The Prohibition of the Remarriage of the ‘Innocent Party’
This pamphlet by David Engelsma argues that Scripture explicitly prohibits the remarriage of the innocent party in divorce, grounding this position in 1 Corinthians 7:10-11 and defending the doctrine of marriage as a lifelong bond. Drawing on both biblical exegesis and the historical teaching of the Western church, Engelsma challenges the contemporary Protestant consensus that permits remarriage after divorce on grounds of adultery.
Preface This pamphlet is an edited version of a sermon first preached in 2013 at a worship service of the Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Redlands, California. The sermon addressed the question whether the “innocent party” in a divorce is permitted to marry another man, or another woman. This question is invariably the opening of an attack on the doctrine that marriage is a lifelong bond. Therefore, it becomes a powerful agent in the appalling dissolution of marriages with the accompanying...