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NASB | 1 Kings 11:3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Kings 11:3 He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away [from God]. |
Subject: Does God endorse polygamy? |
Bible Note: 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 |