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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Does God endorse polygamy? | 1 Kin 11:3 | Swordman007 | 68377 | ||
Greetings, Charis. I like your sense of humor. I am the kind of person who can laugh at himself with "gusto". Concerning your comment about 'my' interpretation, well, it does not require any interpretational skills to read the clear language of the scriptures where God gave king David several of his wives into his bosom (which is deeply intimate teminology for those who would argue otherwise). As for the "legacy" issue, well, again, there are many ways of insuring that each wife and her children are cared for and properly represented within the family under the headship of the husband. This is really a non-issue to those of us who know better, so I can understand your wondering about it. Now, onto the comment about "circumventing the laws of the land." To what laws are you referring? Are you talking about the laws concerning a man having more than one marriage license at a time? What definition, in your own thinking, actually is authoritative in defining marriage; God's, or man's? God's definition of marriage says nothing about legal entaglements with the state, nor does it mention vows, exchanges, acknowledgements, ceremonies, licenses, or anything else that has become culturally acceptable (traditional) today. The traditions of white Europe (Rome and Greece in particular) is not mentioned within scripture as being an authoritative replacement of God's definition of marriage. Anyway, if a man is bound to a woman, and she is bound to him within their hearts, and they become one flesh, then God has already declared them to be "one flesh" (married). There is no law in this land that requires a man to go and acquire a license for his God-ordained bond to his wife. The law simply says that he is limited to only ONE license at a time. So, if a man has taken a wife to himself in accordance with God's ultimate and authoritative definition of marriage, then what laws of this land has he violated or "circumvented" as you say? In case you decide to mention the idiotic anti-cohabitation, allow me to demonstrate something to you: Those very states who have anti-cohabitation laws do not go after all those casanovas who are impregnating multiple women who live in different houses, but they will go after the man who is taking responsibility for his multiple wives and children under his own roof. Hypocrisy abounds in this country and in its many present-day laws. In the spirit of keeping this Biblical, I will say that I have debated this issue with two very well known Th.D.'s in this country, and both were brought to silence. It was not a public debate, but rather a private one. Being that both men are well educated in philosophy, church history and theology, both knew better than to use the many lame arguemtns that the common, uneducated laymen is prone to use from the scriptures. Both of these men know Hebrew and Greek VERY well, but they had simply never been brought to this point and depth of study on polygamy until after they challenged me on this issue. Both are top professors in two of the most highly prestigious theological universities in the country (I must decline mentioning their names). The reason I am mentioning them is that they both indicated that although my case was "quite compelling," they adamantly declared to me that they would never change their position in the eyes of their students, the public and their wives (imagine that) since they had their "image" to uphold (and their marriages since I know that they are both married to rabbid feminists). So you see, it comes as no surprise to me that men and women will both consider the threat of peer pressure to be more than they are willing to handle if ALL of God's word is allowed to be the final authority in relation to their beliefs that they reflect outwardly. In other words, "going against the flow", or "rocking the boat" is simply too much to ask of most professing believers, especially of those who are in positions of prominence. Those two highly educated men admitted that they would continue declaring polygamy to be wrong to their students and their churches simply on the basis of cultural bias (and fear for their own marriages). Oh, and before I forget, the vast majority of the cultures of this world allow for polygamy. You are quite incorrect to assume that polygamous cultures are in the minority. Mongamous cultures are actually in the minority, not the other way around. You should do your homework more thoroughly before stating what is so patently false. I am not saying that polygamy portrays the vast majority of the families in those cultures, only that the vast majority of cultures in this world ALLOW polygamy. I hope this offers some insight for you and others. Your brother in Christ Jesus Don Dean |
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2 | Does God endorse polygamy? | 1 Kin 11:3 | charis | 68426 | ||
Dear Don, Greetings in the name of Jesus. Thank you for your insight. Pleas note, however, that I was not 'assuming' that polygamy is not legal in the majority of the world. You use the word 'culture' as if this is the deciding factor, in the same way you 'circumvent' the laws of America. The law makes polygamy illegal in the majority of the world, as I stated. That the 'cultures' allow it makes no difference. I DID do some homework, my friend. :-) Now, as to the practical realities: What I said holds true; it costs more to satisfy the needs of a large, multi-wife-children family. Few enjoy such leisure. Many (MANY!) women are not real excited about this kind of arrangement. Many children are not happy with sharing the legacy with so many, and it is next-to-impossible to apportion said moneys. (i.e. "She is wife #2, so deserves less!") You say it's not an issue? Well, it is where I come from! Some wives marry for love, and are not hot on sharing it with usurpers. ;-) The vast majority of the world does not practice polygamy for the very reasons stated above. All are not in Solomon's shoes! (I'm glad I'm not! He served idols because of his polygamous ways.) Getting down to brass tacks, are you practicing polygamy? Or is this just and exercise in 'perceived righteousness?' Even if you can 'prove' it is 'OK,' to what end? If we all practiced polygamy, a lot of fellows would be out of luck! ;-) Blessings and peace in Christ Jesus, charis |
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3 | Does God endorse polygamy? | 1 Kin 11:3 | Swordman007 | 68508 | ||
Greetings again. The financial issue appears to be quite a problem in your thinking. Realistically speaking, finances do not have to be a problem. Each family can work this issue out to their own satisfaction. I know of one family with three wives. The husband and two of the wives work outside the home. The third stays home with the children. When the others come home, they take the load off the third so that she can have some private time, and they all work together to get the meals taken care of and the house in order. They are living debt free in a very large brand new home, which cannot be said for the vast majority of monogamous families. Three incomes in this family has afforded for them far greater financial freedom than most monogamous families will ever know in their entire lives. I know a number of other polygamous families (all non-Mormon) who are living in the same financial freedom, and those who have a house payment are making it without any problem. It is pretty much a given that there are some polygamous families who are struggling for whatever reason. I can only speak of those that I am acquainted with personally. They all enjoy plenty of "leisure" in their family lives. As to the idea of many women not happy with a polygamous arrangement is beside the point of my own experience. I can show FAR more women within monogamy who are just as dissatisfied with their marriage. So? As for the "legacy" issue again, this is something that even James Dobson considers to be a problem with monogamous families. He even went so far to suggest the other day on the radio that most of the family inheritance should be given to ministries and churches since most of what children these days inherit is squandered anyway. I also recently heard D. James Kennedy echo this same sentiment in his weekly program. I suspect that much of what you are coming up with is simply conjured up in your own thinking rather than being realistic. The families I am acquainted with have well balanced children who have no problem with their family structure and the family legacy they will carry with them as they enter the adult world. Solomon was a bad example since he clearly violated God's mandate against multiplying so many wives to himself. Besides, he did not HAVE to have a plurality of wives for just one woman to draw him away into idolatry. He had pagan wives, which remains a mystery that leaves most scholars having to speculate that his marrying so many was simply a political maneuver with the nations around him. As to my personal family life, well, that is something that I prefer to keep to myself. What I have "in the wings" is what I prefer to keep "in the wings". Righteousness is a matter of one's life in relation to Christ, not in how many wives a man has. I would never suggest that all men consider marrying more than one wife because I KNOW that MOST men cannot handle such a family structure. Not all men are a large enough revervoir of love to be able to hold enough love for more than one woman. God enables us all according to His own will, so it is a groundless argument for men without that capacity to declare that NO man has that much love and ability. I know this is not the case. If a man marries more than one woman for the sake of sexual variety, then he has a BIG problem on his hands because those woman are not going to stand for that kind of foolishness. Most women are not so shallow, but I know many men who ARE that shallow. Friend, polygamy is clearly "wrong" for you, and I repsect that, but for anyone to say that it is wrong for everyone else is clearly an exercise in hypocrisy and gross ignorance. I say this because we could point a finger that is JUST as critical at monogamy and its MANY problems and talk about how "wrong" it is for those people. What is astounding to me is that monogamists who are vehemently opposed to a plurality of wives will always overlook the enormous heaps of devastation left behind by multitudes of broken, monogamous families, and all the while smirk at how superior monogamy is to polygamy. The institution of marriage in America has suffered tremendous devastation at the hands of arrogant men and women who think they know better how things work, and yet they cannot come up with any workable solution to the problem. I recently heard that Canada passed a law that disallows women to take their husband's last name because of all the paperwork being generated by the divorces. So you see, I can point to a REAL problem within monogamy while you can only point at hypothetical problems with which you have not indicated that you have any personal association and/or experience. You still have not told me what law is being violated for a man to have several wives in accordance with God's definition of marriage. You seem to still be pointing to "legal" marriage, which I have agreed with you on. In Christ Jesus Don |
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4 | Does God endorse polygamy? | 1 Kin 11:3 | charis | 68581 | ||
Dear Don, Greetings in the name of Jesus! "Legal" marriage IS an issue! :-) I can't help but think the examples you refer to sound like one guy with several live-in, single-working-parent girlfriends and one girlfriend running a day-care center. :-) This would make a great sit-com! (but I don't watch inane sit-coms) Come to think of it, it sounds even more like a commune cult with one 'leader' ruling over a harem of acolytes. :-) Don, it was nice chatting with you on this one. I will leave the thread with a chuckle. I'm just a simple-minded fellow with a lot of 'ingrained bigotries,' and very happy with one wife and family. Perhaps God will agree with you on this one, or more likely, His grace will be applied to those who are 'sincere' in their social mores. Blessings and peace in Christ Jesus, charis |
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