GESTIÓN EDUCAT
Grafico 5 : Acciones de los gestores.
A) ORGANISMOS COLEGIADOS A.1 La Asamblea Universitaria.
5.1.3. El plan estratégico.
It seems difficult to avoid the conclusion that adultery is the one sin which, by its nature, violates the "one-flesh" relationship. Adultery results in the breakdown of the spiritual and personal bond between divorced couples. There is the violation of the marriage contract by entry into the exclusive physical relationship with another party. Adultery is a serious sin, whether before or after formal divorce, although the records in Mark and Luke do not indicate the effects of this sin against the marriage bond. In adultery, there is such sundering of the divine bond as leaves the innocent party free to remarry.
As long as Matthew 19:9 is translated to include an "except" clause, as it is in most English translations, it can be interpreted as allowing divorce without guilt of adultery where the basis for that divorce is unchastity.61 In spite of this, one can conclude by looking at the exceptive clauses in Matthew as not corrupting and betraying the original teaching of Jesus. It seems, to Matthew that Jesus teaches a law that did not cover hypothetical situations. Jesus rather established certain principles that would reveal the will of God to his listeners. Jesus did this with the use of figures of speech, as well as through overstatement and hyperbole. In Matthews view, Jesus teaches that divorce is permissible in case of adultery, but not mandatory. Mathew and Paul's permission of divorce meant that they did not believe that Jesus' words were meant to
59 D. Doherty, 1974. Divorce and remarriage (St. Mainrad: Abbey Press), 38.
60 E. G. Dobson, 1986. What the Bible really says about marriage, divorce and remarriage (Old Tappan: Fleming H. Revell Co.), 76.
61 P. H. Wiebe, 1989. Jesus' divorce exception. Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, vol. 32, 3:333.
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be an absolute law to cover all situations.62 Matthew's statement cannot be taken as a specific law to cover all possibilities that might arise. Yet, Matthew's statement can be a guide to the church.63
On remarriage, Mark claims that divorcing a wife and marrying another is adultery (10:11). In Matthew, divorcing a spouse for any reason except for fornication is to be guilty of causing the spouse to commit adultery (5:32, 19:9), while marrying someone who has been divorced is adultery in Luke (16:18). By inference, remarriage on the part of both partners is the addition of sin to sin.
One truth that cannot be denied is that divorce does happen among Christians. Today, examples of church leaders who divorce their spouses and even remarry abound. One may not be able to erase the fact that Jesus, at times, used the situation around him to solve the problem at hand. The same he did in the case of the adulteress (John 8:11f). He knew that the woman was guilty but he also knew that those reporting her were also guilty of the same offence. Jesus wanted to bestow grace on the woman but he did not ask the people not to stone her. Rather he said, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” (John 8:7). This is not to say that divorce is required following an act of adultery. If the adultery is not persistent and the spouse repents, then ideally one should be like God and forgive. In the book of Hosea, there is a vivid illustration of God forgiving Israel of her spiritual adultery again and again.
Jeremiah 3:8 notes that God divorced Israel, His chosen bride, but it was only after 700 years of almost persistent spiritual adultery. However, very few people have the grace to forgive and restore the marriage after adultery has taken place. Jesus frowned at divorce in any form. His statement was "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning"(Matthew 19:8). He recommended reconciliation in all cases of marital disagreement between spouses. This became necessary because of the attendant problems that might come up as a result of the action of the divorced couple. One may not support divorce and remarriage because Jesus emphasized the permanence of marriage and because of the problems involved in such acts.
62 R. H. Stein, 1979. Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, vol.22, 2: 119-120.
63R. H. Stein, 1979. Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, vol.22, 2: 120.
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There is bound to be problems either in relation to interest, or what constitutes the ideal.
One of the ways to have a stable and happy home is to forgive, and on time. Forgiveness is an essential ingredient for answered prayers. In Matthew 6: 14-15, Jesus put forgiveness within the model prayer, which he taught people in 6:7-13. In fact the foundation for verses 14-15 is verse 12, where he said “And forgive us our debt, (ovfeilhmata) as we also have forgiven our debtor,” (toij ovfeiletaij).64 There is a change of word between verses 12 and 14. Verse 12 has the word “debts” (ovfeilhmata), while in verse 14 “trespasses” (paraptwmata) is used instead.
The idea in verse 12 is that every wrong behaviour is a debt, while in verse 14, to trespass is to miss the track. Jesus‟ statement in verse 14-15 implies that forgiveness has two dimensions, namely either by God or by men.65 However, both are interdependent. There is the tendency to trespass against the law of God. In addition, there is the tendency to offend a fellow human being or to be offended by another person. The point of emphasis is that inasmuch as someone desires God‟s forgiveness, such a person must first forgive others that have offended him. The divine and human forgiveness are reciprocal with the first step to be taken by man about his fellow human beings. This should start from home.
The only thing that will make the joy of a Christian full is to make heaven (John 3:16).
Truly, there is no marriage in heaven, but the way marriage is handled by Christians on earth is a pointer to what the experience of believers will be in heaven. Christians are in the world, but they are not of the world.
64 In chapter 6:14, there is omission of gar in D L Pc sa mss at the beginning of the verse. This will make the reading to be evan avfehte toij avnqrwpoij “If you forgive these men…” The omission of the conjunction “for” will maintain a break in sequence and connection between previous teaching of Jesus in the preceeding verses. However, the inclusion of the conjunction serves as a point of connection and a way of making an assertion.
65 There is a replacement of suranioj withevn toij ouranioj in θ 700 it. The adjective ouranioj was put in sentence form to read “your father in heaven” instead of “your heavenly father.” The shorter reading should be preferred. There is elongation of verse 14 to read ouranioj ta parptwmata u,mwn. The inclusion is to conform to the previous clauseta paraptwmata auvtwnin verse 14. The insertion can be found in B L θW 0233 f13.33 M (b) f q syc sa bo. However, ancient manuscripts such as
a
D f1. 892, Lat syp mea b are without the insertion and that reading should be preferred. In verse 15, ta parptwmata u,mwn is replaced with ta paraptwmata auvtwn in B L W 0233 f.13 33M. The problem centres around the personal pronounsauvtwn and u,mwn .The previous reference to u,mwn in verse 14-15 is an indication that it is not awkward in this context. The change from “your” to “our,” must have been a deliberate attempt by editors of those witnesses. The reading with u,mwn should be preferred. u,mwn avfhsei is replaced with u,min avfhsei in a pc. The use ofthe personal pronoun in the dative singular for does not fit this context in line with the fact that u,mwn has been in used throughout the passage. The fewness of witnesses in support of this replacement is an indication for it to be considered as an error. Other witnesses such as D 1241 pc it vg l has u,mwn avfhsei u,min. The inclusion of u,min along with u,mwn appears as tautology and anamplification. This should not be preferred.
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