Tell him that some clown on YouTube keeps body slamming monogamy-only/creation-ideal types....
Good point, and this is a massive paradigm shift
Why did both God the Father and God the Son both describe themselves as having multiple wives? Is modeling Christ what we should do? Is modeling our lives after the actions of God not the definition of Godliness?
God did so in the prophets. I'm not 100% sure about Christ doing so in the NT. Are you referring to the parable of the 10 virgins? I'd call that probable, but not totally certain about it.
Jesus actually used the plural for the greek word for "weddings/marriages" in two parables where He was describing himself marrying the 5 wise virgins and also in an earlier passage describing the "marriages" His Father arranged for Him.
Good point
Excellent point! Never thought about it that way.Good point
I figured the "gnashing of teeth" was also pretty good evidence. You don't gnash teeth over missing your friend's wedding as a bridesmaid. You gnash your teeth when you miss your own. You gnash your teeth when the Bridegroom says "I do not know you".
. This is what I ended up with:
That's straightforward and challenging but not provocative. Hope you get a good response.I should have checked here this morning before responding
I appreciate your thoughtful answer. I just want to share some things to think about and research on the topic: God described Himself as having 2 wives in Jer. 31:32; God regulated a man having multiple wives in Exo. 21:10; there is evidence that the qualification for an Elder to have one wife is actually a phrase meaning still married to his first wife, but even if it is a limit on Elders, does that make it a limit on all men?; in 1 Cor. 7:2, when Paul says a man should have his own wife and a wife should have her own husband, in the greek a different word is used for "own" in each instance. The husbands ownership of his wife is an exclusionary ownership, while the wife's ownership of her husband is non-exclusionary (Paul could have used the same word, but didn't); and lastly the Jews continued to practice polygyny (men having multiple wives) at least up to 393 AD despite multiple efforts of the Romans to ban the practice and it was never addressed by Jesus or the NT writers as a sin.
I share this because we have a problem of more women than men in the church and even fewer good men. I would rather see a sister in Christ married to a proven man with a wife already than remain single or marry outside the faith. I think God has given us more options than we are using because of tradition. Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any questions.
The terrible failure is when those God has added to His assembly are refused access to an assembly of other saints here on earth because they don't measure up to that assembly's standards. Very few assemblies in the west would open their doors to those listed in Hebrews Chapter 11 and less would likely let John the Baptist preach without putting him in a business suit first (although his diet is very "Greenie" so he'd be ok there)!
