WCF 24.6
Westminster Confession of Faith
24.6. Of Marriage and Divorce
Although the corruption of man be such as is apt to study arguments unduly to put asunder those whom God hath joined together in marriage: yet nothing but adultery, or such wilful desertion as can no way be remedied by the Church or civil magistrate, is cause sufficient of dissolving the bond of marriage: wherein, a public and orderly course of proceeding is to be observed; and the persons concerned in it not left to their own wills and discretion, in their own case.
Proof texts
- Matt. 19:8, 9 — [8] He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. [9] And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”
- 1 Cor. 7:15 — [15] But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace.
- Matt. 19:6 — [6] So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
- Deut. 24:1, 2, 3, 4 — [1] “When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, [2] and if she goes and becomes another man's wife, [3] and the latter man hates her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter man dies, who took her to be his wife, [4] then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the LORD. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.
For discussion
- The Assembly cited Matt. 19:8, 9 in support of this answer. Read it in context — how does it bear on what is claimed here?
- 4 passages are cited here. Which does the most work, and is anything claimed that the proofs do not obviously carry?
- BC 9.1 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?
- BC 9.2 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?
Read alongside
BC 9.1 · BC 9.2 · 1689 25.1 · 1689 25.2 · 1689 25.3 · 1689 25.4 · SC60 8.1 · IAR 6.12 · SHC 10.1 · SHC 10.2 · SD 25.1 · SD 25.2 · SD 25.3 · SD 25.4
Leader's notes
A Commentary on the Confession of Faith (A.A. Hodge): These Sections teach the divine law of marriage as to incest and as to divorce. 1st. Incest consists of sexual intercourse between parties forbidden by the divine law to marry, because of their relationship. Marriage between these parties is impossible; and no matter what may be the provisions of human laws or the decisions of human courts, such pretended marriages are void ab initio — invalid in essence as well as improper and injurious. Since the degrees of relationship within which marriage is excluded differ in nearness, so the crime of incest differs, according to these varying degrees, from the highest to the least measure of criminality. The obligation to avoid intermarriage between near blood-relations is a dictate of nature…
An Exposition of the Confession of Faith (Robert Shaw): In the Mosaic law marriage was expressly forbidden within certain degrees of consanguinity or affinity (Lev. xviii.); and by the laws of our country the prohibition is extended to the same degrees. Marriages contracted within these degrees are in themselves justly deemed invalid, and may properly be dissolved. Moses permitted the Jews, " because of the hardness of their hearts," to put away their wives, to prevent greater evils; but in the ^'ew Testament a divorce is only permitted in case of adultery, or of wilful and obstinate desertion. There can be no question that adultery is a just ground for " the innocent party to sue out a divorce, and, after the divorce, to raarry another, as if the…