A Mindless Divorce

Ἐῥῥέθη δὲ ὅτι ὃς ἄν ἀπολύσῃ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ, δότω αὐτῇ ἀποστάσιον... Ὁ τὴν σώφρονα ἐκβάλλων δίδωσιν αὐτῇ ἄδειαν ἄλλῳ γαμηθῆναι, ὅπερ ἐστὶν εἴδος μοιχείας, ὠσανεὶ μὴ λυθείσης συζυγίας· οὐ γὰρ τὰ ῥεποὺδια παρὰ Θεῷ λύει τὸν γάμον, ἀλλ' ἡ ἄτοπος πρᾶξις. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον Εὐάγγελιον Source:  Migne PG 72.380d

And it was said that whoever would dismiss his wife, let him give her a bill of divorce... 1   He who casts out wisdom and gives her freedom to be married to another, this is a type of adultery, for it is not as if the bond is broken; no bill of divorce releases from the marriage to God, but it is an irrational act. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Fragment 1 Mt 5.31

Marriage And The Beginning

Invenimus nos ad initiam dirigi a Christo, sicut in quaestione repudii dicens illud propter duritiam  ipsorum a Moyse esse permissum, ab initio autem non ita fuisse, sine dubio ad initium revocat matrimonii  individuitatem; ideoque quos Deus ab initio coniunxit in unam carnem duos, hodie homo non separabit. Dicit et apostolus scribens ad Ephesios Deum proposuisse in semetipso ad dispensationem  adimpletionis temporum ad caput, id est ad initium, reciprocare universa in Christo, quae sunt super caelos et super terras in ipso.  Sic et duas Graeciae litteras, summam et ultimam, sibi induit dominus, initii et finis concurrentium in se figuras, uti, quemadmodum A ad Ω usque volvitur et rursus Ω ad  A replicatur, ita ostenderet in se esse et initii decursum ad finem et finis reoursum ad initium, ut omnis dispositio in eo desinens, per quem coepta est, per sermonem scilicet dei, quia caro factus est, proinde desinat, quemadmodum et coepit. Et adeo in Christo omnia revocantur ad initium,  ut et fides reversa sit a circumcisione ad integritatem carnis illius, sicut ab initio fuit, et libertas ciborum et sanguinis solius abstinentia, sicut ab initio fuit, et matrimonii individuitas, sicut ab initio fuit, et repudii cohibitio, quod ab initio non fuit; et postremo totus homo in paradisum revocatur, ubi ab initio fuit. Cur ergo vel monogamum illo non debeat Adam  referre, qui non potest tam integrum quam inde dimissus est? Quantum pertinet itaque ad initii restitutionem, id a te exigit et dispositionis et spei tuae ratio, quod ab initio fuit; secundum initium, quod tibi et in Adam censetur et in Noe recensetur, elige, in quo eorum initium tuum deputes: in ambobus te sibi monogamiae censura defendit.  Sed et si initium transmittit  ad finem ut A ad Ω, quomodo finis remittit ad initium ut Ω ad A, atque ita census noster transfertur in Christum, animalis in spiritalem, quia non primo, quod spiritale est, sed quod animale,  dehinc quod spiritale, proinde videamus, an id ipsum debeas huic quoque censui secundo, an in eandem te formam conveniat novissimus quoque Adam in quam et primus, quando novissimus Adam, id est Christus, innuptus in totum, quod etiam primus Adam ante exilium.  Sed donato infirmitati  tuae carnis suae exemplo perfectior Adam, id est Christus, eo quoque nomine perfectior qua integrior, volenti quidem tibi spado occurrit in carne; si vero non sufficis, monogamus incurrit in spiritu, unam habens ecclesiam sponsam secundum figuram, quam apostolus in illud magnum sacramentum  interpretatur, in Christum et ecclesiam, competentes carnali monogamiae per spiritalem. Vides igitur, quemadmodum etiam in Christo novas censum non possis eum sine monogamiae  professione deferre, nisi carne sis, quod spiritu ille est, licet et quod fuit carne, aeque esse debueris.  Tertullianus, De Monogamia, Caput V Migne PL 2 935-6

We find ourselves directed to the beginning by Christ, just as, in the question of divorce, he says that it had been permitted by Moses on account of their hard hearts but that from the beginning it was not so, doubtless recalling to the beginning the indivisibility of marriage, and so those whom God from the beginning joined, two in one flesh, 1 today man shall not separate. And writing to the Ephesians the Apostle says that God 'had proposed in Himself, at the dispensation of the fulfillment of the times, to recall to the head' that is, to the beginning 'everything in Christ, which are above the heavens and above the earth in Him.' 2 So, also, two Greek letters, the first and the last, the Lord takes to Himself, as figures of the beginning and end 3 which join together in Him, so that, just as Alpha rolls on until it reaches Omega, and again Omega until it reaches Alpha, thus He shows in Himself both the downward course of the beginning to the end, and the backward course of the end to the beginning, so that every dispensation ending in Him through whom it began, that is, through the Word of God who was made flesh, may have an end corresponding to its beginning. And so in Christ are all things recalled to the beginning, that even faith returns from circumcision to the integrity of the flesh, as it was from the beginning; and freedom of foods and abstinence from blood alone, as it was from the beginning; and the indivisibility of marriage, as it was from the beginning; and the prohibition of divorce, which was not from the beginning; and finally the whole man is recalled into Paradise, where he was from the beginning. Why, then, should He not restore Adam there as a monogamist, who cannot have him as perfect as when he was dismissed? As much as it pertains to the restitution of the beginning, the reason of the dispensation you live under and of your hope demand this from you: that which was from the beginning in accordance with the beginning, which for you is counted in Adam, and recounted in Noah. Choose in which of the two you would have your beginning; in both the judgement of monogamy is maintained. But again, if the beginning passes on to the end, as Alpha to Omega, as the end passes back to the beginning, as Omega to Alpha, and thus our origin is transferred to Christ, the animal to the spiritual, because what is first is not spiritual, but what is animal, then comes what is spiritual, let us then see whether you owe the same to this second origin, whether the second Adam meet you in the same form as the first, since the second Adam, that is, Christ, was entirely unwedded, as was even the first before his expulsion. But the more perfect Adam, giving to your weakness the gift of the example of His own flesh, that is, Christ, more perfect as He was more entirely pure, comes before you, as a voluntary celibate in the flesh. If, however, you are unable, He stands a monogamist in spirit, having one Church as His spouse, which figure the Apostle interprets of that great sacrament of Christ and the Church, 4  the spiritual corresponding to carnal monogamy. You see, therefore, how, renewing your origin in Christ, you cannot follow it without the profession of monogamy; unless you be in the flesh what He is in spirit, and what He was in flesh, you equally should have been. Tertullian, On  Monogamy, from Chapter 5 1 Gen 2.24 2 Ephes 1.10 3 Apoc 1.8; 22.13 4 Ephes 5.22-33

Marriage And Discipline

Ἐλπίδα οὖν ζωῆς αἰωνίου ἔχοντες, τῶν ἐν τούτῳ τῷ βίῳ καταφρονοῦμεν, μέχρι καὶ τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς ἡδέων. Γυναῖκα μὲν ἔκαστος ἡμῶν, ἣν ἠγάγετο κατὰ τοὺς ὑφ' ἡμῶν τεθειμένους νόμους, νομίζων, καὶ ταύτην μέχρι τοῦ παιδοποιήσθαι. Ὡς γὰρ ὁ γεωργὸς καταβάλλων εἰς γῆν τὰ σπέρματα, ἅμητον περιμένει οὐκ ἐπισπείρων· καὶ ἡμῖν μέτρον ἐπιθυμίας ἡ παιδοποιία. Εὕροις δ' ἂν πολλοὺς τῶν παρ' ἡμῖν,καὶ ἄνδρας καὶ γυναῖκας, καταγηράσκοντας ἀγάμους, ἐλπίδι τοῦ μᾶλλον συνέσεσθαι τῷ Θεῷ. Εἰ δὲ τὸ ἐν παρθενίᾷ καὶ ἐν εὐνουχίᾳ μεῖναι, μᾶλλον παρίστησι τῷ Θεῷ, τὸ δὲ μέχρις ἐννοίας καὶ ἐπιθυμίας ἐλθεῖν ἀπάγει· ὦν τὰς ἐννοίας φεύγομεν, πολὺ πρότερον τὰ ἔργα παραιτούμεθα. Οὐ γὰρ μελέτῃ λόγων, ἀλλ' ἐπιδείξει καὶ διδασκαλίᾳ ἔργων τὰ ἡμέτερα· ἢ οἷός τις ἐτέχθη, μένειν, ἢ ἐφ' ἑνι γάμῳ. Ὁ γὰρ δεύτερος εὐπρεπής ἐστι μοιχεία. Ὃς γὰρ ἂν ἀπολύσῃ, φησὶ, τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ, καὶ γαμήσῃ ἄλλην, μοιχᾶται· οὔτε ἀπολύειν ἐπιτρέπων ἧς ἔπαυσέ τις τὴν παρθενίαν, οὔτε ἐπιγαμεῖν. Ὁ γὰρ ἀποστερῶν ἑαυτὸν τῆς προτέρας γυναικὸς, καὶ εἰ τέθνηκε, μοιχός ἐστι παρακεκαλυμμένος, παραβαίνων μὲν τὴν χεῖρα τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὅτι ἐν ἀρχῇ ὁ Θεὸς ἕνα ἄνδρα ἔπλασε καὶ μίαν γυναῖκα· λύων δὲ τὴν σάρκα πρὸς σάρκα κατὰ τὴν ἔνωσιν πρὸς μίξιν εἰς τοῦ γένους κοινωνίαν. Ἀθηναγόρος, Πρεσβεία Περί Χριστιανών Source: Migne PG 6.965a-966a

Hope, then, having of eternal life, we despise the things of this life, even unto the pleasures of the soul. Each of us reckons her his wife whom he has married according to the laws laid down by us, and this for child bearing. For as the farmer throwing down the seed into the earth awaits the harvest, not sowing more, so to us the measure of desire is the bearing of children. But you may find many among us, both men and women, growing old unmarried, in hope of binding themselves closer to God. But if remaining in maidenhood and as a eunuch brings one nearer to God, and the thought and desire lead away from Him, those thoughts we flee, well before we wish for the deed. For our care is not for words but for the showing and teaching of our deeds, that a man should either remain as born, or marry once. For a second marriage is only a fair seeming adultery. 'For he who divorces his wife,' He says, 'and marries another, is an adulterer,' 1 a man not being permitted to be rid of her whose virginity he has ended, nor to remarry. For he who rids himself of his first wife, even if she is dead, is a cloaked adulterer, fleeing from the hand of God, because in the beginning God made one man and one woman, while he severs the bond of flesh and flesh fashioned for the intercourse of the race. Athenagoras, from The Embassy For The Christians 1 Mt 19.9