Part 3 of 3 in our series on polygamy and the church: Faith, Leadership and Family.
Your teenager may have seen the video. Your spouse may have an opinion. A relative may live in a polygamous household under customary law. Families need a calm, biblical way to talk about this, and the headlines are a good reason to start.
What is happening
Beyond the Ohio story, churches in Africa have wrestled with polygamy for well over a century. Historian Ronald Lawson records that mission churches long told a polygamist convert to put away every wife but the first, and the question reached the Lambeth Conference in 1888. He describes the effect on the abandoned wives as cruel. In 1988 Anglican bishops voted to allow polygamists to be baptized, and Anglican practice has generally allowed converts to stay in existing marriages while taking no further wives.
Zimbabwe has its own history. In earlier reports, leaders of Vapostori churches urged their followers to abandon polygamy, citing HIV and child marriage. Today the Marriages Act of 2022 recognizes registered customary marriages that may be polygamous. A study from the Adventist University of Africa notes that in Mozambique, 19.5% of married women live in polygamous relationships, which shows how real this is for families across the region. Whether past church policies were wise is still debated, and sincere believers land in different places.
Why it matters
Family is where theology is lived. Children learn what marriage means by watching it. Wives, first and second, carry the weight of these choices, and so do their children. A church that only argues doctrine and ignores these households fails them. A church that blesses whatever a leader chooses fails them too.
Biblical perspective
Genesis 2:24 and Ephesians 5:25-33 present marriage as a covenant of devoted, sacrificial love between a husband and a wife. Scripture does not hide the pain of divided households. Jacob’s home was marked by the rivalry between Leah and Rachel (Genesis 29:30-31, 30:1). Hannah was provoked and grieved by Peninnah year after year (1 Samuel 1:6-7). Hagar was sent into the wilderness (Genesis 21:9-14). Malachi 2:14-16 warns against faithlessness toward the wife of your youth.
Defenders of polygyny point to Exodus 21:10 and 1 Corinthians 7:2. Most Christian readers take Paul’s “each man should have his own wife” as a call to faithful marriage, not a license for more than one. Either way, Scripture also commands care for the vulnerable (James 1:27), and that includes women and children already living in complicated marriages.
Practical lessons
- Talk with your children early, and use Scripture, not social media, as the starting point.
- Couples, guard your own covenant with prayer, honest conversation and wise counsel (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12).
- Treat polygamous families you meet with respect and pastoral care, not mockery.
- Never support a policy that leaves wives and children abandoned.
- Test everything and hold fast to what is good (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
Conclusion
The church’s task is to teach God’s design and to love people who live in complicated realities. Truth and compassion belong together. Ephesians 4:15 calls us to speak the truth in love, and families are where that gets tested every day.
Take the next step
Use this post as a family devotion this weekend. Read Genesis 2:24 and Ephesians 5:25-33 together, talk about what stood out, and share the series with a couple who might need it.
Sources
- Ronald Lawson: Church-Sponsored Injustice
- Christian Science Monitor: Anglican bishops and polygamists, 1988
- Times and Seasons: The Church and Polygamy in Africa
- WWRN: Zimbabwe sect issues call to abandon polygamy
- CITE Zimbabwe: Marriages Act
- Adventist University of Africa: Mozambican context study
- Religion Unplugged: Ohio Pastor Announces Second Wife