Is Polygamy Christian Based?

[Erasmus]

Dear Friends,

I have been thinking about Christian polygamy and have personally come to believe that polygamy is not inherently Christian. What I mean is that plural marriage is a configuration of marriage that occurs in all cultures whether or not they believe in Christ. In my view plural marriage is just another situation that we, as believers, apply Gods principles to and is not mandated from heaven as a higher lifestyle.

When I search the scriptures what I find is that God does not address this type of marriage overly much because it is not a spiritual mandate that must be followed but rather just a situation the occurs in the human experience. Where necessary He gives guidance for marriage but as to the number of wives a person has He leaves that pretty much up the individual families.

The reason that I feel this understanding is important is that there is a tendency to spend a lot of time trying to justify plural marriage from the scriptures so as to feel that what we do is "Christian." The truth of the matter is that plural marriage is neither Christian nor non-Christian but just a valid and natural form of marriage. It is true that we all fight against societies that are against this godly lifestyle and perhaps we feel that we need to give an answer for that but before God there is no need to justify our actions for whether we have one or many it does not matter to Him.

As a Christian believer what I see the main pluses of plural marriage is:

1. You can marry whom you love and whom God leads you to marry

2. You can have more children that will grow to love Jesus

3. You can minister to other plural families that have perhaps
been marginalized by the Christian church.

4. You can learn to be more loving and understanding because
of the added responsibility you shoulder in these types of
situations.

God bless,

Erasmus

 

[rusty_armor]

I agree with you that Polygyny is not specifically a Christian issue.

However, for me, I crave the fellowship of a church, and I am unable to find the type of fellowship that I crave that will also accept my two wives and I as uncritically as they do a monogamous couple.

And for those poly families who also have children ... I really feel for them. As adults, me and my wives can attend a congregation, and while it may raise a few eyebrows, I doubt that anyone is going to ask embarassing questions as long as we aren't too blatant in our affections with each other.

But if you do have kids, you can't ask them to lie about the arraingement to their peers.

So I would like to work toward acceptance from the church. And yeah, I know only too well what sort of enthusiasm that is going to generate ...

 

[DaPastor]

Hello Erasmus,

I have been thinking about Christian polygamy and have personally come to believe that polygamy is not inherently Christian. What I mean is that plural marriage is a configuration of marriage that occurs in all cultures whether or not they believe in Christ. In my view plural marriage is just another situation that we, as believers, apply Gods principles to and is not mandated from heaven as a higher lifestyle. When I search the scriptures what I find is that God does not address this type of marriage overly much because it is not a spiritual mandate that must be followed but rather just a situation the occurs in the human experience. Where necessary He gives guidance for marriage but as to the number of wives a person has He leaves that pretty much up the individual families. The reason that I feel this understanding is important is that there is a tendency to spend a lot of time trying to justify plural marriage from the scriptures so as to feel that what we do is "Christian." The truth of the matter is that plural marriage is neither Christian nor non-Christian but just a valid and natural form of marriage. It is true that we all fight against societies that are against this godly lifestyle and perhaps we feel that we need to give an answer for that but before God there is no need to justify our actions for whether we have one or many it does not matter to Him. As a Christian believer what I see the main pluses of plural marriage is:

1. You can marry whom you love and whom God leads you to marry

2. You can have more children that will grow to love Jesus

3. You can minister to other plural families that have perhaps
been marginalized by the Christian church.

4. You can learn to be more loving and understanding because
of the added responsibility you shoulder in these types of
situations.

God bless,

Erasmus

I agree that that "plural marriage", or for that matter any marriage is NOT a higher lifestyle. I would just like to remind us that marriage, whether it be monogamous or plural, is God-ordained. Mankind did not come up with this idea! This implies then, that it is inherently a spiritual function that points us to the true God (if understood correctly), which is embodied in Jesus Christ, because it is centered on "covenant relationships", ultimately pointing us to follow Christ, the center of Christianity!

I also agree with your four points too!

 

[Mark C]

...I agree that that "plural marriage", or for that matter any marriage is NOT a higher lifestyle. I would just like to remind us that marriage, whether it be monogamous or plural, is God-ordained.

There are several interesting points above, and nothing that I would take issue with.

As I read, however, I couldn't help but think of something that has occurred to me before - as one who once considered myself somewhat agnostic, having rejected most of the "Churchianity" I was indoctrinated with during my formative years. It's also something that I have remarked about here as well, from the format of Yeshua's famous Sermon:

"You have heard it SAID that...but I tell you..."

EVERYTHING He told them was exactly what He had Written. Too often, however, their "tradition" had rejected God's commandments, and replaced them with something else.

I find that to be a major "point of interest". Particularly for those who have, for one reason or another, rejected the Bible because they think it is "inconsistent" or "contradictory", the challenge to "study for yourself" and "see if these things be True" is frequently an eye-opening one.

SO - one of the things I find "interesting" about polygyny is that it (like some even more hot-button issues, such as the changing of the Sabbath, and Creeping Paganism) is a bit surprising to most, but UTTERLY consistent with Scripture. It's a great way to teach those who are still "teachable" to go to the Word and READ it for themselves. Studies with others, such as many here, who are able to guide them according to II Tim. 3:16 are invaluable as well, of course...

 

[Erasmus]

For me it is an awesome point to make about how often truth, even though it seems like it cannot possibly be true, is always consistent with the scriptures. It really brings some humility when people realize that something, such as plural marriage, which they have held to be tantamount to adultery, is actually in line with the word of God. I came into polygamy simply because God spoke to me and told me that I was to take another wife. Having gone through years of Bible College this was quite a step of faith for me because what I heard the Holy Spirit say directly contradicted what I thought to be absolute truth. To my relief, when I did go to the word, I found that is was consistent with scriptures. This in turn opened me up to reconsider what I believed in other areas and helped me to be teachable and let God show me what He actually thought about things. Truly, that act of obedience to His Holy Spirit has formed the basis of much of my Christian walk these days and I am so thankful that He counted me worthy to enter into this type of relationship.

God bless,

Erasmus

 

[Tlaloc]

You said it Erasmus, Poly(gyny, at least) is pretty common overall. My mainline arguments are from expediency, history, and liberty rather than scripture. Scripture is reserved for Christian specific debate, simply because it is not a Christian specific issue.