Polygamy is Wrong for Christians: 1 Timothy 3:2 and 3 | Part 5
(July 11, 2021)
I use the name Vivi at online meetings. For this fifth article in my series against polygamy for Chistians, I'll move on to the years after Jesus' death, when the Apostle Paul wrote letters to Timothy regarding the congregations of Christians.
1 Timothy 3:2 and 3 says, "An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not dependent on wine, not violent but gentle, peaceable, and free of the love of money." BSB.
I always took these above scriptural verses at face value, and still do. I've heard people express the opinion that the above text implies that some Christian men had more than one wife. I disagree with that opinion. I also point out that the above text does not say that some Christian men had more than one wife. Also, no matter how highly credentialed a teacher of that opinion might be, those verses still don't say that there were Christian men who had more than one wife.
Paul sent Timothy a description of qualifications an oveseer should have. When we make a shopping list, we don't leave off of the list the item, or items, that we most obviously need to buy. In my opinion, it would have been remiss of Paul not to include the words "the husband of but one wife" in the list of overseer qualifications that he sent to Timothy. The simple fact is that overseers should be "the husband of but one wife". The statement that overseers should be "the husband of but one wife" does not prove that other Christian men, who were not overseers, had more than one wife. It also does not imply that other Christian men, who were not overseers, had more than one wife.
Remember the lesson in humility that Jesus taught the apostles. The passage at Mark 10:42-45 says, "42 So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”"
This humility that Christ recommended for Christians was in stark contrast with the "rulers of the Gentiles". Christian men were told that they should not think the way that "rulers of the Gentiles" thought. Mark 10:43 says, "...whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant...". Dominating others and impressing others with their rank were not to be Christian goals.
Hebrews 13:4 says, "Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers." BSB.
At 1 Timothy 4:16, Paul wrote to Timothy saying, "16 Pay close attention to your life and to your teaching. Persevere in these things, for by so doing you will save both yourself and those who hear you."
Is there a Christian overseer who will teach members of the congregation that polygamy does not defile the marriage bed? Is there a Christian overseer who will teach members of the congregation that when a man has sexual relations with multiple women, though he calls them his "wives", he does not commit sexual immorality? Is there a Christian overseer who teaches that a polygamous man does not commit adultery when he takes one of his extra "wives" to bed with him? Is there a Christian overseer who teaches that as long as a man calls the women his "wives", his sexual relations with them is honorable? If you are a overseer, will you counsel a man's first wife that she must not object to her husband's having sexual relations with the other women who her husband has acquired, because they are his wives, too?
What an overseer teaches can save both the overseer and those who hear him, so he will follow Paul's advice to pay close attention to his own life and to his teaching. Overseers have a responsibility toward those they teach.
Polygamy is an unchristian practice. I'm glad to have this online-place to present my thoughts and research on this subject.
- Vivi
