Does polygamy lead to 3 becoming 1? Forum Q/A section

[PolyPride]

I was reading through the Q/A for the forum at the following links:

Father, Son, & Holy Spirit are One, are they not? That's 3. Jesus prayed, in John 17:21 that they ALL may be one. That would have been at least 12, right? So, the idea of more than two being involved in a one-ness isn't totally illogical or impossible scripturally.

Link: http://www.biblicalfamilies.org/forum/v ... =70&t=2038

Similarly, Paul quoted it in Ephesians 5:31. But here again, the topic was how a man ought to treat his wife because of the completely united nature of their union. She is like his own body. Can't separate her out.

Link: http://www.biblicalfamilies.org/forum/v ... =70&t=3855

From those 2 quotes, I gather that it is possible for 3 or more people or beings to become one. The doubt or objection that I see someone bringing up is that marriage is supposed to be about TWO becoming one. But if the wife's body is like the husband's body, as indicated in the quotes above, then indirectly or through the husband, the 2nd wife is also merging with the 1st wife giving 3 becoming one.

I've always explained polygamy as being two separate marriages just to be consistent with Genesis 2:24, where there's 2 people in a marriage or EACH marriage (if polygamy were practiced). Explained this way, there are two seperate one flesh unions between the husband and each wife.

 

[UntoldGlory]

I'm not really sure that the bible is completely clear on the subject. I know there are varying views about PM and the amount of connection between the wives. Some see it as completely and wholly separate, maybe the wives don't even really have contact. The other end of the spectrum is that "unified poly" view, and in that case, it would make complete sense for all to be one. From the male perspective, I would be one with both of my wives, so to me, we'd kind of all be one. But from the wives perspective? Not sure. Anyone have any scripture insights?

 

[mystic]

Re: Does polygamy lead to 3 becoming 1?

Cecil's questioning of this is well-intentioned, but I think Samuel's discussion of it, in his booklet Marriage From the Bible Alone, is more sound and comprehensive. In short, he shows that the phrase "one flesh" describes the closeness of the relationship between a man his wife, and a man with more than one wife has a separate one-flesh relationship with each of them — reflecting the way each of us can become one with God, even though there are many of us.

Our culture tends to see polyygamy as a group affair; this is an unfortunate obsession. Polygamy is not a form of marriage in which there is more than one wife; it's a way of living in which the husband may have more than one marriage.

But from the wives perspective? Not sure. Anyone have any scripture insights?

Our own cultural bias aside, there's nothing written that says the wives must be any closer than is absolutely necessary. They may choose to try getting along "because that's what nice people do", but even then, the one-flesh aspect doesn't enter into it.

 

[FollowingHim]

Fully agree with Mystic - this is a well intentioned post by Cecil but should not be an FAQ as the position taken is too debatable. I will move it from the FAQ section.

Obviously I personally think the explanation Mystic links to is more sound and if there was to be an FAQ article it should take that line, but that's because I wrote it so am slightly biased... Will carefully consider any feedback here before writing a replacement.

 

[PolyPride]

Re: Does polygamy lead to 3 becoming 1?

Cecil's questioning of this is well-intentioned, but I think Samuel's discussion of it, in his booklet Marriage From the Bible Alone, is more sound and comprehensive. In short, he shows that the phrase "one flesh" describes the closeness of the relationship between a man his wife, and a man with more than one wife has a separate one-flesh relationship with each of them — reflecting the way each of us can become one with God, even though there are many of us.

...

Thanks for sharing that article from FollowingHim or Samuel. The polygamy section on pg. 6 to 9 were very good and helpful. I also read one of Dr. William Luck's articles where he talks about "one flesh" usage in the Bible but I didn't see that he relates it that much to polygamy. You can read his article here, Cohesiveness in the Marriage Union — (Genesis 2:24). Dr. Luck gives his definition mostly in the conclusion section and it's not much different than Samuel's definition.

As far as the definition of "one flesh" goes, I kinda agree with UntoldGlory that it is a bit of a mystery or unsettled. The meaning of the phrase is often over-stated by Catholics and monogamy-only crowd, but it's probably also under-stated by some literalists and polygamists. We can probably set some reasonable parameters of what it would have to mean or what it wouldn't mean.

We at least know that it can not conflict with polygamy because Israel was a polygynous culture and they would've understood Genesis 2:24 in a way that did not conflict with polygyny. We can rule out two beings literally becoming one physical body or spiritual body because when you die, both spouses don't die together nor do they have joint thoughts/dreams/feelings,etc.

Cecil may have a point if we consider 1 Cor. 6 does say being one with God is like our body being part of His body and we're uniting that to a prostitute. So couldn't that be the same as being one flesh with one wife meaning that our body is part of her body and they're uniting with a second woman? Or does Christ and human union have some degree of difference than the union between two humans? But then if a believer is married to a non-believer, and their bodies are one, does that make the non-believer one body with Christ, as well? I would think not.

 

[FollowingHim]

Have moved the first mentioned "FAQ" article to here, so it is no longer an FAQ. Have left the second as an FAQ because the main thrust of it is correct, this is just a minor comment in it.
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=2038&p=19843

On 1 Cor 6, remember this was written to the church in Corinth. Corinth was a major centre of Greek religion, and was particularly famous for temple prostitution. The temple of Aphrodite was there, the Greek goddess of love, and had over a thousand prostitutes. The most likely sort of prostitute a Corinthian would sleep with would be a temple prostitute - and sleeping with her was an act of worshipping a Greek god, ie idolatry. So there is a spiritual aspect to this passage that needs to be considered also.

We are united spiritually with Christ, and physically with a wife. These are two separate things. So a physical union to a non-Christian wife does not necessarily mean she is spiritually united to Christ. But in the prostitute case, if she were a temple prostitute and uniting with her meant uniting spiritually with a false deity, this is quite a different matter entirely.