Marriage and the Bible- Part 47 - Modern Challenges: Line or Group Marriage

I have to admit this one is a tough one.  It is very difficult to say this is truly unbiblical.  The reason is that polygamy is most certainly in the Bible, the difference here is that the polygamy is both ways at the same time.

One could say there is no example of a woman married to many men in the Bible, but that could be a cultural thing as the importance of knowing both the father and mother of a child was very important to them.  It is also an argument from silence which does not do us much good.  A woman with many husbands would have a problem identifying the father in that culture.  In our modern day, paternity tests could determine this, but the proponents of group marriage point out that all the men take legal responsibility for every child in a group marriage regardless of who the father actually is.  The issue for them is that all adults are responsible for all children produced by the group.

The difference between this and open marriage is that sexual fidelity is expected in most group marriages.  The person must keep there sexual relationships inside the group.  Some of the more liberal ones allow for homosexual relationships and openness, but that is not always the case.  The Biblical problem with open marriage is fornication, but in group marriage where openness is not allowed and coupling must be male-female, the charge of homosexual sin and fornication disappears.  That leaves us with only the charge that multiple men with a single woman is not seen in the Bible.  That does not leave us much to cling to, if we are going to say this marital arrangement is unbiblical.

This type of marriage actually also does allow for the possibility of a covenant relationship but much in the same manner as polygamy has that possibility.  The difference being that with more men more such covenant couples are possible.  Ultimately though this becomes at best a mixed contracts type marriage with covenant relationships possible, but more and more unlikely as more people are added to the group.

In many ways group marriage is about creating a line (thus line marriage) of marriage that can last for a long time.  As members die, they can be replaced and a legacy created that can last as long as people want to stay in it and keep it going.  It also, in many ways is about getting some of the benefits of open marriage (multiple partners to avoid boredom, which is by the way the third leading cause of divorce in the United States for both men and women) and yet the legal protection of a marriage contract.

Another thing could be said about divorce here, that if one member of the group decides to divorce the rest, it does not end the group marriage, just that person's involvement in it.  It still means the kids would be taken care of by more than one parent, although custody issues are going to get really complex with this type of marriage should that person getting the divorce decided to sue for custody.

This is ultimately a tough one to say - "this is sin, it should be not be done".  What could be said is that it does not reflect the ideal of what God, Jesus and the Apostles present as a marriage.  It is much more of a contract than a covenant relationship.

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