Theses on Divorce and Spousal Abuse

Apr 11, 2024 | Print

At the beginning of human history, prior to man’s sinful condition, there was no just ground for divorce.

“He said to them, With reference to your hard-heartedness Moses authorized you to divorce your wives, but it has not been so from the beginning” (Matthew 19:8).

“From the beginning” (Matt. 19:8) alludes to man’s situation when God “made them male and female” (Matt. 19:4) — when God instituted marriage with the words of Genesis 2:24 (Matt. 19:5).

“Hard-heartedness” (Matt. 19:8) is a biblical figure of speech for man’s fallen or unregenerate nature which does not believe or obey God (see LXX for Deut. 10:16; Prov. 17:20; Jer. 4:4; Ezek. 3:7; and in the NT, Mark 16:14). Regeneration is described as God taking away the “stony heart” and replacing it with a heart of flesh (Ezek. 36:26).

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