The Sister Wives Polygamy Ruling

Note: The FAQs is a TGC series in which we answer your questions about the latest news and current events.

Did a federal judge declare Utah's polygamy law to be unconstitutional?

No, though the federal district court did rule that key parts of Utah's polygamy law is unconstitutional.

What was the case about? 

Utah resident Kody Brown is legally married to one woman (Meri) but considers himself to be in a "spiritual union" with three additional women (Janelle, Christine, and Robyn) who he also calls his wives. Together, the four have 17 children together and live in three houses. Their family life is the subject of the TLC reality TV show, Sister Wives. The Browns are members of a fundamentalist Mormon group, not part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which does not condone the practice of polygamy.

Utah state officials publicly denounced the Browns as "committing crimes every night on television" because they are violating the state's bigamy law. Under Utah Code Ann. § 76-7-101(1) (2013), a person is guilty of bigamy when "knowing he has a husband or wife or knowing the other person has a husband or wife, the person purports to marry another person or cohabits with another person."

What part of the law was declared unconstitutional?  Continue at Joe Carter

Marriage Is Not Ultimate

I recently caught up with a college friend in town for a mutual friend's wedding. Now in our mid- to late-20s, we talked about love, significant others, and marriage. We expressed fears and anxieties, hopes and dreams. We asked the typical questions: Is this "the one"? Are we compatible? Will she accept me? Will I be happy forever with her? All of this got me thinking about how much the YOLO ideology has affected the minds of young Christian singles when it comes to marriage.

We live in interesting, strange times, especially in regard to marriage. Some of what I see is positive, but most is downright upsetting. Seeking to escape the enslaving small-mindedness of caveman traditions, our generation fights to redefine and delay marriage at the same time. While the LGBTQ community demands their so-called right to marry, heterosexuals devalue it by delaying marriage for as long as possible.

Though the sages of our age encourage heterosexuals not to marry early, most still want the benefits of marriage. There's an inescapable desire for love, commitment, sex, and deep intimacy. Carl Ellis exposes the irony:

A casual observer of today's Western culture would be hard-pressed to miss the prevailing trends toward marriage devaluation. As increasing numbers of heterosexual couples are opting to do "married people things" absent the marriage commitment (e.g., cohabitate, have and raise children, etc.), marriage itself is viewed with considerably less favor than a generation ago.   Continue at Phillip Holmes

Do We Have the Definition of Marriage Wrong?

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

The Mormonizing of America

When on vacation last week I ambled into a wonderful little used book store in Fredericksburg, Virginia. There were hundreds of books that caught my eye there, but I left with only one—Faith and Betrayal, by Sally Denton, a biography that traces the life of Jean Rio, the author’s great-great-grandmother. One of England’s earliest and most notable converts to Mormonism, Rio set out from England to Utah in the 1850’s to settle down in Zion (which is to say, Salt Lake City, Utah). The book describes her journey, her arrival, and her eventual disillusionment as she comes to see the ugly underbelly of Mormonism—the violence, the polygamy, the greed and the utter hypocrisy of it all. It was a fascinating little book.

While Faith and Betrayal was interesting as history and biography, I read it at least in part because of an interest I have in Mormonism. It seems that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is coming into its own in recent days. Mormons tend to be high achievers and are increasingly finding their way into positions of power and influence, whether that is as CEO of a multi-billion dollar company or as a presidential candidate.  Continue at Tim Challies

Twisting and Distorting the Scriptures

Normally I would not respond to the kind of diatribe I read on anti-Christian websites like www.rightwingwatch.org. But I thought one recent piece found at that website could act as a good teaching lesson for Christians.

Last week, I spoke at the “Watchman on the Wall” conference (headed by Christian activist and ministry friend Tony Perkins) in Washington, DC. As just one part of my message, I dealt with the fact that Jesus in Matthew 19 defines marriage, by quoting from Genesis, as a male and a female—one man and one woman. Thus, anything else (e.g., “gay” marriage, etc.) that goes against this biblical teaching is wrong and therefore sin.

Well, an excerpt of the section where I discussed marriage (and referenced President Obama’s recent pronouncement about his endorsement of “gay” marriage) was put on the internet. It wasn’t long before secularists were linking to the video and spouting forth their usual hate speech against Christians who stand on God’s Word and define marriage the way God does!

On one such website we read:  Continue at Ken Hamm

David a Model of Restoration?

Does David’s life teach us that God can restore an adulterer to ministry? After all, David was a murderer and an adulterer, as well as a liar and poor father. 

Polygamy aside, his family life was a catastrophic train crash matched only by the debacle in 2 Samuel 11. 

Yet God did not remove him from the throne, and allowed his reign to directly last 40 years, and indirectly forever. Why? What is the lesson there?

The wrong lesson is this: God does not take sin seriously. I have heard people who commit immorality point at David and say, “See! God let him be king, so he can return me to ministry despite my unbiblical divorce and/or adultery.”

Let me be clear about two things. First, God does use sinners (those are the only kind of people there are!). At the same time, there are some sins that in the church disqualify someone from being an elder or church leader. Second, it is possible for people who have committed certain disqualifying sins to eventually be restored to pastoral ministry after an extended time away. An excellent book on that topic is The Stain that Stays, as it provides principles to apply in  those situations. This post does not want to go down the road of looking at those principles.

But I have heard Christian leaders who have committed disqualifying sexual sins point to David as justification for their refusal to take time away from ministry. The goal of this post is to explain why David’s life does not function as an example of God blessing the ministry of a disqualified leader.   Keep Reading >>>

The Inevitability of “Gendercide” and Its Other Deadly Effects

163,000,000 unborn baby girls have been killed in Asia over the last three decades. That’s more than the entire female population of the United States.

Aside from the mounting up of blood-guilt, and the treasonous shredding of God’s image, the result is a dangerously imbalanced population. “Normally, about 105 boys are born for every 100 girls. The ratio in India is 112 to 100, in China 121 to 100, with some Chinese cities reaching 150 to 100” (First Things, Aug/Sept, 2011, 69).

This is dangerous for women not only because females are the ones being killed, but also because of what men will do when there are not enough women to marry—prostitution, rape, polygamy, and who knows how many other destructive forces unleashed in such societies. Such efforts to predict the poisonous fruit of girl-killing are unnecessary for those who simply say: It’s wrong. Don’t do it.

But where the goddess 'choice' is still enthroned, we may pray that the people will see the painful price of her deceitful rule before long.

For if ‘choice’ is the moral imperative guiding abortion, then there is no way to take a stand against ‘gendercide.’ Aborting a baby because she is a girl is no different from aborting a baby because she has Down syndrome or because the mother’s ‘mental health’ requires it. Choice is choice (First Things, Aug/Sept, 2011, 69).

And of course, killing any baby because of any disability, is monstrous. Perhaps killing her because she is a girl will help us see this. SOURCE

Fighting for Allah by Practicing Polygamy

Some Muslim women, like Puspita, fight for Allah by promoting polygamy. As Christians, we don’t need to fight for Christ. He’s Lord Omnipotent and will reign until all His enemies are made His footstool. Yet, we must make him known–including showing forth the glory of His love in our marriages. Shame on us if we’re not on the front lines of promoting Christ by daily loving our wives and husbands, serving them with sacrifical love, beautifying them with words of grace. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal–if I may take the liberty of editing Paul in a way he might approve–they are marital displays of Christ’s love between one husband and one wife. Read the rest HERE

Homosexual Unions and Polygamy: Is There a Connection?