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Point of curiosity: in *your* church --- assuming we're talking about a hypothetical David-on-earth, not David-in-heaven --- how many wives could the newly-baptized-Christian David keep, and which one(s)?

And what would you demand he do?

DIVORCE his other wives?

In which situation would he not be sinning?

It sure seems that the Catholic church needs to learn this from God.....

Matthew 9:10-13 And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said,“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

God forgives and FORGETS our sin. The Catholic church still holds it to their account.

" And what would you demand he do? DIVORCE his other wives?"

Here's the rule we apply to all our polygamous converts in Africa: If the first marriage was valid (meaning not irregular for some other reason such as bride being underage or not consenting), that first wife is your one-and-only honest wedded wife and the rest are not.

Given that the children from the multiple women are the man's natural children, he still has an obligation to love and provide for them and contribute to raising them. But wives 2, 3, 4, ...n should be free to find other men to marry. On a one-to-one basis.

Jesus called second-marriages adulterous, as you know. Three times, in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.

I don't particularly like that word, actually, but that's the word He used.

"In which situation would he not be sinning?"

Abstaining from the beds of the other multiple women is not a sin. Th other women were not true wives. Again, that's according to Jesus, who taught exclusive monogamy, and said one-man-one-woman-one-flesh marriage was God's law "from the beginning".

"It sure seems that the Catholic church needs to learn this from God."

That's who we did learn it from: Jesus. From whom did YOU learn monogamy?

"God forgives and FORGETS our sin. The Catholic church still holds it to their account."

In this you are mistaken, metmom. All sins, even adultery, can be repented, forgiven, and then thought of no more. You are washed clean by God's forgiveness, for He DOES both forgive the repentant and give them strength not to return to that sin. The adulterous person, being forgiven, *stops* his/her adultery from that day forward.

Or do you think a person can persist more or less continuously in adultery, and still be considered repentant?

What would *your* church do with a potential convert, say, who's having active sexual relations with multiple women?

What would your church do with a potential convert, say, who's having active sexual relations with multiple women?