Article itching for a rebuttal

[nathan]

http://matthiasmedia.com/briefing/2012/ ... rdid-tale/

Not including it here, because it's a little long, has links, and some interesting followup comments.
The author is not 'wild-eyed', but arrives at a number of suspect conclusions:

"And then, in the New Testament, Paul’s command to Timothy that church leaders must be, alongside exemplars of other moral virtues, “the husband of one wife” (1 Tim 3:2, 12; cf. 1 Tim 5:9) implies that polygamy is not a desirable thing.

And that’s why, in most modern Western societies (which still draw much of their moral understanding from biblical principles) polygamy is illegal."

Ah, no - it's illegal in the West because we inherited our marriage values from the Romans, who already had serial monogamy, easy divorce, and plenty of sex-outside-marriage, long before Paul wrote this.

 

[littlemouse]

Hahahaha. I can't believe some people think that's a great article and repost it! I would calling a rambling load of rubbish!

I wish I could comment! lol.

His comments about polygamists in the Bible show a sad lack of study.

David's sin wasn't polygamy. It was adultery.

Lamach being evil, didn't really make polygamy bad, cause there were plenty of evil monogamists as well.

Two key ones from a horde of flaws.

 

[steve]

hmmmm,
illegal because it is "undesirable" in a church elder. should having unruly children also be illegal?

when you start with a flawed understanding of scripture you can get quite creative, i guess.

 

[Joleneakamama]

I found the article typical of the "want it my way" monogamy only crowd. Hubby and I enjoyed the read, and the comments that were posted after.
What I did find very humorous, was how they allowed over two months of comments to be posted, as people agreed with the article, and provided support to the author. But when the first PRO poly post was put on, they closed it for further comments.

Truly, there are none so blind as those who refuse to see.

 

[littlemouse]

hmmmm,
illegal because it is "undesirable" in a church elder. should having unruly children also be illegal?

when you start with a flawed understanding of scripture you can get quite creative, i guess.

So true. As I state to people, You can prove ANYTHING from Scripture. But whether it stands up on ALL Scripture is another matter.

I found, in my debates about polygamy, that the opposition generally fails to think about the consequences of their reasoning. Such as what you pointed out.

 

[chris]

I found the author's main website and am happy to contact him to ask if he would be willing to do a counterpoint article for The Briefing, or to at least review any counter points from one of our more seasoned people on the board (doc? brian?). Thoughts? I can post the link here as well, however, if anyone contacts him would want to make sure it's done in the right spirit.

 

[chris]

ChrisM - Point taken...

Sometimes I'm lucky to get on here once a week. Seems cyclical, some weeks I have more free time and others not as much.

 

[chris]

Another point taken... I should use the resources that are already available rather than reinvent the wheel .

 

[FollowingHim]

So true. As I state to people, You can prove ANYTHING from Scripture. But whether it stands up on ALL Scripture is another matter.

Very well said.

Chris, it's certainly worth a try contacting him. But I agree you should use existing resources. Find a good succinct article that covers the main points well and send that to him. He probably won't listen based on how he closed off the comments as soon as they became too difficult to respond to, but it can't hurt to try.

We were given a subscription to The Briefing for our wedding, which was a very kind gift, however as we read it we found too many issues like this where the articles did not align with scripture, so we did not renew the subscription when it expired. I think you'll find this is a more general issue with that particular publication, which is a shame, as it is well put together and is written in a very persuasive manner sometimes.