The biblical definition of marriage has faced an incredible amount of
attack from secularists lately, with the push for the legalization of
same-sex marriage. But in a recent article
in an Iowa newspaper, three professors—two of religious studies and one
of history—claimed that evangelical Christians have the definition of
marriage wrong. The authors on this article were Robert Cargill,
assistant professor of religious studies at University of Iowa; Kenneth
Atkinson, associate professor of history at the University of Northern
Iowa; and Hector Avalos, professor of religious studies at Iowa State
University:
As academic biblical scholars, we wish to clarify that the biblical texts do not support the frequent claim that marriage between one man and one woman is the only type of marriage deemed acceptable by the Bible’s authors.
Now, there is not a single statement in Scripture affirming polygamy,
homosexual behavior, bestiality, and so on. These academics cite a
number of instances of polygamy in the Old Testament as evidence for
their point. And while it’s true that God-fearing men such as Jacob or
King David practiced polygamy, God didn’t affirm their behavior. In
fact, polygamous lifestyles inevitably brought hardship and judgment on
them. (For a more detailed explanation of the biblical view of polygamy,
see “What About Polygamy in the Bible?” and “Contradictions: A Man of Many Wives” by Roger Patterson.) Continue at Ken Ham
