ODM Divorce & Remarriage

DIVORCE & REMARRIAGE ASSIGNMENT

Essay Assignment for ODM

When, if ever, is it right for a Christian to marry again during the lifetime of a former spouse ?

This will need to have some discussion of marriage as well as divorce and remarriage. Materials for this were provided in the Sex & Marriage ISW.

Introductory Reading:

Biblical:

You must spend time studying biblical texts often cited and discussed in the books below (eg Gen 2, Deut 24, Mt 19, Mk 10, 1 Cor 7) and it may be worth looking at commentaries on some of these as well as ethical writings.
A recent intepretation of these is David Instone-Brewer's work, perhaps most accessible in his Divorce And Remarriage in the 1st and 21st Century (Grove Biblical Series 19). This and other texts are on his personal website (they can be awkward to access on some browsers).

Recent Church of England Documents:

Marriage: A Teaching Document from the House of Bishops in 1999
Marriage in Church After Divorce from Working Party in 2000 (esp chs 1-3, 8&9)
On these two documents you may wish to look at my piece in the Wycliffe Newsletter of Easter 2000 and the article by Greg Forster in Anvil 17.3, pp167-78

General Reading on Divorce & Further Marriage

It is hard to get a good sense of different views from limited reading but the following cover both biblical and ethical material:

A good single volume guide is the new book

Wenham, Heth & Keener –Remarriage After Divorce in Today's Church: Three Views.

More 'open' –

David Instone Brewer's work – see above.
Oliver O'Donovan, Marriage & Permanence (Grove Booklet).
See also his chapter on "Marriage and the Family" in Kaye, Bruce, Obeying Christ in a Changing World Vol 3 (esp pp106-10).
Greg Forster, Healing Love's Wounds (esp pp39-84 on biblical teaching)
David Atkinson, To Have & To Hold. Look at summaries at end of each chapter and read as widely as you can. In particular pp25-30 sets context of different views; pp171-4, 189-96.
Richard Hays, Moral Vision of the New Testament, chpt 15

More 'restrictive' -

Andrew Cornes, Divorce & Remarriage. His argument is popularised in Questions about Divorce & Remarriage where pp33-48, 92-102 are most relevant.
Heth & Wenham, Jesus & Divorce, pp 13-17, 198-203.
The new edition includes a useful appendix (pp204-37) discussing developments in recent years.
John Piper's Divorce and Remarriage: A Position Paper

Pastoral practice:

Advice to the Clergy provides the guidance from the House of Bishops.
Robert Warren, Divorce & Remarriage: Policy Options & Pastoral Guidelines for Church Leaders (Grove Pastoral Booklet).
Andrew Cornes' writings above offer an approach for a more restrictive policy.
For discussion of a traditional Anglican approach to the broader question of formulating policy and stating principles see Stephen Holmgren, Stephen, Ethics After Easter, pp127-47.