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TEACHING OF CHRIST
27
and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man also shall be ashamed of him, when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy angels'. Beyond all question for the Church, and for all who desire to call themselves Christians, it is absolutely out of the question to regard those as married who, having been divorced, have been married again contrary to the law of Christ, during the lifetime of their former partner. It is quite true that this indissolubility of marriage may press hardly upon individuals in exceptional cases. But so does every law which is for the welfare of mankind in general: and, press it hardly or softly, the words of our Lord are quite unmistakable. He who refused to legislate on so many subjects legislated on this, and the simple question arises whether we prefer the authority of Christ to any other authority whatever."[1]
The attentive reader will detect a fallacy in the different senses of the crucial word "law." The "law" of Christ's kingdom is a moral principle; the "law" which "the parliaments or kings on earth" can alone "alter" is a statute of the realm. They do not "override the law of Christ" when, following the example of Moses, which Christ certainly sanctioned, they recognise "the hardness of men's hearts" as a reason for permitting in
- ↑ Page 69 f.
