How many wives can a Christian have?
score:2
The norm in for the vast majority of Christians is one wife, and the Bible stipulates that church leaders may have no more than one.
Now a bishop must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, dignified, hospitable, an apt teacher... (1 Timothy 3:2)
Let deacons be the husband of one wife, and let them manage their children and their households well (1 Timothy 3:12)
appoint elders in every town as I directed you, if any man is blameless, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of being profligate or insubordinate. (Titus 1:5-6)
No major worldwide denomination allows its members to have more than one wife. However other churches do, especially among the African Independent Churches that compete with Muslim populations for members and polygamy is not banned by the state. Some of these churches have millions of members. The number of wives allowed varies. In the USA and elsewhere, polygamy is allowed in Mormon fundamentalist churches and a few smaller groups.
Additional information is available here
Upvote:2
According to the Torah, a man could have two, three, or even four wives. But we must consider the rivalry between Jacob's wives and the rivalry between Sarah and Hagar. King Solomon went way overboard and married "foreign" (non-Hebrew) wives. Again, according to Torah, a man was free to take a concubine. Today, however, that would go over like a lead brick swimming in the ocean. The Book of Romans tells us that we are to obey the laws of our land. Therefore, plural marriage is prohibited. There is no "Command" in Torah telling a man he must have an additional wife. The ideal marriage was between Isaac and Rebecca -- one man, one wife. Then too, two wives -- two mothers-in-law! Who wants that?
Upvote:3
Your answer is going to be different depending on what authority you give credence to.
By the authority of scripture, there is nothing explicit that forbids polygamy. No less a figure than Martin Luther said
"I confess that I cannot forbid a person to marry several wives, for it does not contradict the Scripture. If a man wishes to marry more than one wife he should be asked whether he is satisfied in his conscience that he may do so in accordance with the word of God. In such a case the civil authority has nothing to do in the matter." (De Wette II, 459, ibid., pp. 329-330)
Combine the weak scriptural basis for not allowing polygamy (the strongest straightforward scriptural argument is from Paul's advice in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 regarding bishops, deacons, and elders - not everyone, and even there there is some grammatical ambiguity as to whether they are to have only 1 wife or rather be still married to their 1st wife) - as testified by Luther's account - with it seemingly coming from Roman traditions, not Jewish, and you have a bit of a conundrum.
If, however, you grant authority to a specific church, the large majority of churches teach you can only have one spouse, but have varying rules on divorce, and so typically allow for serial polygamy under certain circumstances.
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