THE ATHEIST'S COMPLAINT:
PART 2: Is polygamy OK? Several verses say "yes" (Gen 4:19, 16:1-4, 25:6, 26:34, 28:9, 31:17, Ex 21:10, Deut 21:15, Jdg 8:30, 1 Sam 1:1-2, 2 Sam 12:7-8, 1 Kgs 11:2-3, 1 Chr 4:5, 2 Chr 11:21, 13:21, 24:3, Mt 25:1, 1 Tim 3:2, Tit 1:6-7). Other verses say ‘no' (Gen 2:24, Mt 19:4-5, Mt 19:9, Mk 10:11, 1 Cor 7:2). Is there a contradiction?

RESPONSE:
All the texts listed above were answered by the statements made in last week’s Answering The Atheist, with the exception of 2 Samuel 12:7-8, Matthew 25:1, 1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1:6-7. These we will deal with today.

2 Samuel 12:7-8 — Indeed, the Lord directly says to David, “...I gave you...your master’s wives into your keeping...” (NKJV). The NASB says these women were given “...into your care...” There is no indication either in Scripture or in history to indicate that David married the harem held by the his predecessor. Certainly, they were in his care, they were his responsibility, but to conclude that he took them as wives is to assume what the text does not say.

Matthew 25:1 — The text is a parable, a story intended to convey lessons for us in regard to the impending judgment of the world. To summarize from this that the Bible supports polygamy would be akin to concluding from Luke 16:24-31 that there are perpetual conversations in the Hadean realm. The virgins represent Christians (ie. purity), and the message of the parable is that not all of God’s people are prepared to met the Lord. To assume that the Lord advocates polygamy by the use of this parable is to read into the text what is not there.

In both 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, Paul lists the qualifications for a man to be a bishop. Among the requirements is “...the husband of one wife...” Now, somehow, the questioner has determined from this that the Lord is pro-polygamy. How, I don’t know. Does it infer that there are some who are the husband of more than one wife? Perhaps, but that certainly does not condone the practice.

Nothing that the questioner provided showed that the Bible is pro-polygamy. There is no contradiction.

This article is a response to Skeptic's Annotated Bible, but original article is no longer listed

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