04-26-2008, 03:29 PM
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 | Lanesterator Minimus | | Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Hague, North Dakota
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gryphonette  Quote:
Originally Posted by Leslie What's wrong with polygamy? O.k. polygamists can't be church elders but other than that. When, as in my location, schooling and employment is not readily available for females and there is no welfare system, for a widow becoming a second wife is the only option beside prostitution. Since the church here was founded by fundamentalists/legalists who believed in salvation by faith plus monogamy, polygamy is outlawed. Widows and their offspring are left to starve. Which is the greater evil--polygamy which, though not ideal, was never outlawed by scripture, or murder? | You're correct, of course, that polygamy is never explicitly condemned or outlawed. Goodness, David had multiple wives and it says in Kings (both 1 & 2) that David did right in the sight of the LORD, "except in the case of Uriah the Hittite" (1 Kings 15:5).
However....Scripture also shows that possessing multiple wives is inevitably a cause of strife and division. It's nowhere shown in the NT, and when widows in need are mentioned, it's not suggested that they be married to someone already married, but for the church to care for them, if they've no family available to perform the office.
If a church has members in dire and desperate need but isn't striving hard to help them, the answer isn't to go backwards and re-create OT times, but for the people in the church to shoulder the responsibility the LORD gave them.
A significant problem with polygamy is that it's a common practice of the false religions of today, so it is not something the Church should want to engage in, as we're to be set apart from those. | I heard somewhere that in Chinese, the symbol for contentment is a house with a man and a woman in it. The symbol for strife is a house with a man and two women in it.  |