“Except for Fornication”
One of the most vexed practical questions for the modern believer is the impact of fornication on marriage. According to Matthew’s gospel, the Lord Jesus allows a marriage to be ended in such a case, but Mark and Luke record no such exception. Sometime this year, in the will of the Lord, Energion Publications will issue a new book that I have written on this subject in their Areopagus series. But if you’re interested, you don’t have to wait.
The book is tentatively entitled, “Except for Fornication: The Lord Jesus’ Teaching on Divorce and Remarriage.” It is based on a portion of a much longer and more technical work that I wrote decades ago, which systematically explores marriage, divorce, and remarriage throughout the entire Bible. That longer work has never appeared in print, but it is available as a PDF file on the Cyber-Chapel website, and with Energion’s kind permission will continue to be available without charge. The new book focuses only on the Lord’s teaching, and specifically on the meaning of the fornication exception. I’ve tried to make the new book clearer and more accessible than the longer version, but both works present the same evidence and reach the same conclusion, so if you are looking for help on this important subject, you might want to have a look at the long version, while the new one makes its way through the press.
I will mark posts on this subject with the category “Divorce and Remarriage,” so you can easily follow clarifications and discussions that (I hope and expect) will emerge.
