and if we may believe the Jews the Form of it was this I such a One the Son of such a One such a Day of the Week such a Day of the Month such a Year after the Creation of the World in such a Place or City or Town have freely voluntarily and without Compulsion dismissed rejected and repudiated such a Person the Daughter of such a One and have given a Bill of Divorcement into her Hand and given her Leave and Power and accordingly she hath leave to Marry with whom she thinks fit according to the Constitution of Moses and the Children of Israel The reason of giving this Bill of Divorcement in St. Austin's Opinion was 1. That in the Writing of this Bill the Husband's Anger might have time to cool and he consider what a Rashness it was to put her away and whether there was sufficient cause for this Severity 2. That things might be done according to Law and that he who had put away his Wife might not afterward be able to demand her again 3. That she might be empower'd to Marry again for which Power she had this Bill or Certificate to shew a Bill which declared that she was fully discharged from her former Husband So much I thought fit to observe concerning this Law of Moses But let 's go on and II. Enquire why our Saviour did forbid and abolish these Divorcements in the Jewish Sense But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his Wife c. The Reasons are these following 1. These Divorces of the Jews were arbitrary Effects of a bruitish lawless Will meer actions of Revenge and though Moses had given them leave to put away their Wives for less Causes than Fornication or Adultery yet they were such Causes as were arguments of great Turpitude and Scandal and made the Man not only very uneasy but prejudiced him in his lawful Calling and reflected upon his Prudence and Reputation But the Jews ventured to do it for any Cause whatsoever and of that Cause themselves would be Judges and therefore Christ had reason to Abolish that Custom 2. What liberty God gave them by Moses as to these Divorcements it was not so much out of any respect to the intrinsick Goodness of the Thing as to prevent greater Evils And therefore our Saviour in plain Terms tells the Jews Matth. xix 8 Moses for the hardness of your Hearts suffered you to put away your Wives The Jews were a surly humorsome and ill-natur'd sort of People and to prevent their Murthering Poisoning Beating or abusing their Wives he suffered these Divorcements and that 's it that all wise Lawgivers ordinarily do to prevent a greater they connive at a lesser Evil the Peace and Nature of the Government requiring so much Even among our selves and in the Land we live in several things are permitted which Authority doth not much approve of And accordingly these Divorces having been permitted during the Jewish Oeconomy when the People and the Dispensation were weak it was necessary when that Oeconomy came to cease those Divorces should cease too 3. Christ came to reduce all and Matrimony especially to the first Institution And therefore could do no less than Abolish all that contradicted the Primitve Rule And accordingly he tells the Pharisees Matth. xix 4 8. Moses for the hardness of your Hearts suffered you to put away your Wives but from the beginning it was not so Have ye not read thou he which made them in the beginning made them Male and Female and said for this cause shall a Man leave Father and Mother and cleave to his Wife wherefore they are no more twain but one Flesh. What therefore God hath joined together let no Man put asunder The Divorces which were practised among the Jews and other Nations the Persians the Greeks the Romans though as to the Romans it must be confessed it came in very late among them for though there was no Law against Divorcing yet for 520 Years there was no Example of Divorce among them so undecent did they take it to be and therefore there are very few Writers but what condemn Cicero for putting away his Wife Terentia with whom he had lived many Years These Divorces I say practised by the Jewish and other Nations were great Violations of the Primitive Institution of Marriage and of the Innocence and Perfection of Paradise Christ's Province being to reintroduce that Perfection and Innocence and to establish it among his Followers could do no less than Abolish the abuses which corrupt Nature and a more corrupt Commonwealth had brought in And this very argument makes Polygamy or having more Wives than one Sinful because it contradicts the Primitive Institution which God indeed relaxed for a certain Time during the Infancy of the Church but Christ justly reduced to it's former Bounds and Limits under the Gospel which affords greater Helps and Motives to observe those Bounds and shews a better way how Men may be cured of the Hardness of their Hearts than any Discipline whatsoever And yet even under the Gospel there is something that makes a Divorce lawful and that is if one of the Married Parties proves guilty of Adultery which leads me to the III. Enquiry Why Adultery or Fornication is a just Cause of Divorce and whether this be the sole Cause that justifies such a Separation But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his Wife saving in the case of Fornication And though St. Luke and St. Mark do not mention this Exception yet we know that one Evangilist must be explained by the other The reason that makes Divorcement in case of Adultery lawful is this because by Adultery the Bond of Matrimony is broken What some say that the right or Bond of Cohabitation is broken but not the Bond of Matrimony seems to be of no weight for the Words of Christ are very Express and Emphatical Whosoever shall put away his Wife 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saving in the Cause of Fornication And therefore certainly in the Case of Fornication it is lawful to put her away which could not be lawful in that Sense the Jews understood Christ in i. e. so as to be permitted to Marry again except the Bond of Matrimony had been broke by the Fornication for as by Matrimony Man and Wife are one Flesh so by Fornication they are no more one but the Person who commits Lewdness becomes one Flesh with another and though it is said that what God hath joined together let no Man put asunder Matth. xix 6 And though we read that a Woman which hath a Husband is bound by the Law to her Husband so long as he lives yet this is to be understood of married Persons who live in conjugal Chastity and while this is done to be sure the Bond is not dissolved 2. Christ having restrained the Lawfulness of such Divorcements to Fornication and Adultery it cannot be safe to invent more Causes I will not deny but there
suppose go into another Country and take no farther care of her but leave her to shift for her self in that case saith St. Paul a Brother or a Sister is not under Bondage i. e. as very many Interpreters explain it she is not under an Obligation to continue unmarried or she may Marry again Upon this saying of St. Paul it was that the Helvetian Divines grounded their Verdict in the case of the Marquis Galeacie Caraccioli whom they advised to Marry again when his Wife had deserted him or which is all one would not return to him after frequent Intreaties to that purpose And its possible this Conclusion of the Apostle might give occasion to Constantine to enact a Law That if a Woman after her Husband was gone from her did not hear of him in four years she might Marry again To which purpose we have a Law of our own 1 Jac. I. That if a Man or Woman being gone beyond the Seas and one do not hear from the other in seven Years it shall be lawful for the Party that hears nothing of the other to proceed to another Marriage The Reason why I urge this Case of Desertion is this If it be lawful for a Woman deserted by her Husband or for a Man deserted by his Wife upon the account of Religion though there be no Adultery in the Case to Marry again much more must it be lawful for Persons who part upon the account of Adultery and are lawfully divorced at least for the innocent Party to Marry again because Desertion is a less Crime than Adultery Though Hermes an antient Writer saith that Desertion is equal to Adultery yet whatever likeness there may be there appears greater guilt in Adultery than in the other the rather because the Bond of Matrimony is more directly broke in this than in the other It 's true the Constitution of our Church is that if Persons be divorced after Adultery the respective Parties are obliged to enter into Bond before they are actually divorced that neither of them shall Marry again while the other lives but the reason of that is because our Church fears the dangerous Consequences of such Divorces in respect of the Collusion that may be betwixt the two Parties who may be alike weary one of the other and so a Gap might be open'd to great Licentiousness So that I suppose our Church would not be against the innocent Party's Marrying again if such Evils might be easily prevented 3. The greatest difficulty is about the Party guilty of Adultery and who gives occasion to the Divorce whether they may Marry again And here if the same Law were in use among us which Moses gave the Jews that the Adulterer or the Adulteress should be put to Death or stoned And were that Law duely executed by the Magistrates there would be no occasion for such Questions as these However the Bond of Marriage be dissolved by the Adultery as we proved before we cannot say that it is absolutely unlawful even for the guilty after a lawful Divorce to Marry again the Notion of Divorce among the Jews which we do not find our Saviour Reverse importing so much There may be some Reasons which may make it lawful But then 1 st As the Divorce is not to be made without the Knowledge or Approbation or Consent of our Superiors and Governors whether Spiritual or Temporal so if a Divorce be obtained and made the guilty ought not to marry again till he shews sufficient Reasons to the same Governors which may make it necessary for Men are apt to be very partial in their own Cause 2 ly Before Leave or Permission be given him he ought to be exhorted and admonished by those to whom that part belongs to a deep Humiliation for his scandalous Sin and that Humiliation and change of Life and Exemplary Conversation ought first to appear and by long Practice become habitual before Permission be given that the Church of God which hath been scandalized may receive some Satisfaction 3 ly The guilty Party if he will act Conscientiously before he ever thinks of Marrying again ought 1. Earnestly to endeavour to prevent a Divorce by reconciling himself to the Innocent by asking Pardon of the Party wrong'd and by sincere and unfeigned Promises of a future steddy and invincible Chastity 2. If the Innocent Party for weighty Reasons sues out a Divorce and obtains it the guilty ought by Mortification and Prayer and an humble penitent Life labour after the Gift of Continence and spare no Cost no Hardship to attain to it and thus punish himself for his great and crying Sins that he may be deliver'd from the Wrath to come But 3. If after all convenient Ways and Methods and Tryals used he cannot arrive to it this seems to be the only Case that may make his Marrying again lawful according to the general Rule of the Apostle It 's better to Marry than to burn 1 Cor. vii 9 VII How he that puts away his Wife causes her to commit Adultery 1. We must note that Christ here speaks of a Man's putting away his Wife though she hath not been guilty of Adultery for slight and frivolous Causes as the Jews used to do In this Case if the Woman thus put away should be prevailed with to Marry another Man the Husband that put her away without sufficient Cause unjustly is the Cause of her committing Adultery for as she could not by right and ought not to have been put away for such Causes so these Causes for which she is put away do not dissolve the Contract or Bond of Matrimony and consequently by right she is still the Mans Wife who put her away and therefore if through strong and surprizing Temptations she should consent to Marry another Man he that dismissed her is in a great Measure the Cause of that Evil. 2. If a Person thus unjustly put away should not Marry afterward but be tempted to prostitute her self all the Evil she doth and the Adultery she upon this Dismission proves guilty of will a great part of it be charged upon the head of the Person that in a humor put her away it being here as with a Person who should set or place another upon the Brow of a Hill in a dark Night though he do not push or thrust him down yet if he tumbles and breaks his Neck the Party that placed him there may justly be said to be the cause of his Fall and Ruin because he exposed him to apparent Danger as much as David was guilty of murthering Vriah by ordering the General of his Army to set him in the Front of the Battle where without a Miracle he could not escape being killed Even so here the Command being given to Christ's Followers or to Christians if a Christian puts away his Wife for a meaner and lower Cause than Adultery he exposes her to great Temptations and if through the Devils Temptation she falls into Fornication and Adultery himself
is guilty of that Adultery and therefore causes her that is put away to commit Adultery VIII How he that Marries her that is put away commits Adultery 1. In saying so our Great Master confirms the antient Law of God Deut. xxiv 3 where the Wife put away by her Husband is peremptorily forbid to return to the Husband that did give her a Bill of Divorce and put her away She had Liberty indeed to Marry another but if after his Death or during his Life her former Husband should be desirous to Marry her again this God saith there is Abomination and Christ calls it Adultery So that the words of the Text whosoever shall Marry her that 's put away commits Adultery do establish and ratifie what God said of old to the Jewish People He that puts away his Wife may not afterward when another Man hath known her Marry her again if he doth he commits Adultery 2. He that puts away his Wife for a less or meaner cause than Adultery doth not by that means or voluntary Divorce cancel the Marriage Bond and the legal Contract betwixt him and her That Bond continues firm and indissoluble notwithstanding that Dismission and therefore he that Marries such a Person that is unjustly put away Marries another Man's Wife and consequently commits Adultery Under the Law he that Married the Woman put away by her Husband for Causes God then allow'd of did not Sin except the High Priest who was forbid to Marry any Woman that was Divorced And under the Gospel he that Marries her that 's put away legally for Causes the Gospel allows of cannot be said to commit an Offence especially if the Rules we mentioned before be observed But he that Marries her that's justly put away or divorced for Causes frivolous or not allowed of by the Gospel and so Marries her he hath no power no right to Marry even a Person who notwithstanding the Divorce is still the Wife of him that put her away he certainly commits Adultery INFERENCES Having thus resolved the Queries suggested by the Text it 's time I should after all add some wholesom Directions whereby such Divorces and all Desires after them may be prevented I. There is no better Antidote against such Mischiefs than Love mutual Love a true Conjugal Love a Love grounded not upon a bare satisfying the desires of the Flesh for that will be of no long continuance but establish'd upon the lasting Principles of Duty and fed by Pious Considerations And they who think that no less Authority hath joined them together than God himself and intended that this Union should be great and withstand all Temptations of Dissolution except that of Death and thought fit to represent by it the Love of Christ to his Church They who make these Considerations the Foundation of their Love will not be easily moved to the desire of Separation Love in a married State being grounded only upon Beauty and Riches and other external things when these fade Love will fade Vertue and the Fear of God and the Oath that is betwixt them these must tye their Hearts together and where they do so their Love like a treble Cord is not easily broken Love is the great Preservative of Happiness in a Married State where that reigns no desires of Divorcement can find Entertainment But then it must be such Love as the Apostle describes 1 Cor. xiii 4 5 6 7. that suffers long and is kind that envies not that vaunts not it self that is not puffed up doth not behave it self unseemly seeks not her own is not easily provoked thinks no Evil rejoices not in Iniquity but rejoices in the Truth beareth all things believeth all things hopeth all things and endureth all things This Charity we owe to all that are of the Houshold of Faith more or less much more to Persons of so near a Relation who besides the general Obligations as Christians have bound themselves Vowed and Promised before God and the Elect Angels and the Congregation to love one another with a pure Heart fervently Love is an Universal Medicine If the Infirmities of one Party be invincible Love will bear with them if vincible Love will endeavour to reform them If Crosses happen Love will administer Comfort if Prosperity comes flowing in Love will exhort to Thankfulness if Disputes arise Love will appease them if Quarrels are broacht Love will quench that Fire If Misconstructions be made Love will rectify them if Suspicions disturb the Mind Love will reject them if Failings appear Love will cover them and whatever things are amiss in a Family Love will endeavour to cure them Where this Love decays there the Good Angel that should guard the House prepares for his departure Where this Love is not maintain'd Temptations prevail and Quarrels come and Differences arise and Persons are let loose and ill Thoughts do enter and reproachful Language flies about and the Parties become uneasy and Divorces are thought of and being difficult to compose according to Law they are wished for and desired and if they cannot be had there Adulteries and Fornications and a thousand Evils are entertain'd as woful Experience shews and thus the married State becomes bitter as Wormwood which if Love had had the Management of it might have been sweet as the Morning Rose fragrant as the Balm of Gilead refreshing as Evening Showers II. As unequal Yoakings are very often the causes of great Contentions so where they may be they ought to be carefully shun'd and prevented By being unequally Yoaked I do not mean only Inequality of Age of Temper of Rank and Fortune but marrying Persons of a different Persuasion in Matters of Religion for if one of the Parties be Zealous for the Religion he professes he will think himself bound in Conscience to draw the Partner of his Bed into a Partnership of his Religion and if the other will not yield there arise such Flames of Discord sometimes that Divorces and Separations are not only desired but unjustly Endeavour'd and Practised and one party contrary to Law and Reason and Conscience and Modesty leaves the other Of this we have too many Examples not only where Protestants have married Papists but where Protestants have joined themselves to Protestants of different Sentiments not that the Differences among Protestants are of any great Consequence but where Pride Passion Ignorance or Prejudice turns disputable Questions into Articles of Faith and makes them Balls of Contention they shed a bad influence even upon a married State Indeed where both Parties are of a gentle and charitable Temper there is no great danger of falling out about Religion but as such Tempers are somewhat rare so where they are found they may be Influenced by external Causes and Motives which may alter them and though Promises are often made before Marriage not to molest one another in point of Religion yet false Persuasion afterward that it is their Duty to convert them who are so nearly related to them
and partly to intimate that his Doctrine and the Blessings which came along with it required greater Strictness and Severity of Life He proves that the Lawfulness of Divorcements which they extended to Causes and Cases of their own making was to be restrained only to Fornication and Adultery and whoever took greater Liberty in Divorcing himself would involve himself in very great Evils and Mischiefs It hath been said Whosoever shall put away his Wife let him give her a Writing of Divorcement But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his Wife saving in the case of Fornication causes her to commit Adultery and whosoever Marries her which is Divorced commits Adultery This is no Contradiction to the Law of Moses but raising an imperfect into a more perfect Law which became him who was the end of the Law for the Law made nothing perfect but the bringing in of a better hope did To treat of these Words to your Edification I shall I. Enquire into the Nature of that Law of Moses concerning Divorcements II. Why Christ forbids and abolishes Divorcements in the Jewish Sense III. Why Fornication or Adultery is a just Cause of Divorcement and whether that be the sole and only cause that justifies such a Separation IV. Whether the Woman hath an equal Right and in case of the Husband's Adultery may Divorce her self from her Husband as well as the Husband from the Wife in case the fault lies in her V. Whether this Divorcement may be made by their own Authority without the Advice and order of the Magistrate VI. Whether after such a Divorce the innocent Party or both Parties may Marry again VII How he that puts away his Wife causes her to commit Adultery VIII How he that Marries her that 's put away commits Adultery And when all these Particulars are explained I shall close up the Discourse with suitable Directions how such Divorces and all Desires after them may be prevented 1. Let 's enquire into the Nature of the Law of Moses concerning these Divorcements It hath been said saith our Saviour Whosoever shall put away his Wife let him give her a Writing of Divorcement I doubt not but the Scribes and Pharisees said so to justify their unlawful Divorcements and what they said it 's like was with respect to this Law of Moses our Saviour in all probability spake it with respect to both This Law concerning Divorcements you have Deut. xxiv 1 2. where we read When a Man hath taken a Wife and Married her and it come to pass that she find no Favour in his Eyes because he hath found some Vncleanness in her then let him write her a Bill of Divorcement and give it in her Hand and send her out of his House and when she is departed out of his House she may go and be another Mans Wife Concerning which Law I observe these following Particulars 1. That Moses did not for the ease of his People invent this Law of his own Head which seems to have been the Opinion of Origen and St. Ambrose for though the Pharisees treating of this very point asked our Great Master Why did Moses Command us to give a Writing of Divorcement Matth. xix 7 Yet since all the Scripture of the Old Testament is of Divine Inspiration 2 Tim. iii. 16 of which Old Testament this Law is part it is evident that Moses being the great Minister of God by whom he deliver'd his Oracles and faithful in all his House did and could and would deliver nothing as a standing Law for the Jewish Church but what God gave him order for or as he was moved by the Holy Ghost as St. Peter saith of all the Writers of the Old Testament 2 Pet. i. 21 And therefore whenever Moses is Quoted in the New Testament the meaning is God speaking by Moses and consequently this Law is derived from God 2. We need not wonder that God should give such a Law concerning Divorces or make them in some cases Lawful for as he is the Author of Matrimony so he might have enlarged the Bounds of it if he had pleased And therefore that he relaxed the Law and Constitution of it in the Cases of Polygamy and Divorce to the Jewish People can be no Disparagement to his Holiness For since it was in his Power to institute the State of Matrimony no doubt he had also Power in certain Cases and for certain Reasons to dispense with the Strictness of it this being none of the fixed and eternal Laws which are in their own nature Immutable and Unchangable but depended upon the Lawgiver's Will and Pleasure not to mention that this was to teach all wise Governours to suit their Laws as far as they can do it with safety to the Temper of their People 3. The course of Divorce allow'd of in the Law is said to be this if the Wife find no favour in her Husbands Eyes because he hath found some Vncleanness in her where by Unlceanness cannot be meant Fornication and Adultery for the Adulteress was to be stoned to Death Deut. xxii 22 compared with Joh. viii Nay if the Husband did upon good Grounds but suspect his Wife guilty of Adultery he had his remedy by obliging her to drink the Waters of Jealousy Numb v. 27 And therefore by this Uncleanness some understand either the Leprosy or the Vice of Drunkenness or Witchcraft or a very quarrelsome Temper or some other incorrigible Vice but the Words in the Original are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is as some great immodesty in Words or Actions a Sin less than Adultery and Fornication yet which not stopt might lead to the greater Sins And in this case God gave them leave to dismiss their Wives But such was the vitious humor of that Nation that in progress of time sheltring themselves under this Command they turned off their Wives for trivial Offences and upon very slight Occasions I would name some of them but that they are too Ridiculous to be mention'd And therefore the Pharisees coming to our Saviour about this Question ask him Is it lawful for a Man to put away his Wife for every Cause This was the common Practice though the better and the wiser Men doubted of it 4. Whatever liberty this Law gave the Divorcement was permitted rather than commanded and the Words infer an Impunity rather than a Duty A Jew was not bound to put away his Wife by vertue of this Law but was Connived at if he did it and secured against Punishment from the Magistrate This Law did not hinder the Man from dwelling with his Wife notwithstanding the Faults I have mentioned but if he would not live with her he was to give her a Writing of Divorcement 5. This Writing of Divorcement was a formal Dismission of the Wife under the Husband's Hand and Seal or a full Discharge from the Husband's Power and Authority and Jurisdiction and Obligation to provide for her or to take care of her
are Sins that in Heinousness may amount to the Sin of Adultery yet it must be dangerous to depart from the express Words of our Saviour The Civil Law or rather some Christian Emperours in the Civil Law allow of other Causes such as if the Wife be guilty of Witchcraft or Murther or of Men-stealing or of Violation of Sepulchers or of Sacriledge or if she harbour Thieves and Robbers or if she go to Feasts where lewd and wicked Persons meet or to Stage-plays and publick Shows or lies out of the Husbands House at Night against his Will and without his Knowledge if she practise Treason secretly against the State or if she treats of Marriage with another Man while her Husband is alive or if she lay violent Hands on her Husband c. Though all these are Crimes wich should not be so much as named among Christians yet since Christ hath excepted no Case but that of Adultery or Fornication that Christian walks most safely that keeps to the Letter of the Text. I grant there may be other Causes which may justify a Man and his Wife 's living asunder but I dare not say that by any other Sins the Bond of Matrimony is dissolved because our Saviour is silent IV. Whether the Woman hath an equal Right and may Divorce her self from her Husband in case he is guilty of Adultery as well as the Husband from her if she be guilty 1. Among the Jews this was not Customary or Lawful The Husband might put away his Wife but the Wife could not put away the Husband which is the reason why Josephus takes notice of it as a great piece of Insolence that Salome a Jewess separated her self from her Husband Costabar But among the Romans the Wife had an equal Liberty And in the Case before us this seems to be very Rational For 2. If the Bond of Matrimony be dissolved by the Adultery of the Husband as well as it is by the Adultery of the Wife the Woman in point of Conscience must be at liberty to Divorce her self from her Husband as well as the Husband to separate himself from her if she be guilty There is a parity of reason which I know is not to be stretcht too far but here is just Ground for it And though as to the Government of the Family the Scripture gives the Man a Preeminence and a Power Authority and Jurisdiction over the Wife yet as to the Obligations to be true and faithful to one another the Apostle makes them equal 1 Cor. vii 4 And in the case of Desertion whereof I shall speak in the Sequel it 's plain St. Paul gives the Woman an equal Priviledge 1 Cor. vii 15 And indeed if the Wife have not an equal Right it must follow that the Husband's Adultery is a less Sin than that of the Wife which I suppose no wise Man will grant To this purpose it is that Justin Martyr commands a Christian Woman who having a Husband that lived in open Adultery took the Benefit of the Roman Law and went from him i. e. divorced her self from him and the reason why she did so was that she might not become a partaker of his Sin yet it 's added that she did not do it till several Means had been tried to reclaim him from his Impiety Indeed this is very necessary on both sides that where it is that one of the Parties is guilty of Adultery all reasonable Means ought to be tried to convert the Sinner him or her from the Errours of their Ways before the Separation the rather because this Separation ought not to be made in Anger and Revenge but with Prudence and Charity and though a Divorce in this case be lawful yet it is not so necessary that the Innocent Party is forbid to be reconciled to the Guilty if the Guilty do unfeignedly repent and though it s granted the Bond of Matrimony is dissolved i. e. the Right and the Obligation to live together like Man and Wife be dissolved yet I hope a Man or Woman may decede from their Right or give it up when a greater Good is to be promoted by it I know some Divines both Antient and Modern have been and are of Opinion that there is an absolute necessity for a Divorce in such Cases the Council of Eliberis particularly hath a Canon That if a Clergy-man's Wife commit Fornication and her Husband doth not presently put her away he shall be denied the Communion all his Days even upon his Death-Bed But since God receives the worst of Sinners upon their true Repentance it 's hard to think it should be a Crime in married Persons after such a Breach to forgive one another and to return to one another upon a true Reformation for though it be permitted them to separate if they will yet they are not hindred from exercising Charity one toward another And if God is reconciled to the vilest Wretches upon their serious Return and takes them into his Bosom should not we do so after the greatest Provocations if true Repentance appears in the Person that hath committed Folly we that are to be Followers of God Eph. v. 1 V. Whether these Divorces may be made by private Authority without having recourse to our Governours 1. Among the Jews it 's certain it was not always necessary to make use of the Magistrates Assistance but the Husband was Judge in his own Cause and might give the Wife a Bill of Divorcement without making his Superiours acquainted with it for there is nothing said of it in the Law of Moses though it is not to be doubted but sometimes it was done before competent Judges especially where there was a dispute about repaying of the Dowry or part of the Goods the Wife had brought to her Husband for in such Divorcements the Jews tell us that part of the Dowry or the whole was repaid and if so this alone was enough to prevent the many Divorces which one may believe would otherwise have been in that Nation among a People projectae libidinis as Tacitus calls them inclined to Wantonness and Lasciviousness 2. We Christians serving the God of Order and it being a Rule of our Religion that all things ought to be done Decently and in Order it must follow that such Divorces how just soever must not be the meer Effects of our Will and Pleasure but so managed that others may not be Scandaliz'd by our Actions And that 's but agreeable to the general Rule of the Apostle that we are to provide things honest in the sight of all Men Rom. xxii And consequently such Divorcements are not to be made without the Consent and Approbation of Publick Authority for without this infinite Confusions would arise and wicked Men might abuse this Liberty into the greatest Licentiousness And as they that Marry ought to Marry in the Lord with the Approbation and Benediction of the Minister of God so it 's Fit that they who in the case of
Adultery after that all Attemps of reforming the guilty Party prove ineffectual separate and are Divorced one from the other I say it 's fit it should be done before Persons Wise Judicious and in Power that they may judge of the Justice of the Divorce be satisfied in the Reasons of it and be able to give a good Account of it to others and that the Doctrin of our Saviour or our Religion be not Blasphemed or evil soken of And when among the Athenians the Woman who had a mind to be Divorced from her Husband was obliged to appear in Person before the Magistrates and cite the Husband before them we that are Christians ought not to be Inferiour to them in Prudence and Discretion VI. Whether after such Divorcements the innocent Party or both Parties may Marry again Concerning this Question there have been three Opinions for many Ages Some have thought that it is unlawful for either Party to Marry again Some that it is lawful for the Innocent others that it is lawful for both Parties to re-enter into the State of Matrimony It was look'd upon by many Christians as lawful to Marry again after Divorces In Tertullian's Time Origin affirms it was permitted by some Bishops in his Days It was somewhat late indeed before the Councils of Eliberis Arles Orleans and Venice gave way to it but till the Council of Trent there was no considerable body of Men who determin'd against it The Greek Church at this Day consents to the Practice of it I am sensible that all those who are of Opinion that by Adultery the Bond of Matrimony is not dissolved will be against either Parties Marrying again after such a publick Separation and I cannot but say that is better and an argument of Self-Denial Mortification Continence and true Repentance especially for the guilty Party to abstain not only from all unlawful Lusts but from Marriage too and spend the remainder of his Life in Afflicting his Soul for his Scandalous Offences if perhaps he may escape the Damnation of Hell Nor would it be less acceptable to God for the innocent Party to decede from her or his Right and to Consecrate themselves intirely to God and his Service But if the Question be whether in point of Conscience it be not lawful to Marry again I cannot but say that it is for any thing I yet see to the contrary Especially 1. For the innocent Party for this is but the necessary Consequence of what I asserted before that by Adultery the Bond of Matrimony was dissolved and if dissolved and a lawful Divorce follow thereupon the innocent Party at least must be supposed to be at liberty to Marry again for though Christ makes no express mention of it yet since it 's certain he allows of a Divorce in case of Adultery or Fornication and doth not change the notion of Divorce from what the Jews understood by it it must necessarily follow that by it we are to understand such a Divorce as was usual in those Days or in the Days of Moses with the necessary Circumstances and Consequences of it Now a lawful Divorce among the Jews included or imported liberty to Marry again as is evident from the Law of Moses Deut. xxiv 1 2. which I explained in the Premises where it is expressly said that the Woman sent out of the House of her Husband with a Writing of Divorcement may Marry another Man Nor is it just the Guiltless should suffer for the Guilty if the Guilty have been the cause of this Misfortune why should the Innocent be punished for it It 's true our Saviour suffered the just for the unjust and we are to imitate him in the greatest Instances of his Charity but Christ's Suffering the just for the unjust was a thing of another Nature very different from the Case before us and therefore is not applicable to it Besides Christ's Suffering the Innocent for the Guilty was for an universal Good and in this Case a Christian may and ought to follow him and suffer the same Way if it may be for the Good of Mankind but this cannot be said of a forbearance to Marry after Divorce especially if there be danger of burning as the Apostle calls it 1 Cor. vii 9 In this Case the Forbearance seems rather to tend to the hurt and scandal of the Church than to the Glory or Benefit of it Fabiola a Person of Quality at Rome a Lady of noble Extraction being young Married a Gallant of the Times who proving Vicious and living in Adultery by the persuasion of her Friends she sends him a Bill of Separation and Divorces her self from him and soon after Marries another The Second Husband dying and it being her Fortune to converse with some Persons who had a very mean Opinion of second Marriages and took occasion to aggravate to her the Crime of Marrying again while her first though Adulterous Husband was living frighted with the danger they told her she was in she doth Publick Penance for it in the publick Church in the Commendation of which St. Jerom is very Copious and Rhetorical and according to his Account none that ever underwent a publick Penance for Adultery used greater Rigor and Severity upon themselves than she But though I am a great admirer of due Rigours and Severities in Matters of Religion yet to make a Sin of that which the Gospel hath made none and to do Penance for that which the Scripture hath not declared to be against the Will of God provided there were no other Sins mingled with the Action seems to be part of that overmuch Righteousness which Solomon finds fault with Eccles. vii 16 St. Jerom himself who with great Flourishes relates the Story though he was no great Friend to second Marriages yet in this case of Fabiola dares not say that she ought to have left her second Husband after she was divorced from her first because of his notorious Adulteries and though he doth not approve of her second Marriage yet he doth in some Measure excuse it because there was some colour for venturing upon it from the Gospel 2. In the case of Desertion the Apostle gives the Party deserted leave to Marry again 1 Cor. vii 15 But if the Vnbelieving depart let him depart a Brother or a Sister is not under Bondage in such Cases The Dispute was Whether a Woman that was a Christian having a Husband who was a Heathen or Infidel might live with him if she could not convert him The Apostle answers v. 10 11. Let not the Wife depart from her Husband but and if she depart because of some heats betwixt them let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her Husband so far the Apostle gives his Advice if Quarrels did arise betwixt the unbelieving Husband and the believing Wife about Religion if he did abuse or heather or led her an unquiet Life but then if the difference rose higher and the Husband should totally forsake her