Chapter 41—Counsels on Certain Marriage
Situations
A Case Where a Second Marriage was Justified
In regard to the marriage of your daughter with J, I see where you
are troubled. But the marriage took place with your consent, and your
daughter, knowing all about him, accepted him as her husband, and
now I can see no reason why you should carry any burden over this
matter. Your daughter loves J, and it may be that this marriage is in
the order of God in order that both J and your daughter may have a
richer Christian experience, and be built up where they are deficient.
Your daughter has pledged herself to J in marriage, and to break her
marriage vows would be far from right. She cannot now disannul
her obligations to him.... I had a personal knowledge of his former
relations with his first wife K. J loved K far too well; for she was not
worthy of his regard. He did all in his power to help her, and sought in
every possible way to retain her as his wife. He could not have done
more than he did do. I pleaded with her, and tried to show her the
inconsistency of her course, and begged her not to obtain a divorce;
but she was determined and willful and stubborn, and would have her
own way. While she lived with him, she sought to secure all the money
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possible from him, but she would not treat him kindly as a wife should
treat her husband.
J did not put his wife away. She left him, and put him away, and
married another man. I see nothing in the Scripture that forbids him to
marry again in the Lord. He has a right to the affection of a woman....
I cannot see that this new union should be disturbed. It is a serious
matter to part a man and his wife. There is no scriptural ground upon
which to take such a step in this case. He did not leave her, she left
him. He did not marry again until she had obtained a divorce. When K
divorced herself from J he suffered most keenly, and it was not until K
had married another man that J married again. The one he has chosen
I feel certain will be a help to him, and he can be a help to her....I see
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