Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1874-09-19


put her away2 He saith unto them,
Moses, because of the hardness of
your hearts, suffered you 10 put
away your wives, but from the be-
ginning it was not so. And l say
unto you, whatsoever shall pat his
wife, except it be for fornihcation,
and shall marry another, commit
teth adultery, and whose marrleth
her that is put away, doth commit
adultery. His disciples say unto
him, IF the case of the man be so
with his wife, it is not good to mar,
rY.' But he said unto them, All
men cannot receive this saying save
they to whom it is given.
The disciples felt that this was
the higher law. 1t was too high
for them. 1t demanded more than
thew were willing to give. They
had not even reached that point at
which the divine beauty of Christ's
idea of marriage is discernible. eff
the case of the man be SO with his
wife," said they, cit is not good to
marry" What is he to do who finds
his wife sour tempered instead. of
sweet, silly instead of fascinating,
extravagant instead or thrifty, old
and faded instead of young and fair?
May not he cease to be her husband
and marry again? No while she lives
if she be not an adultercss. He has
changed her condition. They
two are one flesh. As long as she
is free from the crime of adultery
God holds her free from its penalty.
Thus it is with the man in reference
to the woman. But society also has
its claims. And of all the laws that
lie at the foundation of the real pro-
gress which the world has made and
of which it is capable, none lies
deeper, or is more dependent upon
it, than the law of Christian mar
riage, and at home, with all its ines
timable relations, is involved in
Christs idea of marriage.
But the Savior recognized woman
as a separate and equal agent in
marriage and divorce. He remind
ed his questioners of an older law
than that of Moses-the law of Gre
alton. $50 God created man IN
his own image; in the image of God
created he him; male and female ere
ated he them" Christ, therefore,
held the woman not only amenable
to his law of marriage, but also COM
petent to enforce it, if it were need
full, against her husband.
We learn in Mark that after he
had answered the Pharisees his dis
ciples asked him again of the same
matterin the house, and then he
thus reversed the positions of the two
actors: sIf a woman shall put away
her husband, and be married to an
other, she committeth adultery
We do not believe that tins means
that a woman has no right to ask
society to step between her and her
husband if his conduct is unbeara-
bic. This is another thing from be-
ing discontented with her marriage
relation because she wants to marry
another man. Her husband may
be so cruel that her life is embitter-
ed, or even in danger. He may be
such profigate that she cannot be-
lieve that it is her duty to live in his
company. He may be such a spend
thrift that she is deprived of the
necessaries of life for herself and her
children. Some women have car
ried such crosses to the gate of heav-
en-. But they should do it of their
own choice-nOt by legal compul-
sion. The separation which the
court grant are, therefore, allowa.
BILE. But they should not-Tndeed
they cannot-annul the marriage of
the two persons. Neither is free
to marry again while the other is
living. Separation is one thing, di-
vorce is another. This, as we un-
derstand it, is the Christian law of
marriage.
1t need not be expected that soci-
ETY. will live up to this standard,
for society does not accept Christ as
its leader. But even the most profit
gate would hesitate to lower forever
the Christian ideas of this relation.
They see something in its beauty
and import, although they resist IT'S
influence. Surely the Church of
Christ should glory in maintaining