Does the Bible teach that all Christian men should have only one wife?

[Agnostic75]

I look forward to reading comments from readers.

 

[Poeticus]

Namaste,

Women should have more than one husband. End of story.

M.V.

 

[Sha'irullah]

Namaste,

Women should have more than one husband. End of story.

M.V.

Men should have more then 1 wife, period.

 

[sojourner]

I've had two wives. The first one didn't work out so well...

 

[Poeticus]

Men should have more then 1 wife, period.

Namaste,

Big ol' Grumpy comes to Holden's town. Holden has five wives. Grumpy likes Holden's wives. Grumpy takes these wives using assistance from others.

- - - - -

Busa has five husbands. She is very pretty. Keshovak likes Busa. Keshovak wants Busa for himself. Keshovak tries to take Busa, but Busa's five husbands beat him to a pulp and send him to the netherworld for his treachery.

- - - - -

M.V.

 

[captainbryce]

I look forward to reading comments from readers.

Here are the scriptures concerning marriage that seem to be relevant to your question.

Matthew 5:27-28
27 “You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Matthew 5:31-32
31 “You have heard the law that says, ‘A man can divorce his wife by merely giving her a written notice of divorce.’ 32 But I say that a man who divorces his wife, unless she has been unfaithful, causes her to commit adultery. And anyone who marries a divorced woman also commits adultery.

Ephesians 5:28-31
28 In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as they love their own bodies. For a man who loves his wife actually shows love for himself. 29 No one hates his own body but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ cares for the church. 30 And we are members of his body. 31 As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.”

1 Corinthians 7:2
2 But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband.

1 Corinthians 7:10-16
10 But for those who are married, I have a command that comes not from me, but from the Lord. A wife must not leave her husband. 11 But if she does leave him, let her remain single or else be reconciled to him. And the husband must not leave his wife.

It seems clear from the context that Christian marriage was only ever meant to imply one man and one woman.

 

[Pegg]

1 Tim. 3:2,*12: “The overseer should therefore be irreprehensible, a husband of one wife .*.*. Let ministerial servants be husbands of one wife.”

in the christian congregation, those given the responsibility to lead and care for the congregation had the requirement of monogomy...if a man chose to have more then one wife, he would not have been irreprehensible and therefore would not qualify as an overseer or servant in the congregation.

 

[Question_love_act]

How I would summarize considering the excerpts given and my knowledge of the Bible verses:

In the OT, many characters have more than one wife and I never saw any condemnation of it or any encouragement of monogamy.

In the Gospels, Jesus speaks about husband and wife relationship, but the pronouns he uses are inclusive of both monogamous and polygyny (having more than one wife). The anti-repudiation teachings in Matthew don't contradict polygyny.

In the Letters however, there's clearly a preference for monogamy as the grammatical structure is only compatible with monogamous reality.

So it depends what relative weight one gives to each of these Books.

 

[InformedIgnorance]

Given just how prevalent polygamy is in the bible, no.

 

[Sleeppy]

1 was the general requirement. The less the better, after that.

 

[Pegg]

you never see Jesus using the plural when speaking about spouses. He only EVER uses wife in the singular form.

His apostles taught in the same manner as Jesus taught them, that is why they specifically make it a requirement within the congregation that overseers be monogamous. And thats what makes them Jesus apostles and no one else.

 

[Valjean]

Yet polygyny is common in the OT, even mandated in certain situations, and Jesus said he wasn't changing this a jot or a tittle.

 

[Pegg]

Yet polygyny is common in the OT, even mandated in certain situations, and Jesus said he wasn't changing this a jot or a tittle.

the mosaic law did not include polygamy as a requirement... if God wanted polygamy as a normal practice, he would have stated it at mans creation by giving the first man several wives.

 

[Valjean]

Wasn't a man required to marry his brother's widow and such?

 

[Pegg]

Wasn't a man required to marry his brother's widow and such?

if she had no children, he was to marry her so that she could have a child for her dead husband. This was to carry on the inheritance right of his dead brother. It has nothing to do with polygamy

 

[Agnostic75]

The mosaic law did not include polygamy as a requirement. If God wanted polygamy as a normal practice, he would have stated it at man's creation by giving the first man several wives.

The New Testament does not require that all men have only one wife, and it does not deny church membership to men who have more than one wife. The requirement that church elders have one only wife was probably because unmarried church elders would have more time to devote to their jobs. Paul said that being single was better than being married, implying that unmarried Christians would have more time to devote to their jobs, but he did not oppose marriage.

 

[Question_love_act]

you never see Jesus using the plural when speaking about spouses. He only EVER uses wife in the singular form.

True. But it is because Jesus had a preference for monogamy or just because it was more common at the time?

 

[gzusfrk]

True. But it is because Jesus had a preference for monogamy or just because it was more common at the time?

The New testament says " Jesus is the same today , tommorrow and yes forever

 

[McBell]

1 Tim. 3:2,*12: “The overseer should therefore be irreprehensible, a husband of one wife .*.*. Let ministerial servants be husbands of one wife.”

in the christian congregation, those given the responsibility to lead and care for the congregation had the requirement of monogomy...if a man chose to have more then one wife, he would not have been irreprehensible and therefore would not qualify as an overseer or servant in the congregation.

that does not mention anything at all about those who not deacons.
just saying

 

[McBell]

the mosaic law did not include polygamy as a requirement... if God wanted polygamy as a normal practice, he would have stated it at mans creation by giving the first man several wives.

Which says absolutely nothing about whether polygamy was ALLOWED...
Just that it was not REQUIRED.