About Polygamy in the Bible.

One-Woman Man Paul’s instructions to Timothy and Titus (at 1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:6) about one of the requirements for those whom they were to appoint as overseers or bishops has usually been translated as ‘the husband of one wife,’ or as, ‘faithful or true to his one wife.’ But was Paul truly forbidding polygamy for all Christians here? That polygamy is a sin, is being taught by most western Christian religions. Yet, according to the Old Law, polygamy was not only allowed among faithful IsraElites, but it may have been required in the case of levirate (brother-in-law) marriages (see Deuteronomy 25:5). However, though polygamy wasn’t really a sin in ancient IsraEl, it was likely later forbidden by Roman laws and customs in the First Century, and this may have been the primary reason why Paul forbade the practice of having more than one wife among those who might serve as Christian elders. Understand that we aren’t promoting the practice of polygamy here, since it is clear from the case of Adam and Eve (gr. Eue) that God had originally intended for a man to have just one ‘helper’ or mate. However, these instructions to Timothy and Titus have long been used among Christian religions to not only prevent polygamous converts from serving in an office, but to forbid polygamy among any of its members. And there are many cases where religions have required men to put away other wives and children (as in parts of Africa, where polygamy is still practiced) before they can even be baptized… although these people are in no way in violation of God’s Laws or local statutes. Therefore, though the standard set by God was monogamy; you can see that there are no actual instructions in the Bible that forbid Christians to have more than one wife, other than the standards that Paul set out for elders who would be living under Roman law. In fact, in the Bible’s patriarchal societies, such great men of faith as Job, AbraHam, Jacob, David, and many others are known to have had multiple wives and/or concubines; yet, they weren’t condemned by God. So, there is little scriptural basis for Christians in monogamous societies to judge or to set such standards for Christians in polygamous societies. For more information, see the subheading ‘Polygamy’ in the linked document, Christian Morality.