unless one commits a sexual act with another person, they are still married in God's eyes, even if they are legally divorced. If either party commits a sexual act, unless still bound by legal marriage, they are divorced in God's eyes.

With this understanding, if you commit adultery, and your mate doesn't forgive you and divorces you, there is no reason for you not to get remarried if you so desire. You are divorced in God's eyes, so therefore also free to remarry.

But obviously this person would need to repent of the adultery and not have sexual relations with one s/he is not married to.

Answer 7

Well Christianity in general accept the concept of divorce, a divorce can come to effect for a big amount of reasons including adultery or domestic violence.

We the Mormons believe that a couple can spit and each one can search other people to get married again, the problem is when they had made their vows in the temple so they are sealed, in that case their souls would still remain sealed unless they get their vows rebuked but it don't usually happens.

Now according to what I heard Catholics believe that it is a sin to get married again after divorce, Jean Paul II said so but I see they still do so.

Answer 8

Regardless of whether it's a sin or not, God is faithful and just to forgive. Remember, God did not bring EVERYONE together because the word says "what God has joined...no man can put asunder". Some people bring themselves together for whatever reason. If two believers are married, and one wants to leave, then let them go....If they simply don't want to be married anymore, have fallen away from the faith, whatever...let them go. I believe Christians can get married again. Why wouldn't they? But I also believe believers should SEEK GOD and not just do things in their own flesh because it feels good. Once you listen to Him, then you wont end up married to the wrong person because HE will be the one bringing you two together. If you're going to follow God, follow Him all the way in every aspect of your life..not just when it's convenient...

Answer 9

You are right, the person cannot get re-married unless the divorce was caused by adultery according to the Bible.

Matthew 19:8 - 19:9

Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery."

Answer 10

The two reasons given in scripture for a lawful divorce are being the victim of adultery as you've mentions or in 1 Cor. where it mentions abandonment.

Some in the church argue that physical abuse is a form of abandonment--though that is debated. I would include it and drug addiction as forms of abandonment--but from a literally reading only adultery and physical abandonment.

If those circumstances occured to a person and they were the victim they could be re-married.