Common Christian practices that are not taught in scripture

[Sudsy]

If a church did not recognize my current marriage as legitimate, I would find another place to fellowship.

I'm not an advocate of the One True Church view, but this is a pretty strong argument in its favor.

What I meant by this is that if it was a problem for other believers to fellowship with me over this, I would find another place where it wasn't a problem. When I was in the MB church it was not a problem that I ever encountered or in any other of the 6 churches I have attended over varying periods of time.

[Ken]

My view would be 'no' to the last question. Same-sex marriage is not between a man and a woman and therefore is not a marriage in the first place as the Bible defines marriage.

And yes, I believe one can be forgiven of a failed marriage and continue on determined to not sin in this way again. I don't believe one should leave a second marriage as the divorce ended that first marriage.

The scriptures don't teach that a failed marriage is a sin that requires repentance. The scriptures do seem to teach that it is wrong to marry another while one's first spouse is still living. I expected you to say that the remarriage is sinful but that it can be forgiven while still continuing in the marriage. I find it unusual for someone to say that a failed marriage requires forgiveness. I would disagree with this, because one is not always in control of whether a marriage fails. The sin, in my view, comes when one remarries with the first spouse still living.

Obviously I would agree with you on same-sex marriage; I would just see the biblical definition of marriage as being a life-long union between a man and a woman.

I think it would be more accurate to say that the scriptures teach that adultery is a sin that requires repentance.

And that churches are of mixed opinion as to whether divorce and remarriage constitutes adultery since the scriptures are somewhat inconsistent on that point. And consequently, different churches have taken different positions on that subject.

[RZehr]

Luke 16:18b: and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.

[ken_sylvania]

I don't find remarriage when a previous wife is still living as anymore of a state of living in sin...

Yes, I understand that. And of course you have plenty of company in that view. Still, in keeping with the thread topic, that idea is not taught in (New Testament) scripture.

And I disagree in that New Testament scripture tells me that God forgives and forgets all sin and since He does, all, to me, means all, including divorce and remarriage. To me, it is a matter of how we understand what is taught in the scripture.

Where in the New Testament do you read that God forgets all sin?

[Swiss Bro]

Posting on internet forums.

[mike]

I think it would be more accurate to say that the scriptures teach that adultery is a sin that requires repentance.

And that churches are of mixed opinion as to whether divorce and remarriage constitutes adultery since the scriptures are somewhat inconsistent on that point. And consequently, different churches have taken different positions on that subject.

Sure, and...

Luke 16:18b: and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.

Different churches take different positions on many issues. This does mean all positions are equally valid.

[Ken]

I think it would be more accurate to say that the scriptures teach that adultery is a sin that requires repentance.

And that churches are of mixed opinion as to whether divorce and remarriage constitutes adultery since the scriptures are somewhat inconsistent on that point. And consequently, different churches have taken different positions on that subject.

Sure, and...

Luke 16:18b: and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.

Different churches take different positions on many issues. This does mean all positions are equally valid.

Of course RZehr did not post the only New Testament scripture on the subject of divorce.

There is also Matthew 19:9: "I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

Which is a HUGE loophole that a whole lot of people used in this country before the advent of no-fault divorce.

[RZehr]

I think it would be more accurate to say that the scriptures teach that adultery is a sin that requires repentance.

And that churches are of mixed opinion as to whether divorce and remarriage constitutes adultery since the scriptures are somewhat inconsistent on that point. And consequently, different churches have taken different positions on that subject.

Sure, and...

Different churches take different positions on many issues. This does mean all positions are equally valid.

Of course RZehr did not post the only New Testament scripture on the subject of divorce.

There is also Matthew 19:9: "I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

Which is a HUGE loophole that a whole lot of people used in this country before the advent of no-fault divorce.

In that time, it required a divorce to break an engagement/betrothal. If a fiancé commuted fornication with someone, it was allowed to break the engagement, and not follow through with the marriage. Today this is still practice in Orthodox Jewish communities and also conservative Muslim communities - needing to get a divorce to break an engagement and be free to marry someone else.

[Josh]

In that time, it required a divorce to break an engagement/betrothal. If a fiancé commuted fornication with someone, it was allowed to break the engagement, and not follow through with the marriage. Today this is still practice in Orthodox Jewish communities and also conservative Muslim communities - needing to get a divorce to break an engagement and be free to marry someone else.

This concept isn’t taught in the New Testament, either, despite some how claim so. The text says zip all about betrothals etc., but rather says “Whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality”… it does not say “fiancée”.

[Ken]

In that time, it required a divorce to break an engagement/betrothal. If a fiancé commuted fornication with someone, it was allowed to break the engagement, and not follow through with the marriage. Today this is still practice in Orthodox Jewish communities and also conservative Muslim communities - needing to get a divorce to break an engagement and be free to marry someone else.

This concept isn’t taught in the New Testament, either, despite some how claim so. The text says zip all about betrothals etc., but rather says “Whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality”… it does not say “fiancée”.

I don't know how things were done in Biblical times or during the early church.

But in this country before the advent of no-fault divorce in the 1960s, it was most certainly the case that in most states the only grounds for divorce were infidelity and, depending on the state, perhaps a few other things like abandonment and abuse.

So people would hire private investigators in order to document infidelity in order to file for divorce. And it was common knowledge that many couples who wished to divorce would simply fake infidelity in order to file for mutually desired divorce. In other words, infidelity was the all-purpose loophole that people Christian or otherwise would use to legally get divorced if they didn't have the means to travel to Nevada or Mexico or some place that had easy quickie divorces.

And for the most part, most churches simply went along with it, knowing that in many cases it was just a charade. Because as long as the government was restricting divorce to cases of infidelity then who is the church to question it? If someone was divorced prior to about the 1960s the presumption was that infidelity was involved. And therefore, remarriage within the church was permissible.

That doesn't mean that divorce and remarriage has ever been a Christian practice. Just that many churches simply tolerated it.