How Should Christians Respond to Kenya Legalizing Polygamy?

​The signing of the Marriage Bill 2014, on 30 April, by Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta in Nairobi, legalized polygamous "marriage" between one man and multiple women.

Opposition in Kenya
The new Kenyan Marriage Bill has been strongly criticised by the Kenyan Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) and Christian leaders. Female lawmakers walked out of the proceedings in protest. The new law does not require that the man gets his wife's approval before taking another's wife. Legislators removed a measure to attempt a spousal veto.
Cowardly Regression
The archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya, Eliud Wabukala, commented: "I have to say that the proposal to recognise in the law the right of men to have as many wives as they like, was cowardly and will be a backward step for Kenya, if it becomes law. The effect of redefining marriage, whether by numbers of partners, or their sexes, is to cheapen rights so that they become a demand, that we tolerate individual preferences that are destructive of our moral fabric."
Destructive Blow at the Family
Archbishop Wabukala also opposes same-sex "marriage." To use the law of the land "to legislate for an activity which is against the natural order and consistently described as sinful in Scripture, is a very serious step which strikes at the heart of family life. It is a repudiation of God and His Word, which should make us tremble and cry out for His mercy."
Demeaning to Women
Archbishop Timothy Ndambuki, from the National Council of Churches in Kenya (NCCK), commented: "The tone of that Bill, if it becomes law, would be demeaning to women, since it does not respect the principle of equality of spouses in the institution of marriage."
Political Bullying
He also condemned the continual pressure by Western governments to redefine marriage by allowing for homosexual unions. "This is a very serious step which strikes at the heart of family life."
Double Standards
However, in Kenya, polyamorous "marriages" of one women to many men are still illegal. So too are homosexual "marriages."
The Family is the Basic Building Block of Society
Bishop David of Oginde read a statement produced by many Kenyan church leaders: "Let us give sober and informed decisions to family issues and not attempt to weaken it. The state is as solid as its families and so all laws should be made to strengthen, not weaken the family."
Pragmatic Arguments
Some of the justifications given for polygamy include: that because of war and other factors, men tend to die more frequently and earlier than women, and there are more women than men. Therefore, for the provision of these women, men should be able to take more wives.
Exclusive Love
However, Christianity has always rejected polygamy because it inhibits, and in fact exterminates, exclusive, devoted love. Christians have always maintained that love between a man and a woman must be exclusive. Otherwise marriage is degraded, in essence, to mere physical lust. No woman who loves her husband, and wishes to be loved in return, can tolerate "another wife".
Protecting Women and Children
Polygamy erodes the concept of a Biblical family. Christianity has always maintained that monogamy alone gives the woman the recognition, status and value that she needs. Monogamy provides the environment for raising children in a stable and loving home.
Twisting Scripture
Some maintain, on the basis of Isaiah 54, that God himself is a polygamist because he is married to every individual on earth! "Therefore, technically, logically, God is a polygamist!" declared one caller to a radio talk show I was interviewed on.
If you turn to the passage in question, it becomes clear that it is blasphemous to suggest that God would violate His own Laws and be a polygamist. The passage in Isaiah 54 is speaking to "The barren… the desolate… for you will forget the shame of your youth and will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His Name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth." Isaiah 54 1-5
Plainly this passage is speaking symbolically of God providing for the widowed and the unmarried. However, this passage is not speaking about a literal marriage with individuals, but a symbolic marriage in the sense of provision and protection to those whom He has redeemed of His Creation.
Biblical Support for Monogamy
Jesus answered and said to them: "Have you not read that He who made them in the beginning, made them male and female, and He said: 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.' So then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no man separate." Matthew 19:4-6
Adam and Eve
Here the Lord refers back to God's creation ordinance. God created Adam and provided for him a single wife, Eve. He did not provide multiple wives, nor do we have any evidence that Adam ever had another wife. This original marriage relationship powerfully portrays God's intent for marriage relationships.
Noah
Noah is called "a preacher of righteousness" 2 Peter 2:5. Noah had only one wife; his three sons only had one wife each. They alone were spared during the great destruction of the Flood.
Job
God called Job "My servant". Job was considered the greatest man amongst all the people of the East and he had only one wife.
Isaac
Isaac, the child of the promise, only had one wife, Rebekah.
Mary and Joseph
The Lord's earthly parents, Mary and Joseph, are another prime example of a monogamous marriage. The Scripture is clear; "…let each man have his own wife and let each woman have her own husband." 1 Corinthians 7:2
Deacons
It is also a standard for church leadership: "Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well." 1 Timothy 3:12
What about Polygamy in the Bible?
The objection is made: what about the examples of polygamy in the Old Testament? David and Solomon had many wives.
The Bible records many things that it does not recommend. "Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted." 1 Corinthians 10:6
Polygamy originated in the lives of the murderers Cain and Lamech. Later Esau, who despised his birth right, caused much grief to his parents by marrying two pagan wives (Genesis 26:34).
The Disastrous Consequences of Polygamy
God forbad the kings of Israel to be polygamists (Deuteronomy 17:17). The Scriptures record the tremendous upheaval and chaos caused when they disobeyed God.
The deadly rivalry between David's sons from his different wives led Israel into civil war. Solomon's hundreds of wives led Solomon and Israel into idolatry, destruction and captivity. Hannah, the mother of Samuel, was humiliated by her husband, Elkanah's, other wife Peninnah (1 Samuel 1:1-7).
Abraham and Sarah had been monogamous for many years when Sarah convinced him to take Hagar in order to bear an offspring. This caused tremendous strife, the consequences of which, are still causing wars between the descendants of Ismael and Isaac, to this day.
Jacob only wanted Rachel, but was tricked into marrying her older sister, Leah, by the deception of his father-in-law. Later he took slave girls at the sisters' urgings, due to their rivalry to produce more offspring. Jacob was hardly a good example in this, nor was he at any spiritual high point at those times.
Similarly when David married Abigail and Ahinoam (1 Samuel 25:42-43), these adulterous tendencies led to David’s tragic downfall, with violent consequences for all of Israel.
From the very beginning God created one woman for one man, for life (Genesis 1:27-2:25).
Can Women Have More than One Husband?
If we are to use pragmatic arguments, in China and India there are many more men than women due to sex selection abortions. Should women have the right to have more than one husband?
Essential for Civilization
Monogamy is an essential feature of civilisation. It is impossible for any man to love more than one woman at a time. Surely this is what 'falling in love' and 'getting married' is meant to be about: exclusive love?
Mutual Partnership
Christianity maintains that marriage is a mutual partnership, therefore we reject polygamy. The promotion of monogamy, one man and one woman for life, and marital faithfulness, grants women respect, dignity and protection. Women need greater respect, dignity, honour and protection, and we dare not go back to the paganism of polygamy.
"Therefore know that the Lord Your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His Commandments." Deuteronomy 7:9

Dr. Peter Hammond
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Frontline Fellowship
P.O. Box 74 Newlands 7725
Cape Town South Africa
Tel: 021-689-4480
Email: mission@frontline.org.za
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See also:
Reforming the Families - Reforming the Nations