Bizarre New Doctrine Threatens Marriages
Bizarre New Doctrine Threatens Marriages
By
James Scott Trimm
There is a new and very dangerous doctrine that is threatening marriages. In the past we have always understood Yeshua’s statements in Matthew 19 as discouraging both divorce and polygamy, but this new doctrine ultimately turns these verses on their head and twists them into support for both divorce and polygamy.
The new doctrine begins by redefining the Hebrew word ECHAD “one”. Of course the Shema tells us that YHWH is “one” (ECHAD) and thus there are age old doctrinal debates over whether or not ECHAD refers to a singularity or a composite unity. The doctrine begins by defining ECHAD to mean “complete and perfect unity” and by extension “complete and perfect agreement.”
The danger comes when this new definition is then applied to Gen. 2:24 and Matthew 19:5-6 where a married couple are referenced as “two become one”. Now traditionally we have all understood this to be a condemnation of divorce and an implied condemnation of polygamy. But the new doctrine “redefines” “one” here to mean “complete and perfect unity” and more importantly “complete and perfect agreement.”
With the new definition the words are given new meaning:
4 And He answered and said to them: Have you not read, that He who made man at the
beginning, made them male and female (Gen. 1:27; 5:2).
5 And said: Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave
to his wife, and they shall become one flesh? (Gen. 2:24)
6 And now they are no more two, but one flesh only. What therefore Elohim has joined
together, man cannot separate.
7 But they said, And why did Moshe then command to give a bill of divorcement, and
to put her away if she was not pleasing in his sight? (Deut. 24:1)
8 And He answered them and said: Because Moshe, on account of the hardness of your
hearts, allowed you to put away your wives: but from the beginning, it was not so.
9 And I tell you, that every man that has put away, or shall put away, his wife--except it
be for fornication, and takes another--commits adultery: and whoever takes the divorced,
also commits adultery
(Matt. 19:4-9 HRV)
But since “one” is understood now to mean “complete and perfect agreement” then a couple who are not in “complete and perfect agreement” are said by this new doctrine to be “not echad”. Since they are “not echad” then Elohim did not join them together in the first place. Thus the new doctrine says that if a husband and wife are not in complete and perfect agreement, they can be divorced without violating the provision of this passage… in fact it can even be argued that they are not truly married in YHWH’s eyes in the first place, because they are “not echad”.
In addition the provision against polygamy is nullified by this new doctrine as well, because Yeshus speaks here of “two becoming one” but if the two are not ECHAD under this new doctrine, then the husband can marry another woman with whom he believes he IS ECHAD without divorcing the woman with whom he is not ECHAD
On one extreme, if Bill has been married to Sally for 20 years and then decides he wants to marry Susan, and Sally does not agree to be part of a polygamous marriage, then this proves that Bill and Sally are “not ECHAD” and so Bill is free to divorce Sally or enter a polygamous marriage with Susan regardless of Sally’s feelings.
Now obviously this new doctrine is repugnant to civilized people on the very surface, but lets examine the Scriptural reasons that this dangerous new doctrine is so wrong.
First of all the word ECHAD does not always refer to a unity of complete and perfect unity. In Gen. 11:6 we are told that those who built the tower of Babel were “one people” but no doubt they were not in complete and perfect agreement.
Second the unity of a husband and wife also involves submitting “one to another” (Eph. 5:21) and the husband loving the wife like his own soul (Eph. 5:25).
But most importantly this new doctrine seeks to circumvent the very point Yeshua is making in Matthew 19.
One of the halachic principles which distinguished the Essenes from the Pharisees (whom the Essenes termed “Wall Builders”) was a principle the Essenes called “Yesod HaB’riah” (The Principle/Foundation of Creation).
The Pharisees were divided on the issue of divorce. The House of Shammai allowed divorce only in the case of an “unclean matter” (adultery) while the House of Hillel allowed divorce even if the wife only spoiled a dish, and Akiva stretched this to allow a man to divorce his wife because he found a prettier one (m.Gittin 9:10)
The Essenes said the Pharisees had fallen into a trap of Belial saying:
They are caught in…Fornication, by taking two wives
in their lifetime although the Principle of Creation (Yesod HaBriah)
is “male and female He Created them” (Gen. 1:27) and those who
entered the ark “went into the ark two by two” (Gen. 7:9). Concerning
the Leaders it is written “he shall not multiply wives to himself” (Dt. 17:17)
(Damascus Document 4,20-5,2)
The Essenes were accusing the Pharisees of effectively practicing polygamy in allowing divorce so easily, and in doing so, violating the Yesod HaBriah.
No doubt Messiah is citing Yesod HaBriah (The Principle of Creation) when he has the following halachic debate with a group of Pharisees:
19:3 And the P’rushim approached him, and tempted him,
saying, “Is it right for a man to put away his wife for every cause?”
19:4 And he answered and said to them:
"Have you not read that he who made man the beginning,
'made them male and female' (Gen. 1:27)
19:5 And said,
'Wherefore shall a man shall leave his father
and his mother, and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh' (Gen. 2:24)
19:6 And now then, they are no more two but one flesh
only. What therefore Elohim has joined together man cannot separate."
19:7 But they said,
"And why then did Moshe then command
to give a bill of divorcement, and to put her away
if she was not pleasing in his sight?” (Deut. 24:1, 3)
19:8 And he answered them and said,
"Because Moshe on account of the hardness of your hearts,
allowed you to put away your wives,
but from the beginning it was not so.
19:9 And I tell you,
every man that has put away, or shall put away his wife,
except it be for fornication, and takes another,
commits adultery. And whoever takes the divorced also
commits adultery.
(Mt. 19:3-9 HRV)
Notice that divorce and polygamy equally fall under the violation of the Yesod HaBriah. Neither actually violates the Torah itself, but both violate a halachic principle that is in keeping with the true intent of YHWH.
But this new doctrine is nothing more than an attempt to circumvent the true and historical meaning of Matthew 19:3-9 and rationalize both divorce and polygamy. By simply determining that a husband and wife are not in complete and perfect agreement, the Matthew 19 protections for monogamous marriage are stripped away.
By
James Scott Trimm
There is a new and very dangerous doctrine that is threatening marriages. In the past we have always understood Yeshua’s statements in Matthew 19 as discouraging both divorce and polygamy, but this new doctrine ultimately turns these verses on their head and twists them into support for both divorce and polygamy.
The new doctrine begins by redefining the Hebrew word ECHAD “one”. Of course the Shema tells us that YHWH is “one” (ECHAD) and thus there are age old doctrinal debates over whether or not ECHAD refers to a singularity or a composite unity. The doctrine begins by defining ECHAD to mean “complete and perfect unity” and by extension “complete and perfect agreement.”
The danger comes when this new definition is then applied to Gen. 2:24 and Matthew 19:5-6 where a married couple are referenced as “two become one”. Now traditionally we have all understood this to be a condemnation of divorce and an implied condemnation of polygamy. But the new doctrine “redefines” “one” here to mean “complete and perfect unity” and more importantly “complete and perfect agreement.”
With the new definition the words are given new meaning:
4 And He answered and said to them: Have you not read, that He who made man at the
beginning, made them male and female (Gen. 1:27; 5:2).
5 And said: Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave
to his wife, and they shall become one flesh? (Gen. 2:24)
6 And now they are no more two, but one flesh only. What therefore Elohim has joined
together, man cannot separate.
7 But they said, And why did Moshe then command to give a bill of divorcement, and
to put her away if she was not pleasing in his sight? (Deut. 24:1)
8 And He answered them and said: Because Moshe, on account of the hardness of your
hearts, allowed you to put away your wives: but from the beginning, it was not so.
9 And I tell you, that every man that has put away, or shall put away, his wife--except it
be for fornication, and takes another--commits adultery: and whoever takes the divorced,
also commits adultery
(Matt. 19:4-9 HRV)
But since “one” is understood now to mean “complete and perfect agreement” then a couple who are not in “complete and perfect agreement” are said by this new doctrine to be “not echad”. Since they are “not echad” then Elohim did not join them together in the first place. Thus the new doctrine says that if a husband and wife are not in complete and perfect agreement, they can be divorced without violating the provision of this passage… in fact it can even be argued that they are not truly married in YHWH’s eyes in the first place, because they are “not echad”.
In addition the provision against polygamy is nullified by this new doctrine as well, because Yeshus speaks here of “two becoming one” but if the two are not ECHAD under this new doctrine, then the husband can marry another woman with whom he believes he IS ECHAD without divorcing the woman with whom he is not ECHAD
On one extreme, if Bill has been married to Sally for 20 years and then decides he wants to marry Susan, and Sally does not agree to be part of a polygamous marriage, then this proves that Bill and Sally are “not ECHAD” and so Bill is free to divorce Sally or enter a polygamous marriage with Susan regardless of Sally’s feelings.
Now obviously this new doctrine is repugnant to civilized people on the very surface, but lets examine the Scriptural reasons that this dangerous new doctrine is so wrong.
First of all the word ECHAD does not always refer to a unity of complete and perfect unity. In Gen. 11:6 we are told that those who built the tower of Babel were “one people” but no doubt they were not in complete and perfect agreement.
Second the unity of a husband and wife also involves submitting “one to another” (Eph. 5:21) and the husband loving the wife like his own soul (Eph. 5:25).
But most importantly this new doctrine seeks to circumvent the very point Yeshua is making in Matthew 19.
One of the halachic principles which distinguished the Essenes from the Pharisees (whom the Essenes termed “Wall Builders”) was a principle the Essenes called “Yesod HaB’riah” (The Principle/Foundation of Creation).
The Pharisees were divided on the issue of divorce. The House of Shammai allowed divorce only in the case of an “unclean matter” (adultery) while the House of Hillel allowed divorce even if the wife only spoiled a dish, and Akiva stretched this to allow a man to divorce his wife because he found a prettier one (m.Gittin 9:10)
The Essenes said the Pharisees had fallen into a trap of Belial saying:
They are caught in…Fornication, by taking two wives
in their lifetime although the Principle of Creation (Yesod HaBriah)
is “male and female He Created them” (Gen. 1:27) and those who
entered the ark “went into the ark two by two” (Gen. 7:9). Concerning
the Leaders it is written “he shall not multiply wives to himself” (Dt. 17:17)
(Damascus Document 4,20-5,2)
The Essenes were accusing the Pharisees of effectively practicing polygamy in allowing divorce so easily, and in doing so, violating the Yesod HaBriah.
No doubt Messiah is citing Yesod HaBriah (The Principle of Creation) when he has the following halachic debate with a group of Pharisees:
19:3 And the P’rushim approached him, and tempted him,
saying, “Is it right for a man to put away his wife for every cause?”
19:4 And he answered and said to them:
"Have you not read that he who made man the beginning,
'made them male and female' (Gen. 1:27)
19:5 And said,
'Wherefore shall a man shall leave his father
and his mother, and cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh' (Gen. 2:24)
19:6 And now then, they are no more two but one flesh
only. What therefore Elohim has joined together man cannot separate."
19:7 But they said,
"And why then did Moshe then command
to give a bill of divorcement, and to put her away
if she was not pleasing in his sight?” (Deut. 24:1, 3)
19:8 And he answered them and said,
"Because Moshe on account of the hardness of your hearts,
allowed you to put away your wives,
but from the beginning it was not so.
19:9 And I tell you,
every man that has put away, or shall put away his wife,
except it be for fornication, and takes another,
commits adultery. And whoever takes the divorced also
commits adultery.
(Mt. 19:3-9 HRV)
Notice that divorce and polygamy equally fall under the violation of the Yesod HaBriah. Neither actually violates the Torah itself, but both violate a halachic principle that is in keeping with the true intent of YHWH.
But this new doctrine is nothing more than an attempt to circumvent the true and historical meaning of Matthew 19:3-9 and rationalize both divorce and polygamy. By simply determining that a husband and wife are not in complete and perfect agreement, the Matthew 19 protections for monogamous marriage are stripped away.
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