The Bible does not forbid polygyny; priests are the only ones who are supposed to be monogamous. Monogamy is a pagan European ideal, which was co-opted by the church. Polygyny is common among Christians in Africa and elsewhere.

In any case, polygamy as such has nothing to do with birth defects. Inbreeding is what causes problems, and it happens among monogamists, too.

Christ wasn't born into a polygamous family. Let's assume God chose Himself His ideal family structure, eh?

OJ,

You just can't keep yourself from criticizing other people's lifestyle choices, can you?

You're a mean, mean Republican. tsk tsk

Why not criticize when you know you have a better way?

Bruno:

They lost the war.

Jesus never married nor had any kids, but I don't hear you advocating that. Jesus's family was polyandrous: Mary had two husbands, God and Josef, and she bore children to both.

Yes, when we become as God we'll be whole unto ourselves as well. Until then He has required of us that a man join with a woman to form one flesh.

Why can't a man join with several women?

Hey, Mörkö, welcome aboard!

Thanks

Morko:

It's disordered.

Mörkö: Roman Catholics, and certain other denominations, hold that Mary had no other children.

It's not disordered. It's just a matter of the husband being able to control the wives and the wives being willing to submit to the husband's wishes.

I personally wouldn't want to live in a polygamous family, but I just wanted to point out that

(a) polygyny is not against Christianity, and
(b) the birth defects as depicted in the article are a result of inbreeding and have nothing to do with polygamy.

Morko:

Of course it's against Christianity (or, specifically, against Christ), though Christians have practiced it.

That depends on how you define Christianity. The Bible certainly does not forbid polygyny, so it doesn't make sense for you to quote it in support of monogamy.

However, of course Christianity, and especially Catholicism, is much more than just what is taught in the Bible. Monogamy is one of those pagan practices that European churches adopted. In traditionally polygamist cultures that have converted to Christianity this is not so. I once had a Nigerian roommate, who said that his father had eleven wives. He was a Christian, like his father, and he justified this behavior by pointing out that the Bible doesn't condemn the practice.

God ordered Creation upon it, which is dispositive.

Morko:

Do you have anything even approximating a valid and reputable reference for either of the following statements:

"Monogamy is a pagan European ideal, which was co-opted by the church."

"Polygyny is common among Christians in Africa and elsewhere."

Considering they run 100% counter to the conventional wisdom, i.e. Christianity has been the primary global enforcer of monogamy since its inception, and that multiple marriages have NEVER been "common" in any society (there aren't enough women for anyone but the most elite males to be able to stockpile them).

And the early Christians probably inherited their belief in monogamy as much from the Romans (most definitely pagan and European) as they did from the Jews.

those communities should convert to islam and then no one would say boo to them.

Raoul. You may delete the word probably. Jewish law allowed polygyny, although it did not encourage it, and other than kings and patriarchs, no one in the bible, nor the Talmud had more than one wife.

In Europe, the ban of Rabbi Gershom, the Light of the Exile, in the 10th century C.E. ended the legal sanction for plural marriage. However, that rule did not apply to Muslim land. In Israel polygyny is forbidden to Jews by civil law, but those refugees from muslim lands who arrived in Israel with multiple wives were not required to change.

Some people say that Rabbi Gershom's ban expired after 1000 years, which was a few years ago. But, it has made no difference, because Jews do not live where polygyny is acceptable under civil law.

Monogamy is a Roman thing.

P.S. now read Mat. 5:32.

b, I'm not questioning the fact that Christians are generally monogamists. Instead, I'm saying that the Bible condones polygyny, and that the Christian abhorrence towards polygamy does not stem from the Bible. Visit http://www.polygamy.net for a Christian, Biblical defense of polygyny.

As far as I know, a community's acceptance of polygamy does not stem from any particular religious considerations but from certain anthropological realities, e.g. hunter-gatherers are generally monogamous and horticulturalists polygynous. In Africa and in some tropical zones in Asia polygyny is common among Christians in the sense that it is socially acceptable and that a large percentage of women are in polygynous marriages.

Morko:

That's simply wrong. Monogamy is how
God ordered Creation. That Africans may have not yet been required to conform, just as some Catholic priests there marry, is just a function of the conversion process. Similarly, the fact that Christians divorce doesn't make divorce any less anti-Christian/disordered.

Note that the "defense" requires that we ignore Christ's actual teaching and is thus by definition anti-Christian.

oj, Jesus never taught monogamy.

Jesus only taught monogamy and was born into a monogamous marriage.

http://www.christiananswers.net/bible/mat19.html

OJ: You are wrong. Polygyny was permisible under Jewish law, and nothing in Matt 5 or 19 is to the contrary. Matt 19:5 quotes Gen 2:24, which was never thought to require monogamy. That may be how the Roman church glossed Matt 19, but that is not the halakah.

Robert:

In matthew, Jesus sends us back to "the beginning" to God's order, one man/one woman moke one flesh--as in many things, Christ was wiping away erroneous Judaic accretions.

oj;

Jesus' first recorded miracle was at a wedding of one man to one woman. I believe that this was first for a reason. Turning the water into wine was not some "baby step" miracle--it was to signify God's Blessing of Life through the joining of a man and a woman. Surely our Lord puts First Things First.

And God made Adam one wife.

Of course, He had to knock Adam out and break his bones to do it.

"Christ was wiping away erroneous Judaic accretions."

Matt.5:18

"For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished."