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Old 11-18-2011, 09:36 AM
 
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Polygamy and Homosexuality are two different concepts, so the common ANE and Biblical acceptance of one does not necessarily lead to the other.

1st question: One of the major things that has changed is the evolution of Christianity out of Judaism. Christianity eventually rejected the Mosaic Law, and only kept a few precepts regarding the consumption of blood, etc. as discussed in one of Paul's letters.

2nd question: Christian Churches generally follow the teachings of the New Testament, not the Old Testament Mosaic Law Code (the latter not prohibiting polygamy). The New Testament contains the teachings of Paul (who prefers that believers not marry at all!), Jesus (who ordered his followers to leave their families and told his opponents that marriage would not even be a concept in the Kingdom of God/Heaven) and the beginnings of the anti-female interpretations that would later conceive of the concept of Original Sin, and the Augustinian teachings of women's sinfulness, and the later severe reactions against anything sexual. Monasteries became common and the idea of celibacy as an ideal concretized within the Church. The rest, as they say, is history.

3rd and 4th questions: Seeing as the two concepts are entirely different, and a false analogy is being made within your own argument and answer that you have set up, it doesn't seem like there's much to talk about. Christians were already rejecting sexuality along with most of the OT teachings long before today's Same-sex Marriage Movement became active. So they can't really be accused of "hypocrisy", unless you want to assume that Christianity should be fully represented by your views of it - that it should never change, so it can be criticized for being barbaric and out-of-date; or if it changes to embrace modernity and still serve some use, you can accuse it of being faulty because God should never change his mind. This is ignoring also the fact that homosexuality is slowly being accepted by Christians.

Its a lose-lose situation, no matter what happens. Atheists will flip-flop between arguments but insist that their opponents do not.
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Old 11-18-2011, 09:39 AM
 
16,433 posts, read 22,129,650 times
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When the qualifications for a deacon or bishop were detailed in the Bible, one is that the person should be a man of one wife. This inevitably suggests that polygamy was common among Christians in that day. When Jesus said a man should have one wife, it was very likely just advice, not a commandment. Jesus advised it was best for a person not to marry at all, but if they could not control their passions, then they should marry to avoid the sin of fornication. Homosexuality is universally condemned throughout the Bible without exception.
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Old 11-18-2011, 09:42 AM
 
Location: southern california
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simply put bek sex behavior was dictated by the religious leaders not by the jewish people. they had spiritual leaders they believed were in contact with God and told them how they should live, they bought into this 100%. gay sex was a major practice with the pagans in the region. whatever happened to them?
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Old 11-18-2011, 09:44 AM
 
16,433 posts, read 22,129,650 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Huckleberry3911948 View Post
gay sex was a major practice with the pagans in the region. whatever happened to them?
Oh, they are still with us. God is very patient with the creatures He loves.
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Old 11-18-2011, 12:35 PM
 
Location: City-Data Forum
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self-righteous men wrote the bible, not gay men. The gentiles (Christians included) were doing what they do now from the beginning. They dishonor their non-Jewish ancestors because they are treacherous disrespectful gossipers.
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Old 11-18-2011, 02:37 PM
 
Location: Duluth, Minnesota, USA
7,641 posts, read 18,066,243 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RUDE DUDE View Post
I know most modern day Christians do not practice polygamy. But polygamy was a widely accepted practice in biblical times. In fact, one celebrated biblical figure, King Solomon, had 700 wives and 300 concubines!(NOTE: concubines are live-in mistresses) What exactly changed? Here are some polygamist quotes from the Bible:


Exodus 21:10
"If a man takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights."

2 Chronicles 11:21
"Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than any of his other wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters."

Deuteronomy 21:15-17
"If a man has two wives, and he loves one but not the other, and both bear him sons but the firstborn is the son of the wife he does not love, when he wills his property to his sons, he must not give the rights of the firstborn to the son of the wife he loves in preference to his actual firstborn, the son of the wife he does not love. He must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double share of all he has. That son is the first sign of his father’s strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him."



It's clear that polygamy was an acceptable practice in the Bible. Why is it that Christian churches no longer practice polygamy?

If the answer is "because times have changed and the culture back then was different then why doesn't the Christian community recognize same sex marriages? The cultural standard has also changed in regard to same-sex marriages. These unions are now more accepted by our culture.

If Christian practices change in accordance with general cultural practices and societal views (i.e. if Christians can condemn polygamy simply because modern culture condemns it and not the Bible) then wouldn't it make sense that Christians make this same argument for accepting and recognizing same sex marriages?

If not, is it then fair for the rest of us to publicly recognize this hypocrisy?
It is true that polygamy was accepted under the Old Law. However, even early Christians were not polygamous. St. Augustine of Hippo (who lived in the 5th century A.D.) wrote about this apparent conflict or change in divine law in his work "On Marriage and Concupiscence). Although polygamy was rarely practiced among Jews contemporary to Jesus, and practically unknown in Greek and Roman societies of the time, Christianity was counter-cultural from the start, prohibiting many practices accepted by the greater society that converts came from: abortion, infanticide, birth prevention, fornication, etc. You could add "same-sex marriage" to that list if those marriages were ever widespread in the societies early Christians came from, because Christianity has, from its roots in Judaism, always been opposed to sodomy (a.k.a. homosexuality). In fact, Constantine or one of his successors outlawed same-sex marriage or a practice resembling it, although I'm not sure if it was exactly common enough to make an impact.

Many modern converts to Christianity in many African societies find this prohibition difficult, as polygamy is still widely practiced there.
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Old 11-18-2011, 06:09 PM
 
Location: Up above the world so high!
45,218 posts, read 100,407,894 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RUDE DUDE View Post
I know most modern day Christians do not practice polygamy. But polygamy was a widely accepted practice in biblical times. In fact, one celebrated biblical figure, King Solomon, had 700 wives and 300 concubines!(NOTE: concubines are live-in mistresses) What exactly changed? Here are some polygamist quotes from the Bible:


Exodus 21:10
"If a man takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights."

2 Chronicles 11:21
"Rehoboam loved Maacah daughter of Absalom more than any of his other wives and concubines. In all, he had eighteen wives and sixty concubines, twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters."

Deuteronomy 21:15-17
"If a man has two wives, and he loves one but not the other, and both bear him sons but the firstborn is the son of the wife he does not love, when he wills his property to his sons, he must not give the rights of the firstborn to the son of the wife he loves in preference to his actual firstborn, the son of the wife he does not love. He must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double share of all he has. That son is the first sign of his father’s strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him."



It's clear that polygamy was an acceptable practice in the Bible. Why is it that Christian churches no longer practice polygamy?

If the answer is "because times have changed and the culture back then was different then why doesn't the Christian community recognize same sex marriages? The cultural standard has also changed in regard to same-sex marriages. These unions are now more accepted by our culture.

If Christian practices change in accordance with general cultural practices and societal views (i.e. if Christians can condemn polygamy simply because modern culture condemns it and not the Bible) then wouldn't it make sense that Christians make this same argument for accepting and recognizing same sex marriages?

If not, is it then fair for the rest of us to publicly recognize this hypocrisy?
Context dude, context
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Old 11-18-2011, 06:16 PM
 
Location: Salt Lake City
27,916 posts, read 29,762,343 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RUDE DUDE View Post
I know most modern day Christians do not practice polygamy. But polygamy was a widely accepted practice in biblical times.
Depending on what you actually mean by "a widely accepted practice," I believe you may be wrong. In my understanding, monogamy was always the rule, with polygamy being the exception. The purpose of polygamy, strange as it may seem to some people, was not to satisfy men's sexual appetites, but to increase a man's posterity. God has authorized the practice at various times and in various situations, and when He approves of the practice, there is nothing wrong with it. It's seen as inately sinful by many people, but that's due to cultural norms and not to anything the Bible says on the subject.
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Old 11-18-2011, 06:29 PM
 
9,408 posts, read 13,704,744 times
Reputation: 20394
Quote:
Originally Posted by RUDE DUDE View Post
I know most modern day Christians do not practice polygamy. But polygamy was a widely accepted practice in biblical times. In fact, one celebrated biblical figure, King Solomon, had 700 wives and 300 concubines!(NOTE: concubines are live-in mistresses) What exactly changed? If not, is it then fair for the rest of us to publicly recognize this hypocrisy?
The bible was written by men, for men. That's why you'll see the "oh god changed his mind" clauses throughout.
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Old 11-18-2011, 06:32 PM
 
Location: Salt Lake City
27,916 posts, read 29,762,343 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Djuna View Post
The bible was written by men, for men. That's why you'll see the "oh god changed his mind" clauses throughout.
I've always thought it was supposed to be women who were always changing their minds.
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