El corazón de un líder requiere de un amor que se involucre en las luchas y problemas que sus seguidores enfrenten en la vida, un amor que confrontará con la seguridad que proviene del conocimiento de Dios y sus propósitos en nuestras vidas. Para llevar a cabo el propósito de formar líderes, el formador de líderes debe tener:
It is not our primary purpose in this book to analyze the history of interpretations of the biblical text, especially with a view to discover the traditional “Christian” view. In one sense, Christians of all times have the same homework to do. The inspired text determines the limits of position; extra-biblical interpretations serve only as suggestions. Although the positions of the early Church are generally given deference, being closer to the actual teachings themselves, they must neither be given undue weight nor be accepted uncritically.
kàritu‚t: to dismiss. The technical term for divorce or divorcement is kàritu‚t. The root of this word is bàti‚t, the word for “covenant,” which means to “cut off.” The idea of the root is that a covenant was an agreement solemnized by the cutting up of an animal, just as God had cut up the animals and passed between them in the covenant with Abraham (Gen. 15:18).
In his commentary on Matthew 19:9, D. A. Carson says that
if the remarriage clause is excluded, the thought becomes nonsensical: “Anyone who divorces his wife, except for porneia, commits adultery”—surely untrue unless he remarries.574
Carson obviously believes that adultery does not happen until the second marriage is consummated. Before dealing with the question of nonsexual adultery, let me give some background related to his key verse.
It is my belief that a chronological approach is best for understanding the meaning of a text. God is a God of order, and he is fully aware that present understanding is based upon prior understanding. That is why I spent so much time explicating the Old Testament first. But though it is clear that the teaching of Jesus is prior to that of his followers, it is not clear to many exactly what Jesus said to his followers (as opposed to what they said he said) or what sayings Jesus said first.
When Henry VIII sought the counsel of Martin Luther, the great German Reformer, on the morality of divorcing Catherine, he was told that it would be a lesser evil to simply marry Anne Boleyn as well! This is not considered the best advice given by the German reformer. In fact, it is not advisable for any theologian to write favorably of bigamy (two spouses), polygamy (multiple marriages), or polygyny (multiple wives).
The following is a summary. Each of the statements and explanations has been previously argued in detail in the body of the book, and this summery is no substitute for what is found there.
It now falls to me to summarize the work. If you found this location by scanning the Table of Contents and were tempted to get a jump on things by coming here first, resist that temptation. In some instances the positions stated here may not even be understandable without detailed explanation. At least one scholarly reviewer admitted that he substituted summary sections for reading the whole book (including footnotes) and his review was loaded with misunderstandings. If a scholar can’t understand it by reading summaries, probably no one else will either.
“Love endures ail things…”
(1 Corinthians 13:7)
“… as long as her husband lives.”
(1 Corinthians 7:39)
