Are we (and God) intended to be monogamous?

[Matt_Wiley]

I think when we ask whether God might be polygamous or polyamorous in having all of us as His wives, so to speak, we so completely miss the point that we’re not even on the same planet. The picture of marriage as explaining the relationship of Christ to the ekklesia is about intimacy, yes, but not about physical sexual relationships. It is an intimacy far greater that the union of two physical bodies. What’s more, it is an intimacy between Christ and His very body, the community of believers who are one. So no, it’s not polygamy. We are not a harem. We are ONE as Jesus and the Father and the Spirit are One. He did pray, “Father make them one, as We are One.”

I think you hit the nail on the head, Cindy. I agree. But please try to be patient with us guys (most of us, though not all of us to be sure, who have commented, are men, I would assume). God wired us differently, and we tend to think about ‘physical sexual relationships’ more than women do.
I believe that polygamy is way off base, and it was never God’s intention, and that we were always meant to be bonded to only one person (or at least one at a time… widows, whether male or female, can remarry, and I believe God even graciously allows divorcees to remarry too, though that’s just my view), much like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
That’s why I’m with Sherman on this, that monogamy is the ideal, the way things are meant to be, and only by grace does God work with those who are way off the mark.
I believe polygamy has great potential for causing strife and major disappointment, and even more cheapens the beauty of the relationship between one man and one woman.
That’s not to say that there will be no strife in a marriage between one man and one woman, nor to say that it couldn’t turn into something ugly, but just because that’s a possibility doesn’t mean we should push it by stepping outside the boundaries God has set for marriage.
As far as the thought that marriage is about more than just sex, I like this quote I read in the pre-marital counseling book my fiancee and I have been going through:
‘The one flesh in marriage is not just a physical phenomenon, but a uniting of the totality of two personalities. In marriage, we are one flesh spiritually by vow, economically by sharing, logistically by adjusting time and agreeing in the disbursement of all life’s resources, experientially by trudging through the dark valleys and standing victoriously on the peaks of success, and sexually by the bonding of our bodies.’ - Dr. Louis Evans, Jr.

Well, there’s my two cents. Thanks for sharing Cindy. Blessings to you

Matt

[redhotmagma]

In fact, the Hebrew kings were forbidden to “multiply wives unto themselves.” Obviously, the greatest of the Hebrew kings ignored this, to their manifest sorrow. God said nothing to them about this, and I assume that He had other things He wanted to work with them on, and also that the women were well-treated (mostly), for what that’s worth.

In Abraham’s and Sarah’s situation, it was considered the duty of a barren wife to provide her husband with a child through a servant of her choice. It was up to her to choose the servant. Clearly this was a human expedient, and both Abraham and Sarah were to be blamed for this, as Abraham for sure (and he had most likely told Sarah) knew that God had promised an heir. Nevertheless, I’m sure God wasn’t surprised by what happened.

I think when we ask whether God might be polygamous or polyamorous in having all of us as His wives, so to speak, we so completely miss the point that we’re not even on the same planet. The picture of marriage as explaining the relationship of Christ to the ekklesia is about intimacy, yes, but not about physical sexual relationships. It is an intimacy far greater that the union of two physical bodies. What’s more, it is an intimacy between Christ and His very body, the community of believers who are one. So no, it’s not polygamy. We are not a harem. We are ONE as Jesus and the Father and the Spirit are One. He did pray, “Father make them one, as We are One.”

I’ve been caught taking parables too far, trying to tease out the most peripheral of points from a story meant to convey a large meaning that had nothing to do with my rabbit trails. Likewise, we can’t take these metaphors too far. Marriage is a metaphor for Christ and the church. That doesn’t mean Jesus is into polygamy. The ekklesia is one body, one bride – not billions of brides.

I think that sex is actually part of whats meant by the two shall become one flesh, this is the great mystery. First I don’t believe it to be polygamous because we are one body. Not many.

I had an ecstatic/supernatural experience when making love to my wife once. Where God spoke to me, and said the two shall become one. where you can’t tell what part is you and what part is her. where your entire will is to serve her, and her’s to serve you.

There was no lust involved here, but pure love of the highest level. I wish I could say this experience happened often, but only this one time with this level. I can’t even put it into words, but a veil was pulled away, and I seemed to be in another place, almost an out of body experience.

I know people are like duh, thats called an orgasm, but thats not what I’m getting at here. This was a spiritual experience. I’m not talking about physical, chemical, emotional experience.

Okay so I lied in my intro to this board, or forgot, my first supernatural experience wasn’t God revealing UR to me, it was this.

[AUniversalist]

Are we (and God) intended to be monogamous?

Depends

No and ultimately Yes.

lol.

[Sherman]

I think when we ask whether God might be polygamous or polyamorous in having all of us as His wives, so to speak, we so completely miss the point that we’re not even on the same planet. The picture of marriage as explaining the relationship of Christ to the ekklesia is about intimacy, yes, but not about physical sexual relationships. It is an intimacy far greater that the union of two physical bodies. What’s more, it is an intimacy between Christ and His very body, the community of believers who are one. So no, it’s not polygamy. We are not a harem. We are ONE as Jesus and the Father and the Spirit are One. He did pray, “Father make them one, as We are One.”

I’ve been caught taking parables too far, trying to tease out the most peripheral of points from a story meant to convey a large meaning that had nothing to do with my rabbit trails. Likewise, we can’t take these metaphors too far. Marriage is a metaphor for Christ and the church. That doesn’t mean Jesus is into polygamy. The ekklesia is one body, one bride – not billions of brides.

The point concerning parables is well stated. It applies to parables, metaphors, and similies. The church being the bride of Christ is a metaphor meant to illustrate the loving, caring, giving, intimate, etc. relationship that that Jesus has with the church; the literary context of passages that use this metaphor reveal the specific point of the metaphor. Different passages can use the same metaphor but use it to make different points, to communicate different messages. To then take that metaphor and use it to make a point about marriage is to misuse it, unless of course the passage’s point is so directed.

[redhotmagma]

The physical points to the spiritual. All creation declares His glory. The things we know tell us something about what we can’t see. I meant to add to my above post that I don’t see us actually having sex with Jesus, and thats not what it means. But that it points to something much greater and more intimate than what happens in the physical.

[Matt_Wiley]

The physical points to the spiritual. All creation declares His glory. The things we know tell us something about what we can’t see. I meant to add to my above post that I don’t see us actually having sex with Jesus, and thats not what it means. But that it points to something much greater and more intimate than what happens in the physical.

I agree, bro

I like what C.S. Lewis had to say about this: adventuresintheordinary.com/2011 … chocolate/