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Polygamy for economic survival

My view is to fulfil our God-given desire within us...God is pleased/My husband is pleased/and I'm pleased. All in unity as One! The very foundation you are hoping for will not stand if based on what you can personally gain (selfish behaviour). Whatever you do...walk in love (God is love). The foundation on and in faith will stand strong. Any other (wrong motives) will lead right to destruction! I'm a woman and I'm offended by this thread. Just saying.
 
Yvonne, welcome to BF. There are lots of different ideas in this thread. Can you be more specific about which ones you disagree with?
 
Yes...The general title itself:
"Polygamy for economic survival." Gimmie a break! Wrong motives = disaster. I don't mean to be blunt, but gez! Woman don't want to hear that line (money provider). I'm one (1) day new to this. My husband presented to me what God revealed for our household. In all due respect to all woman here: I pray you are not with a man that is not rooted and grounded in love. No love = No respect, which equals in my eyes selfish intentions and no harmony. No wonder what can be the most beautiful family and pleasing to God can be marked as disastrous to others. I'm thankful that this is not our desire...so thankful! We plan to have a big family marked by LOVE. Does that make sense? I believe with all my heart that going in this way will kick out all that hate, jealousy, and envious nature...etc. I'm going forth with my husband to have more wives solely based on because God said so and that settles it for me. Birth in love and will succeed in love. I would never promote other relationships based on what this topic is implying. Ever. Don't take this as a rant: It's just our standards. Blessings.

 
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Yvonne, love is an extremely important element of marriage. But it is only one of many elements. I must gently point out that given you're so new to the concept of polygamy, you may find that your perspective on this develops over time. Nobody here would argue that marriage should be without love, scripture is very clear that husbands must love their wives. But the idea that marriage is PRIMARILY about love is a product of Western culture. There is a massive depth of understanding to be had on marriage, and all elements are important. This thread goes into detail on just one of those elements, the fact that it is discussed here in isolation should be no more offensive than a thread discussing the element of love in isolation would be offensive.

Just to get you pondering this, have a look at this article, which discusses how marriages that begin for pragmatic reasons can actually end up more deeply loving than marriages that began for love! (note that this is based on a solid scientific study). My point is that discussing economics as a reason for marriage does not preclude love, in fact considerations like this may actually enhance love. So there is value in considering all issues.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ged-marriage-likely-develop-lasting-love.html
 
ZecAustin, I disagree with you. I need to go pick my daughter up. I will give full details on why another day.
 
Okay, I know this is going to sound madly utilitarian as far as marriage and people are concerned, but I've been thinking about pm as regards economics. Now, it seems to me that there was a time in the USA when a single income family could manage well enough, but as time marched on double income homes became the standard. These days, however, it seems like there are an awful lot of folks out there struggling to get by on just two incomes.
I've been doing the mathematics, and realizing how prosperous a home with three or four incomes could be... and not just due to combined salaries, but buying power for assets (business/personal), ability to pay down the principle on home/car loans, etc.

It may sound cold of me to say, but polygamy seems like a wise business move.

Any thoughts?

My objection: To mislead others to doubt God's faithfulness and love.

When shortage rears its ugly head in our lives, we should see it for what it is—an attack of the devil who is trying to steal from us by undermining our faith. Instead of doubting God's love and faithfulness, we should rebuke that lying devil! We MUST simply BELIEVE how God and His great love had delivered us, through the plan of redemption, from ALL the oppression of the devil. This thread is proving that instead of allowing God to be our source of supply in EVERYTHING...the carnal mind is launched with trying to figure things out/make things happen in one's own strength.

When we are standing on God's promises and looking to Him to put food on our table, money in our bank account, and provide for us all that we need to do every good work He has called us to do, God is honored and pleased. When we believe His WORD our faith opens the door for Him to do good things in every area of our lives. When the devil can't make you doubt the love of God and stop you from believing the promises of God, you'll end up with a testimony that will inspire faith in others. People around you will see God's love at work in your life, and they'll start trusting Him, too! God is the One we want to please. He is the One we love, and He loves to prosper us (His family). So let's just keep on believing His WORD. Let's BLESS Him by letting Him BLESS us. That way, we'll all have His victorious results. Choose to rest in Him and succeed in His works...Glory unto God...Amen.
 
Anyone else find it interesting that we're not commanded to love our fiancee's? Love comes after the marriage. Welcome to the mosh pit Yvonne.

Why I disagree:

When you see in the Bible what it really means to live a life of love...you will come to see that you are truly commanded to love your fiancee's. Our confidence is not in ourselves to love others. We are empowered to respond in love (impossible to the flesh), it becomes the natural outflow of our spirits that have been born again in the image of Jesus. We find we are truly able to love others with His mighty love. Tap into His love. As we act on the WORD and allow the God-kind of love to dominate: His love will naturally flow in and through us, now, not after.
 
Yvonne, it is completely possible to stand on God's promises and trust Him to provide - and at the same time recognising that doing X will be worse economically and Y will be better. Just because I trust Him to provide does NOT mean that I just sit around waiting for Him to hand me cash and don't go and get a job, for instance. Anyone who married for this reason alone would be extremely foolish - but this is just one small element of marriage that is fine to discuss in isolation without implying that's all someone is thinking about. I really think the points you are making are irrelevant to the discussion in this thread.
 
I don't disagree with how polygamy for economic survival can be rewarding. I'm clearly saying how fruit bearing doesn't come in or through human reasoning/trying to make it happen. Have you ever seen the branch of an apple tree struggling, straining and trying with all its might to bear apples? Certainly not! All the branch has to do is stay connected to the tree. As it draws life from the tree, apples come forth naturally! According to Jesus, the same is true for us. He said, "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5, NAS). His life will flow through us and bear fruit in our lives. Praise God that we don't rely on human efforts in trying to do it.

Our staying connected to Jesus (the love vine) triumphs human "economic survival" standards.


Blessings in Christ

 
This has been a very interesting read and while I know what I want to say in my mind my exhaustion is not allowing it to come through to the page. I will follow up tomorrow when, hopefully, I have gotten some rest and can devote the time and attention this deserves.
 
I finally found the thread!! So it has stayed busy enough that my tomorrow has turned into next week and I really should be going to bed but it has nagged me that I had not gotten back to this. So we are a small ranch and to make ends meet so we do not have to dip into pension funds to sustain the ranch we also hire on with other ranches in the area and are range riders for their herds as well. As a family we cover over 300,000 acres and on average about 900 to 1000 cow/calf pairs. There is a garden to tend, projects to start...and hopefully finish, horses to care for, contracts to file and prepare yearly, invoices monthly, grand children to love and teach; well I am sure you get the point and we still take time for Saturday supper and spiritual nourishment. In all of that we would welcome another wife and we in particular would want her goals and outlooks to mesh with ours and be a part of what we are continuing to build.....BUT (there is that horrible word) if she were to work outside the home should she still not contribute to the home? I do not believe that looking at plural marriage strictly for the economic reason is the right reason but does it not open the discussion which in turn may open other doors, absolutely it would. While we can not simply sit down and pray for money we can ask for guidance through prayer to point us in the direction to work toward and obtain any goal and I believe that is the avenue to take and I suppose it boils down to if your having a hard time mending fence and you pray for help and the word comes that perhaps another set of hands would help complete the task then that is the guidance your given...the action is up to you. Perhaps this still was not exactly what was in my mind but its a good start for this old cowboy. Have a great night everyone.
 
Very interesting ideas concerning polygyny. I fully support it. Polygyny is the Creator's Idea before STATE corporations existed. A man can possibly become to powerful to be controlled by the STATE, therefore,. the reason for the STATE to ban a man from having multiple wives, but private Contracts can't be banned, so says the constitution.
Not too many moons ago, a woman didn't have too much say in who she married, her father had that say, but, of course, that was when fathers was still respected by the family and television had not appeared on the scene. At that time marriages was arranged for bloodlines and inheritance. Today, bad is good, and good is bad, that's our problem.
Pursuant to all I can find concerning what the Creator says about being an employee, don't do it, unless you get paid every evening. A man is supposed to learn a trade to support his family, whether he's a farmer or an engineer. The increase a family makes is not supposed to be calculated in fiat currency, but in land, wheat, corn, beans, honey, and oil, etc. All wealth comes from the ground. If a man has enough land, and enough family to produce the crops, he can become very well off. The land produces a huge increase when properly handled. Consider, how many grains of corn is on 1 ear of corn, each grain will produce at least 2 more ears of corn, you can't make that kind of increase being an employee.
One man alone, cannot tend, and preserve what 1 acre of land will produce, but the man and one wife can easily do that, but that 1 acre of land will produce more food than 5 or 6 people could possibly use. A man and 2 wives could easily tend and preserve the produce from 2 acres of land which would be enough for as many as 12 people. Consider the offspring that would eventually be extra labor, as time goes by the family would be well off. That's what the Creator of the whole universe figured out a long time ago, He put man in a garden, not in a house.
It is reassuring to have the natural order of things affirmed in your writings. So many valuable points raised here. Thank you for sharing.
 
Okay, I know this is going to sound madly utilitarian as far as marriage and people are concerned, but I've been thinking about pm as regards economics. Now, it seems to me that there was a time in the USA when a single income family could manage well enough, but as time marched on double income homes became the standard. These days, however, it seems like there are an awful lot of folks out there struggling to get by on just two incomes.
I've been doing the mathematics, and realizing how prosperous a home with three or four incomes could be... and not just due to combined salaries, but buying power for assets (business/personal), ability to pay down the principle on home/car loans, etc.

It may sound cold of me to say, but polygamy seems like a wise business move.

Any thoughts?

As the guy who generally beats the practical concerns/advantages drum, it is just weird that I had not read this thread yet.

Everyone has their own vision of how to run their family and how the internal mechanics and logistics should go. I will give you a quick insight as to how I see things working out based on some pretty detailed conversations with a lady we were talking to recently.
By way of context, her degree was in early childhood development and her desire was to have several children and be a stay at home mom and homeschool teacher. She was working as a nanny and also as a remote personal assistant/secretary for a total of about 70 hours a week. Very type A personality which really came out in her budgeting and homemaking/coupon wizardry.
The notion was that she take on some of the child care and education duties, freeing up some of my first wife's time which would allow my wife to finish her telecommute job far earlier every day and for her to act as a virtual assistant to me (call it six hours a week +/- to earn an extra 20-30k per year so good contribution to the family budget) to do the outside the home errands in my stead which would get me home much earlier pretty frequently. By being able to focus on the actual home economics (budgeting, inventory, rotating food stoock etc) and employing her enthusiastic aspiring componing mom fanaticism she would have likely contributed more in savings in money and to my outside work than she and would have cost to insure and maintain another adult in the family. I would wager that not only would this scenario been a net positive on the happiness she might have brought to the family by just having a new friend/sister/wife/partner in crime but from a purely practical point of view she would be a net positive to the family finances as well.
Unfortunately we were just too far apart on some deeply fundamental issues. Probably a pretty significant dunning kruger issue playing a big role there as well realistically. Hey ho...I have faith we will meet our match in time and that whether things work out the way I described or if it goes differently that a new wife is a net positive...so long as she is willing to make the effort.

I know the argument that outside work can take away from the family power dynamic and I get the thinking. I see it more as a can proposition than as an absolute must. I see that as more of a communication and prioritization issue.
In fact, my wife and I have talked about unlikely but perfectly nice sounding scenarios where if there were more than just the one of us working from home, that we just build our next home to accommodate the situation. Say a hall of small offices and then a utility area...I am sure plenty of y'all know how much you end up needing space for packing, shipping, spreading, shelves for manuals or equipment etc. Given that I am looking for a position at my own company that allows working remotely, it seems a good idea to start planning the space now and just over build in the event we should meet and fall in love with others.

I also spotted at a quick glance someone talking about a family business model. I love the idea. I would like long term to do something along those lines myself...tonnes to say on the notion but they are more specific to me and my family so not necessarily a contribution to the topic overall. I can think of a lot of different situations where having three or more adults running a small business together from home offices could work a treat.
 
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