Polygamy is a Christian institution. It was pointedly prescribed in the old testament. Modern anti-polygamists will argue that the old testament prescription was a matter of necessity, and that new testament language (particularly Paul's) prescribes monogamy, but to my eyes the new testament's position is pretty casual, while the old testament's is quite strong.
I think that's the wrong argument to make. There were a lot of things said in the Old Testament that aren't considered by most Christians to be applicable to them. The "Old Covenant" was, as the Jewish maintain today, between God and the Jews. For most Christians (more specifically, Catholics and several other groups), the laws in the Old Testament ceased to be valid when Jesus proclaimed the way into Heaven.
That said, it is true that the bible doesn't disapprove of polygamy. The Old Testament is filled with examples of God condoning it (Lamech, Esau, Jacob, Gideon, Solomon... The list of men with multiple wives goes on and on - God even gave Saul's wives to David), and the New Testament has a few "mentions", so to speak: Paul's letter to the Corinthians, which explicitly says it's his opinion and not law, Ephesians, and a few others that are suggestive of opinion and not law. But honestly, appealing to biblical authority is fraught with oppositions that focus on the numerous inconsistencies in the bible.
I believe that polygamy is a personal and/or moral belief, and while I'm personally an atheist, and personally do not have an interest or stake in debating the morality or religious support of it, I recognize that there are potential and actual inconsistencies with how rights and responsibilities are handled with respect to polygamists, and hope they're able to find the path to equality.
Selfless love knows no bounds, frankly. It's the selfish ones that need to find humility before they find peace.
> "For most Christians (more specifically, Catholics and several other groups), the laws in the Old Testament ceased to be valid when Jesus proclaimed the way into Heaven."
Those Christians may have a bit of a quarrel with Jesus himself:
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Matthew 5:17-18
One of the most important verses in the bible. It holds the tension between the judgement brought by the Old Covenant on the one hand, and our salvation and freedom in Christ on the other. Although its complexities are rightly subject to debate, there's simply no room to claim that the entire Old Convenant is invalid in Christian theology.
> "appealing to biblical authority is fraught with oppositions that focus on the numerous inconsistencies in the bible."
Polygamy absolutely was prescribed, in very strong terms, in the form of levirate marriage:
If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not be married abroad unto one not of his kin; her husband's brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother unto her. Deuteronomy 25:5-6
And no, it is not universally portrayed as dysfunctional. Dysfunction appears when the subjects disregard specific instructions regarding marriage and sex, in the midst of polygamous relationships that are explicitly allowed by God. E.g., David's adultery, and Solomon's marriage to women from outside of Israel.
Um, yes it is. Levirate marriage is pretty simple; if a woman dies childless, her husband's brother is obligated to marry her so that she has a chance of bearing children, even if the brother is already married.
And for some entertaining context, go read the rest of Deuteronomy 25:5, where it says how the brother should be punished if he refuses the marriage.
> "Every instance of polygamy has a bad ending in the Bible."
This is simply not true. Tell me where Lamech's or Rehoboam's marriages caused a bad ending. And as I said above, King David -- perhaps the most famous of polygamists -- is never rebuked for his marriages. The Bible makes a very clear point of rebuking him only for his adultery:
David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. 1 Kings 15:5
> Polygamy is a Christian institution. It was pointedly prescribed in the old testament.
Correction: "Christian" refers to Jesus Christ, which does not appear in the old testament. Catholics, Ortodoxes and many protestant churches are against polygamy.
I'm not sure how to respond to this. Have you noticed that every complete Bible contains the Old Testament, including the Pentateuch in its entirety? Old Testament law and prophesy is woven deeply in the fabric of the gospels and of Paul's letters.
And while most modern churches have chosen to interpret Paul's prescription for monogomy strictly, some Christian churches and cultures continue to embrace polygamy.
> Have you noticed that every complete Bible contains the Old Testament, including the Pentateuch in its entirety?
Yes, I already had noticed this.
> Old Testament law and prophesy is woven deeply in the fabric of the gospels and of Paul's letters.
Just for curiosity, have you ever happened to actually read the Bible? There are plenty of prescriptions in the Old Testament that are not followed by Jesus. Jesus presented himself as "The Truth", and he often said he was giving "a new commandment". To rest on Saturday, to stone an adulteress, to be forced to marry your brother's widow have never been Christian commandments. And polygamy enters in this list.
The fact that for a small amount of time a small minority of Mormons (a small minority in the Christian world, less than 1% of the total) have accepted polygamy does not make this practice "Christian". Otherwise, if one follows the same line of reasoning, encyclopaedias should classify deers as "omnivorous", because in extreme conditions there have been reports of deers eating frogs and small mammals...
So then, if I understand you correctly, polygamy is in the same category as resting on the Sabbath? It's good to know that it's not forbidden, even though we're no longer obliged to do it :)
