Divorce--moral & ethical perspectives

I seriously doubt anyone could make a valid argument from the Bible allowing for a prenup. It would totally undermine the picture of marriage it paints, and especially the level of intimacy it calls for.

 

Precisely. Well said, spud.

 

Basically it's saying that after they get married, husband #1 finds out that something about the wife is "unclean" (meaning she wasn't a virgin, she cheats, or something along those lines most likely), so he divorces her and sends her away for that reason.

So she goes and marries husband #2 (whether he knows her background is not mentioned, but I'm guessing in this scenario, he doesn't) and either he finds out and divorces her, or he dies, thereby ending the marriage.

The law is saying that huband #1 can't marry her again because now he already knows she's unclean and therefore unfit for marriage to the righteous man (assuming husband #1 is righteous to begin with).

Does that help?

 

Yep. A pre-nup is primarily a way to minimize the messiness of the division of assets (and liabilities) in the event of a divorce, not necessarily an "escape hatch". But the effect it has reduces the unpleasantness of the consequences, thereby making it more acceptable (or at least easier to go through).

 

I find that very interesting. I'm hearing that phrase more and more in weddings these days, rather than "until death us part".

 

I have a hunch the application and interpretation of those Biblical guidelines are more at fault in that regard. I did an in depth study for a marriage class I taught last year, and if anything, the Bible teaches men to always put their wives ahead of themselves.

 

I'm very much looking forward to more discussion along those lines, whether in this thread or in others. There really are numerous things in the bible that seem extremely disrespectful of women in general (not necessarily just within marriage); & I'd like to hear more viewpoints about them than I have in the past.

Yes, I'm sorta saying "show me." And not meaning to be disrespectful about it

 

I didn't take it that way at all, and I'll be very happy to share with you all that I've learned. I think you'll find what I've discovered rather refreshing.

 

Here's an excerpt from the study I referenced earlier that has some good examples of how the Bible teaches that women are to be honored, not disrespected...



The Succession of Leadership, not the Chain of Command

For any group of people to be successful and productive, it must have a leader. Marriages are no different. We have already learned that marriage is supposed to be the supreme example of unity between two people. Without leadership, people move in their own directions at their own pace, and unity is lost. How can people be completely united if they’re following their own agendas?
According to the Bible, the path of leadership in the home looks like this:

​

God à Christ à husband à wife​

“Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.” --1 Corinthians 11:3

This verse is talking about leading, not commanding. The original Greek word translated as “head” in this verse is kephale (kef-ah-LAY), which literally means “head, origin, or center”, but it does not mean “authority” or “rule”. So let’s all get this straight:

The Bible does not teach that husbands are the kings of their marriages.​

What it does teach is that husbands are to be the same kind of servant leaders for their wives Christ was for us. Jesus told His disciples:

“…The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…” --Matthew 20:28​

...As the servant leaders of our marriages, we must take responsibility for the overall condition of our relationships and the direction in which they’re headed, regardless of whose fault that condition might be. If Jesus is our new role model of manhood and servant leadership, we need to love like He loves, forgive like He forgives, and lead like He leads. This is the path He has blazed for us to follow.

A Christian husband puts her needs ABOVE HIS.
Men, being a Christian husband means loving your wife the way Jesus loves you, and that means putting her needs ahead of yours. We can’t follow His example and keep ourselves at the top of the priority list. It just doesn’t work. If Jesus put His needs ahead of ours, He would have stayed in heaven. But He was born into this world and subjected Himself to humiliation, torture and death on a cross to fulfill a need we could not fulfill ourselves. He chose to go through those things – to place our needs above His – and He did it because He loves us. If we are going to follow His lead, we have to be willing to do whatever needs to be done to be absolutely certain our wives’ practical, emotional, and spiritual needs are met.

A Christian husband loves his wife LIKE JESUS.
Jesus loves with the kind of love we covered in Chapter 1 of this study – that patient, kind, humble, forgiving, honest, protective, trusting, enduring love. We have to love our wives just like Jesus if we want to lead them and earn their respect.

A Christian husband gives up HIS life for her.
The opening verse of this chapter says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave His life up for her…” Now we probably won’t have to actually die for our wives like Christ died for the church (thank goodness!). But to reach that goal of absolute unity that the Bible says marriage should be, we can’t hold anything back for ourselves. Every aspect of our lives – our likes, dislikes, hobbies, quirks, skills, time, talents, riches, strength, energy, mind, hearts, and bodies – all have to be fully devoted to Christ and our marriages.

 

Okay, first of all, this isn't about entering into a contract. It's referring to an oath to God. This was a very serious matter to the Hebrews. It's not like our society today when we toss around "I swear to God," for any kneejerk impulse without really meaning it. In fact, we don't really even have anything reasonably similar to that kind of oath in our culture. We can get out of anything, pretty much.