New book affirms: divine law cannot change
A series of important studies about marriage and Communion are being published in the new book, Remaining in the Truth of Christ, which will soon be available in bookstores.
In connection with the article, Kasper responds to criticism: "the pope approved", we provided a link to some excerpts from a new book, Remaining in the Truth of Christ: Marriage and Communion in the Catholic Church, which Ignatius Press will be making available in October.
The purpose of this scholarly volume is put forth succinctly by the Augustinian editor, Fr. Robert Dodaro:
The essays in this volume represent the responses of five Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church and four other scholars to the book The Gospel of the Family, published earlier this year by Walter Cardinal Kasper. Kasper’s book contains the address he gave during the Extraordinary Consistory of Cardinals held on February 20-21, 2014.” (p. 11)
“The authors of this volume jointly contend that the New Testament presents Christ as unambiguously prohibiting divorce and remarriage on the basis of God’s original plan for marriage set out at Genesis 1:27 and 2:24. The ‘merciful’ solution to divorce advocated by Cardinal Kasper is not unknown ‘in the ancient Church, but virtually none of the writers who survive and whom we take to be authoritative defend it; indeed when they mention it, it is rather to condemn it as unscriptural. There is nothing surprising in that situation; abuses may exist occasionally, but their mere existence is no guarantee of their not being abuses, let alone being models to be followed.’ ...These are not a series of rules made up by the Church; they constitute divine law, and the Church cannot change them.” (pp. 34-35)
The book includes chapters that study these important matters:
- Dominical [i.e., Jesus’] Teaching on Divorce and Remarriage: The Biblical Data
- Divorce and Remarriage in the Early Church: Some Historical and Cultural Reflections
- Separation, Divorce, Dissolution of the Bond, and Remarriage: Theological and Practical Approaches of the Orthodox Churches
- Unity and Indissolubility of Marriage: From the Middle Ages to the Council of Trent
- Testimony to the Power of Grace: On the Indissolubility of Marriage and the Debate concerning the Civilly Remarried and the Sacraments
- The Divorced and Civilly Remarried and the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Penance
- The Canonical Nullity of the Marriage Process as the Search for the Truth
In advance of the book's publication, we have provided some excerpts from each section, which refute the erroneous statements of Cardinal Kasper.
