Guardian

TO Pastor Seyi Macaulay, an educationist, Social Entrepreneur, and  President of Dreamyouths International,  the original injunction of God on marriage in Genesis 2:24 “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh“ was grossly violated by many of the Old Testament saints.

“Jesus came in the fullness of time to save humanity from the curse of the law, including marital curse, such as suffered by Abraham, David and Solomon. The Genesis  injunction is reaffirmed in Matthew 19:5 by our Lord Jesus Christ. This makes it erroneous to use the marital experience of the Old Testament saints as standard today.  The standard of the New Testament is summarized in Titus 1:6, that ‘If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.’”

He declared that having concubines is worse than bigamy.

“I discovered that every bigamist in the bible experienced one form of family anarchy: Father Abraham’s children are in an unending war in the Middle East; King David’s household produced accursed children: Jonadab the rapist, Absalom the rebel and Adonijah an inordinate ambitious young man; King Solomon the multi-talented bigamist produced Rehoboam, the man under whom the united Israel suffered irreversible disintegration.”

He noted too that the New Testament stipulates that those with more than one wife are free to worship God like any other persons, but they are not qualified to aspire for church leadership: “If any man desires the position of a deacon or bishop he must be husband of one wife.”

He however considers it “ not socially justifiable” for a man who had married many wives before becoming a Christian, to divorce them.

He laments stories of pastors divorcing their wives to marry fresh ladies and other women showing up with children after some Christians die. “It is better to remain single and make heaven than to married and miss it,” he said.

“If you choose bigamy, be ready to live with the negative consequences like broken home and unending civil war after you are long gone.”

Dr. Godswill Moses, an information Technology Expert, is the Senior Pastor of Life Centred Christian Assembly, Isolo - Lagos.

“God’s dealing with mankind from inception shows that He (God) is averse to polygamy. Gen 2:18 shows that God intended monogamy and not polygamy to be the design for human marriage.

On humanitarian consideration, I sincerely feel that polygamy will promote chaos, incessant marital breakdown, unfaithfulness and ill-treatment among spouses. The common bigamy practices or tendencies in the Bible were carried out by unbelieving kings like Abimelech of Gerar and Herod the Tetrarch.

Jesus Christ reflected God’s position in his earthly ministry while attending to a related issue. He said “...from the beginning, it was not so…” Matt 19:8. In solving the issue of divorce, he referred to God’s original design – One man, one wife “...Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female” (Matt.19:4). God did not make male and females because he never intended it to be so.

Venerable Joe Eziaghighala, the Vicar in Charge, All Saints’ Church, Surulere, Lagos said it’s difficult to say “Yes” or “No” to whether or not bigamy is a realistic law. “Bigamy is viewed (in Europe) as a critical issue because the culture, religion and legal statutes criminalize this practice.

“ But there are also cultures where bigamy contradicts their cultural and religious codes. These are cultures like the African and Islamic cultures where polygamy is welcome as part of the mores and norms of the people.”

Such cultures have provisions that enhance the practice of polygamy. A man can marry more than one wife. This could be for a number of reasons that include the desire for male successors, eccentric personal choices, the desire to display affluence, the desire to avoid the problems of inheritance occasioned by barrenness etc.

While it is a serious crime for one to infringe the rules of bigamy in the Western world, the African communities have a more tolerant posture. This is because two sets of cultures and norms exist side by side in the community. This also explains the value conflict that sees some Christians opting for multiple marriages, while they are still in the Church.

What then do you say to Biblical personalities who were polygamous?

My understanding of marriage is defined by a literal interpretation of Genesis 2:24, that  defines the principle of a man leaving his father and his mother, to cleave to his wife, in which case, the two (not three or more) will then become one flesh. This understanding is based upon the fact that if God had desired to have polygamy as standard format for Christian marriage, He would have created two Eves for one Adam or two Adams for one Eve.

There are Biblical references to men who were polygynists in the Bible, most of who ironically were friends of God like Abraham, Jacob, Solomon, David etc. It was  Lamech, who married the women, Adah and Zillah who blazed the trail.(Genesis 4:19).

But the intrigues in the families of these notable polygamists were quite alarming. The problem created by Abraham’s multiple marriage is tormenting the world up till today. Jacob’s experience did not fare any better. The family intrigues almost tore his family apart. David saw murder, incest, and even the loss of his wives, as a result of polygamy. Solomon’s heart was taken away from God as a result of his multiple wives. No wonder, Christ’s apostles were all monogamous.