I don't see how Christianity and Buddhism are compatible, could you explain to me how Christianity fits with the Three Practices, the Four Noble Truths and the purpose of the Eightfold Path?

Sometimes, people are indeed honest enough to admit that the Bible really does not prohibit polygamy (polygyny). However, as a hedge against that admission, such ones may then resort to saying one of the following assertions:

"Yes, but God never condoned polygamy."
"Yes, God allowed it, but He was against polygamy."
"Polygamy was only man's idea, not God's".
"Yes, but God never approved of polygamy."

The passage involving 2 Samuel 12:8 rather clearly reveals otherwise.

"And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things."
2 Samuel 12:8.

The context of the verse is that of God, speaking through a prophet (Nathan), calling out David for David's sin of taking another man's wife (Bathsheba, wife of Uriah the Hittite), which is adultery indeed, and for setting up the death of Uriah the Hittite to try to hide David's sin.

Also, at the point in time of this situation, David had already been married to at least seven known-named wives. (1_Samuel 18:27, 25:42-43, 2_Samuel 3:2-5.)

But, in this verse 12 (above), God was not condemning David for all his wives! In fact, this verse 12 shows God Himself actually saying that HE was the One Who had GIVEN David His wives.

If God was against David's polygamy, He certainly would not have said that He had GIVEN David his wives.

But the LORD did not stop there. That verse 12 shows that the Lord took it even one step further than that! The LORD God even went on further to say that if David had wanted more wives, the Lord Himself said that He would have given David even more!

It was only because David had sinned, in committing adultery by taking another man's wife, and then causing that man's death to try to hide David's sin, that the Lord was calling him out through the prophet Nathan. There was no sin in the polygamy at all.

This is later confirmed that this was the only matter by 1 Kings 15:5, which says the following:

"Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. "
1 Kings 15:5.

Two verses before that, in 1 Kings 15:3, the Bible says that David's heart was perfect with the LORD God.

Very clearly, therefore, what all this shows is that God is the One Who gives wives, even when more than one wife.

This is, of course, confirmed by 1_Corinthians 7:17.

"But as God hath distributed to every man,
as the Lord hath called every one,
so let him walk.
And so ordain I in all churches."
1 Corinthians 7:17.

Be it
NO wife,
ONE wife, or
MORE THAN ONE wife,
it is only has God calls and gives.

As such, it is clear that the Bible does, in fact, explicitly show

"Yes, God did condone polygamy."
"Yes, God allowed it, and He was not against polygamy."
"Polygamy is not a man's idea, but God's".
"Yes, God did approve of polygamy."

In 2 Samuel 12:8, He Himself said so!

you would really have to ask a monk.. my focus is on the gossiple and not budhism. as for how might they go together i think ever one needs to let there brain rest and should meditate and probally no other connection just a personal one. maybe someone needing help relieveing stress...

Thank you spider for writing here about polgamy with me. am done writing about it my eyes are blurry lol. I will read and study all that you wrote for me. I know one thing we do agree on is the need for christ in the family. thank you and have a great night peace

james 1:27 look after the orphans and widows in there distress.. when i read this it makes think that more families should adopt.

1 Timothy 3:2. One day, however, I accidentally found my self on a web site promoting polygyny. There I learned about the Greek word mia. Through additional study I learned that the Greek word for one in 1 Timothy 3:2 (mia:G3391) is also translated one, a or first in the scripture.

1 Timothy 3:2

"A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach".

It may be that the translators used the word one because of cultural bias. Let us look at the Greek word mia. Here is what Strong's Greek Dictionary says:

3391. mia, mee'-ah; irreg. fem. of G1520; one or first.

So mia can be translated as one or first. If you look through the Bible you will see where the translators used what they felt was appropriate for the context. They did an excellent job. But they probably did not know that they were helping to hide a truth that God has no objection to and in fact promotes! In God's Law there are rules for men concerning being married to more than one wife. Also all of the new testament teachings concerning marriage can be understood in the same way.

Let's see what 1 Timothy 3:2 would look like if the word one had been replaced with the word first.

1 Timothy 3:2 "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of a first wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach".

Another way to write it could have been...

1 Timothy 3:2 "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of a wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach".

Remember that the reason for an Elder to be married is so that he can shepherd the flock of God properly. The elder should realize that Christ himself marries each person of true Israelite heritage who becomes a Christian. We are the brides of Christ.

Well I have now known this truth for many years and have not been able come up with any suitable argument against this discovery. I think that as time progresses we will see polygyny return. Read Isaiah 3 and finish with Isaiah 4:1. If the number of women in verse 4:1 had been six then I would have a different opinion, but it is seven. There may also be some responsibility for established Christian families that I never would have considered.

Warning lol, I dont write this stuff for debate on theology big word just to show facts and history, not only do I encourge family and togetherness but I encourge you to find someone that will share your faith of God with you..

The idea "love" has been so prostituted that we hardly know what it means anymore. Sometimes we think that love is something that "gets you," or you "fall into" and "fall out of," or that it is simply "animal passion." The Bible says, "God is love," but also that "love is of God" (I John 4:7-16). God's love is His almighty arms embracing, binding, and holding us to Himself through His Holy Son Jesus. Between a man and a woman there is no real love if they do not love in Christ. There may be concern, passion, even a desire for the other's good; but there is no love. For husbands, the Word of God is this: "Exercise towards your wife an intelligent, purposeful affection, that joyfully wills and seeks her spiritual good, even at a great cost to you. This is the love of God's Son for you."

SACRIFICIAL, SELFLESS. "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it." This is the mystery of the gospel: The Son of God gave Himself to death, to bear the burden of the Church's punishment, so that she might live. Love is selfless. "Love seeketh not her own" (I Corinthians 13). This points out the difference between love and lust. This also points out the duty of husbands.
nite nite people

I believe I can find a scripture somewhere that supports just about any belief I want to have. Mckeachie, if you're serious, go for it man. Just don't get caught.

mckeachie,

Be careful which teachers you learn from, not all are teaching God's truth.

Matthew 7:20-23
==============================================================
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
==============================================================

..hay am just writing about GOD and family. and spider you believe jesus is god, enough said. if you disagre with plurol mariage fine , but dont be bitter just because the bible okays it all threw the oldtestament and doesnt condone or say having more then one wife is a sin anyweres in the bible am right your wrong so shut up.. . end of discussion.....

hmm how about a study in the new testatment. Since polgamy and holy men was very clear in the oldtestament lets head to the new testatment.. In the new testament I havent found anything calling polgamy a Sin.(doesnt exsist god will tell you what he wants and doesnt want from you, I believe that) I know we can take parts of verses and and add some theology and mans tradtitions along with different church traditions and call it wrong cause it might be our oppion which is fine I wont argue with any family that has love for christ. So my study of the new testament is one of history was polgamy still practiced?
If your not sure on any one scripture I give I always recommend going to that book and reading the whole chapeter if not the whole book to many times people para phrase and people dont get the whole story, I hope you go back and study anything of interest you find in my articles, I had one person tell me they can use the bible to make any beliefe they want that is one good example of what we call para phrasing which is wrong and misleading. o ya by the way the comment just proves your against pologamy which is fine I still hope if you dont have one already you will find a betiful cristian lady and have a blessed family. thank you and God bless all of you and dont forget gen.1:28 after all this is a dating site lol

1_Corinthians 5:1:
a son had fornicated with his "father's wife".

This does NOT refer to the man's mother. Indeed, the term, "father's wife", is a very specific term.

Leviticus 18:8 refers to "father's wife" as specifically separate from "mother" in the previous verse of Leviticus 18:7. Note that the "nakedness" of a "mother" is referred to as her own "nakedness" while the "nakedness" of a "father's wife" is referred to as the FATHER's "nakedness".

This same differentiation is observed again in Deuteronomy 27:20,16.

In fact, what the fornicator had done as per 1_Corinthians 5:1 was the same sin as that of Jacob/Israel's firstborn son. Reuben had committed the identical sin with Jacob/Israel's wife, Bilhah, in Genesis 35:22. (Yes, Bilhah was Jacob's wife; see Genesis 37:2.) And for Reuben's act of "uncovering his father's nakedness" by fornicating with his "father's wife", Bilhah, Reuben lost his birthright as firstborn. 1_Chronicles 5:1 reveals that this was because Reuben had "defiled his father's bed".

Indeed, the reference to "father's wife" in 1_Corinthians 5:1 does reveal an actual polygamist identified in the New Testament, i.e., the father of the mentioned fornicator.

How Many Wives did the Children of Israel Have?
In the Book of Numbers Yahweh God commanded Moses to "take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel", (Numbers 1:2). First Yahweh commanded Moses to number all the men who were able to go to war from 20 years old and above. That number came to 603,550 men. Later, Moses was commanded to number all the first born of Israel from a month old and above (Numbers 3:40). That number came to 22,273.
Since there can only be one first born per family then the number of families will be very close to the same number as the first born. Ignoring any exceptions which will make our calculation conservative we can find out how many fighting men were born to each family in Israel.

Fighting Men divided by families is equal to men per family.

603,550 ÷ 22,273 = 27.1

So you can now see that each family was responsible for just over 27 fighting men. This of course does not count any of the women. We could guess that each family had 27 women, however if the ratio of men to women was like it is now then that number is low. That means that each Israelite family would have had about 54 children. So if, as so many insist upon, each family only had one wife then she was having children well into her 60's and beyond if she had one each year.

A better answer to what was going on was that it was very normal in Israel for men to have more than one wife. This is during the time that Yahweh God gave the children of Israel His Law. There is not one mention of Yahweh God prohibiting polygyny. In fact He regulated it which gave it His approval.

By the way, if we go by today's numbers for children per wife in a polygynous family then each wife in Israel had around 4 children. We can then figure out an average number of wives per family.

Number of children per family divided by 4 equals the number of wives per family.

54 ÷ 4 = 13.5

As this is a continuing study I recently found this in

2 Chronicles 11:21.

"Now Rehoboam loved Maachah the granddaughter of Absalom more than all his wives and his concubines; for he took eighteen wives and sixty concubines, and begot twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters."

In this example we see that Rehoboam was consistent in the number of sons with twenty eight. We also see that he had a very large number of daughters above what we suggested.

Another example is Jacob/Israel. He had four wives (two wives and two concubines). The scripture records that he had twelve sons and one daughter. Three of his wives had two children each and the first had six sons and one daughter.

Each family in Israel may have had an average of thirteen or fourteen or so wives during the time of the count. I am sure that the number of wives varied with Israel's political status and their obedience to God. If they were free they had more wives. If they were under bondage they had fewer. True Israel is under bondage now and we have fewer wives per man. Isaiah 4:1 may yet come to pass however.

So we see that a man having more than one wife was the norm in Israel. Even if my non-Bible sourced numbers are off by fifty percent then the men of Israel still had many wives.

Ok, let me start off by saying I'm an Agnostic...and a Grammar Nazi. The Grammar Nazi in me is having an epileptic fit over your arguments about interpretation...showing such concern for the pitfalls of translation while showing a blatant disregard for the rules of the language you are arguing in only serves to undermine your credibility. Arguments about language should at least attempt to be written correctly, if not eloquently.

The Agnostic side is...well, floored. Spider, it is obvious to me that you are a fervent Christian, and that you have spent your time trying to comprehend what you have read, rather than look for "interpretations". McKeachie...I'll just say that there was a book called Silent Night, and that book used quotes too, but context is a fundamental element that Silent Night lacked. As a result, malaria has claimed billions of lives.

There is probably a reason that arguing is considered a sin.

That being said, you made an excellent point Mckeachie, and Spider, I'm surprised you didn't pick up on it. You said, "throughout the old testament"...which is true. The Old Testament talks about a lot of things; animal sacrifice, floods, miracles, Divine punishment, polygamy, and more. However, the New Testament is explicit in saying that these things are no longer a part of our lives. God will not wipe out man-kind, nor will He have more prophets, miracles, Holy writs, etc. The old ways were done with the coming of Jesus, begotten not made, God made flesh, not separate but one with the Father and the Holy-Spirit. The Holy Trinity is a fundamental part of the Christian religion, and it is supported by the New Testament which uses Jesus as the foundation for the way God wants it. If you don't believe in the Trinity...well you aren't a Christian, and you haven't read your Bible. That's just the way it is, you can throw out a million quotes, but the verses that speak of this speak plainly, in every single version of the Bible that you point out.

Probably because translation problems aren't an obstacle for the Creator of existence.

So it doesn't matter that polygamy is OK in the Old Testament, because it is NOT OK according to Jesus, who came to set the foundation for the way it is going to be from now on. Since Jesus said it, and Jesus is God, I don't see how you can argue the credibility of that argument. There are lots of things that can be considered contradictory in the Bible, but I have found that's only when you take them out of context. Leave them in just the way they are, and they are remarkably consistent.

Tomokun,

I think you are talking about "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson. That book is responsible for more deaths than all wars in the history of the world combined.

His arguemnts about the OT are what caused me to stop posting to this thread. The reason why God allowed (not condoned, but allowed) polygamy becomes clear when you are the OT in toto. Wars were frequent, large and bloody. So there were far more women than men. In those days, society gave women two roles: Prostitute or wife. It was better for many women to be married to one man than to have them roaming the streets as prostitutes or living homeless on the streets eatting garbage. Genesis 2:24 and Matthew 19:3-9 clearly show that God wanted ONE man to marry ONE woman. This was taught by Jesus who taught that a man with more than one wife was commiting adultry. Jesus is the FINAL authority on what God wants.

I feel that mckeachie is very set on believing the way he does about polygamy. He has tied together many different verses and cobbled together arguements to support his beliefs. For instance, his discussion about 1 Corinthians 5:1 completely ignores the possiblity that the father was a widower or divorcee. But it IS entirely possible that the father in question was a polygamist, but all that means he was a sinner in church, which is what everyone in church is to begin with. His thoughts on "mia" also force the verse in question to be distorted out of context and twisted to the point that it no longer makes sense. In I Corinthians 7:2-6, Paul taught, "let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband". No mention was made of wives, it's quite clear that a woman should have her "own husband" (possesive meaning that the husband should be hers and hers alone) and that a husband should have his own wife. So in 1 Timothy 3:2 when Paul was describing how the church should be run, he was clearly teaching that a deacon should have ONE WIFE.

Anyways, thanks for the intelligent post Tomokun. I'm not sure if any of this help mckeachie in his search of the truth, but at least I've got it out here for the world to see.

That's the book! Thanks for the correction, lol, I hate giving inaccurate information

Like I said before, I make no claims to being Christian, but to me faith has nothing to do with reading comprehension and attention to detail and intent.

agnistic and believes in trinity? I saw that one I believe its called dum and dumber..
maybe you guys should make a post called people against pologamy or people who think john 3:16 is some kind of consparicy. if you did a post forbidding marriages such as pologamy I would go and read it and not harrass you.. yes I know millions of people think jesus is God even thou it goes against what jesus taught i am one with my father just as my people are one with me ? do you think thats some kind of conspracy that you are jesus to >?? i dont think so to me its foolish to believe the son of god is god and the bible lied to us yet you have the right to believe that , so am my own dad now. as for my spelling tom ya I am very aware that I have bad grammer and spelling.. look I dont want debate or some one preaching in anger to me. hate is not good for the heart .. please go make your post forget about being anti dont user me as someone to bully , I promise not to harhass you if you make a post if I read something and have a qustion I will ask in a post and wont disrupt it.

Isaiah 49:9 "rember the things of old: for I am God and there is no one else and there is none like me.

Sometimes, people are indeed honest enough to admit that the Bible really does not prohibit polygamy (polygyny). However, as a hedge against that admission, such ones may then resort to saying one of the following assertions:

"Yes, but God never condoned polygamy."
"Yes, God allowed it, but He was against polygamy."
"Polygamy was only man's idea, not God's".
"Yes, but God never approved of polygamy."

The passage involving 2 Samuel 12:8 rather clearly reveals otherwise.

"And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things."
2 Samuel 12:8.

The context of the verse is that of God, speaking through a prophet (Nathan), calling out David for David's sin of taking another man's wife (Bathsheba, wife of Uriah the Hittite), which is adultery indeed, and for setting up the death of Uriah the Hittite to try to hide David's sin.

Also, at the point in time of this situation, David had already been married to at least seven known-named wives. (1_Samuel 18:27, 25:42-43, 2_Samuel 3:2-5.)

But, in this verse 12 (above), God was not condemning David for all his wives! In fact, this verse 12 shows God Himself actually saying that HE was the One Who had GIVEN David His wives.

If God was against David's polygamy, He certainly would not have said that He had GIVEN David his wives.

But the LORD did not stop there. That verse 12 shows that the Lord took it even one step further than that! The LORD God even went on further to say that if David had wanted more wives, the Lord Himself said that He would have given David even more!

It was only because David had sinned, in committing adultery by taking another man's wife, and then causing that man's death to try to hide David's sin, that the Lord was calling him out through the prophet Nathan. There was no sin in the polygamy at all.

This is later confirmed that this was the only matter by 1 Kings 15:5, which says the following:

"Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. "
1 Kings 15:5.

Two verses before that, in 1 Kings 15:3, the Bible says that David's heart was perfect with the LORD God.

Very clearly, therefore, what all this shows is that God is the One Who gives wives, even when more than one wife.

This is, of course, confirmed by 1_Corinthians 7:17.

"But as God hath distributed to every man,
as the Lord hath called every one,
so let him walk.
And so ordain I in all churches."
1 Corinthians 7:17.

Be it
NO wife,
ONE wife, or
MORE THAN ONE wife,
it is only has God calls and gives.

As such, it is clear that the Bible does, in fact, explicitly show

"Yes, God did condone polygamy."
"Yes, God allowed it, and He was not against polygamy."
"Polygamy is not a man's idea, but God's".
"Yes, God did approve of polygamy."

In 2 Samuel 12:8, He Himself said so!

Isaiah 46;9 remeber the things of old, for I am God and there is none else and there is none like me.
Sometimes, people are indeed honest enough to admit that the Bible really does not prohibit polygamy (polygyny). However, as a hedge against that admission, such ones may then resort to saying one of the following assertions:

"Yes, but God never condoned polygamy."
"Yes, God allowed it, but He was against polygamy."
"Polygamy was only man's idea, not God's".
"Yes, but God never approved of polygamy."

The passage involving 2 Samuel 12:8 rather clearly reveals otherwise.

"And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things."
2 Samuel 12:8.

The context of the verse is that of God, speaking through a prophet (Nathan), calling out David for David's sin of taking another man's wife (Bathsheba, wife of Uriah the Hittite), which is adultery indeed, and for setting up the death of Uriah the Hittite to try to hide David's sin.

Also, at the point in time of this situation, David had already been married to at least seven known-named wives. (1_Samuel 18:27, 25:42-43, 2_Samuel 3:2-5.)

But, in this verse 12 (above), God was not condemning David for all his wives! In fact, this verse 12 shows God Himself actually saying that HE was the One Who had GIVEN David His wives.

If God was against David's polygamy, He certainly would not have said that He had GIVEN David his wives.

But the LORD did not stop there. That verse 12 shows that the Lord took it even one step further than that! The LORD God even went on further to say that if David had wanted more wives, the Lord Himself said that He would have given David even more!

It was only because David had sinned, in committing adultery by taking another man's wife, and then causing that man's death to try to hide David's sin, that the Lord was calling him out through the prophet Nathan. There was no sin in the polygamy at all.

This is later confirmed that this was the only matter by 1 Kings 15:5, which says the following:

"Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. "
1 Kings 15:5.

Two verses before that, in 1 Kings 15:3, the Bible says that David's heart was perfect with the LORD God.

Very clearly, therefore, what all this shows is that God is the One Who gives wives, even when more than one wife.

This is, of course, confirmed by 1_Corinthians 7:17.

"But as God hath distributed to every man,
as the Lord hath called every one,
so let him walk.
And so ordain I in all churches."
1 Corinthians 7:17.

Be it
NO wife,
ONE wife, or
MORE THAN ONE wife,
it is only has God calls and gives.

As such, it is clear that the Bible does, in fact, explicitly show

"Yes, God did condone polygamy."
"Yes, God allowed it, and He was not against polygamy."
"Polygamy is not a man's idea, but God's".
"Yes, God did approve of polygamy."

In 2 Samuel 12:8, He Himself said so!