THE BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE ON MARRIAGE IN THE CONTEXT OF DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE IN AFRICA: A PANACEA FOR PEACFUL COEXISTENCE

Abstract

Marriage is an age long institution said to be established by the Creator of the Universe Himself for the purpose of procreation, companionship, unity, love and pleasure. The marriage institution is the bedrock for every society as it helps in modelling and shaping individuals and communities for rapid growth and development. To this end, a divorced marriage certainly has its own repercussions on the family; husband, wife, children and even the community and society at large. To the African, marriage means more than husband and wife relationship as it extends beyond the extended family to the community. This is very much unlike the western concept of marriage where it is viewed as a husband and wife issue, tending to be more individualistic. The African worldview on the institution of marriage is therefore not in agreement with somewesterners’concept of marriage. The incursion of western foreign cultures on marriage has impacted adversely on the African marriage institution. This has resulted in many divorce cases, giving rise to many social vices such as prostitution, child pregnancy, baby mothers, state of insecurity and insurgency, kidnapping, and drug abuse among other societal problems. This paper attempts to briefly consider African worldview on marriage in preChristian era, that is, before the coming of missionaries. It will also consider the Biblical perspective on marriage, divorce,the justification for remarriage or otherwise, and its impact on the coexistence in African societies.