J. Carl Laney

This book has become a standard for many conservative, Bible believing Christians. I've read it and studied it multiple times in the last 20 years. While I agree with much of what Laney says, and especially appreciate the exalted view of God's design for marriage and it's permanency, I still have a few disagreements. I believe that Laney has placed stronger restrictions than God intended. Though I could argue several of the smaller points and in detail, I'll simply mention two of his positions of which I remain unconvinced:

1) He has interpreted Jesus' exception clause for divorce and remarriage as being only applicable to forbidden relationships, such as incest, as seen in Leviticus 18:6-18, rather than unfaithfulness by one of the spouses.

2) He only views 1st Corinthians 7:8-9 and the encouragement to "marry rather than burn" as a reference to virgin young men (and widows), when the word "unmarried" can clearly refer to those who have been previously married (as in verse 11). He does not believe that Paul's statement in verse 15, "not under bondage" (which was written for when a believer is abandoned by an unbeliever) grants the freedom to remarry, only to separate.

Since the interpretations of the exceptions are hermeneutically debatable (that of the fornication clause in Matthew 5 and 19, and that of either pre-salvation divorce or abandonment by a non-believer in 1st Corinthians 7), Laney is potentially more strict than Jesus or Paul. By negating any possibility of an exception, this book will be discouraging to those who may have a legitimate exception for divorce and remarriage, and condemning to those who may be legitimately divorced and remarried.

I would only recommend this book to those who are wanting to get a broad picture of the different views of divorce and remarriage. Laney does a good job of explaining the "no divorce, no remarriage" position, I just don't happen to agree with the extent of his conclusions and therefore applications.

I believe a far more balanced view can be found in John Murray's book "Divorce." I've also written a review on it.… (mais)