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Calling VS Revelation VS Choice
- Thread starter Doc
- Start date
i am going with;
D) all of the above.
not so much a "Calling"
nor a "Revelation"
but in making that big of a decision one needs to be hearing from the Almighty and partnering with Him, not just leaning on your own understanding.
There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof............
and doesn't it always seem right?
D) all of the above.
not so much a "Calling"
nor a "Revelation"
but in making that big of a decision one needs to be hearing from the Almighty and partnering with Him, not just leaning on your own understanding.
There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof............
and doesn't it always seem right?
God made it pretty clear to me when we first started studying this properly that this is our future. Therefore I'm trying to get as prepared as I can for it at the moment. Samuel is a little different, he HOPES this is in our future, whereas I KNOW it is. So I guess for me it was a revelation from God. Quite different to a calling as I've always had a calling to be a wife and mother from very young.
It is also a choice. I don't believe God would tie us down and force Samuel to take another wife! God shows us where He wants us to go but it really is up to us to follow Him. Free will and all that.
It is also a choice. I don't believe God would tie us down and force Samuel to take another wife! God shows us where He wants us to go but it really is up to us to follow Him. Free will and all that.
No. Because that's saying that everyone who realises that PM is ok is going to end up in one. God blesses as and when he chooses to. He may bless a man with mulitple wives, he may not. Doesn't mean that that man can't understand that PM is ok.
Everyone is different and God talks to everyone in different ways. We all have different callings etc.
Everyone is different and God talks to everyone in different ways. We all have different callings etc.
Is living in a monogamous marriage the result of a calling, revelation or choice?
Answer that one, and you'll have the answer to a polygynous marriage as well. Both should be the same.
The way I see it, any marriage is a choice, ideally to take a woman that God has given you under your leadership, but also sometimes to incorrectly take a woman that God has NOT provided - regardless, the result is the same, the second will just have difficulties the first would not have. I can see that God may call some people to PM, or He may reveal His future plans for someone's life. But the marriage itself is still a choice to actually follow this or not.
Answer that one, and you'll have the answer to a polygynous marriage as well. Both should be the same.
The way I see it, any marriage is a choice, ideally to take a woman that God has given you under your leadership, but also sometimes to incorrectly take a woman that God has NOT provided - regardless, the result is the same, the second will just have difficulties the first would not have. I can see that God may call some people to PM, or He may reveal His future plans for someone's life. But the marriage itself is still a choice to actually follow this or not.
In my case, a vision was involved, repeated with the variation of appearing before God with 2 wives & kids, or just one. In the first case, He said, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant...". In the second, He asked, "Where are those I tried to place in your care?" (Not a happy moment! 
)
So, what would you call that?
First wife left with kids. Second wife came and left with kids. Dunno how good a servant I've been, nor what or who the future holds. Prayer continues, and I look forward to the reality of that interview when I can ask questions as well.
I have noticed over the years that calling it "a calling" is often a man's way of trying to morally railroad his wife into accepting what looks to everyone else like a mid-life crisis and raging hormones.
That's not to say that those are invalid reasons for adding a wife to your home at 40 any more than they are at 20. But I do abhor moral railroading! :evil: (In case there is confusion as to the difference between this scenario and my own, I'll be glad to differentiate.)
)So, what would you call that?
First wife left with kids. Second wife came and left with kids. Dunno how good a servant I've been, nor what or who the future holds. Prayer continues, and I look forward to the reality of that interview when I can ask questions as well.
I have noticed over the years that calling it "a calling" is often a man's way of trying to morally railroad his wife into accepting what looks to everyone else like a mid-life crisis and raging hormones.
That's not to say that those are invalid reasons for adding a wife to your home at 40 any more than they are at 20. But I do abhor moral railroading! :evil: (In case there is confusion as to the difference between this scenario and my own, I'll be glad to differentiate.)
I appreciate the great input on this topic. The reason I ask this is because of an issue that CW brought up in his post, that of someone having a 'calling' and using that to strong arm an unwilling spouse into something they weren't called to. It all goes back to motive.
I also appreciate the thoughts about 'revelation', coming to a knowledge of PM without any impetus from outside factors, but being led into it independently by the Holy Spirit.
I think what happens in a majority of cases is that a certain knowledge of plural marriage comes to an individual, whether through a friend, through reading some literature on the subject, or personal discovery in Scripture. At some point, a decision, a choice needs to be made whether or not to accept the truth of this discovery. That choice is an act of faith, and God responds to faith. I think that revelation as to the personal application of the truth is worked out in the life of the believer. As they continue to walk in that 'revelation', which is often in bits and pieces over a long period of time, a realization of the 'calling' to a particular marriage paradigm (plural, monogamous, single) is settled.
The Scriptures declare that 'faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God'-Romans 10:17. We also read in Hebrews 4:2 that 'the Word taught (or revealed), did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.' So, I think that an important factor in this whole process of understanding plural marriage and its personal application in our lives has a significant component of faith. We often do not emphasize this in many of our discussions on the matter, but there comes a times that we must say, "Yes, the word of God is true, and I believe it, and I will obey it.'
What role do you think that faith plays in this process?
I also appreciate the thoughts about 'revelation', coming to a knowledge of PM without any impetus from outside factors, but being led into it independently by the Holy Spirit.
I think what happens in a majority of cases is that a certain knowledge of plural marriage comes to an individual, whether through a friend, through reading some literature on the subject, or personal discovery in Scripture. At some point, a decision, a choice needs to be made whether or not to accept the truth of this discovery. That choice is an act of faith, and God responds to faith. I think that revelation as to the personal application of the truth is worked out in the life of the believer. As they continue to walk in that 'revelation', which is often in bits and pieces over a long period of time, a realization of the 'calling' to a particular marriage paradigm (plural, monogamous, single) is settled.
The Scriptures declare that 'faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God'-Romans 10:17. We also read in Hebrews 4:2 that 'the Word taught (or revealed), did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.' So, I think that an important factor in this whole process of understanding plural marriage and its personal application in our lives has a significant component of faith. We often do not emphasize this in many of our discussions on the matter, but there comes a times that we must say, "Yes, the word of God is true, and I believe it, and I will obey it.'
What role do you think that faith plays in this process?
I think we need to be very careful to keep separate the two issues of accepting PM as valid, and living PM. Both can involve faith, and either can be done without the other.
To accept PM is a valid form of marriage for a Christian, you need to have faith in God's word and its relevance to today, in any society. You can clearly realise PM is acceptable but not actually practice it or be interested in ever doing so. You can also decide PM is acceptable for purely secular libertarian reasons with no faith involved at all.
When living PM, faith in God's provision for your lives and that He will help you through difficult times will be immensely valuable. However you can live PM without faith in God (non-Christian are also polygamous). You can also live PM without accepting it is valid (for instance a first wife who cannot accept her husband's choice to take a second wife is ok yet stays with him either through choice or cultural circumstances).
So faith is an important aspect of both issues, and will greatly help you in each. It is not essential for either of them. But it is very important for a Christian when considering PM.
To accept PM is a valid form of marriage for a Christian, you need to have faith in God's word and its relevance to today, in any society. You can clearly realise PM is acceptable but not actually practice it or be interested in ever doing so. You can also decide PM is acceptable for purely secular libertarian reasons with no faith involved at all.
When living PM, faith in God's provision for your lives and that He will help you through difficult times will be immensely valuable. However you can live PM without faith in God (non-Christian are also polygamous). You can also live PM without accepting it is valid (for instance a first wife who cannot accept her husband's choice to take a second wife is ok yet stays with him either through choice or cultural circumstances).
So faith is an important aspect of both issues, and will greatly help you in each. It is not essential for either of them. But it is very important for a Christian when considering PM.