The world is filled with people who are hypocritical about real issues. Polygamy is thing that many Christians term a taboo.But what pains my heart is that the many who condemn such are busy flirting around with different ladies and women.

Many wives will breathe thunder and brimstone on their husbands for even discussing about taking the second wife.While at the same time they can't do anything about their husbands infidelity.

Even among pastors we know to well that many are involved in immorality to the core.Some have even gone ahead to marry the second wife.While some will allude such to lust,but their are cases where real love is the issue.

Does the bible really condemn polygamy? This is an issue that many are shying away from in the churches.We have known of some pastors who have two wives and are still serving the Lord.

I want the wise ones to clarify this issues for me.Base on my understanding the Bible does not condemn it.In our own part of the world it a normal thing for a man to have many wives.

uhmm, secret heart desire,

The issue of Polygamy, or rather Polygyny - the correct term has been dealt with many time on NL. It is quite an emotional issue, as many posters have first hand knowledge of it; either through familial relationships, peers, friends, or neighbours.

It is not a sin, and there is nowhere in the Bible that it is condemned. Only lazy Christians resort to rehashing various Bible verses that they claim discredits Polygyny - Gen 2:24, Matt 19:5, Mark 10:7, etc. Some even go as far as using the story of Solomon, or even David to support their claims as to why Polygamy is wrong. There are records of Gentiles, Jews, Samaritans, Prophets, etc who were polygamous.

Many great men of God were polygamous - Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, Gideon, Gideon, Ishmael, Isaac, Solomon, Elkanah, amongst others. There is no record of their polygamy being considered as a sin. The Mosaic Laws make no mention of Polygamy being a sin, and Jesus confirmed that these Laws are eternal and would never change - Matt 5:17-18, Luke 16:17. Jesus himself never condemned polygamy - He condemned adultery and divorce.

However, the Bible makes it clear that a Bishop/ Pastor/ Overseer/ Leader of the Church, MUST - "blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach" - 1 Tim 3:2. This is very clear. Therefore, any Pastor with more than one wife is clearly contravening the word of God.

I can sense your need for someone to confirm what you thought to be true.The decision to go polygamous should be a very private one.The reason being that only you are in a position to understand your issues.But in this day and age with the reality of the cost of city life and children upbringing,you will do well to carefully evaluate all your options before reaching a decision.
I do not believe that polygamy is a sin and I know that a lot of the men in it went in out of very unique circumstances.Also if you are not very comfortable,you will struggle with it and it wont be much fun then.
I refused to go into polygamy because unless you can keep both women within a compound,you will suffer and constantly be running from pillar to post to satisfy them and I was not that comfortable then to afford that level of comfort.

Hint 1: Adam + Eve; not Adam + Eve + Margaret + Jane

Hint 2: Genesis 2 vs 24 'Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Note that it does not say 'wives' here; it says 'wife'.

Hint 3: Jesus clarifies in Matthew 19 vs 9 'And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.'

I will infer from this scripture that marrying/joining yourself to/ having intimate relations with 'another' besides your 'wife' is adultery.

Lastly, ask yourself this question. What is your motive for marrying a second wife, bearing in mind that God looks at the heart?

Is it because you are lusting after that new woman? Sinful.
Is it because you are bored with your wife[b] (putting her away, would like to try some 'Pounded yam' because you've been having 'Jollof Rice' all these years)?[/b] Sinful - Only death is supposed to do you apart, not her 'no longer firm bosoms', your lust for some or plenty of 'Pounded yam' or her ageing.
Is it because you just want to escape from the Covenant of marriage? Sinful - God hates Divorce (It is a form of covenant breaking).

I hope this helps!

@Seyibrown; Well said my beloved Sisterwoman.

Well said my beloved Sisterwoman.

Erm, there's actually nothing well said there. She is rehahsing the same tired reasons used to vilify polygamy as being wrong in the Bible. None of the verses she put forward actually condemns polygamy. They speak about marriage that includes a husband and a wife - which makes sense as a married man can only have a minimum of one wife. Subsequently, they cannot talk of multiple wives - because EVERY married man will have at least one wife.

If an author writes an editorial, or gives an opinion on how to iron a shirt, are we to assume that the author is against people having multiple shirts? Otherwise he would have mentioned "shirts"? Or should we assume that the procedure should only be applied to a single shirt?

To make matters worse, she then highlights that in Gen 2: 24, the Bible mentions "wife", and not "wives". Well this is simply lazy. One, for the reason highlighted above already, and two, If she read her Bible well, she will be aware that there are many places where the Bible mentions "wives", instead of "wife" It is neither here or there.
If she also read her Bible well, she will know that the Bible actually tells you how to treat your wives - if you marry more than one. It even tells you how to treat the first wife, and what respect to accord her! Please let us be sensible and objective.

Romeo4real,

That our fathers did it before does not make it right! The fact that Rachel gave her handmaid to Jacob (when there was no law against it) does not make it right for a Christian woman in this dispensation to give her housegirl to her husband to bear children for them! There is fornication, adultery and possibly despoil and enslavement in that act!

God examines the heart, if you read my first contribution, you will see my emphasis on motive. Let every man who wants to take a second wife examine his motives very well to see whether they are sinful. The Bible tells men to love their wives. If you love your wife you will not lust after another woman to the extent of committing adultery against your wife. I find it difficult to understand how a man marries 'another wife' out of love for his 'wife'. Perhaps, you could enlighten.

@seyibrown.
I hardly post on topics like this but The poster is talking about polygamy not divorce.

I have never read it in Scripture that God did not approve polygamy or that it is a SIN unlike Divorce.

''Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh' The man can take another woman as a wife and still become 1 flesh with the other woman. One flesh (s3xual intercourse without barrier like condoms)

If a man want to marry a second wife, then he shuold abstain from sex from the 2nd woman until he get married to her else that will be adultery.
then another thing that I can see from scripture is that A man should not take another man's wife.

The day I brought up this topic in a church settings, come and see all eyes on me as if I am a , ?

^^you're confusing african traditional religion with christianity, dear.

intentionally or otherwise.

^^ How?

^^reread your post.

that's not christianity but rather african traditional religion.

[b]@likeme,

Please answer these two questions with as many answers as you can possibly give:

Does a man marry a second wife out of 'love' for his wife?
What are the possible motives for marrying a second woman that do not go against the principles of true love, commitment and faithfulness? I can think of lack of contentment, lust, and sexual incontinence. These certainly go against those principles! Please I'd like your answers so I can look at where you are coming from.

MOTIVE, MOTIVE, MOTIVE!

When you become one with your wife, and then go on to join another person, you cannot become 'one' with the new person because you have already been 'merged into one' with your 'wife'.  Jesus said 'not all can accept this saying' when he explained adultery and divorce. If you still don't get it; If your partner is unfaithful to you (adultery), you can leave them on that basis; Marrying the 'other woman' does not rule it out as adultery against your 'wife'. You are committing adultery against your spouse if you have another 'besides him/her'.

The relationship between a man and 'his wife' is supposed to be like that of Christ and 'his bride' - the Church. The Lord Jesus is faithful to us. Men are commanded to love their wives as Christ loves the church. Jesus has just one bride; a man should have just one wife! God hates unfaithfulness. Unfaithfulness breaks the heart of your spouse - whether male or female!

Lastly, likeme, don't take my understanding of this matter for it; ask the Holy Spirit to explain to you, after all he is the one who convicts us of sin. He will surely guide us in the right path! [/b]

^^^ Sorry for late response, I had a busy weekend. I am not for polygamy but I am not convinced It's a SIN.
Motive.
Motives can be different from each other. It may be because of childnessness. Another is the fact that a single wife do complain a lot that she works too much to keep the house, I guess it would be better to give her an helping hand.(I have seen this happen in my sojourn to some West african countries). It may be because of sexual satisfaction where the woman cannot respond to the demeand of the man, instead of the man messing around, He chose to marry another wife to complement. Distance attimes might cause a man to have a wife in Nigeria and married another one in Chicago (instead of messing around), What of the situation in which the woman is sick (bedridden /terminal sickness) and could not do her duty as a wife to the man and the man got to get another woman to take care of the first one, the children, the home him and ___many more like that.

When you become one with your wife, and then go on to join another person, you cannot become 'one' with the new person because you have already been 'merged into one' with your 'wife'. Jesus said 'not all can accept this saying' when he explained adultery and divorce. If you still don't get it; If your partner is unfaithful to you (adultery), you can leave them on that basis; Marrying the 'other woman' does not rule it out as adultery against your 'wife'. You are committing adultery against your spouse if you have another 'besides him/her'.

Adultery is s3xual unfaithfullness to your wife/husby right? Yes
Polygamy and divorce are not the same thing. Polygamy is having the second wife, You are not leaving the first one. Divorce is leaving the first!
If there is unfaithfulness then there is a ground for divorce. Unfaithfulness is when the man has started having s3x outside with another woman he is not married to. Instead of being unfaithful, Let him marry the other woman and then he can be having s3x with her.

The relationship between a man and 'his wife' is supposed to be like that of Christ and 'his bride' - the Church. The Lord Jesus is faithful to us. Men are commanded to love their wives as Christ loves the church. Jesus has just one bride; a man should have just one wife! God hates unfaithfulness. Unfaithfulness breaks the heart of your spouse - whether male or female!

Christ loves me the same way He loves you. I am His church and you are His Church. we are all His Bride. He is not unfaithful to his promise to me.
The same way a man can have more than 1 wife and he is faithful to them instead of having affair around.


Personally, I am not for polygamy, A lot of women/men don't want anybody after them. They want the wife/husby exclusively to themselves.

(I will have to delete some of these posts later)

@ Seyibrown -
You seem to be confusing 2 issues together. No one is arguing with you about the motives of a man that decided to take another wife. That is not the issue here. The OP's question was regarding whether it is condemned in the Bible. The answer is that it is not.

That our fathers did it before does not make it right! The fact that Rachel gave her handmaid to Jacob (when there was no law against it) does not make it right for a Christian woman in this dispensation to give her housegirl to her husband to bear children for them! There is fornication, adultery and possibly despoil and enslavement in that act!

Well, it does not make it wrong either - so what is your point? Moreover, Jacob did not take take Bilhah as his wife - she was given to him by Rachel. A big difference! Jacob's situation was not polygamy.

God examines the heart, if you read my first contribution, you will see my emphasis on motive. Let every man who wants to take a second wife examine his motives very well to see whether they are sinful.

Again, this is not the OP's question. Does the Bible condemn it? NO!

The Bible tells men to love their wives. If you love your wife you will not lust after another woman to the extent of committing adultery against your wife. I find it difficult to understand how a man marries 'another wife' out of love for his 'wife'. Perhaps, you could enlighten.

Well, let me enlighten you. You are conflating "love" and lust" on purpose. It is possible to love another woman without lusting after her, and vice versa.
A man marries another woman because he wants to, and he loves her - not because he loves his wife. There is nothing in the Bible that says you cannot love another woman.

Does a man marry a second wife out of 'love' for his wife?

Irrelevant question. Answer already above

What are the possible motives for marrying a second woman that do not go against the principles of true love, commitment and faithfulness?

Erm, because i want to. Please tell me which principles of love commitment and faithfulness that is contravened by marrying another woman?

When you become one with your wife, and then go on to join another person, you cannot become 'one' with the new person because you have already been 'merged into one' with your 'wife'.

If that is so, how then do you explain the concept of the church (ALL Christians) being the bride of Christ? Since a husband can only be "one" with one bride?

If you still don't get it; If your partner is unfaithful to you (adultery), you can leave them on that basis; Marrying the 'other woman' does not rule it out as adultery against your 'wife'. You are committing adultery against your spouse if you have another 'besides him/her'.

You are the one who doesn't get it. The bible clearly defines what adultery is. What part of that definition includes another wife?

The relationship between a man and 'his wife' is supposed to be like that of Christ and 'his bride' - the Church.

Erm, shooting down your own argument here. Remember Christ has many brides - ALL Christians!

Jesus has just one bride

Erm, totally wrong statement!

God hates unfaithfulness. Unfaithfulness breaks the heart of your spouse - whether male or female!

You CANNOT be unfaithful with your wife - even if you have a previous one. Please read up on the definition of unfaithfulness!

Lastly, like me, don't take my understanding of this matter for it; ask the Holy Spirit to explain to you,

So the Holy Spirit will contravene the Bible? And the Mosaic Laws? Wow!


I am not a polygamist, nor want to be one - each to their own. But please let us be objective in stating what the Bible does,or does not say. Quite clearly, in Exodus and Deuteronomy, the Bible lays out how a man in supposed to handle inheritance issues between children of his wives - if he marries more than one. It lays out how you should treat your wives - if you marry more than one. It even lays out how the eldest and first wife should be treated in relation to the others.  It also specifically defines people who should not marry more than one wife.
It describes Prophets, Leaders, Warriors,  Kings, Priests, etc, men of God who married more than one wife. How anyone can then come to the conclusion that the Bible condemn polygamy is beyond me!

Thank you, your views have been stimulating and thought-provoking! I had to seek more understanding! Please see below!

Malachi 2:14-16 (Amplified Bible)

14Yet you ask, Why does He reject it? Because the Lord was witness [to the covenant made at your marriage] between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously and to whom you were faithless. Yet she is your companion and the wife of your covenant [made by your marriage vows].
15And did not God make [you and your wife] one [flesh]? Did not One make you and preserve your spirit alive? And why [did God make you two] one? Because He sought a godly offspring [from your union]. Therefore take heed to yourselves, and let no one deal treacherously and be faithless to the wife of his youth.
16For the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I hate divorce and marital separation and him who covers his garment [his wife] with violence. Therefore keep a watch upon your spirit [that it may be controlled by My Spirit], that you deal not treacherously and faithlessly [with your marriage mate].

The instruction is clear: DO NOT DEAL TREACHEROUSLY AND FAITHLESSLY WITH YOUR MARRIAGE MATE BECAUSE GOD IS WITNESS TO THE COVENANT BETWEEN YOU AND THE WIFE OF YOUR YOUTH. Committing adultery against her is dealing treacherously with her. A Yoruba adage says: Orisa je n pe meji Obirin o si! No woman wants to share her husband with any other.




Romeo4real,

If that is so, how then do you explain the concept of the church (ALL Christians) being the bride of Christ? Since a husband can only be "one" with one bride?

The Church as whole (all Christians as one) is the Bride of Christ, not ‘brides’ .Check your bible! Christ has one bride, not many!

You seem to be confusing 2 issues together. No one is arguing with you about the motives of a man that decided to take another wife. That is not the issue here. The OP's question was regarding whether it is condemned in the Bible. The answer is that it is not.

The OP asks in the topic whether polygamy is a sin : (Is Polygamy a sin among xtians even for pastors?)

When you say no one is arguing about motives, are you agreeing that the motives for marrying a second wife are sinful?

Impure thoughts/ treacherous motives will give rise to further sin if not gotten rid of! Giving a lady shelter from the rain with the intention of 'chancing' her is sin. You have done it in your heart, whether you carry out the plan or not!

Is Polygamy is condemned in the Bible? Please read further to see how I form my opinion (and not with my own sole understanding).

Well, let me enlighten you. You are conflating "love" and lust" on purpose. It is possible to love another woman without lusting after her, and vice versa.
A man marries another woman because he wants to, and he loves her - not because he loves his wife. There is nothing in the Bible that says you cannot love another woman.

If you love your wife, you will not love another ‘woman’ as your wife!

Matthew 7:12 (Amplified Bible)
12So then, whatever you desire that others would do to and for you, even so do also to and for them, for this is (sums up) the Law and the Prophets.


You will not want your Wife to have another Husband while you are married to her, so why do you want to marry another wife while you are still married to ‘the wife of your youth’? You will see it as adultery or betrayal if she does, so why is it different when the tables are turned. Therefore, marrying another wife, you are transgressing the commandment stated in Matthew 7: 12, as you are doing to your wife something you would not desire her to do to you.


Likeme,

Adultery is s3xual unfaithfullness to your wife/husby right? Yes
Polygamy and divorce are not the same thing. Polygamy is having the second wife, You are not leaving the first one. Divorce is leaving the first!
If there is unfaithfulness then there is a ground for divorce. Unfaithfulness is when the man has started having s3x outside with another woman he is not married to. Instead of being unfaithful, Let him marry the other woman and then  he can be having s3x with her.

Nothing, nothing at all is to make you break the ‘covenant witnessed by God between you and the ‘wife of your youth’. The same way nothing can separate ‘The Church from the love of Christ’. Not her inability to have give you as much sex as you want (Turn the tables. Would you let Baba Shaki service her when you are not giving her enough?); not barrenness, it is God that gives children (Turn the tables again); Not Long-term sickness (Turn the tables). It is for better, for worse ‘to the exclusion of any other (new wife, girlfriend or ‘paid services’).

See below as regards ‘MOSAIC LAWS’.

Matthew 19:3-11 (Amplified Bible)
3And Pharisees came to Him and put Him to the test by asking, Is it lawful and right to dismiss and repudiate and divorce one's wife for any and [a]every cause?
4He replied, Have you never read that He Who made them from the beginning made them male and female,
5And said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be united firmly (joined inseparably) to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?(A)
    6So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder (separate).
    7They said to Him, Why then did Moses command [us] to give a certificate of divorce and thus to dismiss and repudiate a wife?(B)
    8He said to them, Because of the hardness (stubbornness and perversity) of your hearts Moses permitted you to dismiss and repudiate and divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been [b]so [ordained].
    9I say to you: whoever dismisses (repudiates, divorces) his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery, [c]and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
    10The disciples said to Him, If the case of a man with his wife is like this, it is neither profitable nor advisable to marry.
    11But He said to them, Not all men can accept this saying, but it is for those to whom [the capacity to receive] it has been given.


[b] The emboldened part of the above scripture indicates that Moses gave them the Law of divorce because they were ‘unable to accept the instruction that God gave them concerning divorce’. Jesus said that he who made them in the beginning made them male and female; I will infer that it meant ‘not male and FEMALES’. The passage makes it clear that there was a ‘plan/instruction/intention which originated from God but man not being able to accept that instruction had to ‘adopt’ a watered-down solution! If we search, we will find more watered-down laws that Moses gave the people because they just could not accept the ones God originally gave. They did not have the Holy Spirit to help them keep the law. Most of the ones they kept, they kept to the ‘letter’, not to the ‘spirit/ intent’ of the law.

The original plan as seen in EDEN was that of ONE MAN AND ONE WOMAN not ONE MAN AND FOUR WOMEN!

Further down in the passage, WHY DO YOU THINK THE DISCIPLES CONCLUDED (LAMENTED) THAT IT WAS BETTER NOT TO MARRY? It was difficult for the men to stick with ONE WOMAN, the ‘WIFE OF THEIR YOUTH’. It still is! Jesus responded that not all men could accept what he told them. Permit me to infer that NOT ALL MEN WILL ACCEPT THE INSTRUCTION OF GOD TO ‘STAY FAITHFUL TO THE WIFE OF THEIR YOUTH’. That is actually the true situation! Accepting the commandment that a man should not join himself to any other than 'his wife' is what many men have been unable do! Many have always looked at the 'booty' around and cannot accept that they are not supposed to 'do' anyone else apart from 'the only one EVE' that was created out of their ribs ('the wife of their youth').

If after becoming one with the ‘wife of your youth’ you go on to join yourself to another by marriage or affair, you are separating what God has joined together!

I can from the above scriptures and others, conclude that marrying any other while you have not been separated by death from the ‘wife of your youth’ is sinful!

Mortify the deeds of the flesh ( e.g. lust, sexual incontinence, non-contentment) through the power of the Holy Spirit! [/b]

@Seyibrown –

You are unnecessarily complicating this issue. Again, NONE of the scripture you quote condemns polygamy. The Bible does NOT say a Christian MUST be married, It does NOT say a Christian MUST be unmarried, it does NOT say a Christian should marry one wife, and neither does it say a Christian should marry multiple wives. Simply put, this is down to the person. Why is this so difficult for you to understand?
What the Bible does say however, is how you should treat your wife, or wives if you marry multiple ones (I note you refuse to address this issue).

All the passages you quote inc Malachi 2:14-16 addresses marriage from the point of one man, one wife – because one wife is the minimum any married man would have. Are we to assume from your passages that according to the Bible a Christian MUST be married? If not, why should we assume that the passages mean a Christian should ONLY marry one wife?

Committing adultery against her is dealing treacherously with her.

Why do you keep bringing Adultery into this issue? It seems your are trying to obfuscate and muddy this issue at hand  Surely, you know what adultery means, and even if you don’t, the Bible and multiple dictionaries make it clear.

You will not want your Wife to have another Husband while you are married to her

Erm, the Bible SPECIFICALLY condemns Polyandry – the practice of a woman having more than one husband. It is in Deuteronomy.

The Church as whole (all Christians as one) is the Bride of Christ, not ‘brides’

Since the church is made up of many different people, from different denominations, it obviously means that we are ALL “brides” of Christ, irrespective of whether we come under the collective term of “Church” This is not too difficult to understand?

When you say no one is arguing about motives, are you agreeing that the motives for marrying a second wife are sinful?

It could be, it could not be, but that is NOT the issue at hand. A man marrying a single wife could have a sinful motive. The motive is different from the act, and is irrelevant to the question of whether the Bible condemns the practice or not. Again, please let’s focus on the OP’s question.

Is Polygamy is condemned in the Bible? Please read further to see how I form my opinion (and not with my own sole understanding).

If I may say so, the OP did not ask for your opinion on this issue. Whilst you have a right to your opinion, we have to focus on what the Bible says about it – And the OP asked what the Bible says about it. The obvious answer is NO. 
I reiterate, there is nowhere in the Bible where polygamy is condemned. ALL the scripture you quote address marriage from a one man, one wife perspective, because as you rightly said, this is the template. I have pointed to you out other scriptures that address it from a polygamous perspective. 
The Bible tells you how you must treat your wife. If you have more than one, the same rules apply. A template is the basis or foundation of something. You are supposed to use the template as a guideline of what you build, Irrespective of whether you marry one wife or many, the guidelines remain the same. The Bible makes this clear.

If you love your wife, you will not love another ‘woman’ as your wife!

This is an emotional statement, and it makes no logical sense. If you apply logic to it, you will see that it will crumble.

And Pharisees came to Him and put Him to the test by asking, Is it lawful and right to dismiss and repudiate and divorce one's wife for any and every cause?

Again, what has divorce got to do with polygamy?

And said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be united firmly (joined inseparably) to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder (separate)

Erm, as I said, as long as you are married, either to one, or many, the same guidelines apply. A man can only marry a minimum of one wife, so the template and guidelines in the Bible can only discuss it from that point of view.
There are many scriptures in the book of Proverbs that talk about how a parent should discipline his/her child. Are we to take this template to mean Christians should only have one child? Because the specific scriptures do not refer to "children"?
   

The emboldened part of the above scripture indicates that Moses gave them the Law of divorce because they were ‘unable to accept the instruction that God gave them concerning divorce’.

This is simply baffling. Again, what does the scripture you quote have to do with marrying more than one wife??

The original plan as seen in EDEN was that of ONE MAN AND ONE WOMAN not ONE MAN AND FOUR WOMEN!

This was simply a TEMPLATE, NOT a plan. Nowhere is it mentioned in the Bible that this was a plan for all mankind. As I stated, if you decide to marry, you can only have a minimum of one, so the template can only approach it from the perspective of one man, one wife.
Using your “Original plan” logic, we can assume that ALL Christians MUST marry because God created Adam & Eve? Can you see how this logic quickly falls apart? Are you aware that within a single generation from Adam and Eve’s generation, and within their lifetime, polygamy was already being practised

If after becoming one with the ‘wife of your youth’ you go on to join yourself to another by marriage or affair, you are separating what God has joined together!

This statement is a massive leap of logic. How does marrying another wife, separate you from your first wife – if you are not divorced? Where is this mentioned in the Bible? Remember, we are not talking about your opinion or conclusions, we are talking about what the Bible says!

@ likeme

What of the situation in which the woman is sick (bedridden /terminal sickness) and could not do her duty as a wife to the man and the man got to get another woman to take care of the first one, the children, the home him and ___many more like that.

and if the second one also falls sick from AIDs std nko?

what happens then.

and does the word lazy come to mind?

^^^ Motive and the act are different. If a mman chose to marry a second wife and not divorce the first one except for adultery, The only thing i know is that such a man is not fit to hold any pastoral or bishop post in the church. I do not take it as a SIN.

Romeo4real

@Seyibrown –

You are unnecessarily complicating this issue. Again, NONE of the scripture you quote condemns polygamy. The Bible does NOT say a Christian MUST be married, It does NOT say a Christian MUST be unmarried, it does NOT say a Christian should marry one wife, and neither does it say a Christian should marry multiple wives. Simply put, this is down to the person. Why is this so difficult for you to understand?
What the Bible does say however, is how you should treat your wife, or wives if you marry multiple ones (I note you refuse to address this issue).
All the passages you quote inc Malachi 2:14-16 addresses marriage from the point of one man, one wife – because one wife is the minimum any married man would have. Are we to assume from your passages that according to the Bible a Christian MUST be married? If not, why should we assume that the passages mean a Christian should ONLY marry one wife?

[b]The bible does not say 'thou shalt not smash in your neighbour's car window for the fun of it' or 'Thou shalt not sniff a large amount of cocaine with every day' either.

I did address the issue of how you should treat your wife using the malachi scripture - 'THOU SHALT NOT DEAL TREACHEROUSLY WITH THE WIFE OF YOUR YOUTH'.

You are right in saying that 'it is down to the person because Jesus said 'NOT ALL MEN CAN ACCEPT THIS SAYING'. Not all men can accept the instruction of God! Sons of God will acept the instruction of God! Many men who refuse to accept that they are not supposed to 'join themselves to another (have intimacy with new wife, harlot or girlfriend)' other than the 'wife of their youth' prefer to water down the law to you 'you can 'make adultery holy by marrying the new woman'.

I see where you are coming from Rome4real, It is you who cannot accept/make sense of the 'original plan' of 'Adam and Eve' and that 'having intimacy with any other woman' other than the wife of your youth is 'seperating what God has joined together'! You are not alone in the opinion you hold; Jesus said 'NOT ALL MEN CAN ACCEPT THE COMMANDMENT'.

A 'hard heart' is unable to accept/or see the logic in how 'joining your self to another' equals 'having intimacy with another' and equals 'seperating yourself from the person you were originally joined with'. It's not rocket science! It is just unacceptable for the 'hard heart' who cannot resist the call of the 'booty' available outside his 'covenant with the wife of his youth'.

One thing you need to consider is whether the fact that not all men can accept that commandment makes God lower his standard! No, it doesn't! The matter is not complicated at all: Many men try to justify adultery by making an 'unholy' marriage out of it! Garnishing 'adultery' with legality (a wedding ceremony) does not make it acceptable to God! For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All men have sinned, and that is why man should not be our standard. 'Watered-down' laws and 'dressed-up' sin should not be our standard. The grace available through Christ does not lower the standard of God, the grace empowers us to live up to that standard. The grace has empowered many men to 'stick to the wife of their youth'. I bless God for faithful men who are living up to that standard through grace. So Abraham, Isaac, prophets, and MOGs are not our standard. God is![/b]

likeme:

^^^ Motive and the act are different. If a mman chose to marry a second wife and not divorce the first one except for adultery, The only thing i know is that such a man is not fit to hold any pastoral or bishop post in the church. I do not take it as a SIN.

i don talk my own.

you're free to hear or not to hear.


what you're preaching is african traditional religion, not christianity.

@Seyibrown -

The bible does not say 'thou shalt not smash in your neighbour's car window for the fun of it' or 'Thou shalt not sniff a large amount of cocaine with every day' either.

Well, there are scripture that specifically deals with issues such as taking in addictive substances that can alter your mental state, and cause your body harm, or acts of vandalism and civil disobedience. The Bible also lays out how we must treat others.
You see, the Bible is clear on what is SIN, and what is wrong. We do not have to add, or take away from it. We do not have to opine, conjecture, interpret, and conclude. E.g: According to the Bible, It is not a sin to drink alcohol, but the Bible makes it clear it is wrong to consume it in excessive quantities, and lays out the reasons why.

Again, you keep quoting Jesus Christ in Matt 19:11, despite the fact that he was talking about divorce and adultery, and NOT polygamy. You insist on connecting polygamy with adultery and divorce, despite the terms having different definitions, and there being no viable connection between them.

The point is that your stance on this issue cannot be substantiated by the Bible. You have taken various scriptures, changed their context, ignored their meaning, and jumped deep chasms of logic, all in an attempt to link them to your point of view. It is simply YOUR opinion based on YOUR understanding, and YOUR interpretation of what you have read - and whilst you do have a right to that, i have to say that you are very wrong.

Romeo4real,

You accept that 'the Bible lays out how we should treat others', yet you do not accept 'THOU SHALT NOT DEAL TREACHEROUSLY WITH THE WIFE OF YOUR YOUTH' as in the Malachi scripture I quoted; 'DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD DESIRE THEM TO DO TO YOU' or 'LOVE YOUR WIVES AS CHRIST LOVED THE CHURCH AND GAVE HIMSELF UP FOR HER' as part of 'how to treat others'! Christ died for 'his bride' because he loved her so much; He didn't 'cheat' on her; He didn't coerce her into accepting the position of first bride; He didn't make her feel helpless and have to resign to the fate of being repeatedly cheated on just because she has everything to lose if she leaves him! A man who loves like Christ loves his bride would PREFER TO DIE THAN BREAK HIS WIFE'S HEART by bringing another woman into the family! He would not RISK BRINGING SOMEONE WHO COULD POTENTIALLY TURN HER HUSBAND'S HER AGAINST HER INTO THE FAMILY! He would not RISK INFECTING HER WITH AN STD by having another sexual partner!

You infer that it is say to 'sleep with another woman (second wife)'! Would you let your wife sleep with someone else? Please, answer truthfully!

What effect does 'marrying a second wife' have on the first wife? You answer that if you can. If you love your wife so much, you would not consider loving another woman at all!

Joining yourself to another other than your wife is 'adultery and treachery' against her! That is the 'cold hard truth' that selfish and uncontented men (hard- hearted men) have always (and will always) refuse to accept!

The hard-hearted men Jesus referred to had 'hearts of stone'  that would not absorb the 'water of instruction' from God! The hard-hearted would never accept the instruction to be faithful to 'the wife of their youth' as was the EDEN model.

Any Child of God who is considering taking a second wife should CONSULT THE HOLY SPIRIT! He is the one who convicts of sin and would be able to guide you in the truth!  I will say no more, romeo! He who hath ears  . . . . . . . .

Please do not put emotion into this.

Christ gave himself up for you, the way He gave himself up for me. I am his church as you are his church. A man can give himself selflessly to his brides and cater for them.

A man who loves like Christ loves his bride would PREFER TO DIE THAN BREAK HIS WIFE'S HEART by bringing another woman into the family! He would not RISK BRINGING SOMEONE WHO COULD POTENTIALLY TURN HER HUSBAND'S HER AGAINST HER INTO THE FAMILY! He would not RISK INFECTING HER WITH AN STD by having another sexual partner!

These are emotional word. The question is Is Polygamy a SIN, I will say No it is not.

Would you let your wife sleep with someone else? Please, answer truthfully! Please check Deut for scriptural stand on this. A woman is not allowed to marry 2 husbands

Joining yourself to another other than your wife is 'adultery and treachery' against her! That is the 'cold hard truth' that selfish and uncontented men (hard- hearted men) have always (and will always) refuse to accept!
Marrying a second wife legally is not Adultery, Sleeping with another woman without being married to her is Adultery and treachery.


I believe in God's counsel.

Seyibrown, may the good Lord continue to enrich you in wisdom and understanding, and open your your eyes the more on spiritual matters, especially those that pertaineth to His kingdom.

"For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it." Matt. 19:12.

Eunuch literally means an impotent. Jesus emphasise the fact that aside some that were born impotent, some actually chose to abstain from the pleasure of marriage, just for the sake of God's kingdom. Many open the bible looking for the word "polygamy" and could not find it, they then concluded that God is not against it. God is against it. For as long as the first wife is living, no matter her condition, the husband must not contract another marriage. It seems hard for a carnal body to comply, but God's grace can sustain us obeying his word. It is for those that are expecting the second coming of the Lord or looking forwards to reign with him. Nobody is excluded, either the bishop or or congregation. Forget all these modern preachers that are trying to manipulate the scripture, by enccouraging the member to take a second wife while the first one is still living. Wife is not that material you buy in the market and later return for one defect or the other. Once you are married, it is till death do you part and no room for the second.

But again, "HE THAT IS ABLE TO RECEIVE IT LET HIM RECEIVE IT"

^^^ please can you show us where the scripture said Polygammy is a SIN.

like i posted earlier, I am not for poltgamy but that does not mean that somebody with many wives will go to hell.

I have seen some family goes into ruin 'cause of this.
A man had 2 wives before he became born again. The church told him to send the second wife parking.
This 2nd woman had 4 kids and she had to battle it out all alone. (The kids suffered because of a man being born again)

^^^Just go back and read some of the post of seyibrown, that ought to have answered your question.

On the example you gave above, it is called restitution. Correcting the wrong, restoring what you have stole. The first wife was the right wife, the second was an extra, which is sin. The man must separate from the illegal wife, but still has a responsibility towards the children of this woman because they are still his children. A proper arrangement or agreement must be made between the two. If trully he is born-again and belief in restitution, he own a duty to these children. He must not fail in his responsibility to his children, or else he is not yet born again. If a man failed to provide for his house, he is worse than an infidel.

^^^ I have read through all her post and can tell you that She has not shown me that Polygamy is a SIN.

the only thein i know is that You cannot hold any position in the church if you have more than 1 wife.

hardness of heart

@firebrand -

Eunuch literally means an impotent.

Erm, it doesnt.

Many open the bible looking for the word "polygamy" and could not find it, they then concluded that God is not against it. God is against it.

So YOU opened your Bible, AND concluded it is a sin, right? And that makes you right, and the Bible wrong??

For as long as the first wife is living, no matter her condition, the husband must not contract another marriage.

Please show us where in the Bible says this?

Once you are married, it is till death do you part and no room for the second.

Again, show where in the Bible you got the bolded part from.

It is unbelievable how you guys are twisting the Bible to justify your already held opinions. No amout of Bible twisting or cereberal gymnastics can change what the Bible says, or does not say regarding polygamy.

likeme:

^^^ please can you show us where the scripture said Polygammy is a SIN.

like i posted earlier, I am not for poltgamy but that does not mean that somebody with many wives will go to hell.

I have seen some family goes into ruin 'cause of this.
A man had 2 wives before he became born again. The church told him to send the second wife parking.
This 2nd woman had 4 kids and she had to battle it out all alone. (The kids suffered because of a man being born again)

[b]likeme,

I have seen a family where the man had two wives. He came into church and when he was going to be made a Deacon, he was told he had to hold on to one wife. He married his his second wife in the church. Whoever advised him to do that, I haven't got a clue but clearly his church supported his decision. He stopped taking care of his first wife and her children. None of them went to school but all the second wife's children did. No need to elaborate how the family gets on. THERE IS PLENTY OF BAD ADVICE AROUND. My own grandfather had seven wives. He sent only the children of the first to school.

IF YOU HAVE TO CONTAIN YOUR SEXUAL URGES TO PREVENT WIFE AND SIBLING RIVALRY, WHY NOT DO IT? DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY WOMEN AND CHILDREN INVITE EVIL SPIRITS INTO THEIR LIVES JUST TO BE ABLE TO PUNISH STEP-MOTHERS OR STEP-SIBLINGS? THEY KNOW THAT 'SEXUALLY INCONTINENCE AND SELFISH DADDY/HUBBY' WILL NOT DO RIGHT BY THEM, WILL NOT SEEK JUSTICE FOR THEM BECAUSE HIS BALLS HAVE REPLACED HIS BRAINS.

Jesus clearly said in Matthew that ' he who created them in the beginning made them 'Man and Wife' referring to Adam and Eve. He did not say 'Man and wives' which would have meant 'Adam and EveS'. He was referring to the fact that 'the creator created only ONE EVE for ADAM!

We can see all around us that something bad always comes out of man's deviation from God's instructions. Man always reaps the consequences of going against God's commandments. God's plan is perfect. If we follow his models we will fit into that plan and enjoy every minute of it! Many always regret not having listened to God, not having done things right.

GOD LOVES US! LET US ASK HIM TO HELP US PLEASE HIM IN EVERYTHING WE DO, AND HELP US TO ALWAYS DO WHAT IS RIGHT IN HIS EYES, NOT WHAT PLEASE US OR WHAT IS RIGHT IN OUR OWN EYES![/b]

I have seen a family where the man was told in touc

^^^ U got my point here.
The scriputre made it clear for a man to provide for his household.

Why should he become a deacon at all cost at the expense of his kids all because he came to the church. He can still be a good fther to his kids without being a deacon.