Polygamy

[Redwolf]

Jesus came here to save us from our sins because there were so many and what people thought was not a sin was, in fact, a sin in the eyes of God. Men who thought it was OK to marry-divorce-marry-divorce-etc, were wrong in what they were doing and Jesus told them so. He made it clear that sexual sin was the same for a man as it was for a woman.

I think Polygamy is better than multiple divorce and remarriage, I will say that.

Wrong. What you're saying is that one sin is better than another. All sin is sin that will keep us out of Heaven. If polygamy were not a sin, neither would polyandry be a sin. Jesus came here and set straight the wicked traditions of men and shed light on the unbalanced scales so that we would see God's standards and correct the scales accordingly. This lightened the loads of some(example:women) and made heavier the loads of others(example:men), but the scales, if obeyed, are balanced. Men must not have liked the way Jesus reset the rules accurately because they keep trying to go back to the old laws that gave them as many women as their hearts desired.

Sure I would agree that no one sin is any better than any other.

However there is not clear scriptural evidence that Polygamy is a sin; including anything from the teachings of Christ. Polyandry was a sin and called out as one, witness the conversation Jesus had with the women who had several men, in addition His discussion on marriage, and Paul's discussion on divorce. We know that polygamy was practiced during the time of Jesus; in fact it was common enough that when speaking of the requirements for a Bishop, scripture specifically says that he should be the husband of only one wife.

The reason it is a sin is that it is illegal, not because of anything specifically in scripture. Now personally I think that Christ did intend for one man and one woman to be together in marriage, and we can point to His discussion in this area of marriage where He does indeed seem to be speaking about one man and one woman alone in marriage.

But the fact is it is not clear. Some things we have to use a little wisdom about ourselves.

If you look a where polygamy is successfully practiced and it is successfully practiced, you have one older wife who serves as the leader of the household and mentor to the younger women. The man usually spends most of his time and counsel with this women.

I think it could be successful. Unfortunately the way it has been practiced in the US by the Mormon fundamentalists it is simply child abuse and child rape, where the

[Smalcald]

Jesus came here to save us from our sins because there were so many and what people thought was not a sin was, in fact, a sin in the eyes of God. Men who thought it was OK to marry-divorce-marry-divorce-etc, were wrong in what they were doing and Jesus told them so. He made it clear that sexual sin was the same for a man as it was for a woman.

I think Polygamy is better than multiple divorce and remarriage, I will say that.

Wrong. What you're saying is that one sin is better than another. All sin is sin that will keep us out of Heaven. If polygamy were not a sin, neither would polyandry be a sin. Jesus came here and set straight the wicked traditions of men and shed light on the unbalanced scales so that we would see God's standards and correct the scales accordingly. This lightened the loads of some(example:women) and made heavier the loads of others(example:men), but the scales, if obeyed, are balanced. Men must not have liked the way Jesus reset the rules accurately because they keep trying to go back to the old laws that gave them as many women as their hearts desired.

Sure I would agree that no one sin is any better than any other.

However there is not clear scriptural evidence that Polygamy is a sin; including anything from the teachings of Christ. Polyandry was a sin and called out as one, witness the conversation Jesus had with the women who had several men, in addition His discussion on marriage, and Paul's discussion on divorce. We know that polygamy was practiced during the time of Jesus; in fact it was common enough that when speaking of the requirements for a Bishop, scripture specifically says that he should be the husband of only one wife.

The reason it is a sin is that it is illegal, not because of anything specifically in scripture. Now personally I think that Christ did intend for one man and one woman to be together in marriage, and we can point to His discussion in this area of marriage where He does indeed seem to be speaking about one man and one woman alone in marriage.

But the fact is it is not clear. Some things we have to use a little wisdom about ourselves.

If you look a where polygamy is successfully practiced and it is successfully practiced, you have one older wife who serves as the leader of the household and mentor to the younger women. The man usually spends most of his time and counsel with this women.

I think it could be successful. Unfortunately the way it has been practiced in the US by the Mormon fundamentalists it is simply child abuse and child rape, where the

[Smalcald]

Like I said, I'm not repeating the points I've already made. I will say, though, given the issues you, smalcald, brought up on young women and old men - most young women don't like old men. Plain and simple, they want men their own age. But I have no doubts in my mind that it was an old perverted man who made up the rule that men can have more than one wife.

Yeah I have never understood why so many younger women do indeed marry old guys. Often it is unresolved issues with their own fathers etc, or simply just looking for stability, immaturity among guys their own age, or simply money.

But the fact is there are a bunch of guys who are over the age of 50 who have no problem finding younger women in their 20

[OopsMartin]

Like I said, I'm not repeating the points I've already made. I will say, though, given the issues you, smalcald, brought up on young women and old men - most young women don't like old men. Plain and simple, they want men their own age. But I have no doubts in my mind that it was an old perverted man who made up the rule that men can have more than one wife.

Yeah I have never understood why so many younger women do indeed marry old guys. Often it is unresolved issues with their own fathers etc, or simply just looking for stability, immaturity among guys their own age, or simply money.

But the fact is there are a bunch of guys who are over the age of 50 who have no problem finding younger women in their 20's and 30's to marry, usually after they dump their first long time family. Look at all of these politicians and even televangelists, it is gross I agree.

But the fact is you did not quote scripture in your post number 10, and that is what I am looking for, I cannot find scripture which would ban polygamy or name it as sin. Adultery, fornication certainly yes, but we are not talking about that we are talking about a man who is married.

When the earth was young and life was fragile it may have been that polygamy helped preserve humanity. But today life is different.

while there may be nothing specific in Scripture stating it as wrong, we do have Genesis to show us God's ideal. We also have Scriptures that tell us to obey the laws of the land where we live. So if your government deems it wrong, then it's a done deal. Frankly I'm quite thankful that my government lists it as a crime. I haven't heard of many happy women living in polygamous relationships. And if the woman isn't happy, the man is only fooling himself to think he is.

[None]

Like I said, I'm not repeating the points I've already made. I will say, though, given the issues you, smalcald, brought up on young women and old men - most young women don't like old men. Plain and simple, they want men their own age. But I have no doubts in my mind that it was an old perverted man who made up the rule that men can have more than one wife.

Yeah I have never understood why so many younger women do indeed marry old guys. Often it is unresolved issues with their own fathers etc, or simply just looking for stability, immaturity among guys their own age, or simply money.

But the fact is there are a bunch of guys who are over the age of 50 who have no problem finding younger women in their 20

[Guest Biblicist]

It's Adam and Eve. Adam, Eve, and a plethora of other women, makes Adam an adulterer and adultery is sin.

Don't come back and say 'but Adam is married to all those other women'. No, he is not, since the exampl is Adam and Eve and no one else.

ACK!! The only other women for Adam to marry were his daughters or grandaughters, etc.

Does it actually say in God's word that Adam had other wives other than Eve?

[None]

It's Adam and Eve. Adam, Eve, and a plethora of other women, makes Adam an adulterer and adultery is sin.

Don't come back and say 'but Adam is married to all those other women'. No, he is not, since the exampl is Adam and Eve and no one else.

ACK!! The only other women for Adam to marry were his daughters or grandaughters, etc.

Does it actually say in God's word that Adam had other wives other than Eve?

He didn't say that.

He was saying that if polygamy were God's plan, Adam would have married more than one wife, but since it's not, Adam didn't.

[forrestkc]

As a married man I can't imagine why anyone would want more than one wife. I also could not imagine why any woman would want more than one husband. If someone did want more than one wife, and if the women agreed to it, its no business of mine, it has no affect at all on my marriage, so I say let them do it. I will go out on a limb and predict that if polygamy was made legal across the nation tomorrow, there would not be a rush of people signing up for it. I just don't think that hardly anyone would want it.

Incidentally, have any of yall seen that show on HBO called Big Love? Its a show about these fictional fundamentalist mormons who are polygamists. Its actually a really good show, but definitely not one for children to be watching. It came to mind though with the topic of this thread being what it is.

[Smalcald]

Your points are all well taken.

Yes I have seen that show Forrest, its pretty good really. My personal opinion is that they should have a religious exemption for polygamy for those sects which believe that they are following God's model which the Mormon Fundamentalists do (as long as they are of age etc).

The problem from a legal point is that it is an administrative nightmare. You would have inheritance problems, child support problems, social service problems, and on and on with these entangled multi person marriages. I mean could you divorce just one wife? How would that work, what about social security, do all of those women get social security survivor benefits when the guy dies? How about welfare benefits, you have families of 25 or 30 kids should they get welfare just because they choose to be so huge? This by the way is a major scam in places in Utah which covertly allow polygamy.

But anyway I was thinking that yes the law of our land is that we have one women and one man in marriage and that is how I think it should be, I totally agree with the law and feel it is best for families and society in the US. But once again from a scriptural standpoint I am not so sure it is solid. I think this is mainly relevant not for us in the US, but for Christians living in Africa and the Middle East where this is still practiced. If we were evangelizing should we demand that they break these polygamous marriage vows? Could we do that based on scripture? I don't think that we could.

[FighterforJC]

If someone marries another who has two heads is that polygamy? There are people born with two heads, maybe one in 11 million or something. Are two-headed people allowed to marry?