Christian view of marriage

In the Christian faith, marriage is viewed as a lifelong union of a man and a woman in the eyes of God. The central text is from the gospel of Matthew.

"...For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." Matthew 19: 5-6

Virtually all Christian denominations frown on divorce, although some more harshly than others. Catholic Christianity views divorce as literally impossible and non-existent; once a couple weds, there is no way to dissolve the marriage. Soon after the development of this rule a loophole rule developed; a couple could effect want amounted to a divorce if they could prove that their marriage was invalid in the first place; this technique was known as an annullment. Today Catholics in the US can easily attain annullments, although they usually require large financial donations to their church.

View of Orthodox Chrisitians

View of Protestant Christians

In most countries with religious Christian majorities, civil divorce is legally available and fairly common. Whether or not this civil divorce is recognized by a church varies from denomination to denomination.

Also see the entry on Religious aspects of marriage for all religions.

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