What did early Christians believe about remarriage after divorce?

The New Testament sends mixed messages about divorce. Jesus forbids it in Mark’s and Luke’s Gospels, but he seems to make an exception for victims of infidelity in Matthew’s Gospel. Paul permits divorce in 1 Corinthians when an unbeliever initiates it. Yet other Pauline passages imply that remarriage after divorce constitutes adultery.

A. Andrew Das confronts this dissonance in Remarriage in Early Christianity. Challenging scholarly consensus, Das argues that early Christians did not approve of remarriage after divorce. His argument—covering contemporary Jewish and Greco-Roman contexts, the Gospels, Paul’s letters, and ante-Nicene interpretation—reveals greater consistency in early Christianity than is often assumed. Das pays special attention to the Greek words used in contemporary bills of divorce and in the New Testament, offering much-needed clarity on hotly contested concepts like porneia.

At once sensitive and objective, Das finds an exegetically sound answer to the question of remarriage among early Christians. This bold study will challenge scholars and enlighten any Christian concerned with what Scripture has to say on this perennially relevant topic.

Choice Outstanding Academic Titles List (2024)

Product Information

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Title: Remarriage in Early Christianity
By: A. Andrew Das
Format: Hardcover
Number of Pages: 384
Vendor: Eerdmans
Publication Date: 2024

Dimensions: 9.00 X 6.00 (inches)
Weight: 1 pound 7 ounces
ISBN: 0802883745
ISBN-13: 9780802883742
Stock No: WW883742

Author Bio

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A. Andrew Das is the Niebuhr Distinguished Chair and professor of religious studies at Elmhurst University. He is the author or editor of over ten books in biblical studies, including Scriptures, Texts, and Tracings in 2 Corinthians and Philippians and Paul and the Stories of Israel: The Grand Thematic Narratives of Galatians.

Editorial Reviews

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“In Remarriage in Early Christianity, Andrew Das delivers a judicious, comprehensive, critical analysis of the NT texts most germane to the discussion of remarriage in its scriptural and cultural context. . . . It is a book that deserves to be engaged with by pastors, scholars, and seminarians as a definitive work, comprehensive in scope, commanding in its biblical claims, charitable in its literary presentation, pastoral in its delivery, and faithful it its reception of the Bible’s teaching and the teaching of Jesus himself on this important topic.”
—Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society

“For readers who are interested in the detailed analysis and arguments over these biblical texts, Das provides a good discussion of the exegetical issues involved.”
—Scottish Journal of Theology

“Though this study is scholarly and at times technical, its lucid central arguments should be accessible to determined non-specialists. And the gravity of its claims must at least be sensed and addressed, even if not ultimately accepted, by all Christians who regard Scripture and Tradition as in any sense authoritative for faith and practice.”
—Reviews in Religion & Theology

“Remarriage in Early Christianity should be regarded as the most authoritative, up-to-date scholarly review of the New Testament passages bearing on divorce and remarriage.”
—First Things

“While readers may disagree with his results, they will be challenged to mount a reply. Das's impressive book is certain to become a standard work in the field. . . . Highly recommended.”
—CHOICE