Remarriage

Marrying again after divorce or the death of a spouse. Part of Marriage.

Passages that substantially address this topic, in date order.

• Shepherd of Hermas, Mandate 4.1.10 (29.10)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Separated spouses must stay unmarried because repentance is possible.
• Shepherd of Hermas, Mandate 4.1.6 (29.6)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · The husband should separate but not remarry; remarriage is adultery.
• Shepherd of Hermas, Mandate 4.1.8 (29.8)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · The husband must take back a repentant wife; this is why he must not remarry. The rule applies equally to both.
• Shepherd of Hermas, Mandate 4.4.1 (32.1)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Hermas asks whether a widow or widower sins by remarrying.
• Shepherd of Hermas, Mandate 4.4.2 (32.2)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Remarriage after a spouse's death is no sin, though remaining single brings more honor.
• First Apology 15Justin Martyr · ca. 150–155 · Christ's teaching on purity, divorce, celibacy, repentance, love of enemies, generosity, and trust in God.
• To Autolycus 3.13Theophilus of Antioch · ca. 180–185 · Scripture forbids unchastity even in thought; the Gospel forbids lustful looks, marrying a divorced woman, and divorce except for sexual immorality.
• A Plea for the Christians 33Athenagoras · ca. 176–180 · Christians marry only for children, many remain celibate, and marriage is for life: divorce and remarriage, and even remarriage after a spouse's death, are condemned as adultery.
• Miscellanies 2.23.145Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Marriage must be kept pure like a sacred image, with prayer morning and night and decency in word and deed; Scripture forbids divorce except for sexual immorality and counts remarriage adultery while the other spouse lives.
• Miscellanies 2.23.146Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · A wife is beyond suspicion through modesty, prayer, and care of her home; whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery, and the man who divorces her makes her an adulteress, as does the one who receives her, since otherwise she would return to her husband.
• Miscellanies 3.1.4Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Self-control covers the tongue, possessions, and desires, and is a gift of divine grace; the church blesses celibacy given by God, admires a single marriage, bears with others' weakness, and permits second marriage to those who burn.
• Miscellanies 3.11.74Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Paul wants the church presented as a pure virgin to Christ, its only Bridegroom; but each believer may lawfully marry, meaning a first marriage; Paul fears deception like Eve's.
• Miscellanies 3.12.80Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Paul's image of the wife bound to her husband applies allegorically to the church's union with the risen Christ; his permission for a widow to remarry “only in the Lord” and his preference that she remain establishes monogamy, and does not make marriage devilish.
• Miscellanies 3.12.82Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Paul's “come together again” prevents temptation; Christ, the same Lord of law and gospel, replaced polygamy with monogamy; second marriage after a spouse's death is permitted but falls short of the gospel's perfection; baptism replaces the law's washings after intercourse.
• Miscellanies 3.12.88Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · We become children again, reborn through water; the married too may care for the Lord's things, and both wife and virgin are holy in the Lord; Paul speaks sternly to restrain those inclined to a second marriage.
• Miscellanies 3.12.89Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · To call marriage fornication is blasphemy; fornication, like idolatry, is falling from the one to the many, and defilement is union with another's body; Paul wants younger widows to marry and bear children.
• Miscellanies 3.18.108Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Paul, citing the Lord, forbids divorce, requiring a separated wife to remain unmarried or be reconciled; he also makes good household management a qualification for bishops; this refutes those who say marriage belongs only to the old law.
• Miscellanies 3.6.50Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Christ's saying about eunuchs followed the disciples' question about divorce: they asked whether a man could remarry after putting away an adulterous wife; even pagan athletes and musicians practiced sexual abstinence.
• On Patience 12Tertullian · ca. 198–206 · Patience makes peace and forgiveness possible, waits for the repentance of sinners (even a separated spouse), and is the source of the love Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 13.
• Against Marcion 1.29Tertullian · 207/208 (third edition, completed later) · Marcion baptized only the celibate and those who divorced, condemning marriage; Tertullian answers that marriage is good, blessed by the Creator, and that celibacy is better only as a free choice, while abolishing marriage would destroy both holiness and the human race.
• Against Marcion 4.34Tertullian · 207/208 (third edition, completed later) · Tertullian argues that Christ's saying on divorce and remarriage forbids putting away a wife in order to marry another, allows divorce for adultery as Moses did, and was aimed at Herod's unlawful marriage; the parable of the rich man and Lazarus likewise upholds Moses and the prophets.
• Refutation of All Heresies 9.12.22Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · Hippolytus complains that under Callistus men married more than once were ordained, and clergy who married after ordination kept their office, justified by Rom 14:4 and the parable of the weeds.