Question
Gramps,
My dear non-member friend ( we are nice people, but LDS are wrong) is concerned about the Bible saying not to marry divorced women. As a young woman, she married, had a baby, and then divorced an abusive husband. Five years later, she married a good man who adopted her son, and they had two children of their own. They were married for 53 years until he died. The Bible states clearly about divorce. What is your best response? I tried to assure her that the Lord loves her and that things will work out.
Claudia
Answer
Claudia,
When reading the scriptures, many encounter sobering pronouncements regarding marriage and divorce, especially in the teachings of Jesus Christ recorded in the New Testament and the Book of Mormon. One of the verses that generates frequent questions, especially among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is Luke 16:18: “Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.” Does this scripture mean that a divorced man or woman can never remarry without committing adultery? And if so, why does the Church allow and even facilitate the remarriage of previously divorced members?
To comprehend Jesus’ statement in Luke 16:18—and similar passages in Matthew 5:31-32 and 19:3-9—it is vital to understand marriage customs and legal frameworks in ancient Jewish society. During Moses’s time, divorce was permitted through a writing of divorcement. Over the centuries, interpretations of the Mosaic law had allowed men to “put away” their wives with relative ease, sometimes for trivial causes. By Jesus’ day, some religious leaders even debated whether a bad meal sufficed as grounds for divorce.
When Jesus addressed marriage and divorce, He was calling the people back to a higher, Edenic standard—the inseparable union of Adam and Eve. In the Sermon on the Mount, He taught: “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” (Matthew 5:31-32). Jesus further clarified to the Pharisees that, “from the beginning” (referring to Adam and Eve), marriage was intended to be indissoluble: “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:6).
However, Jesus also acknowledged the reality of human weakness—“because of the hardness of your hearts” (Matthew 19:8)—that allowed Moses to provide for legal divorce. The ideal was set, but practical allowances existed in recognition of life’s imperfections.
The contrast between law and ideal is poignantly captured by C.S. Lewis, who wrote that Christian churches alike,
“regard divorce as something like cutting up a living body, as a kind of surgical operation…They are all agreed that it is more like having both your legs cut off than it is like dissolving a business partnership…All they disagree with is the modern view that it is a simple readjustment of partners, to be made whenever people feel they are no longer in love with one another, or when either of them falls in love with someone else.”
It is crucial to distinguish between “putting away” (separation without legal divorce) and an actual legal divorce. As Daniel H. Ludlow, a notable Latter-day Saint scholar, explained:
“The Savior, in using the term, putting away one’s wife, is referring to the practice of a separation without legal divorce. If there has been no legal divorce, and the separated parties lived with others, that was classed as adultery… But if there were a legal divorce, then the divorced parties were free to marry again without prejudice.” (Daniel H. Ludlow, A Companion to Your Study of the Book of Mormon, p. 266)
Therefore, Jesus’ warning in Luke 16:18 is best understood in the context of first-century Jewish society. At that time, to put away a wife without giving her a legal writing of divorcement left her vulnerable, socially disgraced, and unable to remarry—yet if she did, she and her new husband could be considered adulterers, since in the eyes of the law she remained married to her first husband.
In modern legal and ecclesiastical frameworks, an official divorce ends the marriage covenant, allowing both parties to remarry without necessarily being guilty of adultery. The Church acknowledges that in cases of infidelity—essentially a violation of the marriage vows—divorce is permitted, and the faithful spouse is not condemned for pursuing legal and social separation.
Some may wonder: If Jesus’ teachings on marriage and divorce were so strict, why does The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints permit divorced members to remarry, sometimes even in holy temples?
It is important to realize that Jesus’ recorded teachings in the New Testament are fragmentary and incomplete, and must be interpreted with knowledge of both ancient context and continuing revelation. The practices of the church during the Savior’s earthly ministry and in the days of the restoration both came into being by revelation from God. If they differ in any particular, they are both right and correct for the time and age in which they were revealed. It would be very hazardous to impose the same rules of conduct on two societies as disparate as the world ruled by the Romans in the time of Christ…and the society in which the church exists today.
Moreover, McConkie points out that “the law of celestial marriage as such has been revealed anew in modern times” (Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, Vol. 1, p 546). And that background is essential for interpreting ancient pronouncements. In short, while the Savior declared the ideal, He also allowed for divine flexibility in practice—acknowledging the tragedy of broken covenants without denying mercy, repentance, and new beginnings.
The Restoration brought further clarification and direction. In Doctrine and Covenants 42:74-77, the Lord gives specific guidelines on dealing with broken marriages: faithful members who divorce due to a spouse’s infidelity—and who abide by Church disciplinary procedures—are not condemned; rather, they are invited to remain within the faith and, potentially, to remarry.
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.
In contemporary Church practice, divorce is never encouraged or taken lightly. Policies and counsel aim to uphold the sacredness and permanence of marriage, echoing the Edenic ideal introduced by Christ. At the same time, Church leaders recognize the reality of abuse, infidelity, and irreconcilable differences in a fallen world.
For those who have endured divorce—often after considerable personal suffering—the Church seeks to provide compassion and support. Divorced members are welcomed into the congregation, encouraged to participate fully, and, when appropriate, permitted to remarry. In some cases, divorced members have even entered new temple marriages, underscoring the doctrine of repentance, healing, and hope.
As the Church’s teachings indicate, the condemnation of adultery associated with remarriage after divorce in the New Testament does not rigidly apply whenever a legal and ecclesiastical divorce has occurred under proper circumstances. Nor does the Church’s doctrine imply a blanket condemnation of divorced or remarried individuals, especially where abuse or infidelity was present, and procedures were properly followed.
For those struggling with questions about divorce and remarriage, the answer is both a principle and pastoral care: uphold the sanctity of marriage, but remember that God’s grace offers healing not only to the innocent but to all who seek His mercy.
Gramps
