Since I have heard these same arguments over and over again in the past few days, let me write yet again on the issue of biblical marriage... Let me quote from emails I received and then point out briefly the obvious flaws and inconsistencies.
1.
"We don't believe in polygamy, we are believe that God started out with one male and one female because that is what his idea of a family was. One husband one wife."
"Genesis 2:24 states "that is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body."God created one wife for Adam, not several wives."
If that argument was consistently followed, there would be no family as such: God also didn't create any children, and "one man one woman" still doesn't make a family.
Of course the "two" of them shall be one flesh, since that is what biblical marriage is constituted by, a commitment, two at a time though, not three or four or five.
If people want to go by the garden of Eden as their example, they will have to be consistent in that, and will probably have difficulties to get children into the equation, for Adam only "knew" his wife for the first time after the fall. To be consistent, they will also have to go naked (in a world where there is no rain) and eat fruits from the trees, which people neither can do anymore nor want to for the most part. To use a pre-fall state of man to argue against polygamy is rather poor, if this is the only (!) aspect of the pre-fall state that is still held up as an ideal that we should strive for today.
2.
"The God never intended man to have more than one wife and throughout scripture men with multiple wives fell into sin and had all sorts of variable problems, from Cain to Solomon you see nothing but trouble due to this."
"Though examples of polygamy exist in the Bible, it's always accompanied by some degree of heartbreak and even sin. From Abraham, Sarah and Hagar (though she wasn't a wife, more a concubine) to Solomon and his hundreds of wives, polygamy always causes trouble."
When it comes to God "never intending" man to have more than one wife, why in the world would He have given David all his wives, as you can read in 2 Sam 12:8.
When it comes to "strife" and that would be the argument, then you should not have two sons either (look at Abel and Cain, or Jacob and Esau), nor two daughters (look at Leah and Rachel). You can even argue that it was probably best to never marry in the first place, since it was Eve that was deceived and then dragged Adam into the deal, which we are all suffering from still. You can even quote Paul on that one (1Co 7:7) wishing everybody was unmarried like he was. How ridiculous this is in the light of the dominion covenant should be self evident.
3.
"The New Testament states one man one woman."
Where does it ? It doesn't. If this statement refers to Mat 19, as it usually does, it refers to a situation in which Jesus talks about divorce and not marriage, so that argument doesn't work either since they argue apples and oranges here.
4.
"In modern times, when we do hear of polygamists in this country, we invariably find that the women are being exploited by the men, sometimes supporting the men through their own work and sometimes even going on welfare as "single mothers" then turning over the check to the "husbands"."
"Recently there have been lots of programs on the news channels exploring this lifestyle, and the more I hear about it, the more I disapprove. As XXXX [name edited out] said, the women appear to be brainwashed and exploited, and I can't imagine how hard it must be to be a child growing up in that environment with 50 or 60 siblings in one house. More like an orphanage if you ask me."
"I don't know of any mainstream Christian faith that accepts polygamy in its doctrine, and most consider it a sinful aberration."
People seem to draw their ideas from television, the news, and from the actions of fundamentalist Mormons rather than from the bible. Do we see Jacob having 50-60 children who live more like in an orphanage ? Do we have any biblical example for things like brain washing, welfare fraud or the like ? No, we don't, so the accusations are against people who they hear about in the news, and the assumption is that God cannot want something like that, therefore God condemns polygamy. When judging whether or not polygamy is Christian, though, one should look at the bible, and neither at "mainstream Christianity" nor at the examples the media presents.
And please don't forget: It is not by accident that you hear so much about polygamy in the media these days. Since a current Republican presidential nominee has a Mormon background, one should be especially aware of the propaganda that's dished out left and right.
5.
"Not to mention that in most countries, polygamy is illegal."
If you look at statistics, this assessment is inaccurate and reveals a rather limited world view, but let's continue arguing from a biblical perspective. This statement offers the view that Christians should obey the law of the state... but only as long as it is not in conflict with God's law, of course, since we can only show God that we love Him by keeping His commandments (Joh 14:15). And if people had always thought this same way about home schooling too, for example, it would still be next to impossible to home school your children in this country. But of course many good Christians nowadays take advantage of the fight people like Mr. Yoder fought against the state of Wisconsin, and take for granted their right to educate their children at home simply because it is (no longer) illegal to do so.
6.
"I don't believe the Lord approves of this, nor do I."
The fact that this person does not believe that God approves of polygamy does not make it true. When it comes down to it, people rely on God agreeing with their views, instead of the other way round.
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