Greetings
For those of you who live in America, you probably know all too well that the definition of marriage is a current hot topic of debate. In an effort to solidify my understanding of its Biblical definition, I've been studying and searching for the passages that provide black and white definitions of the different aspects of marriage. The male + female aspect of marriage is clearly covered without question. However, the one man one woman aspect seems a little foggy since the Bible seems to support polygamy, at least in part.
After reading up on some extrabiblical sources on the history of the spread of monogamy, it seems that the popular opinion is that its spread was contiguous with the spread of Christianity. If this is true, then its foundation must somehow lie within the Christian faith. But where is it? Are there some doctrines held by the older churches that I'm not aware of?
One other opinion I've heard is that monogamy was a Roman cultural standard that predated Christianity. In this case, it would have been adopted by and promoted by Christianity. Could there be any truth behind this scenario?
Help would be much appreciated
For those of you who live in America, you probably know all too well that the definition of marriage is a current hot topic of debate. In an effort to solidify my understanding of its Biblical definition, I've been studying and searching for the passages that provide black and white definitions of the different aspects of marriage. The male + female aspect of marriage is clearly covered without question. However, the one man one woman aspect seems a little foggy since the Bible seems to support polygamy, at least in part.
After reading up on some extrabiblical sources on the history of the spread of monogamy, it seems that the popular opinion is that its spread was contiguous with the spread of Christianity. If this is true, then its foundation must somehow lie within the Christian faith. But where is it? Are there some doctrines held by the older churches that I'm not aware of?
One other opinion I've heard is that monogamy was a Roman cultural standard that predated Christianity. In this case, it would have been adopted by and promoted by Christianity. Could there be any truth behind this scenario?
Help would be much appreciated