Editing Christian views on marriage (section)

=== Jesus on marriage, divorce, and remarriage ===
[[File:Christian-Marriage-Symbol.svg|thumb|upright=0.9|Sometimes used as a [[symbol]] for Christian marriage: Two gold wedding rings interlinked with the Greek letters ''[[Chi (letter)|chi]]'' (X) and ''[[Rho (letter)|rho]]'' (P)—the first two letters in the Greek word for "Christ" (see [[Labarum]])]]

According to the Vatican as of a time before 2002,{{When|date=September 2024}} marriage vows are unbreakable, so that even in the distressing circumstances in which a couple separates, they are still married from God's point of view. As of at least that time, this is the Roman Catholic church's position, although occasionally the church will declare a marriage to be "null" (in other words, it never really was a marriage).<ref>"Catechism of the Catholic Church - The sacrament of Matrimony". [www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c3a7.htm]</ref> [[William Barclay (theologian)|William Barclay (1907–1978)]] has written:

{{Blockquote|There is no time in history when the marriage bond stood in greater peril of destruction than in the days when Christianity first came into this world. At that time the world was in danger of witnessing the almost total break-up of marriage and the collapse of the home... Theoretically no nation ever had a higher ideal of marriage than the Jews had. The voice of God had said, "I hate divorce"<ref>in {{Bibleverse|Malachi|2:16}}</ref>|William Barclay<ref>Barclay, William. ''The Gospel of Matthew''. Westminster John Knox Press, Rev Upd edition (December 1, 2001). {{ISBN|978-0664224912}}</ref>}}

[[Frank Stagg (theologian)|Theologian Frank Stagg]] says that manuscripts disagree as to the presence in the original text of the phrase "except for fornication".<ref name="Stagg NT">Stagg, Frank.''New Testament Theology''. Broadman, 1962. {{ISBN|0-8054-1613-7}}</ref>{{rp|pp.300–301}} Stagg writes: "Divorce always represents failure...a deviation from God's will.... There is grace and redemption where there is contrition and repentance.... There is no clear authorization in the New Testament for remarriage after divorce." Stagg interprets the chief concern of Matthew 5 as being "to condemn the criminal act of the man who divorces an innocent wife.... Jesus was rebuking the husband who victimizes an innocent wife and thinks that he makes it right with her by giving her a divorce". He points out that [[Jesus in Christianity|Jesus]] refused to be trapped by the [[Pharisees]] into choosing between the strict and liberal positions on divorce as held at the time in Judaism. When they asked him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?"<ref>{{Bibleverse|Mt.|19:3}}</ref> he answered by reaffirming God's will as stated in Genesis,<ref>{{Bibleverse|Gen.|1:27}} and {{Bibleverse|Gen.|2:24}}</ref> that in marriage husband and wife are made "one flesh", and what God has united man must not separate.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Mt.|19:4-6}}</ref><ref name="Stagg NT" />{{rp|pp.300–301}}

There is no evidence that Jesus himself ever married, and considerable evidence that he remained single. In contrast to Judaism and many other traditions,<ref name="EOC">Fahlbusch, Erwin and Geoffrey Bromiley. ''The Encyclopedia of Christianity.'' Brill Academic Publishers (November 2000). {{ISBN|90-04-11695-8}}.</ref>{{Rp|p.283}} he taught that there is a place for voluntary singleness in Christian service. He believed marriage could be a distraction from an urgent mission,<ref>Armstrong, Karen. ''The Gospel according to women: Christianity's creation of the sex war in the west,'' Anchor Books, 1991. {{ISBN|978-0-385-24079-6}}</ref> that he was living in a time of crisis and urgency where the [[Kingdom of God]] would be established where there would be no marriage nor giving in marriage:

{{Blockquote|
"I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the [[World to Come|age to come]], [[Eternal life (Christianity)|eternal life]]."|<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|18:29–30}}</ref>
}}