053: Divorce & Remarriage pt 1: What is marriage?

What better place to begin my extended series on divorce and remarriage than by examining the nature of marriage itself. 

Whether divorce and remarriage is ever permissible depends, in part, on one's view of the nature of the marital union itself. There are two competing views of marriage: (1) Marriage is a permanent spiritual union; (2) Marriage is a covenant. 

The PSU view holds that marriage is a mystical and permanent union of two human spirits. This union can only be ended by death (and some would add sexual immorality). In contrast, the covenant view of marriage holds that marriage is a covenant made between two people and ratified by God. A marriage can be ended if the terms of the marital covenant are violated by one or both spouses. 

While both views would typically allow for divorce and remarriage following sexual sin, the two views differ on how they view remarriage following an unjust divorce. The PSU view considers any remarriage following an unjust divorce to be a legal fiction. In God's eyes, they are still married, and thus the second "marriage" is no marriage at all, but an act of adultery. The covenant view agrees that it is morally wrong to contract a new marriage after an unjust divorce, but nevertheless, affirms that the divorce ended the first marriage and the second marriage is a bona fide marriage in God's eyes. 

I argue that the Bible supports the covenant view of marriage rather than the PSU view. 

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