ToB: In the Beginning

Matthew 19: 3-9
3. Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?" 4. And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, 5. and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'?

6. "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." 7. They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?" 8. He said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. 9. "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery."

So, I've started on Theology of the Body. I've only read what serves as the introduction. Pope John Paul II starts off by discussing the indissolubility of marriage.

It's just the introduction, of course, so the themes will be expanded later on, but in this small section the focus was on Jesus' emphasis on the beginning.

That divorce came about later, because of men, not God. God's perfect, intended arrangement, was for man and woman to come together as one. He quotes from Genesis 2:24, directly, stating that 'the two shall become one flesh'. But even more than that, He extends the teaching, 'what therefore God has joined together, let no man separate'.

God intends for a couple to work together. To solve their problems. And I'm by *no* means advocating staying in an abusive relationship. But that falls into the 'hardness of heart' category - because of man's flaws, God has allowed for divorce. But it was not that way in the beginning. It's almost as though allowances have to be made in the perfect plan, because of free will. Because of the seemingly limitless capacity of humans to screw the pooch.