Raymond F. Collins is a Roman Catholic priest and a New Testament scholar. Most of his academic career was spent at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, the world’s oldest Catholic university, and at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, where he taught and served as the dean of the School of Religious Studies. Among his twenty books are major commentaries on Paul’s First and Second Letters to the Corinthians and the Pastoral Epistles, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus.

• ContentsAbbreviations   ixIntroduction   11.  A Problem at Corinth   9A Wife's Separation from Her Husband   13A Divorce?   15A Real or Hypothetical Situation?   22A Fait Accompli?   25The Situation   27"Not I, but the Lord"   29The Saying   32And What If?   35What About Husbands?   372.  A Related Matter   40Mixed Marriages   40"I Say, Not the Lord"   42Marriage with Unbelievers   44A Christian's Response   46A Reasoned Plea   47A Rejected Spouse   58A Final Reason   60A Brief Aside   62Free to Marry?   623.  The Debate   65The Text   67The Form of the Narrative   70Mark the Evangelist   71The Literary Genre   77The Context of the Debate   85Mark's Line of Thought   91A Few Remarks   93A Reflection   1024.  The Debate Reconsidered   104Matthew's Text    106Matthew's Line of Thought   108Instruction of the Disciples   118A Synoptic Reading of the Text   132Confrontation with the Pharisees   141The Jesuanic Logion   1435.  An Old Saying   146Matthew's Text   147The Context   149Matthew's Line of Thought   158A Synoptic Reading of Matt 5:31-32   169Another Synoptic Reading of Matt 5:31-32   172Luke's Version of Jesus' Teaching   175The Q-Saying   1816.  An Exception   184An Exceptional Exception   184A Matter of Semantics   186The Historical Context   189Various Opinions   199A Reflection   205A Discussion   2077.  The Development of a Tradition   214Jesus' Saying   215A Prophetic Saying   218The Church's Role   222Endnotes   233Select Bibliography   329Index of Scripture References   369Index of Names   381

Raymond F. Collins is a Roman Catholic priest and a New Testament scholar. Most of his academic career was spent at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, the world’s oldest Catholic university, and at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, where he taught and served as the dean of the School of Religious Studies. Among his twenty books are major commentaries on Paul’s First and Second Letters to the Corinthians and the Pastoral Epistles, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus.

• ContentsAbbreviations   ixIntroduction   11.  A Problem at Corinth   9A Wife's Separation from Her Husband   13A Divorce?   15A Real or Hypothetical Situation?   22A Fait Accompli?   25The Situation   27"Not I, but the Lord"   29The Saying   32And What If?   35What About Husbands?   372.  A Related Matter   40Mixed Marriages   40"I Say, Not the Lord"   42Marriage with Unbelievers   44A Christian's Response   46A Reasoned Plea   47A Rejected Spouse   58A Final Reason   60A Brief Aside   62Free to Marry?   623.  The Debate   65The Text   67The Form of the Narrative   70Mark the Evangelist   71The Literary Genre   77The Context of the Debate   85Mark's Line of Thought   91A Few Remarks   93A Reflection   1024.  The Debate Reconsidered   104Matthew's Text    106Matthew's Line of Thought   108Instruction of the Disciples   118A Synoptic Reading of the Text   132Confrontation with the Pharisees   141The Jesuanic Logion   1435.  An Old Saying   146Matthew's Text   147The Context   149Matthew's Line of Thought   158A Synoptic Reading of Matt 5:31-32   169Another Synoptic Reading of Matt 5:31-32   172Luke's Version of Jesus' Teaching   175The Q-Saying   1816.  An Exception   184An Exceptional Exception   184A Matter of Semantics   186The Historical Context   189Various Opinions   199A Reflection   205A Discussion   2077.  The Development of a Tradition   214Jesus' Saying   215A Prophetic Saying   218The Church's Role   222Endnotes   233Select Bibliography   329Index of Scripture References   369Index of Names   381

Raymond F. Collins is a Roman Catholic priest and a New Testament scholar. Most of his academic career was spent at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, the world’s oldest Catholic university, and at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, where he taught and served as the dean of the School of Religious Studies. Among his twenty books are major commentaries on Paul’s First and Second Letters to the Corinthians and the Pastoral Epistles, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus.

• ContentsAbbreviations   ixIntroduction   11.  A Problem at Corinth   9A Wife's Separation from Her Husband   13A Divorce?   15A Real or Hypothetical Situation?   22A Fait Accompli?   25The Situation   27"Not I, but the Lord"   29The Saying   32And What If?   35What About Husbands?   372.  A Related Matter   40Mixed Marriages   40"I Say, Not the Lord"   42Marriage with Unbelievers   44A Christian's Response   46A Reasoned Plea   47A Rejected Spouse   58A Final Reason   60A Brief Aside   62Free to Marry?   623.  The Debate   65The Text   67The Form of the Narrative   70Mark the Evangelist   71The Literary Genre   77The Context of the Debate   85Mark's Line of Thought   91A Few Remarks   93A Reflection   1024.  The Debate Reconsidered   104Matthew's Text    106Matthew's Line of Thought   108Instruction of the Disciples   118A Synoptic Reading of the Text   132Confrontation with the Pharisees   141The Jesuanic Logion   1435.  An Old Saying   146Matthew's Text   147The Context   149Matthew's Line of Thought   158A Synoptic Reading of Matt 5:31-32   169Another Synoptic Reading of Matt 5:31-32   172Luke's Version of Jesus' Teaching   175The Q-Saying   1816.  An Exception   184An Exceptional Exception   184A Matter of Semantics   186The Historical Context   189Various Opinions   199A Reflection   205A Discussion   2077.  The Development of a Tradition   214Jesus' Saying   215A Prophetic Saying   218The Church's Role   222Endnotes   233Select Bibliography   329Index of Scripture References   369Index of Names   381