God and Polygyny

[N/A Gone]

why did God permit the Old Testament Hebrews to practice polygyny? What does the Church say about present-day tribal societies that practice polygyny?

[Theoketos]

[quote name='Revprodeji' post='1056965' date='Sep 5 2006, 12:15 AM']
why did God permit the Old Testament Hebrews to practice polygyny? What does the Church say about present-day tribal societies that practice polygyny?
[/quote]

Easy answer: Hardness of Heart (see Mt. 19)

Further there is another possibility, which seems more likely to me, that is polygamy was never allowed.

The Great Pope John Paul II doctor of the Merciful Redeemer says in TotB

[quote name='TotB August 13' date=' 2006']

In Old Testament times


2. Those who follow the history of the Chosen People from the time of Abraham in the pages of the Old Testament, will find many facts which bear witness as to how this commandment was put into practice, and as a result of such practice, how the casuistic interpretation of the Law developed. First of all, it is well known that the history of the Old Testament is the scene for the systematic defection from monogamy, which fact must have a fundamental significance in our understanding of the prohibition: "Thou shalt not commit adultery." Especially at the time of the Patriarchs, the abandonment of monogamy was dictated by the desire for offspring, a very numerous offspring. This desire was so profound, and procreation as the essential end of marriage was so evident, that wives who loved their husbands but were not able to give them children, on their own initiative asked their husbands who loved them, if they could carry "on their own knees," or welcome, his children born of another woman, for example, those of the serving woman, the slave. Such was the case of Sarah regarding Abraham (1) or the case of Rachel and Jacob (2). These two narratives reflect the moral atmosphere in which the Decalogue was practiced. They illustrate the way in which the Israelite ethos was prepared to receive the commandment "Thou shalt not commit adultery," and how such a commandment was applied in the most ancient tradition of this people. The authority of the Patriarchs was in fact the highest in Israel and had a religious character. It was strictly hound to the Covenant and to the Promise.[/quote]