There are two groups of people who insist on this oneness. The first group consists of lovers, who have since the beginning of time claimed to be one with the beloved; and at the same time have always wanted to get shackled to each other by all the marriage ties available. Lovers are however logical and rational in that they no longer claim to be one with the beloved, when they have fallen out of love. The second group is the Church, which says that two people are not one before they are married, however much they may claim they are; and are one when they are married, however much they may claim they are not. Marriage according to the Church is like a bond of forged steel, which is not forged by wishful thinking, and is not appreciably corroded by lack of affection, bitterness, hatred, divorce, nor anything indeed except death, which at once snaps it like a twig. Is it true? In other words, is divorce possible in fact? If so, how is it achieved - by a decree of divorce in a court of law, or by the death of the marriage relationship, or both?

Divorce is generally regarded as the splitting up of marriage partners. In reality however this is only one example of divorce. The example I took earlier, of the young man who felt his flesh to be unclean is also a problem of…