"They received the Word with all readiness of mind and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.  Therefore many believed."--Acts 17:11

The Berean Christadelphians

Index

The Exceptive Clause

The Exceptive Clause is so named because of Matt. 5:32 and 19:9.  An exception is made by Jesus to God's divine marriage law in these verses, which permit divorce and remarriage where fornication has taken place.

Matt. 5:32  "But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery."

Matt. 19:8-9  "He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery."

In these verses, Jesus clearly taught that if a man put away his wife and married another, he is committing adultery except it be for fornication.  That is very clear and easy to understand.  To avoid the force of Jesus' words, some Christadelphians groups have come up with complicated and sophisticated arguments in an attempt remove meanings from words and thereby to nullify the obvious.

While it is impossible here to answer every minor objection that can be raised, we will try to explain generally, why we reject the arguments raised by the divorce groups.  We have placed four links at the bottom of this page which will take you through the principle arguments dealing specifically with the Exceptive Clause. 

I have borrowed very liberally from a paper by bro. G. V. Growcott written in 1971 during a time of controversy.  I have not changed the pronouns or rewritten much because all that he said, applies to myself as well.  The world, in its arrogance, would call this plagiarism.  But bro. Growcott long ago wrote to me to use his material any way I wished, with or without credits.  If it it Truth, then it is God's and not man's.

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The School of Shammai and Hillel

Did Jesus Teach the Mosaic Law?

An Exception is not a Contradiction

Twisting Words

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