Book Description: The present work provides an answer to the question of biblically legitimate Christian divorce and remarriage from New Testament (NT) perspective dealing with its exegetical, theological, dogmatical and ecumenical dimensions. The author offers a precise and coherent formulation of the NT teaching on marriage, divorce and remarriage resolving various inadequacies of other scholarly theories. The answer is integrated in the covenant concept of marriage. Christian marriage is a permanent union which requires the commitment of both spouses for its maintenance through fulfillment of its stipulations. The failure of the fulfillment of the latter provides legitimate grounds for divorce and remarriage of the innocent party. The work follows a methodological formulation in a modified fourfold enterprise for the development of NT ethical argumentation based on Richard B. Hays’ Moral Vision of the NT.
The author establishes the proper contextual grounds for the NT study through formulation of the Old Testament perspective on marriage covenant. The following exegetical analyses of all the relevant NT passages are conducted through a compilation of the historical-critical and narrative-critical methods. The established conclusions are examined through a synthetical analysis of the NT canonical literature. A critical study of the main Christian traditions is led to an ecumenical formulation of the theological conclusions. Finally, the research is completed with pragmatical implementation of the thesis following an examination of the contemporary pluralistic context and applications in both Christian communities and the larger society within its legislative system.