Tom, my logic is right. You cannot marry someone who is already married. In the case you cited, it would be committing adultery to have sexual relations with someone who is married, who is not divorced. Again, nowhere is lawful polygamy condemned or forbidden. Under the Jewish Theocracy, there were specific circumstances that required a man to have more than one wife.

But there were circumstances when having more than one wife was a sin. Certain kings, for example, married more than one wife in order to form alliances with neighboring nations. The law of Moses, however, did not allow for this exception, therefore, it was unlawful and sinful.

Such marital alliances indicated they distrusted the promises of God to protect them. In essence, their wives were false gods and idols, which is akin to taking God's name in vain. Thus, polygamy in these cases, were a violation of the first three commandments.

Lawful polygamy?





I thought you agreed that polygamy was a sin. I've cited these before. Polygamy called a sin, a violation of the law of God, contrary to God's will, never sanctioned a single time. What do you mean "lawful polygamy"? How would this be different than "lawful adultery" or "lawful stealing"?

It's also akin to stealing (taking something not yours is stealing). Certainly covetousness is involved here as well.

Tom, how do you interpret it in the law of Moses where men are, under certain circumstances, required to have more than one wife?

Given that polygamy was contrary to God's will, which He never sanctioned, clearly it was something He permitted.

I'm glad you didn't name adultery, too.

The law of Moses didn't merely permit things, it commanded them.

It doesn't make sense that God would command that something contrary to His will, contrary to His law, a sin, something He never sanctioned a single time, be done. Therefore this idea must be rejected, if Ellen White's statement is to be accepted.

If God commanded polygamy be done, then He sanctioned it, by definition. In this case, Ellen White was wrong in her statement. It this what you're wanting to say?

If it's not, then God could not have been commanding polygamy be done, if Ellen White's statement is to be believed.

If you want to say that she's wrong, then your idea is possible.

It's not "akin" to adultery, actually being a violation of the 7th commandment, so that's a difference.

I'm asking you which commandment polygamy breaks, given that it does indeed break the law. You say it's "akin" to whatever, some of the first 3 commandments. But you state no logical reason for doing so, nor support your decision by any inspired text. You do so capriciously, because your theory demands it. (My reason for pointing out it was "akin" to covetousness is that covetousness is one on the second table, in which case your theory would fall, because then polygamy should be known to be a sin by instinct.)

But anyone can see that if polygamy breaks any commandment at all, it breaks the seventh commandment, in exactly the same way that remarrying after an illegitimate divorce does. There's no difference. The same exact principle applies, the one spelled out by Jesus Christ, that "in the beginning it was not so," and God gave one woman to be the wife of one man.

The fact that a man can get a legal marriage in a court does not make the marriage legitimate in God's sight. Legitimate marriage = one man/one woman, as Jesus explained. Beyond that is contrary to God's will, as I've demonstrated by the EGW quotes.

The same argument can be made from Scripture, btw, but it's less clear, and since you accept her writings as inspired, I just used her.

Tom, earlier in this thread the law of Moses was quoted where polygamy was commanded under certain circumstances. How do you explain this?