DIVORCE

"All who have been twice married by human law, are sinners in the eyes of our Master."  St. Justin Martyr ("First Apology," c. 160 A.D.)

"A wife must not depart from her husband.  Or, if she should depart, she must remain unmarried."  St. Cyprian of Carthage ("Testimonies," c. 250 A.D.)

"A man who marries after another man's wife has been taken away from him will be charged with adultery in the case of the first woman; but in the case of the second he will be guiltless."  St. Basil the Great ("Second Canonical Letter to Amphilochius" c. 375 A.D.)

"No one is permitted to know a woman other than his wife. The marital right is given you for this reason: lest you fall into the snare and sin with a strange woman. 'If you are bound to a wife do not seek a divorce'; for you are not permitted, while your wife lives, to marry another." St. Ambrose of Milan ("Abraham" c. 387 A.D.)

"You dismiss your wife, therefore, as if by right and without being charged with wrongdoing; and you suppose it is proper for you to do so because no human law forbids it; but divine law forbids it. Anyone who obeys men ought to stand in awe of God. Hear the law of the Lord, which even they who propose our laws must obey: 'What God has joined together let no man put asunder."' St. Ambrose of Milan ("Commentary on Luke" c. 389 A.D.)

"Do not tell me about the violence of the ravisher, about the persuasiveness of a mother, about the authority of a father, about the influence of relatives, about the intrigues and insolence of servants, or about household [financial] losses. So long as a husband lives, be he adulterer, be he sodomite, be he addicted to every kind of vice, if she left him on account of his crimes he is still her husband still and she may not take another."  St. Jerome ("Letters" c. 396 A.D.)

"Wherever there is fornication and a suspicion of fornication a wife is freely dismissed. Because it is always possible that someone may calumniate the innocent and, for the sake of a second joining in marriage, act in criminal fashion against the first, it is commanded that when the first wife is dismissed a second may not be taken while the first lives." St. Jerome ("Commentaries on Matthew" c. 398 A.D.)

"If a man leaves his wife and she marries another, she commits adultery."  St. Augustine of Hippo ("On the Good of Marriage" c. 401 A.D.)

CHURCH BELIEFS & ISSUES

Abortion Baptism The Bible Catalog Celibacy of the Clergy
The Church Church Attendance Contraception Degrees of Sin Divorce
The Eucharist Fasting During Lent Good Works Homosexuality Money for the Church
"Once Saved, Always Saved?" The Papacy Papal Infallibility Pre-marital Sex Purgatory
Quick & Easy Catholic Apologetics The Reformation Ritual Prayer The Sacrament of Penance The Saints
The Trinity The Virgin Mary      

WHAT THE EARLY CHURCH BELIEVED

BIOGRAPHIES OF THE CHURCH FATHERS QUOTED IN THIS SECTION
Abortion Against Heresy Apostolic Succession & Tradition The Catholic Church Contraception
Degrees Of Sin Divorce The Eucharist Good Works Homosexuality
Infant Baptism The Mass The Papacy Old Testament Canon Purgatory
Unity Of The Church The Virgin Mary      
Catalog Links Reference Materials

Biblical quotations on this web site are either from the King James Version or the Douay-Rheims Version of the Bible.

©1997-2006 Chris Tesch.  This Web site first loaded on July 10, 1997.
Domain name - www.catholic-defense.com secured April 5, 1999.
Written permission is needed to copy any portion of this web site.  All rights reserved.