Two instances when the Bible allows divorce

Divorce is reviled and anathematized by many, and the Catholic Church sees it as a public enemy No.1. It’s true that this flip side of marriage can tear families apart and its aftermath can devastate people mired in it because it brings chaos and rupture among spouses, parents, children, relatives, and friends.

Divorce, however, has its good sides, and here’s one good new—the blessing it brings to people entangled with it.

Fallen marriages that have wrecked families in reckless abandon and are chronically languishing in the abyss of brokenness could finally live in peace as there’s now a mechanism set by law to terminate them, with sufficient safeguards to protect and preserve the humanness and well-being of the parties involved, especially unwitting children who can do nothing but sleep tightly as the mighty waves roar.

They can now move forward and reset the rhythm of their lives to normal mode as they go on to find a new and happier place under the sun.

We give thanks and accolades to our lawmakers for crafting a divorce bill after letting it sit on the back burner for some time.

But do we know that contrary to popular sentiment, God in his infinite wisdom permits divorce in at least two instances?

In Matthew 5:32, in the New Testament, God through Matthew instructed that divorce is a sin but if a spouse commits porneia, the Greek word for “sexual immorality,” the innocent spouse can divorce the guilty spouse. The sexual immorality alluded to is adultery or marital infidelity. This is an explicit edict from God.

Another instance in the Bible that implicitly allows divorce is found in 1 Corinthians 7:15, which says: “If the unbelieving partner leaves the conjugal home, let it be so.” An example is when a Christian spouse is abandoned by a non-Christian spouse, the Christian spouse may say, “adios, you can go to hell my dear,” then rush to the bar and celebrate with a wide grin. This guideline is implicit, which means divorce is impliedly allowed.

Then come physical and emotional abuses which, in a wild chaotic world, may be acceptable excuses to scram a spouse forever and ever.

Manuel Biason,

lawyer