Sermons

Summary: A detailed argument against Polygamy and why Christians should oppose it.

1 Timothy 3:12 adds onto this: A deacon must be the husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his household well.

A deacon, a lower official than a Bishop shall also have the same regulation. This does not imply that non-deacons shall have more than one wife. It specifically means that a deacon shall not. If we are to follow the example of the deacon, we too should follow the regulation.

For example, if a Bible passage says that Bishops and Deacons shall only believe in one God, this does not mean that the common people may worship many gods. Furthermore we are all called to the priesthood and to follow the example of our leaders. If the ministry is banned from polygamy it makes sense that it should be banned for the common people as well. Why would God ban polygamy in the ministry if it was good? If polygamy was allowed by God and encouraged by God then the ministry should be able to engage it in but this is not the case.

The next argument is that Paul the kind of guy who would contradict himself. Thus, everything Paul says is not relevant. I believe, and all Christians should believe, in the New Testament writings of Paul. We should investigate the context of what Paul says but we should not doubt his words. And even if Paul were to be in error on a certain passages that does not mean that he is wrong about polygamy.

Polygamous will also point out the hypocrisies of current Christians. For example, women in many congregations are allowed to speak up and not wear head scarves as dictated by Paul. Hypocrisy does not negate the commandment not to marry more than one wife. Hypocrisy is a sin that is regrettable, but it does not change the laws or scripture because of it. Another difference is that Paul mentions head scarves and how women should behave in Church, but when it comes to polygamy Christ and Paul both agree. Christ is supreme and so anything said by Christ is law. The fact that Paul backs Christ law concerning marriage is an affirmation, not a negative.

I want to conclude with several arguments. The first argument is that although polygamy was supposedly permitted by God in Old Testament times there is no Biblical command that we as Christian should not be able to ban it. There is no argument the polygamous can make that says that Christians “can’t” ban polygamy. There is no single instance where God states that if you ban polygamy you have committed a sin.

Polygamous laws that allowed for multiple wives were written by men for men. They were not God’s laws, but rather they were humans laws based on human tradition. When Christ came, he trumped these human laws and tradition with his own interpretation of marriage. All references to Old Testament polygamous actions are based on human laws that were corrected with the coming of Christ. For all intents and purposes, the Old Testament permitting of multiple wives is obsolete and irrelevant.

Christ and Paul specifically banned polygamy in the Bible verses of Matthew’s Gospel and Timothy’s letters. If one doubts whether they specifically banned it, the spirit of the passages is against the practices of polygamy. Christ and Paul will always trump Old Testament practices, because they are new revelations of God’s Word to the world.

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