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Monogamy is not a Christian dictateIt was not the Christian faith that gave modern Western civilisation monogamy as the form for the institution of marriage, and polygamy need not be practised clandestinely or be 'un-Christian'. We could also envy President Jacob Zuma for the way he uses his 'shifting identity' to move with ease between the demands of the modern state and the dictates of his traditional heritage, argues a top theologian.
In a contribution to a “mini seminar” run by the Afrikaans website Litnet, Professor Christina Landman from the Department of Theology at the University of South Africa, writes that monogamy was given to modern society by the Romans, who at the same time were known for their promiscuous way of life.
The Romans practised monogamy, but “het vreeslik gehoer en rumoer” [were extremely promiscuous]. It is against this that Christians formed a counter-culture. To them, it was important that Christians did not live a promiscuous sexual life, she writes.
The Romans did not force the nations living under the rule of their empire to become monogamist. There must have been Jewish men during the time of Jesus who were married to more than one woman under Jewish religious law.
Landman, who is a church historian, writes that for many centuries, churches did not conduct marriages. It was regarded as a civil matter. It was only around the 13th century during the Middle Ages – when the church was at the height of its power and had control over every aspect of people's lives – that it insisted that marriages should be conducted and blessed by priests.
For many centuries, monogamy was the norm for Christian marriages, until the Reformation in the 17th century when there were groups, particularly among the Anabaptists, who wanted to reintroduce the “Biblical practice” of polygamy.
Due to the proliferation of war, there were many more women than men. “If you then believed that sex should only be practised within the context of marriage, women had to be given the opportunity to fulfil their sexuality,” writes Landman.
Someone like Napoleon Bonaparte also developed a preference for polygamy for reasons of his own. He required women to produce sons who could be utilised as soldiers for his military aspirations.
Throughout the centuries, there always has been a strong but suppressed group of Christians who were in favour of polygamy. The English poet John Milton, for instance, wrote a treaty to praise the virtues of polygamy.
Christianity again experienced a crisis about polygamy when men in Africa converted to it and were forced to 'dump' some of their wives until they had only one. During the 19th century, there were those who campaigned for these men to be allowed to keep their wives. But these voices for polygamy were suppressed mercilessly.
Landman wrote that she does not know why churches seem to have an established interest in monogamy. There are no compelling biblical grounds for such an approach. The patriarchs had many wives.
The real issue is not polygamy, but equality of all involved. The question is not if people should have more than one relationship, but how equal people in those relationships are.
Over the last couple of years, she regularly has counselled couples involved in polygamous relationships. Some work and others do not. Those that work are based on equality of all partners, she wrote.
South Africa is a country where many elements come together: a secular constitution, a declaration of human rights, an oversupply of fundamental churches and traditional customs. Research has shown that the happiest people are those who can move with ease between the various demands on their lives. Those with 'shifting identities' are the healthiest.
“I would say that we should try to understand and appreciate Jacob Zuma for the ease with which he moves between his identities. He is the head of a state with a secular constitution, and he is the bishop of an African church, and he honours his Zulu culture. He upholds human rights and marries more than one wife. And, there is no tension for him in this situation. We can envy him.
"Multi-partner marriages need not be promiscuous or clandestine and they can be Christian, provided there is equality between the partners. All that remains for white people is that the Constitutional Court should legalise it for them to also ensure equality between black and white and between cultures,” she concluded.
If you wish to read Landman’s full article in Afrikaans, it can be found at http://www.litnet.co.za)
