What the Bible says about Polygamy

Polygamy is very important in a tribal society. People who try to condemn the ancient practice of polygamy try to look at it through modern eyes, then argue that the practice is immoral.

In tribal society, female life-expectancy is far higher than male. A large percentage of men would die when hunting or protecting the tribe. Many men died in wars between the tribes. The women were usually far safer because they didn't participate in these dangerous activities. Thus the population ended up with far more women than men.

In order to ensure the benefits and protection of being part of a family, multiple women would marry one man. A one-to-one ratio was impossible because women would often outnumber men 3 or 4 to 1.

In modern society, where life expectancies are almost the same, polygamy has no place and is actually detrimental to society.

 

Might I suggest starting with The Picture Bible? It's the Bible in comic book form. I grew up reading that over and over to the point it fell apart. I loved it.

 

The only time the bible ever outlaws polygamy is in the new testament. And that is only for Deacons of the church, who are only allowed to have one wife each.

 

Seems pretty clear that it became a one on one deal by the time of the NT. This is the impression I get from Paul's writings.

 

It was only forbidden to Deacons of the Church...not all christians, by the way. And in any event, Paul contridicted Christ so many times in his writings that I tend to doubt everything he writes.

 

Right here sounds like all Christians. I can't make a strong case for it but this is the impression I am left with. If you know of anything that Christ said on this matter, please do post it.

 

Really? Like when? You should have no problem citing a few examples since it happened "so many times".

 

Why would ANYONE care what a STORY BOOK full of fairytales and bullshyte has to say about anything?

 

Bye bye now

-Poof!-

St. Ignora bless you.

 

Yep just ignore those that choose to point out the holes of your so called holy book. Great way of furthering yourself...

 

Show me exactly where in your post you pointed out any holes:

There isn't any reference to the work you are discussing, no points mentioned. This post is just trolling.

Most people on forums like these enjoy having reasonable arguments, and few will ignore people just because their opinions differ. When you go around trolling, expect to be ignored.

 

Show me PROOF that the bible is anything more than a book of fairytales and i might just get into a good debate with you...

 

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This is really the only true answer to the situation of polygyny. A few things were left out of the response however. Not all men are created equal with respect to talents and power to provide for their dependents. Rich men can provide more, hence they usually had more wives. Also, if you think about it, the bulk of every prison population in the world is men. Which creates a surplus of women without mates in a on-to-one society. There are also the complications of homosexuality which afflict both genders - but it affects women more due to an even greater decrease in eligible men.

Polygyny could be just as viable in the modern day as it was in the biblical periods because the number of eligible men is essentially unchanged. I refer mainly to criminal record, drug addicts, those who face heavy prison sentences- those taken out of effective courting. We simply have different societal traditions and laws prohibiting it. Nothing evil about it, nor benevolent. It is simply a difference in conditions that we have is all.

 

The men in prison are a great point. They are why you get women on welfare with ten kids by four baby-daddies. I don't think that polygamy would make much difference toward that issue today. The people in prison tend to come from the lowest social class - and therefore hook up with women from the lowest social class. Men who actually have the means to provide for multiple wives would be unlikely to actually want to take in one of the unattached women. I think it would more likely have an effect like it does in the handful of developed countries that allow polygamy today - it would create a subgroup of middle-class men who are unable to find spouses, or who have to settle for women that in the current situation they consider to be less desirable.