Christianity as a whole cannot decide on whether a divorced couple should be ever allowed to become married again, or whether this second marriage can take place but just not in a church. Christians that belong to the Church of England do not in principle accept divorce. Some vicars that belong to the Church of England allow divorced couples to remarry in church while others will bless a remarried couple after a civil ceremony. Christians that belong to the Church of England allow divorce on the grounds of adultery because they claim that they are following Jesus’ law.
Many free churches accept divorce and allow remarriage in a church ceremony. They believe that marriage ends with the death of the love between the couple, and free churches usually encourage a new relationship. Many Free Churches talk about forgiveness and allow remarriage. They use the bible as a guild,
‘If any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her’ John 8v1-11
Although Christians don’t agree with divorce and remarriage and can disallow it in their churches and refuse to marry divorced couples, divorce as a whole cannot be banned altogether because marry people don’t marry for love now a days, e.g. marry others for money etc.
In Islam, Muslims that follow the Hadith believe that divorce is wrong
‘With Allah the most hateful of things made lawful is divorce.’
The basic principle for Muslims is that marriage should last until the death of one of the partners. Divorce is, therefore, the last resort only to be used when attempts to save a marriage have failed. The couple are incapable of continuing in a mutual partnership.
Divorce is permitted in Islam and is also severely disapproved of. Although once divorced or widowed Muslim men and women are encouraged to remarry, widows and widowers may remarry after three months. It is considered virtuous (good) to marry a widow. A pregnant woman may not remarry until after the baby is born. It is a lot harder for a Muslim to get divorced then a Christian. A Muslim has to go through many stages, it is also harder for a Muslim woman to get a divorce than it is for a Christian woman to get one.
If, as is most common, the divorce is initiated by the man, he is not required to justify the divorce in court, he only has to repeat the words “I divorce you” in front of witnesses three times at monthly intervals. If a Muslim couple get divorced the man must pay his ex-wife the sum of money (mehr) he promised her when they married.
In Islamic law the children of divorced parents may be raised by the mother during their infancy, (which is up to 7 for boys and up to 11 for girls). Even when the children are with their mother, they remain under the guardianship of their farther. He is responsible for supporting and educating them. He may also remove them from their mothers care if he thinks this is best for them.
- “Marriages between people of different religions don’t work.”
How far do you agree with this statement? Give reasons for your answer and refer to the two religions you are studying. Christianity and Islam.
I think that marriages between different religions can work, but there are many reasons why it would be impossible if the couple were committed to their two different religions, prayer would also be a problem because Christians prayer when they want to compared to Muslims who pray at set times during the day, Islam and Christianity both have one God, Allah and God, rather than worshipping many different Gods however the trinity might cause a problem claiming that God is three different people, which isn’t the case, lifestyle could cause arguments for the married couple, for example using the bathroom. Bringing up children would be very hard especially if the were committed because the children would not know which faith to follow, Muslims and Christians have different opinions about how children should be raised and brought into this world, Another problem would be if either of the couple wanted to perform polygamy, although it cannot take place if he doesn’t get permission off his first wife it could still cause disagreements, Muslims and Christians both have different ways of worshipping, even though the couple could try both ways and see which one they like best, they will probably end up like they were in the first place. If some one is not devout and aren’t that committed to their faith it wouldn’t be a problem to marry outside her/his religion, Marriage between different religions would cause a multicultural society. They do believe in one God. Muslims and Christians aren’t born into their religions so either one of the partners could convert.
