In his teachings on Adultery and divorce in Matthew, Jesus says that taking a second wife is committing adultery. He makes two exceptions, one if the first wife is dead, two if your previous spouse committed adultery first, thereby breaking the marriage.
Under Indian law, a person cannot marry or keep two wives at the same time. Such practice is illegal and liable to punishment. Thus, there cannot be a specific one definite answer to whether polygamy legal in India or not.
"In the case of polygamy, there is a universal standard – it is understood to be a sin, therefore polygamists are not admitted to positions of leadership including Holy Orders, nor after acceptance of the Gospel can a convert take another wife, nor, in some areas, are they admitted to Holy Communion."
“A man may be able to emotionally commit and attach himself to two women at the same time. However, in most cases, a woman will not be able to do the same. Women are emotionally inclined to attach and commit differently than men. Unlike men, women practice and pursue exclusivity in romance,” he says.
Though the Bible does not specifically forbid having multiple wives or husbands, it is not God's original plan. The Lord's expectation for marriage is that it be held as a sacred covenant between one man and one woman.
"Christian tradition has long held that Jesus was not married, even though no reliable historical evidence exists to support that claim," King said in a press release.
Among the forbidden couples are parent-child, sister-brother, grandparent-grandchild, uncle-niece, aunt-nephew, and between half siblings and certain close in-laws. This "Levitical law" is found in Leviticus 18:6-18, supplemented by Leviticus 20:17-21 and Deuteronomy 27:20-23. Photo illustration, Shutterstock, Inc.
When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is married to more than one husband at a time, it is called polyandry. In contrast to polygamy, monogamy is marriage consisting of only two parties.
The more wives a man has, the greater his risk of heart disease, the first major study of the health risks of polygamy finds. A new study conducted in Saudi Arabia and UAE has found that polygamy can increase the risk of heart disease by more than four-fold in men.
According to this book, they are considered "co-wives."
Miriam and Aaron were jealous because Moses had two wives and because more of his attention would have been taken by the newly married woman. It is not unusual in an African setting for relatives and friends to be jealous when husbands are too occupied with two or three wives.
Lilith and Eve - wives of Adam.
Muslim supporters of polygamy often cite Quran verse 4:3, which instructs men to take as many wives as they can take care of, up to four, and they also point out that the Prophet Muhammad had multiple wives.
Having sex with one's two wives together is prohibited even if they are willing to do it, as this involves allowing them to see the private parts of each other, which is not allowed in Islam. This also goes against the Islamic teachings that require that bedroom secrets should be confined to the husband and wife only.
To determine the rights of the second wife, we must first examine the legality of the second marriage. The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, prohibits polygamy. The act specifies that at the time of the second marriage, none of the parties should be legally married, and both parties must end their previous marriage to remarry.
Polygamist comes from the Greek: poly- means "many" and gamos means "marriage." So by definition, a polygamist can be a man with multiple wives or a woman with multiple husbands.
While the first order is possible to practice, God has recognized that no one can really command his feelings as we are all human beings. To break these rules was considered very sinful and the Quranic verses has directly commanded that a man should have only one woman.
Most men do so, because of their desire to have a larger number of offspring and most effectively increase their fitness by having many sexual partners. But for women, the reason ranges from having a better gene for their children to social progression and better access to the wealth of the man.
More companionship, higher income, and ongoing sexual variety are often cited as advantages of polygamous or polyamorous relationships. The definitions of polygamy can vary and include polyandry and polygyny. Polyandry is a common option for women who are open to polygamy, just as polygyny is for men.
In the Old Testament, we are taught, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Married couples are meant to be unified in every possible way.
The Catholic Church, or the Church of Christ, always teaches us by the Spirit of the Word of God. Now, the Church has ever taught, does and will to the end teach from Scripture, that "a man may not marry his deceased wife's sister," or, which is the same thing, "a woman may not marry her sister's husband."
Marriage in the Bible simply consists of a man and woman, with the consent of the woman's father or guardian, living together and attempting procreation. No vows, no priest, no ritual, no prayer, no pronouncement, no license, no registration. This is quite different from how we define and enact marriage today.
Some wish the ceremony that celebrated the beginning of the alleged marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene to be viewed as a "holy wedding"; and Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and their alleged daughter, Sarah, to be viewed as a "holy family", in order to question traditional gender roles and family values.