DHK, you quoted Mark 10, let's look at Matthew 5...
"And it was said, That whoever may put away his wife, let him give to her a writing of divorce;
but I -- I say to you, that whoever may put away his wife, save for the matter of whoredom, doth make her to commit adultery; and whoever may marry her who hath been put away doth commit adultery.(vss 31,32)
(KJV) But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
The Greek word is porneia. Out of all the translations that I compared Young's translation is the only one that translated it as "whoredom." It is a poor translation in this verse. The word porneia, accurately translated "fornication" means sex before marriage. That is its primary meaning. It can have a broader meaning, but that is its primary meaning, just as adultery is sex after marriage.
The meaning of the verse is this: Matthew was writing to primarily an audience with a Jewish background. Once a couple was "betrothed" (think engaged) in the public's eyes they were as good as married. So it was with Joseph and Mary. That is why Joseph though of "putting away" or divorcing Mary--because he discovered that she was with child and had committed "fornication." They were not married yet, but in the account they were already referred to as husband and wife. That is how binding the agreement was. Once Jesus was married their marriage was solemnized.
The meaning of the verse applies to the betrothal period. If a woman is unfaithful or commits fornication during that engagement period then the man is not bound to marry her. It is not an excuse to divorce even in our society.
.....and Matthew 19...
"He saith to them -- `Moses for your stiffness of heart did suffer you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it hath not been so. `And I say to you, that, whoever may put away his wife, if not for whoredom, and may marry another, doth commit adultery; and he who did marry her that hath been put away, doth commit adultery."(vss 8,9)
The same explanation is given above.
Note that he does not condone divorce. It was given because of the hardness of Israel's hearts. It is not for today. From the beginning it was not so.
He is very specific here and does not contradict himself as you suppose:
Mat 19:4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,
Mat 19:5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
Mat 19:6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Then I posted what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 7.
There is not one mention of divorce in 1Corinthians 7. Where does it say divorce?
Look, I am not upholding divorce. Divorce is horrible, is a sin in God's sight. But as sinners, it's no different than stealing a loaf of bread. Sin is sin. And sin unforgiven is punished by eternal death in the lake of fire.
Forgiven, yes; but there are consequences to some sins more than there are to others.
Paul was a murderer, was covetous, was a persecutor, was a very vile man. The things he did could never be repaired. Yet he was forgiven.
I know I'll never change your minds, but thank you and Brother Tony for the civil debate.
Paul didn't become a pastor, per se. He was used of God to right an instructional manual for pastors to come.
Remember also that the Book of Acts was a time of transition for the church. For example, they started meeting in the Temple, then in the synagogues, and from there wherever they could--often in homes.
As time passed so did the gifts of the Spirit--the gift of speaking in tongues for example eventually faded out of existence. This was a history of a church in transition. And Paul's ministry must be looked at that way as well.
