keturah Zanang

If we are discussing polygamy, we must discuss responsibility, justice, provision, faithfulness and the welfare of every person involved. 4. BUT DID JESUS FORBID POLYGAMY? This is where we must pay attention to the actual text. In Matthew 19:3–9, the Pharisees approached Jesus with a question about divorce. Jesus responded by taking them back to the creation account. Matthew 19:5 says: “And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh.” Jesus was establishing the significance of the marital union and addressing the question of divorce. THE IMMEDIATE QUESTION JESUS WAS ANSWERING CONCERNED DIVORCE, NOT A DIRECT QUESTION ABOUT POLYGAMY. However, I recognise that many Christians understand Jesus’ appeal to the creation account as establishing monogamy as God’s normative design for marriage. That interpretation deserves serious consideration. My question is this…can we accurately say that Jesus explicitly prohibited polygamy in that particular passage when the immediate controversy concerned divorce? We must distinguish between what the passage directly addresses and the wider theological conclusions we draw from it. 5. WHAT ABOUT “THE HUSBAND OF ONE WIFE”? Someone will inevitably quote 1 Timothy 3:2, where Paul states that an overseer must be “the husband of one wife.” The Greek expression is mias gynaikos andra (μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἄνδρα), often understood as “a one-woman man.” This expression appears in the qualifications for church leadership. Titus 1:6 contains the same wording. Some interpret it as requiring a bishop to have only one wife. Others understand it as emphasising marital fidelity and sexual integrity. There is another issue we must address honestly. The SAME APOSTLE PAUL who instructed that a bishop must be the “husband of one wife” in 1 Timothy 3:2 also wrote in 1 Timothy 2:12 that he did not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, yet many churches today have woman pastors. So we must ask what Paul intended by this qualification, how it applies to church leadership, and whether it establishes a universal prohibition on every Christian marital arrangement. That requires careful exegesis, not merely an assertion that the answer is obvious. 6. ARE WE CONFUSING CULTURE WITH SCRIPTURE? I believe this is where the conversation becomes particularly interesting, especially in Africa. Marriage customs have differed across societies and throughout history. Something being culturally unfamiliar does not automatically make it sinful. Equally, something being culturally accepted does not automatically make it righteous. Our standard must be the Word of God. I am not arguing that African culture should override Scripture. I am arguing that neither African tradition nor Western cultural expectations should be substituted for biblical exegesis. We must examine every practice against the Word of God. And we must remember that the women involved are not merely part of a man’s preference. They are people whose dignity, welfare, rights and consent matter. Any serious discussion about plural marriage must account for those realities alongside the relevant biblical texts. 7. SO, ISRAEL FORD WRONG? My position is that I want to see the SCRIPTURAL CASE before I pronounce a verdict. We also have to consider that AN ESTABLISHED MARRIAGE IS BETTER THAN A HIDDEN DOUBLE LIFE….We live in a society where some men (pastors included) have wives at home and other women on the side. There are secret relationships, hidden children, financial deception and families being hurt because men want to enjoy multiple relationships without taking responsibility for them. Personally i will not condemn a man simply because his marital arrangement is different from what we are accustomed to. Neither will I declare him absolutely right simply because I know him personally.