The Bible and Polygamy: Does the Bible Sanction Polygamy? — John Shaqi
The Bible and Polygamy: Does the Bible Sanction Polygamy?Newman, John Philip
Religion
The Bible and Polygamy: Does the Bible Sanction Polygamy?
Newman, John Philip
Bible -- Criticism, interpretation, etc.; Latter Day Saint churches -- Doctrines; Polygamy -- Religious aspects
Such then is the law. Such were the ordinances forbidden which the
Egyptians and the Canaanites practised. Now we propose to push this
argument a little further. If it is said that this passage does not
prohibit a man marrying two sisters at the same time then such a
marriage is nowhere in the Bible pronounced incestuous. That is the
objection of my friend. To which I reply that such a marriage is
forbidden by sequence and analogy. As for example where the son, in
the 7th verse, is prohibited from marrying his mother, it follows
that the daughter shall not marry her father; yet it is not so given
and precisely stated. In verse 14 it is said--"thou shalt not uncover
the nakedness of thy father's brother;" so I infer that it would be
equally criminal to uncover the nakedness of a mother's brother,
though it is not so stated. In verse 16 it is said--"thou shalt not
uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife," so I infer that a man
shall not uncover the nakedness of his wife's sister that is, if two
brothers shall not take the same woman, then two women shall not take
the same man, for between one man and two sisters, and one woman and
two brothers is the same degree of proximity, and therefore both are
forbidden by the law of God. Furthermore, if for argument's sake, we
consider this means two literal sisters, then this prohibition is
not a permission for a man to take two wives who are not sisters;
for all sound jurists will agree that a prohibition is one thing and
a permission is another thing. Nay, more, the Mormons do or do not
receive the law of Moses as binding. That they do not is clear from
their own practices. For instance, in Leviticus, xx chap. and 14 verse
it is said--
And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness; they shall
be burnt with fire, both he and they.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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