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    FAQ 105

    The Authority to
    Practice Polygamy

    Q. I am curious as what authority if any you claim to practice polygamy? Is it just by personal revelation or some form of priesthood lineage? What are your New Testament references to tie Christianity to polygamy?

    The authority to practice marriage is the Word of Elohim (God) given to Adam in the Garden of Eden, regulated in the Law of Moses, and upheld by Christ (Matthew 5:18; Luke 16:17).

    Marriage in the Bible is defined as one man married to one or more women within manageable limits (the ideal maximum being considered 7 - Isaiah 4:1), there being no distinction made between monogamy and polygamy (The Biblical Teaching About Marriage). No revelation is required to become a 'polygamist' because no such separate designation as a 'monogamist' exists.

    The only revelation required is the usual confirmation that Yahweh gives those seeking His will in the selection of marriage companions. A wise man will always seek his Heavenly Father's will before committing to marriage in order at the very least to preclude unhappiness.

    No external priesthood lineage is required because there isn't one in the New Covenant - only Roman Catholics, Mormons and some older Protestant denomination make such Old Covenant-like legalistic claims. Priesthood by lineage ended with the termination of the Levitical Priesthood at Calvary. The new Melchizedek Priesthood is without lineage and is obtained by the New Birth without the imposition of hands or mediation of persons. The only other requirement for marriage is the presence of two or more witnesses when life-long vows are made.

    Even in the Old Covenant marriage was not linked to any priesthood requirement because the authority to marry and be married lay within families and not within the state, the 'church', or any other institution. The function of the Priesthood in the theocratic state was to ensure that the marriage laws were adhered to. These would include banning the marriage of next of kin, judging adultery, forcing fornicators to marry, and otherwise maintaining the purity of marriage. The authority to grant marriage - whether to one woman or several - was vested in the fathers of the prospective bride and bridegroom. The decision-making process as to who or how many to marry never was a function, prerogative or responsibility of either the Levitical Priests under the Old Covenant or the Melchizedek Priests of the New.

    The wise do, of course, receive marriage guidance, and submission to this is preferably on a voluntary basis. The only absolute exception would be restrictions imposed on leaders. Thus the High Priest under the Levitical system was always required to marry virgins, and indeed all Priests - in both Old and New Covenants - were, and are, required to be married. There are no celibate ministers. As far as the latter is concerned, the New Testament requires (according to one interpretation) that Elders and Deacons be faithful to their first wives, meaning that if they take a second wife they may not discard the first. Thus unmarried men may not be ministers and neither may they discard their first wives to marry a second - they must retain both. However, no minister may forbid anyone to marry, and this is described as a doctrine of demons when they do.

    Any Church or Priesthood system that forbids a man to marry (one or more women) is therefore following demonic spirits and is deceived, whether they be Catholic (who forbid Priests to marry and men to have more than one wife) or Protestants and non-fundamentalists Mormons (who forbid polygamy or who ordain unmarried clergy or priesthood-holders).

    Author: SBSK

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    First created on 6 March 2003
    Updated on 17 May 2016

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