The New Testament Logia on Divorce: A Study of Their Interpretation from Erasmus to Milton

“The New Testament on marriage and divorce has exercised a deep influence upon Western civilisation. This is especially the case with the logia on divorce which are recorded in the Gospels of Matthew v. 32 XIX 3--12 Mark X. 2--12 and Luke XVI. 18. The Apostle Paul deals with the subject in 1 Corinthians VII. 1--15. Within the Christian churches the statements in these texts are considered authoritative concerning the questions of whether or not marriage is indissoluble and whether divorce and remarriage are allowed for one or several reasons. The purpose of this study is to examine the interpretation of the New Testament divorce texts during the Reformation period. The significance of the exegetical results achieved by the reformers can be appreciated only in the light of the medieval sacramental concept of marriage and the work of the Christian humanists; accordingly the investigation begins with an examination of these two subjects as well as the reaction of Roman Catholic exegetes to the interpretation of Erasmus. The interpretations of Luther and his associates and those of the prominent Reformed theologians follow. The works of representative English theologians have been studied beginning with Willian Tyndale and Thomas Cranmer and ending with John Milton whose works on divorce from an exegetical point of view terminate a period during which the meaning of the divorce texts was explored.”-From the Foreword