Week 10

Class,

I’ll be brief this week. 

I’m writing this the week before I will be in Palau doing lectures.  The work in this assignment is scheduled for the week after the lectures.  From now, until the end of the class we will be emphasizing the “Theology of the Family” project that is the major project of this class. 

Our topic this week is divorce.

In order to adequately consider the topic of divorce you have to have an understanding of what it means to be married.

In order to adequately understand the meaning of divorce you have to answer some questions about that which follows divorce.  What obligations and privileges does a divorced person have?  Are there any consequences to divorce?

Write three paragraphs.  Consult the material I gave during the lectures in answering the questions below and writing your three paragraphs.

1.       What is so special about marriage that it requires a legal procedure (Deut. 24:1-4, Matt. 19:1-10) to sever it? 
1 b (Extra credit) Why did Joseph contemplate divorcing Mary, even though their marriage was not yet consummated?

2.       What does divorce do in the eyes of humans, and with God?

3.       What are the privileges, obligations, and restrictions that are placed on divorced people?

I will comment on your answers and get back with you with some further things for you to think about and look into.