Today's gospel is Christ's answer to the testing question, "Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?" Christ responds by asking Moses' law, which allowed men only to divorce a wife for a number of reasons, mostly reconstructed long after Moses.
Christ has a funny take on this. He says that the creation of Man and Woman clearly demanded a marriage bond that was permanent. Moses, He says, was adapting the original directives of God "Because of the hardness of your hearts.." It is as if God, in order to get His rules up and running, made some compromises because the Jews were so unmanageable and would certainly not bend to God's real and original intent.
Be that as it may, in the New Testament the old rules are back. Marriage is a permanent entity.
In his defense of marriage in a letter, a pope once said: "Divorce is the greatest enemy of the family and the state." That was in 1880.
Christ has a funny take on this. He says that the creation of Man and Woman clearly demanded a marriage bond that was permanent. Moses, He says, was adapting the original directives of God "Because of the hardness of your hearts.." It is as if God, in order to get His rules up and running, made some compromises because the Jews were so unmanageable and would certainly not bend to God's real and original intent.
Be that as it may, in the New Testament the old rules are back. Marriage is a permanent entity.
In his defense of marriage in a letter, a pope once said: "Divorce is the greatest enemy of the family and the state." That was in 1880.
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