I don't want to make a posting about
Calvinism, but do want to make a comparison. One of the more
interesting statements I've heard in defense of Calvinism is that
very few Christians believe in universal atonement; most all believe
in limited atonement. The difference is in who and what determines
the limitation.
A few people I know believe that
marriage is a one-time shot, if you are separated from your spouse,
you're to remain single till that person dies or reconciles with you.
I'm not yet ready to confirm their position, but I do think their
evidence is persuasive. These days, I think the most common church
position is that the “exception clause” allows for divorce and
remarriage. And my, how dogmatic people are when making known the
full range of meanings included in the one Greek word. It's getting
to the point that the word will cover what you want it to. I heard a
well known “Christian psychologist” say that a man hitting his
wife was in violation of the vows; therefore it was the same as
adultery, and perfectly legitimate grounds for divorce (and
remarriage, of course).
But suppose that there are some
churches still holding to the idea that adultery is the only grounds
for divorce. Do they ever question couples arriving at their church
as to why they were divorced from their spouse? What church does
that? Isn't this de facto unlimited divorce?
Oh, we don't want to hurt anybody, we
don't want to break up a family. I understand, that's the very reason
I'm moving carefully on this doctrine. As my sister in law pointed
out though, a lot of people have no problem counseling a couple in
their first marriage to divorce and break up the family.
If a church was to deny full
membership to a remarried couple; how many of these couples do you
suppose would thereby be persuaded to end their marriage? Probably
every last one would simply find a church where they're accepted.
To reiterate: A church that says there
is limited acceptable grounds for divorce, but does not enforce this
position, joins the ranks of those who hold to unlimited divorce and
remarriage.
