POLYGAMY PASTOR UNDER FIRE

A flurry of reactions has been following our story of last Saturday on the Polygamy Church. The issue of contention is the teaching of Pastor Harrison Charles of the Day Spring Assembly that polygamy is holy, pure, biblical and never condemnable.

The charged nature of the reactions and the insistence of the preacher with copious bible citations was reported to have resulted in jolts and turbulence in homes.

Some pastors who spoke with Saturday Sun disagreed with the preacher insisting that polygamy is not biblical.

Pastor Charles in our last edition claimed that monogamy, the only approved form of marriage by the Christian doctrine is not backed by the Bible and it is false.

His argument is that Bible approves both polygamy and monogamy. Many tend to portray polygamy as an Old Testament doctrine but they are wrong, because marriage is neither of the Law of Moses nor is it of the law of the New Testament; but marriage is a natural law, which preceded the giving of any written code as law. Polygamy is a natural adjustment, which is permissible in the principle of God's will. God has three wills as written in Romans 12:2 viz. The good will, the acceptable will and the perfect will. This makes room for adjustment, when life events work against the perfect will of God He has alternative to everything.

'Jesus said, no jot of the law will ever pass away till they are fulfilled Matthew. 5:18, let someone point to me any portion of the Bible where Jesus fulfilled the law of marriage whereby we may now rest the argument that polygamy is an Old Testament doctrine.

Paul the Apostle instructed Timothy and Titus in 1Timothy 3:2 & Titus 1:6 to make sure only monogamous men are appointed elders and deacons. That goes to show that there were polygamous men in the early churches. If there were no polygamous men in the churches, why did Paul order that only men with one wife be made Bishops? With the above instruction we can deduce the argument that only pastors were exempted from marrying more than one wife. We should know that the law didn't apply to Jerusalem church(es) because Paul said in 1 Corinthians 7:26 that laws are meant to serve the need of the time present.

Apostle Tony, Grace House Foundation International
There was a lot that went wrong in the days when Jesus Christ came. During the days of Moses a lot of things went wrong so Moses permitted a lot of things, for instance that a man could divorce his wife. When Jesus Christ was talking about divorce, he was against such but the elite of that time were attached to preaching of Moses saying; why did Moses allow divorce? Moses allowed it because of their wickedness. A lot of compromise took place on the part of Moses so that he can achieve his purpose. The fact that Moses had permitted those things does not mean that it was the original plan of God. He made the two to become one, that is the standard of God. That was the Old Testament standard before the law came. Jesus Christ was referring to the laws on ground before Moses came.

The Scribe and Pharisee went ahead saying that men could divorce their wives over little issues. It was over application of Moses letters of divorce. They were doing a lot of things in excess and polygamy was rampant because the law was against women not men. It was okay for a man to marry as many wives as they wanted. When the church came, it met this tradition. The church cannot abolish it at once when evangelism started because a lot of people got converted with their polygamous status.

During the time of Timothy, when they were to elect leaders, it was insisted that the basic standard of Christianity should be the criteria to how to choose a leader and one of the criteria is that he would be man of one wife. He should be an example to the followers. He is wrongly applying the word of God. They only know it by sentimental application not revelation. If he is talking about polygamy, he is doing it in a wrong way.

Evangelist Eagles Adirije, Eagles Evangelist Global Outreach

He misinterpreted the word of God to fit his weakness and fulfill his desire. When marriage was first mentioned in the history of humanity, Genesis 2: 21-25, you find out that God made Adam and Eve not Adam and Eves.

If God wanted a man to have more than one wife, he would have done it because in the body of man, you have more than 10 ribs. He took one rib and made a woman. He could make more but he choose to make only one woman. God laid the foundation of marriage. Anywhere the bible talks about marriage in the scripture, it makes reference to that. When the Pharisees challenged Jesus on divorce He told them that in the beginning, it was so that God made male and female, Matthew 19: 1-4. But because of the hardness of people's heart Moses began to give attention to divorce. The revelation of polygamy and divorce is a sign of man's vulnerable nature because one of the assignments of the devil is to pollude principles that God has made.

Those who propagate polygamy are those vulnerable to the thing the devil is showing. In Timothy that he is referring to, Apostle Paul was writing a letter to Timothy concerning the issues of marriage, he told them that the attributes of a bishop is that he should be a husband of a one wife. Bishop is not a title it means a shepherd, a pastor, or evangelist. The word was used to serve as a name for a leader – man that takes care of the church. Apostle also said the minister should also uphold the value of the kingdom. God is using these people as a signpost to run the church.

Polygamy is a product of Satan pollution of God's plan, which manifest on those vulnerable to his scheme.

Pastor Nathaniel Ofor, Jesus Campaigner Ministry
From the beginning when God created man in the book of Genesis Chapter 1, God said let us make man in our own image. But in the process God said that it is not good for a man to be alone. He created a woman called Eve to help a man. He created only one woman.

It is out of greed that man took to multiple wives. The initial plan was a man and a wife. The pastor misinterpreted the word, Bishop. Bishop is a General Overseer, people who take care of the ministry. It is just a title. God created us one man and one wife.

If God wanted polygamy, he would have created more women for Adam in the beginning. God gave him one, even when Eve erred, God did not replace her. Even in the Old Testament, Solomon had a bad ending. At last, Solomon confessed that all those things were vanity. All a man needed is to obey God and keep His commandments.

Pastor Mike Ushedo, End Time Apostolic Impact Ministry

There are pastors and there are pastors. What the bible says is that anybody who is teaching anything that is contrary to what Jesus said that person is not one of us. If anyone wakes up and claims to be a pastor and practises polygamy, he must be of the devil. What Jesus said is except a situation where a woman commits adultery, meaning that the person does not want to repent of it. If the woman repents and comes back, you must accept her back. There are commercialized pastors who are there to make money. They see the church as a place where you can make money. That is very wrong. What the bible says is that if you are a bishop, there are certain things you must do.

When polygamy was approved by Moses, Christ was not around. Christ came and gave us a new law. Moses said an eye for an eye but Jesus said forgive 70 times seven. The man misinterpreted the word. In fact he is not a Christian.

Elder Emeka Anokwuru, Overcomers church, Lagos
It is not true that God approved polygamy in the bible; according to the pastor who made the claim. From the beginning God desired that man should have one wife

This brief account of the creation of Eve has remained the benchmark for man to live by. What happened in Genesis 4 verse 19 where Lamech took unto him two wives; the name of the one was Adah and the other Zilah, was a demonstration of the permissive will of man God imbued man with the power of choice. By this act, Lamech introduced polygamy into the world contrary to one man, one wife ideology.

Jacob's case was different. He did not plan abinitio to marry more than one, but the circumstances of his experience derived from the culture of the people from where he got his wives.

Now, it is necessary to say not all pastors or preachers and men (women) of God are called by God, some call themselves others are called by God. Beyond that, the interpretation of the word of God is done by the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit is not in you, you cannot interpret the word of God rightly. So we have true and false prophets, preachers and pastors.

In Jude 1:10-13 the bible says, 'But these men revile whatever they do not understand, and by those things that they know by instinct as irrational animals do, they are destroyed. Woe to them! For they walk in the way of Cain, and abandon themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perish in Korah's rebellion.'

Any preacher or pastor who encourages polygamy in his church is working in the flesh, very carnal and full of hest. Such a one, God will spew out of His mouth.