Polygamy Question

They could give a "bill of divorcement too" under the Law. God allowed it because of the hardness of their hearts, but not now.

 

Hence we know that this was God's ideal...He doesn't want polygamists leading His church.

 

God "allowed" many wives in the OT, but never "condoned" it. As has been pointed out in a previous post, in every family (including David's) wherever there were multiple wives it only brought grief and trouble into the family.
What God was saying to David was in reference to David's great sin against God, wherein David committed adultery with Bathsheba and then tried to cover it up by killing Uriah the Hittite. Essentially, God is saying that he would have given him the desire of his heart. He would have given him other wives if David thought that was important to him, and especially if it would have kept him from doing this horrible sin. But he never went to the Lord. He sinned anyway. He took his eyes of the Lord and turned them on lustful thoughts and then on the sin of adultery itself. However, Jesus made it plain, that from the beginning it was not so. It has always been God's will that one man should always have just one wife.

 

So to reiterate my same tired old question like a broken record:

What do you propose to do about polygamy in the church?

 

We don't have it nor will we. We are very strict on double marriage.

 

What polygamy? If you are attending a polygamous church you ought to leave right away.
Are you a Mormon?

 

(ahem) Well we have come a long way, but this thread started with the question of what missionaries should do when they encounter polygamy among their converts or prospective converts, remember?

 

Sorry, no I didn't remember the original OP. I read it some time ago, and then forgot about it.
To answer that question:
He must choose one to be his wife, and set the others apart, house them, provide for them, and for whatever children they may have had by him. They are his responsibility. But there is only one that he may keep for himself and be intimate with. That provides for responsibility and the Biblical mandate of the sacred institution of marriage to be met.

 

Yes, that is called "divorce" with "maintenance" and "alimony," and I am wondering what scriptural justification there is for it. We aren't going to rehash this whole thread again, are we? What right has a church to insist that a marriage be ended? I see where the Bible prohibits divorce, but I don't see where it prohibits polygamy.

 

I have given you the Scripture already.
It is in 1Cor. 7:1-2; Rom.7:1-3; Mat.19:9; Mk.10:11,12; Lk.16:18

Polygamy is adultery!

 

Amity

Give it up. You ain't going to win this one. And FWIW, I think you are misunderstanding the scriptures and how they apply in the old and new testament.

Jeff

 

There is a big difference between separation and divorce. I never advocated divorce.

 

Don't see a difference. Did "divorce" in Christ's time mean a legal agreement arbitrated by two lawyers and signed by a judge? It amounts to the same thing.

 

I think like most discussions, at least on this board, we are approaching the ridiculous.

I should have said this immediately, but in the first place, why should I, if I were a missionary, or if ever presented with a situation such as this being discussed, even think of baptizing into church membership those who are polygamous ?

I wouldn't.

Hence there wouldn't be a church where polygamy is a question.

I would have handled it pretty much like the question of sodomites, or homosexuals.

If they're practicing homosexuals, they're welcome to sit and squirm in church, but they cannot be baptized into membership.

There would be a gathering of professing believers, yes.

If there would ever be a constituted church made up of professing, and baptized believers, it will have to come from the next generation born of these polygamous believers who would have been raised up understanding that polygamy is not something the Lord sanctions, and if the Lord should convert these new generation, then these will be the church in that area.

I don't know if that was what happened in Hawaii, but from what little I understand about the history of those islands, it seems they were previously a polygamous society. Correct me if I am wrong.

One film I saw even portrayed the islanders as incestous, but that could have been Hollywood.

 

There we have it folks...
Polygamy is the unforgiveable sin...
They are condemned to Hell, but their children can be saved...

Or are you saying that the Lord will save them, but they cannot be a member of His church?

It is so sad when Jesus will accept someone, but the brothers and sisters don't think they are good enough.

So Pinoy, can a polygamous male be saved?

 

There are a number of factors to be taken into consideration here.
One is culture. Such a woman probably would not want to marry again.
Such a woman probably would not be an acceptable woman to be married by other men seeking a bride. In other cutures that have not become so westernized, where the "feminist movement" hasn't changed our way of thinking, being provided for by another and yet not married may not be such a bad thing.
If she has children to care for, her own household, and the means by which to care for her children, then what else does a woman want (in many cultures)?

 

Tinytim:

Here is the original post. Note: the OP stated "convert". Threfore, it goes without saying that the OP means this polygamous convert is saved. Everyone who responded to this post assumed that the convert is saved, or a professing believer, and so you just have no reason to single me out, unless you're picking a fight particularly with me.

Now to answer your question; YES !

A polygamous person can be saved if that is the Lord's desire for him, just as a woman who is married to multiple husbands can be saved if that is what God has in store for her.

And nobody calling himself tinytim in a miserable Baptist board has any claim at all to limiting what God wants to do with His creation simply because in his holier than thou mind he feels that certain criteria must be met before anyone can be saved, when the Creator Himself against whom everybody sinned, including you, and against whom everybody continues to sin, whether deliberately or otherwise, including you, have put no pre-conditions other than His mercy.

And when you get to heaven, if you are indeed bound for that place, then you can face your Creator with arms akimbo and demand that He explain why there are sinners in that place.

 

Pinoy, sorry if it seemed I was picking on you.. I just reacted to this quote of yours...

If they are saved, then why exclude them from membership?