Lightfoot Archives - Weldon Langfield

IS “ADULTERY” CONTINUOUS IN MATTHEW 19:9?

Posted on February 12, 2019February 14, 2020 by WLPublications

Matthew 19:9 says, “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery” (NASB). Other versions translate “immorality” with the word “adultery.” Some preachers teach that the Greek word for “commits” is a verb tense ¹ that indicates continuous action. If true, the passage literally translated would read, “…Whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman, keeps on committing adultery.” (Emphasis mine—WL). They conclude that some married couples commit adultery each time they have intimate relations. Homewrecking evangelists have incited couples to break up their marriages in order to stop continuous adultery.

HAILEY AND LIGHTFOOT ON DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE

Posted on February 7, 2017February 13, 2020 by WLPublications

HOMER HAILEY

Homer Hailey taught Bible at Abilene Christian College from 1934 to 1951, and was vice president and Bible department head of Florida College for over two decades. Hailey wrote Attitudes and Consequences in the Restoration Movement, Let’s Go Fishing for Men, Commentary on the Minor Prophets, That You May Believe, Hailey’s Comments, Vols. 1 and 2, commentaries on Revelation and Isaiah,¹ and The Divorced and Remarried who Would Come to God. He was, in his lifetime, perhaps the most prominent non-institutional scholar. During my preaching career, Homer Hailey was known for holding a “different” position on divorce and remarriage. He was famous for saying, “You can’t unscramble eggs.” The meaning is clear. Undoing a marriage is like trying to unscramble eggs.