Questions about John R. Rice

[Salty]

@ Johnofjapan

John - your input will be helpful

I have two questions about John R.

1) Where did he stand on a pastor being divorced and/or his wife who may have been divorced.

2) back in the 60's & 70's Dr Pyle wrote the booklet "Skimpy Skirts and Hippy Hair and mini"
Did John R make an issue of those items?

NOTE: Anyone is welcomed to answer any questions
and feel free to ask any question about John R.

 

[John of Japan]

@ Johnofjapan

John - your input will be helpful

I have two questions about John R.

1) Where did he stand on a pastor being divorced and/or his wife who may have been divorced.

2) back in the 60's & 70's Dr Pyle wrote the booklet "Skimpy Skirts and Hippy Hair and mini"
Did John R make an issue of those items?

NOTE: Anyone is welcomed to answer any questions
and feel free to ask any question about John R.

Hi, Salty. I saw this once, but forgot all about it. Sorry about that! Here are your answers.

1. He opposed a divorced man being a pastor. I don't know about the wife. He believed that divorce was always wrong, except for there being one exception: continued moral sin (fornication). Having said that believed that marriage broke the marriage, so that the divorced person was no longer

2. Pyle's pamphlet was published by Rice's Sword of the Lord, so he was against those things. However, I don't remember him ever preaching a message specifically against such things.

Any other questions?

 

[Ascetic X]

Hi, Salty. I saw this once, but forgot all about it. Sorry about that! Here are your answers.

1. He opposed a divorced man being a pastor. I don't know about the wife. He believed that divorce was always wrong, except for there being one exception: continued moral sin (fornication). Having said that believed that marriage broke the marriage, so that the divorced person was no longer

2. Pyle's pamphlet was published by Rice's Sword of the Lord, so he was against those things. However, I don't remember him ever preaching a message specifically against such things.

Any other questions?

Did John Rice believe that only “fornication” was a biblical justification for divorce? What did he understand as “fornication” in a marriage!

If fornication means premarital sex, it is not relevant for a married couple, so the sin of adultery would be a reason for divorce.

Unless by fornication is meant that the husband or wife were not virgins when they got married. But that would depend on confessing these sins. In Jesus’s day, did fornication as a reason for divorce mean the husband discovers on consummation on the wedding day, that his wife has physical attributes showing that she is not a virgin? Or did it include adultery, according to John Rice?

Isn’t physical and mental abuse a form of abandonment, and therefore, a biblical justification for divorce? How about a spouse abusing their own children in various, unmentionable ways?

Would John Rice be okay with two divorced people getting married?

 

[Jerome]

Salty, there are two whole books with Rice's pronouncements on such things:

Dr. Rice, Here Is My Question

Dr. Rice, Here Are More Questions

In the sequel, question #177 covered various 'issues':

Rice: "You asked, 'What about sun dresses?' I suppose you mean the dresses that little girls wear with only straps over the shoulders and a little skirt. We never put them on our children....I think nudity is wrong in itself and people ought to be taught modesty, and the time to begin is when children are young. I do not like little boys or men going around without any clothing above the waist for the same reason. Nakedness itself is sinful, and people ought to be taught a certain modesty about their bodies, and the time to start is when they are young."

Rice: "You asked about mixed swimming. I think it is definitely hurtful and wrong. At the Bill Rice Ranch in our conferences (and in all the young people's conferences and others which Dr. Bill Rice conducts) we have separate hours for men and for women. I know from personal experience that for young people to be together with almost no clothes on is a temptation and leads to familiarity and often to sin. So I am against mixed bathing."

Rice: "You ask, 'What shall I tell my daughter about hair styles?' Teach her from I Corinthians 11 that her hair is her glory. Long hair means submission to father and husband. Tell her to be beautiful but not to follow silly styles if they would go against beauty or her wearing long hair."

He gave more on on hair in Question #41

Rice: "I believe that according to I Corinthians, chapter 11, it is forbidden for a woman to cut her hair....the same passage indicates that for a man to have long hair is a shame"

 

[Jerome]

Rice, More Questions

210. Does the Bible say that a divorced person may not be a preacher or a deacon in the church?

Rice: "...wherever a marriage can be restored, it must be restored. Where restoration of the marriage is impossible or wrong, then one should be expected to evidence real penitence and humility for the sin of the broken marriage."

Rice: "...if David or Peter or Solomon or Mary Magdalene were in the church and showed evidence which was convincing to everybody that they had honestly repented and did not condone their sins, they might be used like any other Christian, as the Holy Spirit should convince and lead the people. I do not believe in passing a rule that one who has ever been drunk can never be a deacon or preacher; likewise, I do not believe in passing a rule that one who has ever been divorced cannot be a deacon or preacher. And my reason is very simple; there is no such rule in the Bible."