Sunday, July 14, 2024
Should Christians oppose polygamy?
Polygamy is getting increasingly popular in the United States, as I've discussed before. Go here and do a Ctrl F search for "polygamy". Notice that almost a quarter of Americans find it morally acceptable now, and notice that the percentage has more than tripled in about two decades. For an overview of the Biblical and patristic evidence against polygamy, see my thread on the subject (including the comments section, where a lot of further discussion took place) here. And though I cited some patristic sources against polygamy, I wasn't trying to be exhaustive. More could be mentioned. The Octavius of Minucius Felix, for example, refers to how "we [Christians] know either one wife, or none at all" (31).
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I am not aware of any New Testament statements prohibiting polygamy, which one one would expect if Jesus were opposed to it, given that polygamy was not expressly prohibited among Ashkenazic Jews until 1000 CE, and among Sephardic Jews until much later. But regardless of what source one might cite against the practice, they are all trumped by St. Paul's comment that "The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: 'Love your neighbor as yourself'". Galatians 5:14.Those who believe that Christianity prohibits polyamory therefore have the burden of showing how it contravenes that rule.
ReplyDeleteThe thread I linked discusses examples of the New Testament's opposition to polygamy. It also addresses the Old Testament and the patristic evidence. You're not interacting with any of it.
DeleteI don't need to respond to every single cite you have posted to make my point any more than Hillel needed to recite the entire Torah when asked to do so when standing on one leg.
ReplyDeleteYou haven't responded to anything I cited.
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