Post 186--Is Polygamy Sin?

This morning I received a letter from Gani Yohanna, either a son or grandson of my former Nigerian colleague Ifraimu Gani during my Nigeria missionary years.  Among other items, he raised the above question.  

It seems like a fairly straight forward issue that requires little more than either a "yes" or a "no."  Unfortunately, it ain't quite that simple. Not only is this a matter of Bible interpretation in the context of ever-changing cultural phases of a given society, but it is also a church political matter. In my position as a respected retired long-time missionary in the Christian Reformed Church of Nigeria (CRC-N), my answer can easily cause conflict and tension in the community. The leaders can easily feel I let them down; the youth can easily use my reply to support a rebellion they may stage on the issue. So, truth, faithfulness and politics all in one go.  

I did not have much time to develop a completely reliable answer to the question. I have other things to do for the time being. So, I concocted the following answer, without being fully satisfied with it. I hope it is better than nothing or, as we say it in the Hausa language, ya fi babu.

So, here then my immediate off-the-top response to the question:

Hello Gani Yohanna

As to your question regarding polygamy, that's a big one.  Many years ago during the 

1970s, I was part of a CRCN committee that studied the issue. I suggest you check out

 the archives of your local CRCN congregation to see if they still have a copy of that 

report. If they don't, then check it out at the CRCN secretariat.  Unfortunately, I have no

copy here.  

If you are successful in obtaining a copy, I wonder if you could scan and send me a copy.

After you have read that report, ask me whatever question you have on the subject and I will try to help you.

However, off the top of my head without much time for deeper thought:

Abraham and many others in the OT practiced polygamy and none of them were condemned because of it, except kings like Solomon, who used polygamy for political purposes.  Other things in the OT were condemned as sin, but not polygamy.

Polygamy is the result of the general fall into sin during our early Genesis account. Human relationships deteriorated, including male/female relationships. However, God is realistic and seemed to have realized that something as deep as polygamy needs centuries to be corrected and so He allowed it even among His faithful ones.  He waited for further revelation to slowly erase it.  But do remember that already at the creation, we are told that both male and female were created in God's image equally. The fall broke that equality.

In the New Testament little is said about it, but the entire atmosphere is one of monogamy. It seems to be assumed by its writers.

You will find no Christian church in any part of the world that has not emerged out of Traditional Religion during the past 200 years that allows or practices polygamy. All of them agree that polygamy is not God's preferred way.

CRC-N is a new church that has emerged from Traditional Religion where polygamy was commonly practiced. The remnants of those male/female relationships are still there.  It will take many years for those relationships to be cleansed by the Gospel--a very slow process. As those relationships change, polygamy will slowly decrease, not by force or law, whether church or government, but by a change of heart, mind, values and relationships in general. The church should gently nurture that process without force but by its leaders to set examples of godly living in general and in godly male/female relationships.  These leaders and all godly Christians need to restore the equality that is inherent in both representing the image of God without distinction.

Is polygamy a sin? I think that in general cultural developments it is not necessarily a personal sin. It's the way people have been brought up. For members of churches newly emerged from Traditional Religion, where the Gospel is not yet fully understood, I would not consider it a personal sin either. However for Christians in maturing churches

who engage in it without caring about the Bible and historical church teaching, who disregard all that, I would consider it a sin, but the sin is not polygamy so much as distorted relationships that still have not been cleansed.  

Thank you for asking this important question.  Please greet Elder Ifraimu Gani and his uwargida for me. 

Post 107--Beards--The Whys and Wherefores

I had another topic in mind for this post, but then I chanced upon an article about beards in a Dutch digital newspaper. Why, the question was, do men sport beards?  Since I have had a beard for decades and have had to endure that question time and again, let me clear the air once and for all.  And although I have a long list of subjects literally screaming at me for attention, I’m going to self-indulge today and talk about myself. However, before I get to my own personal reasons, let’s see or hear the explanations of some “authorities.”

The subject is such an earth-shaking one that no one less than the BBC entered the fray. Here’s the reference:

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160418-the-real-reason-men-grow-beards

So, now you can get the real truth on the topic from the highest authority!  On this website you will meet British psychologist Tamsin Saxton who, according to Trouw, that Dutch paper, begins by nixing what is probably the greatest myth, namely that men expect women to be more attracted to bearded men than to the clean shaven type. It does not appear to be true. Instead, beards allegedly play more of a role in competition between males. Both men and women think of the bearded among us as the more dominant and aggressive. Also beards apparently elevate the status of their bearers. Instead of a charmer, we bearded ones consider ourselves more of a dominant fighter, something we allegedly relish

The article mentioned a number of other British researchers of beards. I don’t feel the need to mention them all, but one name strikes me as very humorous, if not hilarious. One who researched British beard fashions between 1842 and 1971 was called—no, I don’t think you guessed it—Nigel Barber! How appropriate is that!

I am utterly surprised that simple personal preference has not been accorded a role in all this discussion. Well, these experts should have called on me. I sport a beard because I happen to like the looks of a beard. Well, not just any beard. A cultured beard, one that is taken care of. The wild kind from your sideburns to your navel I abhor and think ugly, tasteless, whether combed or not. But I have wide tolerance for cultured and looked-after beards, especially when they’re black, which, unfortunately, mine is not. So, that is my main reason for having a beard: I just like the bearded look and dislike the totally clean shaven look.

Closely related to my liking a beard is my theory that God created us with hair both on top of our heads as well as our cheeks and chins to give us a chance to be creative with it. Not merely tolerate your hair and just comb it just to get it out of the way, but to use it as a personal expression of yourself; a statement, if you like. Let it bring out your individual self in a creative way. Be a hairy artist!

I have a healthy self-image, but I have never liked my hair, that is, my top hair, for it is straight and a dull blond. It does not allow me to do anything creative with it. So I had a perm for some years, but that apparently reduced my status among my peers as a “wild guy,” not respectable.  That’s when I discovered that status is important to me, in terms of respect more than pride. Then, when the price kept increasing, I decided to give it up, but I still kind of mourn its loss. As a result, my beard has become more precious to me. My hair just sits there on top, firmly restrained in its rebellious nature by tons of gel and  mouse.

I have three additional reasons for my beard, none of which seem to have surfaced in the research reports. The first is a genuinely pious reason. As a child I used to sit on my mother’s lap as she read from a children’s Bible full of pictures of bearded men—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the rest of them all sported beards. As a child I decided that I would grow a beard when I grew up to look like these holy venerables and get used to the beard world that I would undoubtedly meet in the next life, in Heaven. So, partially to identify with these saints, to honour them; partially to get myself in psychological shape for the next life.

Secondly, I have an underchin. Underchins don’t look very nice. So, I hide mine behind a beard!  Very simple. No one would know about that situation if my dear wife would cease telling people about it! But as she relishes telling people about my underchin, all my friends are aware of it. All my pleas to her to stop that story are of no avail with her!  She just keeps embarrassing me with that story.  By the way, do you recognize any humour in my telling you this underchin story?  I myself originally came up with this story just to be funny, but her many repetitions have taken the fun out of it for me! But for the rest, I love her.

There is a third and last reason for my beard, particularly its shape: a handlebar and a pointed chintuft. It apparently gives me a distinguished look not only but also humorous.  Here the twain meet: status and humour. I have a wild sense of humour and love to make people smile—and that’s what my beard does to people on the street. So many people on the street have negative facial expressions or just none at all, just blank, but my constellation of facial hair brings out the smiles and I love that. 

Never thought I could write 1000 words just on the topic of beards!  Today, I did it!  And I’m not even finished. Could tell you a couple of humorous stories on the subject. Alas, a 1000+ is enough for one day. Hope you enjoyed reading it.  Have a beardy day!