There are couple of scriptural injunctions given in the bible that have caused me to question. Perhaps some feedback would be helpful. Firstly when we are told that a "bishop" of the church is to have but one wife does that mean than others could have more than one??? Secondly, when we are told that women should not pastor, teach or be in authority over men was this only for the Jewish religion or for the church! Just wondering your thoughts on these matters! TR Why did God allow polygamy / bigamy in the Bible? There are three questions that need to be answered: 1) Why did God allow polygamy in the Old Testament? 2) How does God view polygamy today? 3) Why did it change? Ephesians 5:22–33 speaks of the relationship between husbands and wives. When referring to a husband (singular), the passage always also refers to a wife (singular). “For the husband is the head of the wife [singular]. . . . He who loves his wife [singular] loves himself. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife [singular], and the two will become one flesh. . . . Each one of you also must love his wife [singular] as he loves himself, and the wife [singular] must respect her husband [singular].” Coincidentally, as I read through the Bible, just last night I got to the part in 1 Kings where it tells of Solomon--how he built the Temple, and was so successful and prosperous. The Israeli people loved him. He prayed such sincere and spiritual prayers! But then he started marrying foreign wives, which God had forbidden knowing that such women would draw him toward false gods. And sure enough, Solomon started building temples for them to their gods, even Molech whom my Bible calls "the unutterably vile god of the Ammonites." The Lord God appeared to Solomon twice to warn him against worshipping other gods, but Solomon did not listen! So God told him that He would tear the kingdom away from Solomon and his family. Why did he marry so many wives and have so many concubines? Possibly originally for political alliances, but I suspect it was just because he could. In the end, he paid a heavy price.
