Posted on 06/08/2015 8:55:53 AM PDT by Salvation
Featured Term selected at random:
POLYGAMY
The status or institution of simultaneous marriage of more than one woman to one man, or of several women to several men. The two forms are polygyny and polyandry. In ordinary use, the term is restricted to polygyny, i.e., where one man is simultaneously married to more than one woman.
Polygamy as polygyny is contrary to divine positive law governing the marriage union (Genesis 2:24; Ephesians 5:31). According to the natural law, even successive polygamy (as in societies that legalize marriage after divorce) hinders the proper care and education of children. And it places an intolerable burden on practicing mutual love between the spouses.
In the Old Testament, God tolerated polygamy for a certain time, as it appears from the examples of men such as Abraham, Jacob, and David. But with the proclamation of the New Law, this concession, almost wrested from by God by reason of the moral obtuseness of man, was revoked. Marriage was restored to its original unity. The language of Christ is very explicit (Matthew 19:3-9; Mark 10:1-12; Luke 16:18). Catholic tradition has consistently interpreted Christ's teaching as absolutely forbidding polygamy, and the prohibition was defined by the Council of Trent, pronouncing anathema against anyone who says that "it is lawful for Christians to have several wives at the same time, and that it is not forbidden by any divine law" (Denzinger 1802). (Etym. Greek polygamos, having many wives.)
All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.
Catholic tradition has consistently interpreted Christ's teaching as absolutely forbidding polygamy, and the prohibition was defined by the Council of Trent, pronouncing anathema against anyone who says that "it is lawful for Christians to have several wives at the same time
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“Successive polygamy”
Salvation, thank you very much for this very useful phrase! I fully intend to use it in the future!
- Megan
Or “serial polygamy” - which I like because of the subconscious association with “serial [insert crime here]”.
Would be interested to know how you explain 1 Timothy 3:2 and 1 Timothy 3:12.
v 2 - ESV - Therefore an overseer[a] must be above reproach, the husband of one wife,[b] sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
v 12 - ESV - Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well.
There are clear marriage (polygamy) instructions for overseers (Elders) and deacons given by Paul, but none for those who are not in either of those positions. The NT references in the posted article refer to divorce and remarriage, not multiple wives.
I find that one wife is sufficient for me, but I question why the message of Scripture is “changed” to fit someone’s belief, such as the limitation to only having one wife.
The article references Abraham as a man with multiple wives (at the same time). That is incorrect. Abraham had one wife, Sarah, and a concubine, Hagar. Minor point, but a wife and a concubine are different. After Abraham’s death he did take another wife, Ketura (Gen 25:1).
There is nothing in scripture stating that polygamy was only given for a certain time.
I have to agree. God made rules for us to live by. Like any good attorney would do today, he made his rules as unequivocal as possible, so that we would not have to “interpret” any meaning we wanted.
The original post does not and cannot quote any Biblical text that expressly condemns or permits a man to have more than one wife at a time. But just as we now twist and squeeze the plain language of our Constitution to obtain a meaning we like, so too did the very humans who debated, wrote and published the results of the Council of Trent.
I am Catholic and while I respect teachings and edicts from learned theologians of the past, I know perfectly well that they too - just like everyone else - had their own ideas on how people should live their lives. The results of the Council of Trent had to reflect those ideas in some way. However well-intentioned those theologians might have been, I cannot give their words equal weight with those of God.
But if others can extrapolate God’s intentions from words He did not say then I can extrapolate His intent from facts of life: Wars kill more men than women. After a war with a neighboring country an army frequently returns home to an overabundance of women. Without polygamy or relaxation of normal societal standards many of those women can never marry or have children, thus causing problems for two or more generations. As an example, after WWII, in an effort to replenish the male population, Russia found ways to reward unmarried women who bore children. Here in the U.S. we just pumped more money into welfare programs for a similar result.
As the original post says, polygamy is not forbidden by God but by men who undertook to “interpret” His intent from words he did not say.
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