The faith of our fathers - Carmel Apologetics

"470 THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS.one iota of the law. He addresses the Corinthiansas follows : To thorn that are married, not I, butthe Lord commandeth that the wife depart not fromher husband.) And if she depart, that she remainunmarried, or be reconciled to her husband. Andllet not the husband put away his wife." Here wefind the Apostle, in his Master s name, commandingthe separated couple to remain unmarried, withoutany reference to the case of adultery. And if suchan important exception existed, St. Paul would nothave omitted to mention it; otherwise he wouldhave rendered the Gospel yoke more grievous thanits Founder intended.We must therefore admit that, according to thereligion of Jesus Christ, conjugal infidelity does notwarrant either party to marry again, or we areforced to the conclusion that the vast number ofChristians whose knowledge of Christianity was derived solely from the teachings of Saints Mark,Luke, and Paul, were imperfectly instructed intheir faith.Nor can we suppose that St. Matthew gave to themarried Christians of Palestine a privilege whichSt. Paul withheld from the Corinthians ;for thenthe early Christian Church might have witnessedthe disedifying spectacle of aggrieved husbandsseeking in Judea for a divorce from their adulterouswives which they could not obtain in Corinth ; justas discontented spouses, in our times, sue in a neigh-1 1. Cor. vii. 10, 11.