Posted on 05/13/2008 2:10:34 PM PDT by forkinsocket
Nigeria's Anglican leader has told the country's many Christian polygamists to give up their extra wives.
In a letter to the faithful, Archbishop Peter Akinola warned the issue could "make a mockery" of the church.
Until now, converts to Christianity have been allowed to keep their polygamous relationships.
Bishop Ali Buba Lamido told the BBC that it was difficult to convert polygamous Muslims to Christianity unless they could keep their wives.
Bishop Ali Buba of the Wusasa diocese in northern Kaduna State, said that as much as 10% of some congregations in the north can be in polygamous marriages.
Nigeria is deeply divided between the mostly Muslim north and a predominantly Christian and animist south.
The archbishop's letter comes ahead of the Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops in July.
With 17.5 million members, the Nigerian Anglican Church is the second largest in the communion.
'Biblical truth'
"Those of us who are in the forefront of the prophetic call for a return to Biblical truth, cannot close our eyes to the increasingly blatant disregard for the teaching of the Bible on family life," wrote the archbishop.
"The observation will destroy our witness if not firmly addressed. We cannot claim to be a Bible-believing church and yet be selective in our obedience."
Bishop Lamido told the BBC News website that polygamous converts are prevented from taking leadership positions in the church until they accept monogamy.
If they do separate, the women usually give up their children to the care of their ex-husbands.
"These women remain in the church, and can marry again, but mostly they decide to remain single. It is often difficult for them to restart family life," he said.
Archbishop Akinola has led opposition by some European and American Anglicans to ordain gay priests.
The BBC's Andrew Walker in Abuja says the archbishop's letter may be an attempt to head off criticism about "unscriptural practices" in his own back yard.
If the Christian principle of monogamy continued to be ignored, "it will make a mockery of whatever else we stand for," the archbishop wrote.
So if a man has five or six wives, and all but one leaves her children with him, then he takes care of 30-odd children? What a mess!
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. This is something that missionaries over the centuries have encountered. The general rule followed was that ripping apart families and destroying lives in the name of Jesus was not the answer. The families who already were in culturally-accepted polygamous marriages when they became Christians were allowed to remain as a family, but those who were not in polygamous marriages were to now to follow the biblical norm of one spouse per person. In one generation the polygamous “problem” would be resolved.
I would'nt mind seeing that portion of the letter sent to many churches right here in the good 'ole US of A.
And there is the matter of being fair to the wives. By stating that a girl possibly forced into becoming a second wife is now illegitimate and loses her children because they join a more humane religion doesn’t aid in the argument.
what faith group are they speaking of - I know of no prots or Catholics who are polygamous
Next to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop Akinola is surely the most powerful single Anglican bishop in the world. All the Anglicans/Episcopalians in the English speaking West: USA, Canada, Australia, NZ, and the UK could into one of his 11 provinces.... He has something like 17 Million Anglicans (who are overwealmingly orthodox/evangelical) under his care in Nigeria, in addition to overseeing the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) which constitutes over 20% of the ex-Episcopalians in Virginia...
Imagine too, trying to be the leader of a country's Christian church where HALF the population of the country are fundamentalist Moslems.
Anglicans make up the 3rd largest Church in the world.
Nigerian Anglican Church
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglicans
It seems that by definition they are Protestants.
You play, you pay
LOL
I agree with you - the situation appears to be a muslim carryover, rather than a position of the Church. I dont think anyone in thier right mind would call this situation condoned by the larger Church, rather it sounds as if there is difficulty at the local level....time for a housecleaning
Yes, monogamy is the Scriptural practice: Tim. 3:2,12; Titus 1:5-7; 1 Cor. 7:2; Matt. 19; Gen. 2:23-25; Deut. 17:17; Lev. 18:18. The Israelites viewed monogamy as the most acceptable form of marriage -- stated openly in Deut. 17:17 & Gen. 2:24 + implied by Hebrew laws in Ex. 20:17; 21:5; Lev. 18:8,16-20; 20:10; Num. 5:12; Deut. 5:21.
The practice of polygamy historically is rooted in the person of Lamech, the initial polygamist who was a violent Cainite. It was then practiced thru the pagan custom of ancient Mesopotamia.
“but it could certainly be argued that the Catholics are the ones that have drifted on these issues away from traditional beliefs, not us.”
I am sure there are many Catholics here on FR that will argue the inverse.
Thanks for your thoughts.
I guess my question is: Are these people considered True Christians or just half-way there with a few more things to clear up before they are saved?
Polygamy as a common practice in Africa goes way back before Islam.
that may or may not be....I am basing my comments on the information presented....and it appears that while your contention may be accurate - they arent “Christian” in any sense of the term as evidenced by the Denominations response.
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