Divorce

The termination of a marriage through the power of civil or ecclesiastical law. According to the New Testament, God permitted divorce under some conditions because of the hardness of the people’s hearts; however, as Jesus explained, “from the beginning it was not so” (Matt. 19:3–12). The scriptures counsel against divorce generally and advise husbands and wives to love each other in righteousness (1 Cor. 7:10–12; D&C 42:22).