Tragically Widening the Grounds of Legitimate Divorce — From Reformed pastor John Piper comes this response to an article which appeared in Christianity Today which seems to legitimize divorce, despite Jesus’ teachings to the contrary. “Tragic” doesn’t even begin to describe what Mr. Instone-Brewer has written.
Thank you for highlighting this issue. When I wrote the Christianity Today article, I struggled greatly with the word
limit for such an important subject. There wasn’t room to define neglect, so I referred readers to my Divorce &
Remarriage in the Church (the full text is at http://www.DivorceRemarriage.com)
The book details the way in which Jesus emphasises that a wronged partner should forgive and forgive and forgive and
that turning to divorce as a remedy for persistant neglect or abuse is a last resort. I’m sorry that I have caused
confusion by not making this clear in the article itself. See my response to this and other issues here.
David Instone-Brewer