chaisem said:
...do we belong to a man once we ar married? in a Godly way, of course. he is the head of the house. but, to say he doesnt belong to us is wrong. we were created fo each other.
we belong to the "church" as Christ is the head...but does the bible not say that He is ours too...our hope and future and life? does it not say that God is our father just as we are his children?.....so, yes...we "belong" to our husbands but he does in many ways belong to us...where it says a wife must not deny her husband it also says a husband must not deny his wife...
When you say "belong", if you mean in the sense that the husband and wife both belong to something greater than just themselves, then yes, you both belong as a part of your family. But if you mean "belong" in the sense of property or ownership, then if anything, Scripture demonstrates that the wife "belongs" to the husband.
Just recently on the Righteous Warriors web site, we were asked how a husband can own something that God owns. In other words, the idea that the husband can "own" his wife would seem to be invalid, since God owns both the husband and the wife and there can be no co-ownership of her. After all, we all belong solely to God and He alone owns us all. The problem seems to be one of determining what we mean when we say "ownership". I think that the word "authority" best carries the concept we actually have in view.
When I think of other things that I own aside from my wife and children, I realize that I don't actually "own" anything by that sense. My car, my TV, my clothes, my pets....they are all possessions that truly belong to my Father. I call these things possessions only in that I have temporal control over His property. I simply exercise His authority in their care. I may have been entrusted to manage His property on the earth, but I do not actually "own" anything, because I myself am "owned" by Him.
As the relational authority between a husband and wife is the same as the relational authority between a father and a child (in terms of headship), we see that both wives and children are to submit to the head. If I choose to have more, that is my right as I am the one in authority. I do not NEED to check with my wife to see if its okay for me to take another wife, any more than I would NEED to check with my children to see if its okay for me to have another child. My point is that a leader does not require the permission or consent of those he leads.
That being said, I'm sure everyone would agree that a WISE leader certainly would take into consideration how adding to the family would impact the existing relationships within the family. Only a foolish husband would unilaterally make sweeping changes that could adversely affect everyone in the household. I'm just establishing the concept of authority, not necessarily wise authority.
chaisem said:
plural marriage should be a joint choice and not decided as an after thought to a one night stand or affair. you may share your husband in plural marriage but not with just whomever he brings home for whatever reason...
I disagree that plural marriage should be a joint choice. That would imply joint leadership, like a partnership, where both partners have an equally valid say in the matter. A stupid husband still has destroyed family with his abuse of authority, and he will answer for his choices. However, something "decided as an after thought to a one night stand or affair" sounds much more like whoring, not plural marriage. Why would a husband want to risk destroying his existing family over what is effectively a one-night stand with a whore? That smacks of "mandatory monogyny" thinking, not Biblical marriage. Marriage as an AFTERTHOUGHT?? :shock: Yikes and double yikes!!
In His love,
David