The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-11-22

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lation Of Its vows is the canker at the
heart OF human progress and civiliza-
ton. In the West Indies, we are told,
there is a timber that has all the ap-
pearance OF, strength and solidlty, but
when the test is applied it snaps asund'
or and a fine white powder fills the air.
The cause is now apparent; q worm mas
eaten its way info the heart Of the
wood and slowly but surely devoured
its fiber until 4 hollow shell only re
mains.
The divorce evil, if not arrested, Will
gradually undermine our proud civilIZa-
zion, and when the testing time comes
| what appeared to be so attractive Will
| prove to be only a hollow sham.
In the discussion Of marriage and Oh
| rorca I win call your attention to O
divine law, a social disease and a fatal
danger.
First-A divine law. Centuries ago
the cunning PhariseaS attempted ID en-
| trap the, divine Teacher by asking Finn
| the question: "Is it lawful for a man
to put away his wife for every cause:
| In that day there existed two opposing
schools. At the head Of one was Sham
| mai, who insisted that divorce should
be allowed only in the case of adultery
at the head of the other was Eiliel
who maintained that a man might put
away his wife for any u at all. The
| tempters Of Christ thought that the
| trap was well get, for il He failed tc
| hold strict views OH the marriage ques
ton they would report Him to the fol
| lowers Of Shammai, and if He held the
| opposite opinion they would turn upoI
| Him the cnmity of the followers OF
| Hillel, one Of whose strong aGhecents
was Herod, who had just beheaded
| John the Baptist. In the words Of an
| other: brushing aside their qufbbllng
Jesus goes back to foundation psinci
pies and gives Els message to the
! church of all ages concerning marriage
and divorce"
1t is a flyefold message: The mar
| rage of, one mainland one woman is q
| divine Institution; it is a divine act; Il
joins husband and wife in 4 relation
closer and more binding than the rela
ton OF parent and. child; it so unlies
husband and wife that they cease to bt
two and become one feshi and it car
be dissolved only by death. When tht
point was made by Tie Pharisees thai
! Moses maintained that q writing OF dl
vorcement shall be given under certain
| conditions, Jesus declared that this wa:
a concession to the hardness Of heart Of
| the people.
The position of Jesus Christ on tho
subject under discussion is clearly Sc
| forth in His Sermon ca the Mount: I'll
| has been said, whatsoever shall put
away his wife, let him give her a writ
ing Of enforcement, but l say unto you
that whatsoever shall put away LIS
! wife saving for the cause OF fornica'
ton, causeth her to commit adultery
And Mark records these words OF
|"Jesus: 'Whosoeyer putteth away his
wife and marricth another committctl
adultery against her. And if a woman
shall put away her husband and hs
married, to another. she committett
adultery" And in Luke we have sci
forth the same law of Christ. From
Els recorded words we are forced to
the following conclusions: That Jesus
allowed divorce on one and only one
ground, namely, adultery, and that File
seems to allow the re-marriage OF the
innocent party. ... .'
In Ephesians v:22-2S Paul gives the
noDlest picture of the sanctity and dig.
nifty Of the marriage relation. for lie
compares it to the mystic union be.
tween Christ and the glorious church OF
the redeemed for whom Christ died.
This is no temporary bond to be
snapped at Will. Jesus is today the
Head OF His Church. and it is being
purified by Him and made without
sDot or wrinkle. Moreover, in Romans
willie. Paul argues that the Christian
is set free from the bondage Of the
law, 9s the woman can have q new
husband only on the death Of the
former husband. But in I Corinthians
vii:12-1G Paul speaks Of the problem in
family life presented where the hus-
band is q Christian and the wife a
heather and vice versa. He has two
things to say about this new problem
that had not arisen when Jesus spoke
on the subject. His first word is that
the Christian must not force q Separa-
ton. IF the heathen husband or wife
is willing to continue the union, the
Christian must be willing to do so.
The marriage is legitimate and the
children are legitimate. But the other
word is this: Suppose the heather
husgand or wife is not willing to keep
up the marriage relation and insists OIL
separation, then what? Well, let the
unbelieving husband or wife go. says
Paul. He uses the word depart" here,
not the technical word ''put away"
It would seem that this is I case Of
voluntary separation, not q legal. d.
vorca. If this be true, there could, OF
COURSE, be no re-marriage in such
c.ses, for the marriage has never been
legally annulled. This alternative is
not ever raised by Paul in this oonnec-
ton. 1t may be properly said, then.
that Paul did not advocate divorce FOR
anything save adultery, though he does
not ever indicate this exception save by
implication.
This divine law is set forth in no IN
certain sound OIL the pages Of Gods
Word; and the disobcdicncc Of it mus
entail so:r0wful results 10 the ildi-
vidual, the family, and the community.
Second-A social disease. Divorces
are more numerous in the United
States in proportion TO marriages than
in any other country OF which we have
any record This social disease is con-