Robertson: Divorce Your Wife With Alzheimer's

The Church Report ^ | Thursday, September 15, 2011

[GOPJ]

Terry Meeuwsen, Robertson's co-host, asked him about couples' marriage vows to take care of each other "for better or for worse" and "in sickness and in health." "If you respect that vow, you say `til death do us part,'" Robertson said during the Tuesday broadcast. "This is a kind of death."

"Cancer" is a "kind of death" too. Same with serious depression. Yep, those are a 'kinds of death' too...

The new vows will read, 'until it quits being fun'...

[GOPJ]

She is defined by some function, some role, some human expression, some intention.

If 'marriage' is an employment contract - why not just write it that way? Benefits, sick days, pay... It's one or the other...

[TASMANIANRED]

I'm not supporting either position..just seeking clarity of interpretation.

[RitaOK]

I was quite in error, as it turns out, and certainly apologize to all.

[cizinec]

I’ve read the Bible all the way through more than once. The Holy Spirit has never “moved” me to believe that because a man looks a little too long at another woman, he should be stoned.

[LadyDoc]

from a pastoral point, he's being compassionate, but from a strict theological point of view he is wrong.

On the other hand, in the early church, there were a lot of bishops who said if the spouse had leprosy it was okay to divorce him or her or remarry (Leprosy meant you had to be isolated away from others, making normal relations with a spouse impossible).

[redgolum]

My Grandpa was hard man. Mean. Not a nice guy.

He stayed with his second wife as she died from Alzheimer’s. He stopped farming, the only thing he truly loved to do, and drove into town every day to sit with her till evening. He did it till he no longer could because of his own declining health. That is love.

My Robertson is at best a bad theologian. I suspect he has had someone close to him who did this, and is trying to support them.

[redgolum]

The case in question involved a man whose wife was in a home with Alzheimer’s, and was seeing another woman.

The case you stated is simply fraud, not adultery. It might land someone in jail though.

[BunnySlippers]

He’s always been a crack pot. He’s disgusting and wrong!

[tjd1454]

My mother suffered through dementia in her last years and my father took great care of her though out. It was a very hard time for all of us. But my father fulfilled his mission and his commitment to her and it was a beautiful thing. His care defined the institution of marriage.

What a beautiful testimony to Christ-like love. I have seen it also. What is astounding is that someone with a lifetime of ministry behind them would fail to understand something that is at the very heart of Christianity. God does not abandon the weak and helpless.

This reveals arrogance: the smug "spiritualized" pride of someone who has experienced great successes - who has personally profited greatly from his ministry - and who trusts in his own wisdom rather than submitting to the Holy Spirit who most certainly did not inspire the incomprehensible advice that someone abandon the wife of their youth in their hour of greatest need.

Perhaps realizing the folly of his own ill-spoken words, Robertson then attempts to shirk responsibility by advising the individual to seek the opinion of an "ethicist." Well, what about your responsibility as a preacher of the Gospel, Mr. Robertson? Why are you, after building a lifetime of ministry on the claim that the Holy Spirit was leading you, suddenly deferring judgment to some vague "ethicist"?

I watched the 700 club for years and believe they do good work. However, IMHO Pat Robertson would do well to step aside and turn over the reins of power to others.

[little jeremiah]

That is love. Giving of yourself, with no thought of return. Such times show what people are made of.

[nonsporting]

I’ve read the Bible all the way through more than once. The Holy Spirit has never “moved” me to believe that because a man looks a little too long at another woman, he should be stoned.

Nor I. The Bible says: "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery already in his heart." (Matthew 5:32)

Note that phrase "in his heart." This is where sin has its start. "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." (James 1:15)

God says adulterous "acts" are to be punished with death, not adulterous "thoughts". But adulterous thoughts may lead to acts. Don't even go there.

We may not like what the Bible says, but God himself spoke these things (Leviticus 20:1) to Moses: "And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death." (Leviticus 20:10)

Both are to be put to death, especially the man. John 8 says the woman was caught in the act: "They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act." (John 8:4)

Where was the guy? These jews sought to trick Jesus in the unlawful application of the law. The law requires that BOTH be put to death, not just the adulteress. Jesus knew this. He's the author of the law, he spoke these words to Moses.