I know Modern day christianity condems polygamy and the bible condems divorce, so my quetion now is? If a man has multiple wives and becomes a Christian, what is he supposed to do?

To remain with them

excellencyabia1:
To remain with them

is polygamy not a sin?

If a girl looses her virginity and becomes a christain what is she supposed to do?

Christianity recognises the first wife as the legitimate wife

eph12:
Christianity recognises the first wife as the legitimate wife

any bible verse to backup what you said?

ettaetta:
any bible verse to backup what you said?

You won't believe if I tell you that Bible instructed Christians to have one man one wife.

eph12:
Christianity recognises the first wife as the legitimate wife

what if the first wife doesn't become christian but the second wife does?

ettaetta:
is polygamy not a sin?

We may need to ask why King Dave and Solo were God's most loved people in bible history if polygamy was a sin.

F00028:

what if the first wife doesn't become christian but the second wife does?

The first legally married wife is the recognized one irrespective of whether she is a Muslim Christian or pagan.

eph12:

The first legally married wife is the recognized one irrespective of whether she is a Muslim Christian or pagan.

what if he married all of them on the same day?

ettaetta:
any bible verse to backup what you said?

Matthew 19:4-6
And it is mandatory, if he must make heaven. It is preached every service in my church.

mrZENographer:

Matthew 19:4-6
And it is mandatory, if he must make heaven. It is preached every service in my church.

i dont really understand ? If a man has multiple wives before he becomes a Christian, what is he supposed to do? Divorce others and marry only the first? Dont forget divorce is a sin

eph12:

The first legally married wife is the recognized one irrespective of whether she is a Muslim Christian or pagan.

so he should sack his christian wife and keep the pagan fist wife to abide by your one man-one wife policy?

eph12:

The first legally married wife is the recognized one irrespective of whether she is a Muslim Christian or pagan.

By modern law. But spiritually the rest are wives too. Our modern law has roots in the early Roman Catholic Church. We know how strict their rules were.

Imagine the kind of disruption and disorder that would cause in a polygamous village if they all decided to get saved. Christianity should be able to fit into any society without such confusion.

Okay, let me chip in at this point. Among all those replies above me, I haven't seen any that answered it very well. Note that I'm not replying to fight or argue (fact check, if you quote me, I won't reply, except when necessary e.g. answering a thought-provoking question), I'm actually replying to adhere to what the Bible tells me.

Jude 3 says, Beloved when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnest contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

First, someone mentioned that God hates divorce. Here's the verse to back that up: Malachi 2 vs 14-16:

14 Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet yet she is thy companion, and the wife of thine covenant.

15 And did not make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

16 For the LORD, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away [of your wife, which is divorce]: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the LORD of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.

Did you notice the part that says God hates putting away? For God to say that, there must be something at stake. Because clearly, in Matthew 5 vs 22, But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement...

Even hating your fellow human isn't allowed. But you should also notice that God didn't say I hate the person. He simply hates putting away.

About having multiple wifes, hear it from the horses' mouth, in Matthew 19 vs 9, And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, COMMITTED ADULTERY: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.


Now, I read some comments that said what if a whole village got saved and were extremely polygamous? Well, you have to know that the God we serve, the Alpha and the Omega does not change (Malachi 3 vs 6, For I am the LORD, I change not...) and even if the whole world says they don't want to change, he won't change his words.

Many people think we just go to church, sing, carry Bible on Sundays, wear suit and tie, and say "God bless you" on our way to church. For your information, it's more than that. If you can't live with that simple fact, then I'm afraid you're not yet serious.

In the Biblical sense, a first wife is only recognized. Think about this for a moment. When someone is getting married, the vow says, Till Death Do You Part. What do you think that means?

Only after a partner dies does the other partner has the freedom... TO MARRY ANOTHER PERSON... TO HAVE SEX WITH ANOTHER PERSON. Chikena.

So, if death hasn't done them apart, forget about it.

Now, somebody says what if they were married the same day. You mean, simultaneously? As in, each wife stands at the altar and were consenting to the marriage? That's obvious now. The first woman that takes the vow is the real wife.


Some people still don't give a hoot about what I wrote, but they are the first that will carry the news when the likes of Pastor Kumuyi, of all people, makes a mistake (God forbid!)

They'll go, "Ah! Come and see! The holy-holy preacher has done something. He was caught redhanded."

Now the man decides to remarry because death has parted the union he has with his former wife and these same people groaned, "Ah-an! What is it with this pastor sef? Na only him waka come?"

People ehn!

The bible has never explicitly mentioned that God is against Polygamy, after all in ancient times many great men of God had multiple wives and God still acknowledged them as righteous.

Also quoting Matthew 19 vs 9 is a misnomer because for starters the MAN did not put away any of his wives, he remained married to them.

What we do know is that God is explicitly against Adultery, i.e sleeping with another man's wife or vice versa and general sexual immorality.

So here is my take, if a man is married to 4 wives and has children with all of them, even when he comes to a knowledge of Christ, there is no biblical verse or command which suggests he should chase 3 wives away and remain with one wife . He should remain with his 4 wives and take care of his children while bringing them to a knowledge of truth.

F00028:

so he should sack his christian wife and keep the pagan fist wife to abide by your one man-one wife policy?

See it's not by force to become a Christian o. Nobody is forcing anybody. He can decide to be a Muslim, pagan atheist or whatever to accommodate his 100 wives. Thank you.

Muafrika2:

By modern law. But spiritually the rest are wives too. Our modern law has roots in the early Roman Catholic Church. We know how strict their rules were.

Imagine the kind of disruption and disorder that would cause in a polygamous village if they all decided to get saved. Christianity should be able to fit into any society without such confusion.

Check my reply above. It's that simple.

ettaetta:
what if he married all of them on the same day?

The first is the recognized wife.

The bible only sanctions marriage between one man and one woman. Jesus made Eve for Adam, not Eves for Adam. That God allowed it in times past doesnt mean God ordained it. Same way God allows people kill other people, it doesn't mean its sanctioned by him.

You are to have one wife and not to divorce her except for adultery. A polygamist who has just come to Christ must divorce his other wives because what we call polygamy is actually adultery.

ettaetta:
i dont really understand ? If a man has multiple wives before he becomes a Christian, what is he supposed to do? Divorce others and marry only the first? Dont forget divorce is a sin

Millerz:
The bible only sanctions marriage between one man and one woman. Jesus made Eve for Adam, not Eves for Adam. That God allowed it in times past doesnt mean God ordained it. Same way God allows people kill other people, it doesn't mean its sanctioned by him.

You are to have one wife and not to divorce her except for adultery. A polygamist who has just come to Christ must divorce his other wives because what we call polygamy is actually adultery.

Polygamy is not adultery, lol.

Adultery is stealing another man's wife or another wife's husband. None of this has happened in Polygamy because they remain legitimately married.

Your write up is based on fiction.

Millerz:
A polygamist who has just come to Christ must divorce his other wives because what we call polygamy is actually adultery.

God hates divorce why would you suggest that when he paid all their bride price

ettaetta:
God hates divorce why would you suggest that when he paid all their bride price

Good question

eph12:

See it's not by force to become a Christian o. Nobody is forcing anybody. He can decide to be a Muslim, pagan atheist or whatever to accommodate his 100 wives. Thank you.

bros, no be fight.

Indeed God hates divorce, but divorce only comes up where marriage existed. Malachi 2:14-16 speaks on terms of the wife (not wives) of thy youth. It also said God made BOTH ONE. Emphasizing that it is between 2 not more. Besides, Jesus established this when He quoted Genesis that they are no more 2( not 3 or more) but 1.

Now realise that certain things passed under the OT due to hardness of heart and limited revelation which we cannot emulate in the NT! Eg polygamy. For a married man to think of taking another wife means he had been committing adultery in his heart, admiring and desiring another woman while his wife was alive!!!

Hence the other 'wives' will go and the first remains! But of course, the children of the other women are to be catered for by the man.

Since Jesus taught that marriage to a divorcee is adultery, I wonder how some here seek to justify marriage to a married man!!!

F00028:


bros, no be fight.

I fear o. It's useless arguing religion. Very useless and endless so I always shy from it. Truth is there are many things one can't understand no matter the religion you belong to.

Scholar8200:
Indeed God hates divorce, but divorce only comes up where marriage existed. Malachi 2:14-16 speaks on terms of the wife (not wives) of thy youth. It also said God made BOTH ONE. Emphasizing that it is between 2 not more. Besides, Jesus established this when He quoted Genesis that they are no more 2( not 3 or more) but 1.

Now realise that certain things passed under the OT due to hardness of heart and limited revelation which we cannot emulate in the NT! Eg polygamy. For a married man to think of taking another wife means he had been committing adultery in his heart, admiring and desiring another woman while his wife was alive!!!

Hence the other 'wives' will go and the first remains! But of course, the children of the other women are to be catered for by the man.

Since Jesus taught that marriage to a divorcee is adultery, I wonder how some here seek to justify marriage to a married man!!!

You are ignorant of the deep truths of scripture.

Men have always married more than one woman from time immemorial and it was never considered sin then or even now , because if it did, then David, Abraham and a host of God's righteous men would have been labelled unrighteous. In fact the only time that God called David an adulterer was when he slept with ANOTHER MAN'S WIFE, not because he had multiple wives.

Stop this religious fanaticism.

I have not seen any where in the bible where God condemed poiygamy except 1 timoty 3:2 but here he was refering to pastors and bishops

1 Timothy 3:2 King James Version (KJV)
A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

. Abraham had a wife, and then he married her maid (Genesis 16:2-4); Jacob married Leah and Rachel (Gen.29:23-30; 31:17; 32:22) and then he married Leah and Rachel's handmaids, Zilbah and Bilhahand (Genesis 30:1-24; 37:2); Judge Gideon had many wives and a concubine (Judges 8:30-31); Elkanah married Hannah and Peninnah (1 Sam.1:2); David married Abigail and Ahinoam (1 Sam.25:42-43; 30:18), then later took more wives (2 Sam.5:13) at Jerusalem (1 Chron.14:3); In 2 Sam.12:7-8,God gave David these multiple wivesas a blessing, just as anointing him as king over Israel, protecting him from Saul, and giving him the house of Israel and Judah were also blessings from Him; King Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines

frosbel2:


You are ignorant of the deep truths of scripture.

Men have always married more than one woman from time immemorial and it was never considered sin then or even now , because if it did, then David, Abraham and a host of God's righteous men would have been labelled unrighteous. In fact the only time that God called David an adulterer was when he slept with ANOTHER MAN'S WIFE, not because he had multiple wives.

Stop this religious fanaticism.

So, when a married man begins to eye another woman (unmarried) with a desire for her while his wife is alive, what is that called, nay, what did Jesus call it?

Did not Jesus say divorce was allowed under the OT because of the hardness of their heart? And that it was NOT so from the beginning?

Stop the promotion of error!!!

ettaetta:
i dont really understand ? If a man has multiple wives before he becomes a Christian, what is he supposed to do? Divorce others and marry only the first? Dont forget divorce is a sin

Only the first woman is your wife and approved by God. You are commiting adultery with the rest matthew 19:9 because God did not approve it. They are not your wives. WIVES is not in God's dictionary.

They will return to their father's house and wait till a suitable person comes. The converted man can still fend for them and the children till they are well-settled.

Its a mistake that has to be undone.

Scholar8200:
So, when a married man begins to eye another woman (unmarried) with a desire for her while his wife is alive, what is that called, nay, what did Jesus call it?

Did not Jesus say divorce was allowed under the OT because of the hardness of their heart? And that it was NOT so from the beginning?

Stop the promotion of error!!!

Let us apply your logic to scripture and remember even Paul referred to scripture ( not the new testament ) as ;
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness," - 2 Timothy 3:16

Now , in the so called New Testament, Jesus said that the only reason why Moses permitted divorce in the ancient days , was due to the hardness of heart of his people in the context of divorce. It was never about marrying another wife , it was about putting away a wife or wives. There is no other reason Jesus gave in relation to their hardness of heart, like marrying multiple women for example.

The Bible says that God does not change, in other words he expects the same standards from ALL mankind whether they lived 1 million or 10 years ago.

Using your logic we can call David, Jacob, Abraham and many others SERIAL ADULTERERS because they married MORE THAN ONE WOMAN, yet God never condemned them, in fact he called them righteous and loved them. David was condemned and punished for adultery not because he had many wives but because he slept with , and impregnated another man's wife and then had him killed. Solomon was not condemned because he had many wives and even concubines, he was condemned and punished because he married heathen women who took his heart away from God. None of these great men were told to drive away their other wives and remain with the first one.

The suggestion that a man who has 4 wives should get rid of the later 3 with their children is unscriptural, evil, wicked, mad , stupid, devilish and not from GOD at all, it is a figment of imagination in the minds of MOG followers who stick to the words of their pastors and their warped interpretation of scripture, without reasoning things out for themselves.

I personally have ONE WIFE and would not marry another purely because more than ONE WOMAN = STRESS AND TROUBLE and increased Financial commitment in this modern time, not because I can't !!!