I've reviewed the SAB's collection of passages in the Bible that are in favor of and against polygamy. I think a strong case can be made that the Bible endorses polygamy.
The passages against seem to refer either to specific people (such as Bishops only being allowed one wife) or Paul's endorsement of marriage if celebacy isn't an option. Even in the case of Paul's writtings where every man should have a wife and every wife a husband, it doesn't preclude having more than one. The passages about divorce and remarraige being adultery seem to refer more to the evils of divorce.
I can't find a solid endorsement in the Bible of the concept of "one man and one woman" as the definition of marriage. "One man and multiple women" seems more like the Bible's idea of marriage.
The passages against seem to refer either to specific people (such as Bishops only being allowed one wife) or Paul's endorsement of marriage if celebacy isn't an option. Even in the case of Paul's writtings where every man should have a wife and every wife a husband, it doesn't preclude having more than one. The passages about divorce and remarraige being adultery seem to refer more to the evils of divorce.
I can't find a solid endorsement in the Bible of the concept of "one man and one woman" as the definition of marriage. "One man and multiple women" seems more like the Bible's idea of marriage.
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"The individual human mind (is holy to me). In a child's power to master the multiplication table there is more sanctity than in all your shouted amens and holy-holies and hosannas. An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral and the advance of man's knowledge is a greater miracle than all the sticks turned to snakes and the parting of the waters."
-Henry Drummond, character in "Inherit the Wind"
www.deism.org
The Union of Reason and Spirituality
"The individual human mind (is holy to me). In a child's power to master the multiplication table there is more sanctity than in all your shouted amens and holy-holies and hosannas. An idea is a greater monument than a cathedral and the advance of man's knowledge is a greater miracle than all the sticks turned to snakes and the parting of the waters."
-Henry Drummond, character in "Inherit the Wind"
www.deism.org
The Union of Reason and Spirituality
