About this episode

Dave and Autumn discuss the implications of historical polygamy in the Old Testament as it relates to modern discussions of polyamory.

In today’s episode, Dave and Autumn respond to this question, submitted by a listener: I've been intrigued in the last few years to see an increasing amount of dialogue in left-leaning media around polyamory and non-monogamy as viable, if complicated, lifestyle choices. In the last few years, Somerville, MA (next door to Cambridge, MA) passed legislation to recognize polyamorous families. Setting aside the political implications of all this for a moment, it occurs to me that as discussions around polyamory become more mainstream, Christians will likely need to wrestle with the polygamy of OT patriarchs. Would you be able to discuss how Christians have historically understood the polygamy in the OT and how that understanding might inform how we think about rising polyamory in our culture? Resources mentioned in this episode: Lindy West Thought She Couldn’t Handle Polyamory. She Was Wrong. by Anna Martin A Massachusetts City Decides to Recognize Polyamorous Relationships by Ellen Barry

People in this episode

Hosts: Dave, Autumn

Topics covered

• polygamy
• polyamory
• Christianity
• historical context
• cultural dialogue
• non-monogamy

Keywords

• polygamy
• polyamory
• Old Testament
• Christianity
• non-monogamy
• cultural implications
• Somerville
• legislation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Somerville, MA, Cambridge, MA, The New York Times

Books & works: Thought She Couldn’t Handle Polyamory. She Was Wrong.

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