Thinking Anglicans has reported an article from The Sydney Morning Herald in which the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, has warned that same-sex marriage could lead to polygamy and incest. Jensen says:
This claim for a right to be married could open the way for other forms, such as polygamous marriages or perhaps even marriage between immediate family members.
As daft as these claims sound (Benny’s blog condemns Jensen for ‘employing the politics of fear‘) I would like to console Jensen by reminding him of the long and honorable history of polygamy as recorded in the Bible. The great prophet Abraham, was himself a polygamist. The website The Skeptic’s Annotated Bible helpfully devotes a page to the subject. As all these quotes are taken from Bible verses, I hope they won’t mind if I reproduce their list here:
- Genesis 4:19
- And Lamech took unto him two wives.
- Genesis 16:1-4
- Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. And Sarai … gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived.
- Genesis 25:6
- But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had….
- Genesis 26:34
- Esau … took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite.
- Genesis 31:17
- Then Jacob rose up, and set … his wives upon camels.
- Exodus 21:10
- If he take him another wife….
- Deuteronomy 21:15
- If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated….
- Judges 8:30
- And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives.
- 1 Samuel 1:1-2
- Elkanah … had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah.
- 2 Samuel 12:7-8
- Thus saith the LORD God of Israel … I gave thee … thy master’s wives….
- 1 Kings 11:2-3
- Solomon … had seven hundred wives … and three hundred concubines.
- 1 Chronicles 4:5
- And Ashur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.
- 2 Chronicles 11:21
- Rehoboam … took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines.
- 2 Chronicles 13:21
- But Abijah waxed mighty, and married fourteen wives….
- 2 Chronicles 24:3
- Jehoiada took for him two wives….
- Mt.25:1
- Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
Archbishop Jensen may take heart that even if his worst fears are realized, we will only be returning to the old ways, living out the Biblical example of marriage – between one man and as many women as he likes.
flockedout
flocked out 