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Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage in the Bible
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Average Rating:  out of 19 Reviews
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Price: $3.50
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Sale: $4.01
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Manufacturer: Baker Pub Group
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EAN (European Article Number): 9780801001680
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Binding: Paperback
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Author: Jay Edward Adams
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Publisher: Baker Pub Group
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Dewey Decimal Number: 253
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Publication Date: 1981-06
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Description: Many pastors, counselors, and theologians consider this book the most helpful on the issue of marriage and divorce.
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Customer Reviews
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Review Summary: Divorce and Remarriage |
Date: 2008-08-16 |
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Details: This is the best book on divorce and remarriage from a Biblical perspective that I have ever read.
It is neither to legalistic or to liberal. It gives good balance to encourage marriage for a lifetime and to give hope to those who have experienced divorce.
This is a good read for pastors trying to form an opinion for themselves and also wanting to be the most helpful to the hurting. |
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Review Summary: Unsound Doctrine |
Date: 2006-03-27 |
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Details: I have read Jay Adams book and will make a full review later (I want to read John Murray's book first), but came across a review that I agree with. I will have more to critique than this reviewer does, but it is a good start.
Book Title: Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage In the Bible
Book Author: Dr. Jay E. Adams
Our Rating: Poor
Book Theme
Taking a concept-by-concept approach, Dr. Adams examines the fundamentals of marriage, then divorce, and ultimately, remarriage. Relying heavily on the Scriptures, Dr. Adams avoids using traditions as a basis for establishing the doctrines of matrimony and marriage dissolution.
Analysis of the Book
Reading this book and writing this review was a personal disappointment. Dr. Adams is one of my personal spiritual role models whom I hold in the highest regard. Sadly, this book fails to achieve a proper understanding of the nature of divorce and remarriage based upon a faulty interpretation of Scripture.
Dr. Adams does a genuinely thorough biblical evaluation of the question, "what is a marriage?" The principles of marriage as outlined by God in His Word are well documented. Additionally, the concept of engaged men and women in both the Old and New Testament being called "husbands" and "wives" is convincingly extracted and described from the Bible by Dr. Adams.
Even the bulk of Dr. Adams' treatment of the subject of divorce is keenly derived from the Scriptures. God certainly hates divorce and has established considerable warnings to men from initiating such proceedings. While controversial, this reviewer found that much of the chapter dealing with the "exception clauses" was consistently and properly handled.
With so much of the book being biblically acceptable, why is such a harsh disapproval applied to this book by the reviewer? Primarily because of a simple misinterpretation of one passage: 1Corinthians 7:25-28. Dr. Adams commits a fundamental exegetical fallacy (to borrow a term from D.A. Carson) by taking verses 27 and 28 out of context, interpreting them as stand alone verses, and then issuing sweeping doctrinal statements that contradict uncounted passages of scripture that state the opposite.
Simply stated, 1Corinthians 7:25-28 refers to virgins who are engaged to be married. Engaged virgins are properly referred to as "husbands and wives" in the New and Old Testaments. Verses 25-28 state that virgins may end their engagements and remain single, may marry each other as planned, or may end their engagements and marry other people--and all without sinning or without their actions being labeled "adultery".
If one were to remove verses 27 and 28 from their context of verses 25-28 and then interpret them, one might be tempted to believe that this was a blanket permission for all married people to get a divorce, then remarry other people, and be free of having committed any sins, including adultery. Such an outcome would directly contradict many Bible passages, but none so blatantly as Jesus' own words, "whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery" (Matthew 5:32b).
Having made a doctrinal left turn, the good work done earlier in the book is systematically dismantled by the author. Since the out-of-context interpretation of 1Corinthians 7:27,28 seemingly permits everyone who gets a divorce for any reason at all to be remarried without it being called a sin: all people can be divorced (without sin), all divorced people can be remarried to others (without sin), divorce loses all stigma, and Jesus was mistaken to teach that one who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. The outcome then, is that a divorce ends a marriage, all obligations of the marriage, and the person can claim to be free to remarry whomever they wish just as if they were a virgin.
Scripturally this is not appropriate. Jesus' words still stand, divorced people who remarry others are committing adultery, and it is engaged virgins who may break their commitments to marry without it being considered a sin. Proper biblical interpretation is critical to the development of sound doctrine, and regrettably this book does not meet that standard.
As a result of this error, the book becomes all but incomprehensible, lost in a maze of discussion about legitimate divorces and illegitimate divorces, all divorces ending a marriage thereby releasing all parties from all obligations of marriage-but maybe not all, reconciliation being preferred albeit optional as is remarriage, and so on. It becomes nearly impossible to determine who would ever be guilty of committing adultery by the act of remarriage, if in fact, anyone would be using this text. Such a conclusion to this study makes a complex subject even more difficult.
Conclusion
In spite of his track record of writing truly outstanding biblical treatises, this book is not up to the typical quality of Dr. Adams' other works. Though much of the book is indeed well developed from the Scriptures, a poor interpretation of one key passage causes Dr. Adams to draw numerous incorrect conclusions about the permanence of marriage and the permissibility of divorced persons to be remarried without incurring a label of adultery.
As a definitive work on divorce and remarriage, this book is best left on the shelf. If one were to read only for the sections on marriage there would be some benefit. Using this book as a basis for marital counseling would not be wise.
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Review Summary: Biblical is Foundational |
Date: 2006-03-22 |
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Details: In this book Jay Adams addresses a topic that could not be more practical in the Church. Marriage, divorce, and remarriage are topics that have been debated and quarreled over since the inception of the Church, but especially so in the last 50 years with Feminism becoming what it has and postmodernity influencing the moral framework by which people examine what is right and true.
Dr. Adams does a faithful job of presenting a Biblical perspective on these issues; mind that Biblical does not always line up with what is stereotypical of Christianity in some conservative circles, it means the view is drawn directly from scripture as best as Adams knows how with the presupposition that it is scripture itself which contains the truth by which we are to live and pursue godliness.
Essentially it is Biblical, but it might be surprising for some. It surprised me, but upon examining the text, it true to a biblical worldview. |
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Review Summary: Biblically the best answers |
Date: 2006-02-20 |
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Details: You already respect Jay Adams. This little book should be a brief but required course of study for any Bible-believing church leader or pastor. Too much damage is being caused in Christ's church by well-meaning but misinformed leaders. Read, study and even repent where necessary. Go after those branded second-class Christians who have been turned off and shelved. Reflect the Glory of a just and merciful Savior. |
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Review Summary: excellent summary; with one flaw |
Date: 2005-09-25 |
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Details: Competent to Counsel was epoch making for kicking off the Biblical Counseling movement, and his manual on church discipline is very good. But otherwise I find his writings sometimes a tad narrow. And I think he seems to fail to see the irony in the ways his own Biblical readings are shaped by psychology (esp. Behavorialism). The contemporary CCEF authors are better, I think.
But this book on marriage is about the best short summary of the key texts and applications I've found. The only major flaw: in chapter 1 (pp.8-20) he wisely asks what the most foundational purpose of marriage is. He rightly refutes certain cultural answers -- procreation, happiness, sex, etc. These are important but secondary. But then in the end he chooses an equally problematic answer -- marriage is primarily a 'covenant of companionship.' Doesn't Gen. 1-2 say that?
But, I wonder, if companionship is the foundation of marriage, then what if one partner is not being a loving companion? Can the other partner freely leave? Adams would say no, but he's being inconsistent. I think the Bible teaches in Gen. 1-2, read in light of Eph. 5, COl. 3, Rev. 21 etc., that marriage's primary purpose is to make us image bearers of God. Then Gen. 1-2 ('not good to be alone') is saying that a male-female couple together bear the image of God better than one person can alone.
Anyway, if you cut that section out, this is an excellent book. |
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