Divorce

From Sean's Gospel Topical Guide
Jump to navigation Jump to search
74) Behold, verily I say unto you, that whatever persons among you, having put away their companions for the cause of fornication, or in other words, if they shall testify before you in all lowliness of heart that this is the case, ye shall not cast them out from among you;
75) But if ye shall find that any persons have left their companions for the sake of adultery, and they themselves are the offenders, and their companions are living, they shall be cast out from among you.
76) And again, I say unto you, that ye shall be watchful and careful, with all inquiry, that ye receive none such among you if they are married;
77) And if they are not married, they shall repent of all their sins or ye shall not receive them.
31) It hath been written, that whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement.
32) Verily, verily, I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery; and whoso shall marry her who is divorced committeth adultery.
31) It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
32) But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
2) And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him.
3) And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you?
4) And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.
5) And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
6) But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
7) For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
8) And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.
9) What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
10) And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter.
11) And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.
12) And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.
18) Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.
  • Dallin H. Oaks, General Conference, April 2007, Sunday Morning Session
I) General overview
II) To divorced members
III) To married members
"Bishops do not counsel members to divorce"
This does not seem to necessarily indicate that preparation for it couldn't be recommend by the Lord in a blessing.
IV) To those contemplating marriage
"The best way to avoid divorce from an unfaithful, abusive, or unsupportive spouse is to avoid marriage to such a person."
Proper courtship patterns are discussed. It would seem that there is something of a celestial law of dating.
  • James E. Faust, "Enriching Your Marriage", Ensign, April 2007, p. 5
Relates an experience illustrating the regretability of divorces and adds some thoughts regarding why the happen and how to prevent them.
  • Naida Stephens Tims, "An Honored and Invited Guest", Ensign, June 2007, p. 50
How she first sought a divorce, but, counseling with her stake president, was able to save her family from the destructive influence of the Spirit of Contention.
Divorce is often linked to financial trouble. (Not being poor, but rather the mismanagement of finances.)
"Widowhood of course is beyond the control of the parties, but divorce and separation are not."
Statistics show the activity in the Church correlates inversely with depression, suicide, and divorce rates.
When a temple sealing is canceled, sealed children remain sealed to their parents.
When a temple sealing is canceled, sealed children remain sealed to their parents.
A study that looks at how the factors affecting divorce have changed over time.
  • "Lags and Leads in Life Satisfaction: A Test of the Baseline Hypothesis"
These two source seem to come from the same research, but the carts don't match up very well. There is a chart on divorce. One comes from a published paper, and the other seems to be an early version passed around for discussion.:
https://twitter.com/david_perell/status/1227046558933319681/photo/1
http://ftp.iza.org/dp2526.pdf

Notes

Dallin H. Oaks states that "Bishops do not counsel members to divorce".

This became the focus of a conflict in my ward at the time the statement was made. The bishop is reported to have told one member of the ward, who's spouse has been repeatedly unfaithful, emotionally abusive, was unrepentent, and already declaring the intent of seeking a divorce; he told this member in a blessing that help in obtaining a legal separation should be sought after. The member's home teacher, in a later blessing, says he felt inspired to give the same counsel.

That home teacher's companion, upon later discussing the issue with a member of the bishopric (not the bishop) came to the determination, along with this member of the bishopric, that this was inappropriate. The member of the bishopric then went on to call in the first home teacher and lecture him on what he felt he wasn't allowed to say in a blessing, basing his argument on the Oaks talk.

Apart from the inaplicability of the statement to the situation with the home teacher, I would think it is also true that as has often been stated, there are sometimes exception to general rules. (See: Exceptions to General Rules) This would seem particularly applicable to instances when the rule is not official, but only the comment of one authority.

Cross-References