PD: "My opponent says passages like Matthew 15:39 ("And he sent away the multitude") show "put away" (Strong's #630) doesn't mean divorce."
RW: Pat's opponent is the word of God, and he should listen to it instead of being determined to prove it wrong because it contradicts his tradition.
PD: "He's right that apoluo doesn't mean divorce in Matt 14:15, 22, 15:39. The word has different meanings depending upon the context. Other meanings given by Thayer are: set free, dismiss, release, depart. Don't all words have more than one meaning?" "Remember, when I defined "apoluo" from the Greek lexicons, I said that - "I am only going to quote the definition that applies to the marriage passages." The fact is the word means "divorce" when the New Testament is talking about the breaking up of a marriage."
"Everyone knows that "put away" in the marriage passages means divorce: everyone, that is, BUT MY OPPONENT!"
RW: Yes, words can have different meanings. And, yes, apoluo did and can mean divorce to some people, but NOT to those who respect God's word, know where to look to see how God defines it, and are committed to accepting the truth regardless of one's tradition. Thayer, after listing many meanings that are obviously totally unrelated to divorce, said, "Used of divorce." Indeed, it was, and is to this day, but Jesus knew better and did not use it that way. Instead, He pointed His enemies back to the Law when He asked them, "What did Moses command you?" (Mark 10:3).
Everyone who has honestly or even haphazardly studied this subject knows, including Pat Donahue, how God defined divorce. It is found in Deut. 24:1,2; and Jeremiah 3:8. Anyone who reads these passages should immediately understand that the "sending away" (putting away) is only part of the divorce process and that without the certificate of divorce, the woman is NOT free to "go and be another man's wife." In His teaching on this, God made it clear that he did not just "put away," but gave Israel a divorce certificate that allowed her to marry without guilt, as evidenced by Christ's marriage to her (Rom. 7:1, 4).
Because of the misunderstanding regarding the meaning of divorce, Pat has Jesus contradicting the Law that allowed the woman who was properly divorced to "go and be another man's wife." The clear and simple truth is that the woman Jesus said would commit adultery if she married would do so, but NOT because she was divorced, rather, because she was NOT divorced. There is zero chance that Pat's teaching is correct because it involves a prophet of God who was obligated to teach the Law yet contradicts it outright. This prophet was our Savior, who the Scriptures tell us was without sin, which was essential to be a proper sacrifice for our sins. Therefore, the consequences of Pat's teaching ("forbidding to marry," which is "doctrines of devils") are that everyone remains in their sins because Jesus sinned.
When one understands the true meaning of divorce, and what Jesus taught and did not teach, one can then understand the exception clause: "Except it be for fornication." In the first place, it is fornication, not adultery. We have TWO examples of what Jesus was talking about: 1) The man who had his father's wife (1 Cor. 5); and 2) Herodias, who, contrary to the Law, married his brother's wife while his brother was still living (Matt. 14:4; Liv. 18:16; 20:21). In the second place, Jesus explained the "exception" when He stated that "Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her" (Mark 10:11). This sending away without a divorce certificate prevented her from marrying. It was "adultery against her." This was the man’s sin. (He did not sin by marrying another, as is commonly taught today.) But if he put her away because of fornication, because the marriage was not legal (incest), he would not be guilty of this sin.
My 280-page book, Put Away But Not Divorced, consists of 40 chapters, four of which focus on analyzing the interpretation of the "exception clause." This topic has often been evaluated prematurely, resulting in significant adverse outcomes.