For centuries, in major civilizations around the world, societies have freely accepted the idea of polygamy.
What king, what rich man, what lord didn't have a harem?
I think it is only the Christian notion that one man should have only one wife that has spawned a frowning upon the institution of polygamy. And yet, I can't think of any Bible verses that explicitly say: One man should only have one wife.
All that comes to mind are Abraham and his many wives; Jacob and his many wives; and King David and, yup, you guessed it, his many wives. So if God doesn't approve of polygamy, why didn't he smite them for having multiple mistresses?
Are we wired for variety in our spousal relationships? And if it's ok for men to have many wives, is it ok for women to have many husbands?
7 comments:
Ahh.. what better way to return to our Chinese heritage, than for the men to obtain as many concubines as possible... so wonderful movies like "Memoirs of a Geisha" can continue to be made in the West about Asian people..
-Rob
If a women can financially support all her husbands, then I say go for it!
I think to understand a Christian perspective one needs to go back to the first two chapters of Genesis, where the creation order is set (2:vs. 18-25)and "the man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.'" (ESV)Jesus refers back to the passage in Matt. 19:5 and Mark 110:7,8 in reference to questions about marriage and divorce. The assumptions are about 'wife' not 'wives'. Paul, in Eph. 5:22-33 even goes farther to express that the Genesis model is a picture in some way of Christ and His church, and so must be honored and protected as such. In 1 Timothy (chapter 3), Paul outlines the requirements for church leadership, including a man being the husband of one wife. The same is written again in Titus 1:6 (interestingly, in Titus 5:9 widowed women requiring church assistance should be the the wife of one man, so it goes both ways. There apparently is a norm.) - Susan
is this post a permission slip for me?
c'mon now. women are catty! the modern marriage is already a doomed institution (statistically speaking) with 1 female in it. adding more estrogen to the mix is just asking for quicker and messier explosions.
susan, that's an impressive recall of scripture. but isn't the singular noun sometimes used as a generic reference? (e.g.: "He that spares the rod hates his son" --> so is this divine warrant for China's 1-child policy?) and isn't the church a *corporate* body (i.e. encompassing multiple persons)? and maybe it's better for church honchos to economize on wives for pragmatic (non-theological) reasons, such as minimizing catfights in the sanctuary.
To Peggy - If we are swapping anecdotes, I can tell you some pretty horrific ones about monogamous relationships that would probably trump most bad anecdotes about polygamous marriages.
To Susan - See Kony's second comment. However I think there is an argument to be made that the Bible sees polygamous marriages as sinful in the passage where Christ talks about divorce. If it is adulterous for a man to marry another woman after having divorced his wife for reasons other than marital unfaithfulness, then that strongly suggests that having multiple wives is a no-no. Maybe (to my great delight) Kony can knock that inference out of the water?
To Kony - Yeah, girls are catty. But somehow, the Mormons make it look so easy... Maybe co-wives form a special bond like the kind sister-siblings do? Long shot.
To Michael - Don't even think about it!
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