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Does The New Testament teach monogamy?

Rival

Diex Aie
Staff member
Premium Member
As far as I'm aware the New Testament only teaches that priests and elders of the church ought to be 'the husband of one wife' and says nothing concerning laymen. Jesus said nothing concerning monogamy as far as I know. So where does Christianity take the idea that all folks should be monogamous? I may be wrong about this though.
 

matthew_/!/

Member
Monogamy isn't adressed per se but there are verses which scholars claim to refer to this subject. An example would be Matthew 19:3-6. But no, the NT does not say word for word that monogamy is to be practiced.

This view is based a lot off of what denomination of Christianity is in question, for example: The Catholic Church does not allow multiple wives but some other denominations do. It is based off of tradition mostly
 
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Jayhawker Soule

-- untitled --
Premium Member
I found Why We Think Monogamy Is Normal interesting, particularly ...
... socially imposed monogamy was first established in ancient Greece and Rome, centuries before Christianity even existed. Greco-Roman laws prohibited any man from having more than one official wife at a time.
It appears that the primary (if not the sole) reason for "Christian monogamy" is addressed in Romans 13:1-7.
 

Brickjectivity

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
Would you like to hear my concocted theory? There are reasons both modern and (for Christians) historical why male over female polygamy is a bad idea. It is a form of slavery and of control not just of the woman but of many resources such as her children. It gives the man a great deal of power in society compared to the other men.

Historically there are probably other reasons. Christianity from its beginnings was about equality, and I think this factored in. Jealousy is against the Torah, particularly jealousy of someone's wife is. How can you discourage jealousy? You can insure that almost every man has a wife. Additionally it adds duties to the one man. The Torah teaches that a man must teach his children, but it seems reasonable to think the more wives he has the less time he has to do that. He must spend time with each wife, provide for each wife and her children. Clearly he can do that better with one wife than with multiple ones. In addition the stories of the patriarchs highlight all the problems they had as a result of taking on multiple wives. These stories aren't there for no reason.

Another reason why polygamy would be seen as bad historically is that Christianity disagreed with the idea of physical perfection that Greece embraced. I suspect it rejected all racist concepts, eschewing physical perfection through breeding. Where many societies held it a responsibility to breed the best (through polygamy), Christianity did not (or ideally did not). I think it got this from Judaism which held all blood to be equal, and at the time of Christianity's formation the Judeans were still being oppressed by Hellenic influences they viewed as unlawful impositions: nudity, homosexuality, physical perfection, Greek language and mythology. From time to time the Greeks thought it their duty to impose Hellenic culture upon Jews, so this probably encouraged a very strong rejection of all of Greek culture among certain Jewish groups. Possibly this rejection was one of the early influences on early Christians, although later there were things they borrowed from Greek culture, particularly its philosophical tools.
 

Jayhawker Soule

-- untitled --
Premium Member
Would you like to hear my concocted theory?
Not particularly. Why would someone want to hear (or, for that matter, offer) a 'concocted theory' in preference to an informed one?


... Christianity disagreed with the idea of physical perfection that Greece embraced. I suspect it rejected all racist concepts, eschewing physical perfection through breeding. Where many societies held it a responsibility to breed the best (through polygamy), Christianity did not (or ideally did not).
This is simply nonsense.
 

Jayhawker Soule

-- untitled --
Premium Member
Also, from Patheos"
Christianity is monogamous not because of anything the Bible says but rather because the Romans were monogamous. Christianity was profoundly influenced by its development within the Roman Empire. Even the Christian concept of heaven and hell comes from the Romans, not the Jews. While Jewish law permitted polygamy, the Romans were fiercely monogamous, and during its early years Christianity moved from being a Jewish sect to being an independent religion within the Roman Empire—a religion adopted primarily by Gentiles (and not Jews) and ultimately made the Roman Empire’s official religion.

Yes, you read that right—the Western idea that marriage is between one man and one woman isn’t biblical, it’s Roman.
And this study is excellent.
 

Rival

Diex Aie
Staff member
Premium Member
Well this died quickly. Would any more Christians like to chip in?
 

outhouse

Atheistically
As far as I'm aware the New Testament only teaches that priests and elders of the church ought to be 'the husband of one wife' and says nothing concerning laymen. Jesus said nothing concerning monogamy as far as I know. So where does Christianity take the idea that all folks should be monogamous? I may be wrong about this though.

I agree with the idea we do not know IF Jesus did speak or teach any of this, we don't know.


What we do know is that Pauls communities taught forms of this.

We also know in this time Hellenist also taught celibacy in many different sects and it was a popular movement in Pauls time period.

Take into account the NT authors were writing their text for the purpose of proselytizing to the Roman Empire and trying to appeal to the people and reign in their behavior to some extent.

We see,,,, 1 Timothy and Titus making monogamous comments. Matthew states jesus said monogamous comments as well. The Pauline epistles generally teach monogamous relationships are the path.
 

Prestor John

Well-Known Member
Good point. Although I was curious about some LDS interpretations of NT text.
Oh wow. Didn't know we were wanted anywhere! :)

I don't believe the New Testament encouraged one practice of marriage over another.

When the Lord was asked by the Sadducees concerning the woman who had been married to seven brothers, He did not condemn the practice of polygamy.

Paul made comments about certain Church leaders having only one wife, but I don't think he claimed that as a standard for the whole Church.
 
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