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Polygamy is "the practice or custom of having more than one wife or husband at the same time."[1] Polygamy has been practiced by many cultures throughout history.[2]: 3
Although the Old Testament describes numerous examples of polygynous (one male, one wife with multiple concubines) instances of polygamy among devotees to God, most Christian groups have historically rejected the practice of polygamy and have upheld monogamy alone as normative. Nevertheless, some Christian groups in different periods have practiced, or currently do practice, polygamy.[3][4] Some Christians actively debate whether the New Testament or Christian ethics allows or forbids polygamy[5][better source needed] and there are several Christian views on the Old Covenant.
The practice primarily focuses on polygyny (one man having more than one wife) and not polyandry (one woman having more than one husband), as polyandry is implied to be unlawful by the Hebrew Bible's laws of adultery (e.g., Deuteronomy 22:22) and in the New Testament (e.g., Romans 7:3).
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Mamdani2008was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Wilber, David (August 30, 2021). "Monogamy: God's Creational Marriage Ideal".