A few years ago, brother Jack Farber and I were in El Salvador and two *North American missionaries working in Guatemala came to see us. They had heard of what they termed the “Valdosta Movement” through some preachers for the Lord’s church in El Salvador. Brother Jack and I met with these two brothers to discuss our infamous reputation. According to them, the El Salvadoran preachers had accused us (Latin American Missions/Forrest Park Church of Christ) of being non-biblical on marriage, divorce and remarriage, and teaching error on marriage period. The missionaries asked the El Salvadorans what our errors were. They stated, in effect, that: 1) We (LAM/FP) taught that individuals who had been married and divorced before they became Christians were subject to the teaching of Christ on marriage and divorce. That is, people who were in unscriptural marriages (i.e., adultery) before being baptized were still in unscriptural marriages (i.e., adultery) after being baptized. 2) We taught that people must be legally married by whatever government they live under to be considered married by the Lord. The El Salvadoran preachers said, "these teachings originated in Valdosta, Georgia!" Consequently, we were labeled as "The Valdosta Movement" or as teaching "the Valdosta Doctrine." After hearing what brother Jack and I believed and taught, the North American missionaries responded by saying that what we were teaching was not “The Valdosta Doctrine”; they said, “It’s Bible!”

The issue here is the origin or source of what any of us believe and teach. It must be “Bible” or it is simply error!

Upon examination of Matt. 19, we observe that Jesus was talking to unbelievers. “The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?’” (v. 3- Emphasis RL) These Pharisees were not interested in the truth on marriage, and, as unbelievers, were "testing" the Lord. In verses 4-6, Jesus refers to the book of Genesis for His first response: "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." Regardless of what else Jesus had to say on divorce, the application is for all men, seeing that Jesus reverts to the beginning of the human family. When presented with the allowance of Moses (actually God) on divorce, Jesus still goes back to Eden and says, "but from the beginning it was not so" (V. 8). The Lord continues, "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality (fornication KJV), and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery." (v. 9 - Emphasis RL). The "whoever" here again supports the Bible teaching that this is for all men and women, including unbelievers.