The instability of the marriage, which is a characteristic of this century, has been attributed to several factors. Radbruch says that, with the progressive economical independence of women, a new right of family has appeared, different from the classic Law. At first, the disintegration of the low-class family as the women ran to the factories. Later, the same thing happened to the bourgeois family, due to the necessities of work, and the economical difficulties. The absence of the women at home, in factories or offices, has been appointed by many as the main cause of the instability of marriage and, consequently, divorce.

Concept and origins of divorce 

In its wide acceptation, divorce can be defined as the legal ending of a marriage. In Brazil, it was introduced under the law no 6.515, de 26/12/77, whose art. 24 say that divorce is the end of a marriage.

Since the old times, divorce has been quite frequent. In ancient China, for example, the separation existed, but if the husband deserted the wife, without a fair cause, was lashed. In India, the Manu Smriti allowed the rejection of the woman by her husband, as long as she had a mortal disease or alcohol problems, as well as infertility, after eight years. In ancient Greece divorce was already known. In Rome, there  was  the  divortium, with  mutual  consent, and   the

repudium, started by the husband, with no motive. At the end of the Roman Empire divorce spread and, according to some, the exaggeration and polygamy were important factors in the disintegration of family back then.

Ozanam: "There was the divorce of good people, divorce for tiredness, and the divorce of those who had a woman per year. There was divorce for calculation, as we have with Cicero, who rejected Terence, not because he disliked her, but because he was in financial problems. There was the divorce for generosity, as with Cato, who, verifying that his wife Marcia was attractive to his friend Hortensius, gave him as a wife".

The opposition to divorce 

The Church started prohibiting the divorce after the Council of Trento, in the Middle Age. In 1930, the encyclical Casti Connubii restated the thesis of the insolubility of the marriage, so to protect the kids.

Clovis Beviláqua says that divorce "overwhelms the spirit and ends up destroying the psychic energies useful to the moral progress of humanity ". Durkheim, in his famous book "The Suicide", shows statistically that divorce favors suicide. Indeed, a survey in California says that 42% of suicides were, in early 50s, divorced. Others scholars say that divorce is a factor of madness. In Bavaria, survey done at the same age revealed that 67% of mad people were divorced. 

Divorce according to Spiritism 

Allan Kardec asked the Spirits if there is a law about the indissolubility of marriage. The Spirits said: "It is a human law, altogether contrary to the law of nature. But men may change their laws; those of nature are alone unchangeable." (The Spirits’ Book, 697).

Jesus, talking about it, said: "And I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife, except for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and he that marrieth her when she is put away committeth adultery." (Matthew, chap. 19:3 - 9).

The Compiler of Spiritism, talking about the subject, wrote: "One day Man will ask

If it is more humane, more charitable, more moral, to chain one being to another when they are unable to live together, than to restore their liberty; whether the prospect of an indissoluble prison will increase the number of irregular unions." (The Gospel According to Spiritism, chap. 22:4). And, focusing on divorce, he said: "Divorce is a man-made law whose objective is to legally separate those who are in fact already separated. It is not against God's law, since it only reforms what men have done and is only applicable in cases in which Divine law was not taken into account.”

Conclusion 

After Kardec, other authors vented their feelings about the subject.

To Emmanuel, divorce needs to be considered as a last resort. He said:

"A home built by love needs love to keep it up.”

"It is not denied unto you the right of putting off accomplishments or increase the deadline for paying off some debts, since no one can take criminality for the sake of love.”

“However, in the hard days of a home remembers that divorce is just, but only as a last resort.” (Emmanuel, in “The Era of Spirit”, chap. 11.)

José Herculano Pires trouxe também sua contribuição sobre o assunto:         

 “He, who loves, understands and forgives. Difficulties will be overcome day after day by the cultivation of love.”

“Cultivation of love is like cultivation of Art. And those who break up a loving marriage, for the sake of intolerance, will no longer find remedy for his loneliness." (J. Herculano Pires, in “The Era of Spirit", cap. 11.)

"We shall help, on Earth, the comprehension of marriage as a consortium of realizations and mutual concessions, whose failure has to be avoided.” (André Luiz, in “Sun in the Souls”, chap. 10.)

At last, Divaldo Franco talked about this topic:

"The Spiritist Doctrine sees as a`necessary evil' the solution by divorce. Time will come when man will choose his spouse more carefully, with maturity and love and, consequently, will bear up the vicissitudes that come from this choice, getting rid of what is constituted as a burden, since he has the eyes on the spiritual life, the real one." (Divaldo P. Franco, in O IMORTAL, p. 6 - 7 June 1984.)   

Concluding, we say that:

1) Spiritism accepts divorce when both spouses are already separated. Divorce will be then a legal form to say so.

2) Divorce must be taken as a last resort, when there is no atmosphere whatsoever between the spouses.

3) Divorce, postponed edification, the interest to pay in the balance of the debtor Spirit.

4) All the problems generated from the separation will add in the report of the one who caused it.