Catholic Teaching about divorce and remarriage

[rcwitness]

According to Jesus, the only marriage that can be divorced is one involving “porneia”. The Catholic Church uses a marriage Tribunal to determine whether a marriage is based on “porneia” and if so, the marriage can be dissolved, and granted a decree of nulity. This means the marriage was never binding according to our Lord.

 

[rcwitness]

What many Christians conclude, is that Jesus was saying a valid marriage can be dissolved if one or both spouses commits “porneia”.

Many studies have been undertaken over the “exception clauses” in Matthew 5 and 19, and various interpretation can be made from these passages.

The term “porneia” is Greek, and can mean a variety of things, depending on context.

It can be translated as Sexual Immorality, prohibited sexual relations, Fornication, Prostitution…

What seems to be the crux of major disagreement with most non-Catholic Christians and Catholic Christians is this:

Those who believe Matthew used “porneia” as an act referring to adultery are opposed to Catholic Teaching.

The illogic of this interpretation is that, if this was true, Jesus would have used the term for adultery in the so called exception clause. Here is why… even if “porneia” means infidelity or sexual immorality, if it happens in a valid marriage, it must be called adultery! But if it happens outside of Holy Matrimony, then it gives cause for civil divorce and Holy Matrimony never occurred.

 

[rcwitness]

I actually think that the best translations of “porneia” could be “Fornication” in a single word, and “Sexual/Marital Sacrilege” in a phrase.

Or even “Unlawful Matrimony”

Porneia committed outside of Holy Matrimony is called Fornication, while Porneia committed within Holy Matrimony is called Adultery.

 

[rcwitness]

An instance in the Apostles using the term “porneia” is in Acts 15…

Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the pollutions of idols and from PORNEIA and from what is strangled and from blood. For from early generations Moses has had in every city those who preach him, for he is read every sabbath in the synagogues.”

This use of porneia seems to be in the context of Mosaic law. But Jesus revealed something about the allowance for a certificate of divorce not being from God, but a tolerance due to hardness of hearts. Nevertheless, Jesus still refers to a Mosaic law. The other laws regarding legal marriages are recorded in Leviticus 18. These seem to be the “porneia” which Jesus was condemning. These had to do with incest. These are what St John the Baptist was drawing from when he accused Herod of unlawful marriage. These are what St Paul called “porneia” in 1 Corinthians 5 regarding the man sleeping with his father’s wife.

Jesus condemned the concession made by Moses in Deuteronomy 24, and upheld the laws against an illigitimate marriage in Leviticus 18

 

[rcwitness]

Something else to consider, is that fornication (sex outside marriage) was not something explicitly forbidden in Mosaic law, if I’m not mistaken.

I’m not saying it was accepted as righteous, but that for James, and the gang, to specifically mix Porneia with laws of Moses, we should definitely see it in Scripture. So I think incest and prostitution (and maybe mixed marriages of Christians with pagans) are the foremost intentions of both Jesus, and the apostles, when they used the term.

And these relationships were not binding, according to Holy Matrimony, and therefore are to be divorced.

 

[rcwitness]

The only “strange” thing about my understanding of the Teachings of Jesus and it’s explanation by the Catholic father’s and Church is that, in all of this, they still seem to believe that Jesus (in Matt. 5 & 19) was giving an exception to divorce, yet not remarriage.

I don’t think He was saying that at all, even though St Paul acknowledged that if a valid marriage did result in separation, there cannot be remarriage.

So I feel like we have to either take Jesus’ exception as for an invalid marriage or not. But many ECFs mix them together, saying He was allowing for divorce of a valid marriage, but not remarriage, and then that He wasn’t referring to a valid and binding marriage.

Does that make sense to anyone?

 

[rcwitness]

One of the arguements that many Christians make against the indissolubilty of Holy Matrimony, is that adultery dissolves the Lord’s bond of the couple.

Jesus told the Pharisees, that Moses allowed for a certificate of divorce out of the hardness of those people’s hearts! He was speaking to BOTH schools of the Pharisees.

St Paul goes into more detail, regarding the Sacrament, than any other New Testament writer. If he acknowledged that a husband and wife should not divorce, but if they do, they cannot remarry, then why do some think that adultery can dissolve a marriage?

The Apostles sent a letter to the churches, telling them to abstain from “porneia”. As I have mentioned, this was in context of the Mosaic laws regarding forbidden marriages.

Adultery is also forbidden, for certain. But adultery is never said to break the bond of marriage. Porneia prevents a marriage from being binding according to God, in the first place.

 

[rcwitness]

Something interesting about Deuteronomy 24 and Moses’ allowance for a divorce certificate is that he says “because he has found ‘something indecent’ in her”.

The term used for “indecent” is oruth, which is the same term used in Leviticus 18 to describe sexual relations!

This was probably a large point of contention between the two parties within the Pharisees. Some thought it meant adultery, and some thought it meant a wider range of wrong behavior.

If Jesus was concerned about upholding one or the other schools of theology, then he would have expressed that either any sinful behavior, or adultery would be grounds for divorce.

He doesn’t do that at all. Rather, He re-established that it was not God’s will that Moses allowed for a certificate of divorce at all, saving for the cases of “porneia”.

It is disingenuous, then, to interpret porneia as adultery because porneia committed by a married man or woman would primarily be adultery in its very essense.

Edit: However, the penalty for adultery was death…