Westminster Confession Forbids Polygamy, how this affects us

[The Protector]

If you're in a Presbyterian church, Reformed Church, Reformed Baptist, Lutheran, or any other church with "reformed" theology or you study theology, you've probably noticed that the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) [WCF after this] and London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689) [LBC after this] forbid polygamy. I would like to discuss how this affects us.

These six issues come to mind.

1.)Membership oaths
2.)Leadership oaths and ordination
3.)Trials
4.)Teaching children the Westminster Standards [This includes the WCF and the Larger and Shorter catechisms]
5.)Elders refusing to perform marriage ceremonies
6.)Elders refusing to baptize covenant children or believing children

Oaths vary from church to church and I doubt any membership oaths demand belief in the confession without any exceptions. From my experience it is not unusual and even a frequent matter of discussion about which parts of the confessions one has an exception to but these are usually the "Pope" and "Elect Infants" sections. Lately I have noticed a tendency to accept the whole confession and re-define or re-interpret it or to just to agree with the whole thing. I don't have the evidence to back this up but from what I have heard, this is a common question in ordination councils and it's not uncommon at all or career-ending for candidates to take a couple exceptions. Feel free to bring up other ways it would come up. The more I think about this, the less of a problem it seems to me.

Has anyone been refused baptism or marriage ceremonies? I really can't imagine anyone denying baptism to a child that someone intends to raise in the Faith, especially believer's baptism in the case of credobaptists which would be unimaginable.

What would you do when teaching through the WCF at home or in Sunday School when you came to cap. XXIV?

I'm purposefully leaving out the Lutheran confessions as that deserves a whole other thread of its own. I absolutely do not want this post to get thread-jacked into an anti-creedalist discussion. This matter of the confessions is a real issue that affects some of us and we need to discuss it. Leaving our churches for a church without creeds or saying that creeds are bad would not solve this as we would still face the same problem.

[Despite the fact that only section I of the WCF deals with the issue explicitly, I have included section II because it seems to me that plural marriage fulfils these, possibly to a greater degree. Scriptural references are also included. I believe the original references are from the TR.]

Westminster Confession of Faith (1646)

Chapter XXIV
Of Marriage and Divorce

I. Marriage is to be between one man and one woman: neither is it lawful for any man to have more than one wife, nor for any woman to have more than one husband, at the same time.[1]

II. Marriage was ordained for the mutual help of husband and wife,[2] for the increase of mankind with a legitimate issue, and of the Church with an holy seed;[3] and for preventing of uncleanness.[4]

[1] GEN 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. MAT 19:5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. PRO 2:17 Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.

[2] GEN 2:18 And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

[3] MAL 2:15 And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

[4] 1CO 7:2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. 9 But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.

[I've omitted the text of references as they appear above with the exception of Gen 1:28]

London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689)

Chapter XXV
Marriage is to be between one man and one woman. It is not lawful for any man to have more than one wife, nor for any woman to have more than one husband, at the same time. (Genesis 2:24; Malachi 2:15; Matthew 19:5,6 )

Marriage was ordained for the mutual help of husband and wife, for the increase of mankind with a legitimate issue, and for preventing uncleanness. ( Genesis 2:18; Genesis 1:28; 1 Corinthians 7:2, 9 )

Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

[ESV]

 

[Oreslag]

Re: Westminster Confession Forbids Polygamy, how this affect

Regarding oaths, I don't recall any biblical support for the idea that one should take an oath to belong to the church of which Christ is the head. Similarly, I don't recall any biblical support for the concept of 'ordination' into an 'office' within Christ's church by any power but that of the Holy Spirit. Thus, I'm highly skeptical of anyone who wants me to take an oath, and particularly of anyone who wants to gain my allegiance to doctrine composed by fallible men.

Though I've used many of the various confessional statements and catechisms in my study and find them to be quite useful, my unfortunate experience is that many who 'wield' them seem to do so to point others to an idol (knowingly or not) they prefer over the living God. By 'wield' I intend to convey the attitude that a confessional statement is synonymous with scripture; which it most certainly is not. Consequently, my purpose is merely to distinguish proper use from improper use.

In any case, as best I can I take no oaths, subordinate myself to the Word alone (more specifically, to whatever it commands of me), and will teach my house to do the same. Though this does leave me outside the reach of membership in most churches I might consider brothers in Christ, it has not impeded Christian fellowship; which as nearly as I can tell is the church identified in scripture.

 

[FollowingHim]

Re: Westminster Confession Forbids Polygamy, how this affect

I like your attitude to it Oreslag.

1,2: I agree that there is no reason to take an oath, and if this precludes you from membership or leadership, then so be it. It will not preclude you from fellowship as every church wants to attract non-members anyway - that's called evangelism! In most churches the main advantage of membership is that it gives you voting rights when democratic decisions are made, and as I disagree with democracy in a church setting anyway I don't mind being left out of that one. If the church is unwilling to even fellowship with non-members, there are more welcoming congregations elsewhere.

3: No experience of this. I can see that this issue could get people kicked out of a church in a formal "trial", again if you are kicked out there's probably another church down the road that God would prefer you to be at.

4: No problem here. These statements of faith are excellent starting material for scriptural instruction, there's a lot of good in them. Set the children the task of critiquing them from scripture when they are old enough, see if they can find the holes themselves.

5: Marry her in the next-door church, the registry office (if you're doing the legal thing), or in your backyard. No elders needed.

6: Baptise them in the local creek, you don't need an elder for that either.

I can see that disagreeing with this confession would most likely exclude you from membership and leadership. That shouldn't really be a problem for most people. I don't think disagreeing with the confession is likely to get you kicked out. Bringing a second wife along might, but that's not a unique problem to churches that follow the WCF!

 

[sola scriptura]

Re: Westminster Confession Forbids Polygamy, how this affect

We attended a church that followed the Belgic Confession, which is very close to the Westminster. When we told our pastor about our poly beliefs, and that my husband had taken another wife, we began a 15 month theological dialogue which eventually led to us being dis-fellowshipped. We were not excommunicated (even though the results were the same) because we were never members.

I still teach my children the Westminster Confession and when we get to the marriage part, I'll show scripture that supports our family's beliefs.

As for taking an oath to gain membership: I believe you may be using stronger language than necessary. If we had become members, we would have had to affirm publicly that we agreed with the Three Forms of Unity: The Belgic Confession, the Canons of Dort and the Heidelburg Catechism. There was no need to take an oath, as a person's word should be enough.

 

[FollowingHim]

Re: Westminster Confession Forbids Polygamy, how this affect

Sola scriptura, if you had just said you believed it but your husband hadn't taken a second wife, do you think you'd have been kicked out? In other words, did they actually kick you out for not agreeing with the confession, or for being "unrepentant sinners" (two potentially quite separate issues)?

Out of interest, how do they "dis-fellowship" someone? Do they have a bouncer at the door with photos of all the local evil people who aren't allowed in? :roll: Or do they convince everybody in the congregation to have nothing more to do with you?

 

[CecilW]

Re: Westminster Confession Forbids Polygamy, how this affect

2 cents from the bigmouth ... :lol:

Can't find anything labelled "The Westminster Confession" anywhere in my Bible. So it doesn't affect me at all.

 

[ChrisM]

Re: Westminster Confession Forbids Polygamy, how this affect

I absolutely do not want this post to get thread-jacked into an anti-creedalist discussion. This matter of the confessions is a real issue that affects some of us and we need to discuss it. Leaving our churches for a church without creeds or saying that creeds are bad would not solve this as we would still face the same problem.

It is impossible to bring up this issue as necessary for discussion without allowing for the practice to be questioned entirely. Just because much of Christianity has taken hold of these confessions does not mean it is a good thing. I find that there is no point to discuss signing on the dotted line of agreement with a list of doctrines as such a practice is completely missing in Scripture. Just my .02 but as a few others chimed in with the the same vein of thought, maybe it is best to reconsider whether this is an issue at all Scripturally.

 

[ChrisM]

Re: Westminster Confession Forbids Polygamy, how this affect

6: Baptise them in the local creek, you don't need an elder for that either.

A friend got in big trouble at the local Baptist church for wanting to baptize his son, a professing believer aged 10. Only the pastor or elders are allowed, and they would not allow this kid to join the membership when he is 18 years old as his baptism would be considered invalid. This father is the missions treasurer, leads the children's programs, teaches adult Sunday School, but evidently that isn't enough.


Yup, man surely screws up God's church when they impose their own rules and interpretations of God's Word. Seems almost like.... the Pharisees

 

[ChrisM]

Re: Westminster Confession Forbids Polygamy, how this affect

2 cents from the bigmouth ... :lol:

Can't find anything labelled "The Westminster Confession" anywhere in my Bible. So it doesn't affect me at all.

Add my 2 cents to Cecil's on this one :lol:

 

[FollowingHim]

Re: Westminster Confession Forbids Polygamy, how this affect

A friend got in big trouble at the local Baptist church for wanting to baptize his son, a professing believer aged 10. Only the pastor or elders are allowed, and they would not allow this kid to join the membership when he is 18 years old as his baptism would be considered invalid.

Ridiculous nonsense. I got baptised in a filthy creek on a weekend student camp because I really felt God telling me I had to that day. Got a mate to baptise me. I've only ever been asked "are you baptised". What if he was baptised in a different denomination, would they consider that invalid too? I've heard of the occasional cultish church that requires rebaptism in that case, I'd be shocked if the Baptists would also.

Anyway, I don't see why anyone would actually want to "join the membership" of a church that thought like that, so I'd have just gone ahead and baptised the boy.

It is impossible to bring up this issue as necessary for discussion without allowing for the practice to be questioned entirely. Just because much of Christianity has taken hold of these confessions does not mean it is a good thing.

I agree that the idea of agreeing to a confession is questionable. However, you've got to put this into perspective. There are an innumerable number of questions in Christianity, of which polygyny is only one, and certainly not the most important. Many believers choose to fellowship at churches that accept such creeds. They can't expect to completely change centuries of church history tomorrow. This situation will place real issues in front of them that they need to be able to cope with. I personally think the best way of coping with them is simply to take no vows at all and if that disqualifies you from membership, then so be it. But the fundamental problem, that the church accepts the creed, still remains, and is one that believers fellowshipping there will still have to deal with and can't just ignore.

 

[FollowingHim]

Re: Westminster Confession Forbids Polygamy, how this affect

I generally agree with you Mark. However people choose to attend a particular church for a whole host of reasons. In general they will agree with the bulk of what the church stands for, or find it is the local body of Christians they get on best with socially, or something like that. EVERY church has something wrong - because every church is made up of fallible humans. You can't walk away from everything because it isn't perfect, you'll end up having no fellowship at all.

So I say

1) Obey God in your own lives to the best of your ability. Don't vow to follow manmade confessions, or accept illegitimately wielded church authority over your life. Even if this precludes you from church "membership". While seeking to improve the church you are in as far as you are able to influence it.

2) But recognise that you'll have to put up with a bit of heresy here and there if you wish to have any fellowship with other Christians - because even if they were perfect, YOU are a heretic in some area you don't realise is wrong, and as soon as you turn up the church will be contaminated! We won't eliminate heresy until we meet our Lord in heaven. At times this heresy may impinge on your life, for instance if a church insists on disfellowshipping you over your legitimately held views. We cannot eliminate this risk, it's part of serving God. This ministry can help to support people affected by this perpetual issue.

 

[sola scriptura]

Re: Westminster Confession Forbids Polygamy, how this affect

Methinks perhaps y'all have the wrong impression of creeds and confessions. (Good mix of Olde English and Southern dialect, huh!)

A creed or confession is simply the stated beliefs of what God's Word says. Obviously, many people have many different versions of those beliefs. A confession uses SCRIPTURE ALONE to state why the church believes the way they do. Its basically a Cliff's Notes version of church doctrine, and lets a believe know whether or not they agree with this particular church's reading of scripture.

The Reformed church we attended held to the Belgic Confession, most of which I agreed with. We chose not to become members because of the minor disagreements we had, and were still fully welcomed at the church...until the whole poly thing

My point is this, a church holding to a specific confession is not following manmade doctrines or traditions unless the confession has manmade doctrines or traditions in it. The confessions and creeds aren't the problem, its what may or may not be in them that are the problem

 

[Oreslag]

Re: Westminster Confession Forbids Polygamy, how this affect

So I say

1) Obey God in your own lives to the best of your ability. Don't vow to follow manmade confessions, or accept illegitimately wielded church authority over your life. Even if this precludes you from church "membership". While seeking to improve the church you are in as far as you are able to influence it.

2) But recognise that you'll have to put up with a bit of heresy here and there if you wish to have any fellowship with other Christians - because even if they were perfect, YOU are a heretic in some area you don't realise is wrong, and as soon as you turn up the church will be contaminated! We won't eliminate heresy until we meet our Lord in heaven. At times this heresy may impinge on your life, for instance if a church insists on disfellowshipping you over your legitimately held views. We cannot eliminate this risk, it's part of serving God. This ministry can help to support people affected by this perpetual issue.

Very well said!

 

[FollowingHim]

Re: Westminster Confession Forbids Polygamy, how this affect

Sola scriptura, I actually think creeds, confessions, statements of faith etc are very good things, they summarise the key aspects of your faith and are great teaching tools. Problems only arise when people are expected to vow that they accept them as absolute fact, because I'd actually be pretty confident that every single one is wrong in some way, including the one we're currently developing at our church. They're still very useful as they are the closest the author was able to come to the truth.