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The bible and Divorce

evangelist6589

evangelist6589

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Got a friend whose wife filed legal separation on him. Can he file for divorce or should he in response? She has not cheated on him, but she is mentally ill and has anger issues. She causes him much stress due to her anger and unstableness. What are the exceptions for divorce that I can tell him?
 
D

Don

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Can he? Yes.

Should he? No. Matthew 19:6, 19:8-9.

The only "exception" is sexual immorality.

I would recommend counseling, either with a pastor and/or qualified counselor. If she won't go, he should go alone, if only to show his commitment to his wife, which should be the same as the commitment Christ has to the church.
 
V

Van

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I am a little confused. If she divorces him then, he is the faithful spouse, and can remarry. If she does not divorce, and he has no biblical basis for divorce, then he should care for her as best he can.
 
S

Smyth

Active Member
evangelist6589 said:
Got a friend whose wife filed legal separation on him. Can he file for divorce or should he in response? She has not cheated on him, but she is mentally ill and has anger issues. She causes him much stress due to her anger and unstableness. What are the exceptions for divorce that I can tell him?
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It's his duty to try to reconcile and to find a way to deal with her mental illness. Why does he want to divorce her? Does he want to get remarried? If not, then, if nothing else, just live separated. And, if he wants to get remarried, his church should kick him out.

(He needs to find another way to death with her, other than what he was doing in the past.)
 
evangelist6589

evangelist6589

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Van said:
I am a little confused. If she divorces him then, he is the faithful spouse, and can remarry. If she does not divorce, and he has no biblical basis for divorce, then he should care for her as best he can.
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This may be what he needs to hear although he would rather go straight to the divorce.
 
Jeremy Seth

Jeremy Seth

Member
Does Matthew 19:9 only say that remarriage after divorce is adultery except for sexual immorality, or divorce is adultery except for sexual immorality?
 
Y

Yeshua1

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evangelist6589 said:
Got a friend whose wife filed legal separation on him. Can he file for divorce or should he in response? She has not cheated on him, but she is mentally ill and has anger issues. She causes him much stress due to her anger and unstableness. What are the exceptions for divorce that I can tell him?
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Per the word of the Lord, only AdultERY/sexual sins, and abandment would apply, so he !needs to stay in this and seek out good Christian couseling aND PRAY FOR THE GRACE OF THE lORD, AND FOR gOD TO INTERVENE AND TOUCH HIS WIFE
 
JonC

JonC

Moderator
Moderator
This is often more a difficult issue than it may at first appear (e.g.., is there a biblical warrant for an abused spouse to leave a mate?). Just like other issues (e.g., most who support corporal punishment do not do so strictly on biblical grounds) this one gets complicated, but at the end of the day the husband entered into a covenant with the wife (they are one) and even in the face of unfaithfulness divorce is not an automatic (we all were, at one time, unfaithful to God). From the information here, I'd say that the husband should fight to keep his marriage.
 
evangelist6589

evangelist6589

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JonC δοῦλος said:
This is often more a difficult issue than it may at first appear (e.g.., is there a biblical warrant for an abused spouse to leave a mate?). Just like other issues (e.g., most who support corporal punishment do not do so strictly on biblical grounds) this one gets complicated, but at the end of the day the husband entered into a covenant with the wife (they are one) and even in the face of unfaithfulness divorce is not an automatic (we all were, at one time, unfaithful to God). From the information here, I'd say that the husband should fight to keep his marriage.
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Should he file for legal separation?
 
JonC

JonC

Moderator
Moderator
evangelist6589 said:
That's my opinion but his pastor is encouraging legal separation even without a Biblical reason.
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Sometimes there is more to things that meet the eye. I don't know the details (and do not want to know the details) but maybe there is a reason (a biblical reason) for this pastor's encouragement of the wife to leave of which we are unaware. That said, it is unfortunate that our culture has influenced our churches to the extent that it is often difficult to tel the difference between the world and the Church.
 
Baptist Believer

Baptist Believer

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evangelist6589 said:
Should he file for legal separation?
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If his safety is in danger, that may be warranted.

I have a close relative who had a wife with severe mental issues. On more than one occasion, she physically attacked him - once with a large kitchen knife - and he was rightly concerned about sleeping under the same roof.
 
evangelist6589

evangelist6589

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Baptist Believer said:
If his safety is in danger, that may be warranted.

I have a close relative who had a wife with severe mental issues. On more than one occasion, she physically attacked him - once with a large kitchen knife - and he was rightly concerned about sleeping under the same roof.
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Nothing that bad.
 
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