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Hello

S

Stranger

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My wife and I currently reside in Michigan. Amongst my less common beliefs are also Christian nonresistance, nonparticipation of Christians in systems of government that are not the Kingdom of God, as well as that Christians are to avoid "possessing" what they have and by extension should seek independence from systems intertwined with possession as a concept. I also believe that charismatic gifts like tongues and prophecy are still active in the church, though I have seen churches abuse these as often as use them properly.
In relation to polygamy: I believe it is not prohibited in the Bible though I am inclined to the perspective (possibly just by upbringing) that monogamy may be the ideal.
 
Greetings and shalom.
Stranger said:
In relation to polygamy: I believe it is not prohibited in the Bible though I am inclined to the perspective (possibly just by upbringing) that monogamy may be the ideal.
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Committed relationships is God's ideal; no divorce. Each relationship is monogamous; one man to one woman, but some men just happen to have more than one relationship. ;):)
 
Welcome! It is good to have you here.

Regarding polynyny (the only Biblical form of polygamy), what I always come back to is this:

The Bible consistently treats it as marriage, not adultery or sexual immorality.

Who am I to say what is ideal? God calls it marriage. God calls marriage good.

My sister was widowed a few years back, and got married again last year. To my mind, "ideal" would have been her husband not dying. It would have been nice if they could have grown old together, and seen their great grandchildren.

Nonetheless, I am EXTREMELY glad that she found a wonderful new husband!

Often, in this broken world, situations can be both "not ideal", yet still truly wonderful.
 
Welcome to the neighborhood!


Edit: Hello, Stranger!

Seems like that has a kinda familiar ring to it.....:)
 
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Welcome!
 
Welcome.
 
What I mean by "ideal" is that which most closely models the relationship of Christ and the Church. I think that the self sacrificial nature of Christ in relation to the church is better modeled by a husband in monogamous marriage to one wife but also suppose that submission of the wife to the husband as the church as to Christ might be better modeled by a wife allowing for her husband to be in committed marrital relationships with women other than herself.
Either which way I think that polygyny is preferable to men being led out of their marriage by lust. I think the option of husbands to have more wives could create a situation where men are compelled to be more christ-like as women may rather chose to marry a man who already has a wife but treats her as Christ would have him do than marry a man who is otherwise unattached but would give an inferior love.



Bartato said:
Welcome! It is good to have you here.

Regarding polynyny (the only Biblical form of polygamy), what I always come back to is this:

The Bible consistently treats it as marriage, not adultery or sexual immorality.

Who am I to say what is ideal? God calls it marriage. God calls marriage good.

My sister was widowed a few years back, and got married again last year. To my mind, "ideal" would have been her husband not dying. It would have been nice if they could have grown old together, and seen their great grandchildren.

Nonetheless, I am EXTREMELY glad that she found a wonderful new husband!

Often, in this broken world, situations can be both "not ideal", yet still truly wonderful.
Click to expand...
 
Shalom.
 
Stranger said:
What I mean by "ideal" is that which most closely models the relationship of Christ and the Church.
Click to expand...

You might want to concider the way in which Christ Himself portrayed this relationship in His parables; such as the Parable of the 10 Virgins or the Parable of the Workers in the Vinyard or the Parable of the Lost Sheep.
 
Stranger said:
What I mean by "ideal" is that which most closely models the relationship of Christ and the Church. I think that the self sacrificial nature of Christ in relation to the church is better modeled by a husband in monogamous marriage to one wife but also suppose that submission of the wife to the husband as the church as to Christ might be better modeled by a wife allowing for her husband to be in committed marrital relationships with women other than herself.
Either which way I think that polygyny is preferable to men being led out of their marriage by lust. I think the option of husbands to have more wives could create a situation where men are compelled to be more christ-like as women may rather chose to marry a man who already has a wife but treats her as Christ would have him do than marry a man who is otherwise unattached but would give an inferior love.
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I see what you are saying, and think you might be right. That is something I've also wondered about.

It is important to note that God Himself says He is married to two sisters (Israel and Judah). The Creator of Heaven and Earth is polygamous, so that is something to consider. God is Holy, Holy, Holy.

Also, the Church is comprised of a multitude of people, each of which has a personal and individual covenant with Christ.

"But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God." (1 Cor. 11:3)

Christ is the Head of more than one man. Each man has a separate and individual one to One relationship with Christ. That seems a lot like polygamy.

I guess the reason I'm pushing this is that church leaders sometimes understand that the Bible never prohibits polygamy, and that it is never treated as adultery or immorality. Still, they know that polygamy is culturally unacceptable. Wanting to say that it shouldn't be permitted, they argue that it "isn't ideal", or that it "doesn't best reflect the sacrificial love of Christ". Therefore, no one can practice polygyny.

I think this can be a way of adding to God's Law, and we aren't allowed to do that.
 
I aggree for the most part though it is worth noting that the division of the two kingdoms came about as a result of sin. His ideal for the church is that we should be one as He and the Father are one (in spirit).
I guess the most I can say with conviction from scripture is that, regardless of the number of women actually involved, the aspiration should be for them to be as if one in their love for the husband as well as each other as those who are alike precious to the husband.

Bartato said:
I see what you are saying, and think you might be right. That is something I've also wondered about.

It is important to note that God Himself says He is married to two sisters (Israel and Judah). The Creator of Heaven and Earth is polygamous, so that is something to consider. God is Holy, Holy, Holy.

Also, the Church is comprised of a multitude of people, each of which has a personal and individual covenant with Christ.

"But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God." (1 Cor. 11:3)

Christ is the Head of more than one man. Each man has a separate and individual one to One relationship with Christ. That seems a lot like polygamy.

I guess the reason I'm pushing this is that church leaders sometimes understand that the Bible never prohibits polygamy, and that it is never treated as adultery or immorality. Still, they know that polygamy is culturally unacceptable. Wanting to say that it shouldn't be permitted, they argue that it "isn't ideal", or that it "doesn't best reflect the sacrificial love of Christ". Therefore, no one can practice polygyny.

I think this can be a way of adding to God's Law, and we aren't allowed to do that.
Click to expand...
 
Stranger said:
In relation to polygamy: I believe it is not prohibited in the Bible though I am inclined to the perspective (possibly just by upbringing) that monogamy may be the ideal.
Click to expand...
Ideal for who?
Quite possibly for the existing wife, for reasons that I won’t bother with.
Possibly for the man, depending on who and what he is.
But it’s never the ideal for the single woman who cannot find an adequate, unmarried husband.
 
Stranger said:
I think that the self sacrificial nature of Christ in relation to the church is better modeled by a husband in monogamous marriage to one wife
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I don’t have a clue as to how you can say that.
Worship? Yes, you will find worship more in monogamy. But the need for self sacrifice is more necessary in poly.
 
Stranger said:
I guess the most I can say with conviction from scripture is that, regardless of the number of women actually involved, the aspiration should be for them to be as if one in their love for the husband as well as each other as those who are alike precious to the husband.
Click to expand...
Sure, but that right there is some pie in the sky.
As soon as we men are all unified in our love for Yeshua, then we can expect our wives to come to that level. But not until then.
 
Stranger,
We are probably in at least 90% agreement, and I appreciate your willingness to dialog here.

Regarding the idea of something being the result of sin, pretty much everything post Genesis 3 falls into that category. Maybe polygyny wouldn't ever be necessary if Adam had not fallen.

It seems like polygyny is sometimes necessary in this world, and God allows it.
 
We should all be "one" in our devotion to Christ and submission to Him. Though there are many of us, we can be "one" as we trust and obey Him.
 
Welcome, stranger!
 
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