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Does scripture permit divorce and remarriage?

Contested

Texts of equal or higher authority genuinely pull both ways — SAM names both sides.

Scripture permits divorce on grounds of sexual immorality (Jesus' own words), and possibly when an unbelieving spouse abandons the marriage (Paul), but remarriage after divorce is where the texts genuinely pull in different directions — making this a contested question with a clear lean against remarriage except in those two scenarios.

Jesus directly permits divorce for porneia (sexual immorality) and calls remarriage after other divorces adultery; Paul adds a possible second ground when an unbeliever departs; but Mark 10 and Luke 16 state the rule without any exception, and 1 Corinthians 7:11 says a separated wife should "remain unmarried or be reconciled" — same-tier texts genuinely pull in different directions on remarriage.

The unresolved tension: The specific unresolved tension: whether "not under bondage" (1 Corinthians 7:15) when an unbeliever departs includes freedom to remarry, and whether the porneia exception in Matthew 19:9 permits the divorcing party (not just the innocent party) to remarry. The text does not state either explicitly.

Key texts:
Genesis 2:18Tier 1 · God
“Yahweh God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.””
Genesis 2:24Tier 5 · Other
“Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh.”
Genesis 2:24Tier 5 · Other
“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.”

…and 25 more verses weighed in the full analysis.

This is a summary.

See SAM's complete analysis — every verse it weighs, ranked by who is speaking (God, Jesus, the apostles), with the full step-by-step reasoning and word-for-word verified citations. New accounts get two free questions.

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