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Race, women and health · Claim record

The organisation's published position is that sexual immorality is the only ground for a divorce that frees a person to remarry, and that violence is not such a ground. It lists three 'exceptional situations' in which a Christian may decide to separate — willful non-support, extreme physical abuse, and absolute endangerment of spiritual life — and states that a person who separates on those grounds must 'remain unmarried or else be reconciled with' the other.

Claim ID claim-attitudes-grounds-for-separationConcerns 2008Explicit statement
Explicit statement · 2008 Verified

The organisation's published position is that sexual immorality is the only ground for a divorce that frees a person to remarry, and that violence is not such a ground. It lists three 'exceptional situations' in which a Christian may decide to separate — willful non-support, extreme physical abuse, and absolute endangerment of spiritual life — and states that a person who separates on those grounds must 'remain unmarried or else be reconciled with' the other. "Keep Yourselves in God's Love" (book), 2008The Watchtower (study edition), December 2018

The organisation’s position or later explanation: The organisation states that the decision belongs to the person concerned: 'no one should put pressure on the innocent mate either to separate or to stay with the other', and 'if an extremely dangerous situation persists, no one should criticize a Christian who, as a last resort, chooses to separate.' It also states that violent behaviour is itself grounds for expulsion from the congregation.

Show the evidence (2 sources)
Primary JW publication Verified

"Keep Yourselves in God's Love" (book), “Appendix: The Bible's View on Divorce and Separation”

2008 · pp.219-221 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania

“Extreme physical abuse. An abusive spouse may act so violently that the abused mate's health and even life are in danger. If the abusive spouse is a Christian, congregation elders should investigate the charges. Fits of anger and a practice of violent behavior are grounds for disfellowshipping.”

The appendix states that sexual immorality is the only ground on which a divorce frees a person to remarry, and then lists three 'exceptional situations that some have viewed as a basis for separation': willful non-support, extreme physical abuse, and absolute endangerment of spiritual life. It adds that in such a separation the departing one must 'remain unmarried or else be reconciled with' the mate, that no one should put pressure on the person either way, and that 'if an extremely dangerous situation persists, no one should criticize a Christian who, as a last resort, chooses to separate.'

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. The full appendix was fetched from the Watchtower Online Library on 19 September 2026 and read. The three headed situations fall under the library's page markers for pages 220 and 221; the 'Extreme physical abuse' heading is on p. 221. The citation line inside the document reads 'lv pp. 219-221'.

Corroborated by. src-wom-w-2018-1200-honor-yoked

Notes. The appendix also warns against a wife who 'exaggerated the seriousness of her domestic problems just to live separately from her husband'. Later Watchtower articles (for example August 2016 and April 2017) refer readers back to this appendix, so it remains the published statement of the grounds.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-wom-lv-2008-divorce-separation

Primary JW publication Verified

The Watchtower (study edition), “Honor "What God Has Yoked Together"”

December 2018 · pp.10-14 · pars. 17-18 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania

“He might be extremely physically abusive, even to the point that she feels that her health or life is in danger. He might refuse to support her and the family or severely endanger her spirituality. In such cases, some Christians have personally decided that, despite what he might say, the mate is not “agreeable to staying” together and that a separation is necessary. But other Christians in comparably difficult situations have not; they have endured and tried to work at improving matters.”

A study article on divorce and separation. It states that sexual immorality is the only ground on which a divorce frees a person to remarry, and then turns to separation where a husband is an unbeliever. The paragraph after the one quoted gives the reason for staying: 'Many loyal Christians have remained with an unbelieving mate under very trying circumstances. They can testify that doing so was worthwhile in a special sense when their mate became a true worshipper.'

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. The full article was fetched from the Watchtower Online Library on 19 September 2026 and read; paragraphs 17 and 18 fall after the library's page marker for page 14. The citation line inside the document reads 'w18 December pp. 10-14'.

Corroborated by. src-wom-lv-2008-divorce-separation

Notes. Two details in the version of this article that circulates on secondary sites do not match the published text. The sentences 'What of her material and sexual needs? What about loneliness? Are there children to consider? Would a divorce make it harder to raise them in the truth?' are on p. 13 in paragraph 11, not on p. 12, and in the article they describe an innocent wife who has scriptural grounds to divorce an immoral husband and chooses not to, not a wife deciding whether to leave a violent husband — although paragraph 18 does refer back to them as 'challenges, as mentioned earlier'. The published text also reads 'tried to work at improving matters', not 'tried to work on improving matters'.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-wom-w-2018-1200-honor-yoked

Claim page Correct or update

A direct link to this claim is https://jwtruth.org/evidence/claim-attitudes-grounds-for-separation/. Every source above opens the original document or the best available copy. If you believe the wording, date or context is wrong, report an error.