Josh Tinley noticed that the paragraphs condemning divorce in the Book of Discipline disappeared after the 2004 General Conference. It left the Methodist blogosphere perplexed about how this serious doctrinal change slipped by without anyone noticing.
Dean has the answer: it was a printing error.
Saturday, August 20, 2005
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2 comments:
I'm not so sure. It does contradict the Bible.
Compromising on Scripture always makes me feel uncomfortable, even if it seems socially mandated -- or even just reasonable.
I don't agree with Dean in so far as I find Scripture to be authoritative where he does not.
That said, I'm not so sure Jesus' comments about divorce should be taken out of context and assumed to mean that divorce is always wrong and that remarriage is also always wrong. Jesus was addressing a specific practice of that day and time, which has some parallels to our state of affairs but also some difference.
Of course, in what Jesus taught, I see a serious warning against divorce.
At the same time, suppose someone has been abused. Or suppose their spouse just up and left and refuses to reconcile. Should the injured party spend life alone due to the hurtful acts of others.
And should the abuser or leaver later come to faith, but their ex has remarried or refuses to forgive, should they also be denied marriage?
I do not mean to imply that the answer to the questions above is an unqualified "no." But I don't think it is an unqualified "yes" either.
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