All Christians realise that  _______________________________________________________________

But there are different views about whether ___________________ should be allowed. In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus says that a man can divorce his wife if ___________________________________________ but in _________________________________ divorce is not allowed at all.

Today the ____________________________ teaches that marriage is a ______________________ . It cannot be ____________________ . Married couples may live apart but they cannot ______________. Occasionally a marriage can be______________________. This means that the marriage never really existed. Reasons for an annulment might be:

1. _______________________________________________________________
2. _______________________________________________________________

Other churches like the Church of England have different beliefs. They allow divorce if a couple believe that _______________________________________________________________________. After the divorce both partners are free ____________________________________.

It is up to the _______________________________ to decide whether they may marry ______________.

All Christian churches try to help couples to make marriages work. They may do these things:

1. ______________________________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________________________
3. _______________________________________________________________

Part c Question:

"If a couple get married they should stay together for life." Do you agree? Give reasons to support your answer, and show you have thought about different points of view. You must refer to Christianity in your answer.

Use the information on Christian beliefs about the ethics of divorce to answer this question. You may find these headings helpful to structure your answer:

Reasons to support the statement (refer to Christian arguments against divorce)

Reasons against the statement (refer to reasons why some Christians allow divorce)