Therefore they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.
Read Chapter 19
John Chrysostom
AD 407
And see how He says, He which made them at the beginning, made them male and female, that is, from one root they sprung, and into one body came they together, for the two shall be one flesh.
After this, to make it a fearful thing to find fault with this lawgiving, and to confirm the law, He said not, Sever not therefore, nor put asunder, but, What God has joined together, let not man put asunder.
. O what mindlessness! They thought they would confound Christ by their questions, for if He said it was lawful to divorce one’s wife for any reason, they would say to Him, "Why then did you say, Let not a man divorce his wife unless only she be an adulteress?" (Mt. 5:32). But if He said it was not lawful for a man to divorce his wife they would slander Him as a lawgiver at variance with Moses. For Moses had decreed that if a man hated his wife he should divorce her even without reasonable cause (Deut. 24:3). What then does Christ say? He shows that monogamy is the work and law of Him Who created us at the beginning. For at the beginning, He says, God joined together one man and one woman. So it is not right that one man should be joined to many women, or one woman to many men. But as they were joined together at the beginning, so they should remain, not sundering the marital union without good cause. Jesus did not say, "It is I Who made them male and female," not wanting to vex the Ph...
