Was Gott zusammengefugt hat...?

What do New Testament texts argue for when they speak of divorce? What ideas about marriage do they presuppose and what arguments do they use? The present work examines these questions using Mk 10.1-12 and 1Cor 7.10-16 as examples. With the help of the argumentation-analytical approach of F. van Eemeren and R. Grootendorst, the divorce arguments are analyzed and the arguments overriding the texts are worked out. For the argumentative development of the divorce positions in Mk 10.1-12 and 1Cor 7,10-16, their literary context in particular - the Markinian disputes and 1 Cor 5-7 - proves to be relevant. Added to this is the importance of the ancient debates about marriage and divorce, in which the early Christian texts participate but also set their own accents. This is especially true for the reception of Gen 2.24. An outlook that deals with the inner-New Testament reception of concepts of marriage and with the reference to Gen 2.24 in Eph 5.21-33 concludes the investigation.