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Resources To Help You Draw Your Own Conclusions
Don't just take our word for it! Take a look at the information presented here on our website and decide for yourself.
For evangelical Christians, there's a typical progression of thought that most of us go through as we try to sort this out. First, we want to know what God thinks about this, and for that we turn to the Bible. We go back over what we've been taught, we compare it with the new ideas we're processing, and we dig in to the scriptures to get to the truth of the matter. The Biblical and Further Reading links to the left will take you to material that presents our biblical case for Christian plural marriage as well as responses to typical arguments against it.
If we become persuaded from the scriptures that God never prohibited plural marriage, we then start thinking about the secular government and its laws. Bigamy is criminalized in all 50 United States and in most Western jurisdictions, so how could a person try to live in a plural family in the 21st century West? Isn't that a crime? The Legal link takes you to a discussion of the origins of the secular government's involvement in regulating marriage, including the bigamy laws and marriage licenses, as well as laws against adultery and cohabitation. We then discuss how a family can live a plural lifestyle without running afoul of the existing criminal laws.
Once we're more or less convinced we're not going to go to hell or to prison, the practical questions take over. How do you deal with jealousy? Do you all share one house or do the women have separate houses? Does everybody share one kitchen? Are all the women "moms" to all the kids, or if not, what roles do the women have in the discipline of each other's children? These and many, many more questions eventually become the real heart of the matter, "where the rubber meets the road" in terms of trying to figure out whether or not this could really work. The Practical link will take you to our answers to these questions and our suggestions regarding how to deal with common problems.
Each person that comes to this inquiry comes to it from some starting point, and the Personal link will take you to some introductory thoughts geared to specific groups. If you are considering plural marriage, or know someone who is, or are a Christian pastor or leader, we have a word for you.
"God is not the author of confusion, but of peace." (1 Cor 14:33) It is our prayer that God will grant you peace as you seek is Word and his Will. If there is anything we can help you with, please use the Quick Contact form below to let us know.