CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
This chapter discusses the
background to the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study,
significance of the study, delimitation of the study, limitation of the study,
research questions, research methodology and finally definition of some
important terms.
1.1 BACKGROUND STUDY
Broken marriage may well be one
of the major problems facing the Church today. Ordinarily, an ideal marriage
will remain united, undivided, and unbroken. This is the plan written by the
mind of the Creator when He gave Eve to Adam as his permanent partner in the
Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:24). Apostle Paul expressed the same view, when he
recalled Christ’s prohibition of divorce:
To those, now married, however, I
give this command (though it is not mine, it is the Lord’s) a wife must not
separate from her husband. If she does separate, she must either remain single
or become reconciled to him again. Similarly, a husband must not divorce his
wife. (1 Cor. 7: 10-11)
This passage demonstrates that
divorce is undesirable, and should not be permitted in the Christian
communities. All efforts must be made to encourage couples to stay together or
get back together, even when they have separated. However, the intention of
this study is not to provide a solution to the social problems caused by
marriage and divorce. Rather, the purpose of this study is to place the problem
of marriage and divorce in a proper context with respect to the Foursquare
Gospel Church, Mupin, Ota, Ogun State.