Editing Polygamy (section)

====Roman Catholic Church====
The Roman [[Catholic Church]] condemns polygamy; the ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]'' lists it in paragraph 2387 under the head "Other offenses against the dignity of marriage" and states that it "is not in accord with the moral law." Also in paragraph 1645 under the head "The Goods and Requirements of Conjugal Love" states "The unity of marriage, distinctly recognized by our Lord, is made clear in the equal personal dignity which must be accorded to husband and wife in mutual and unreserved affection. Polygamy is contrary to conjugal love which is undivided and exclusive."<ref>{{cite web
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Saint [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] saw a conflict with Old Testament polygamy. He refrained from judging the patriarchs, but did not deduce from their practice the ongoing acceptability of polygyny. On the contrary, he argued that the polygamy of the Fathers, which was tolerated by the Creator because of fertility, was a diversion from His original plan for human marriage. Augustine wrote: "That the good purpose of marriage, however, is better promoted by one husband with one wife, than by a husband with several wives, is shown plainly enough by the very first union of a married pair, which was made by the Divine Being Himself."<ref>[[s:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume V/On Marriage and Concupiscence/Book I/Chapter 10|''On Marriage and Concupiscence'', I,10]]</ref>

Augustine taught that the reason patriarchs had many wives was not because of fornication, but because they wanted more children. He supported his premise by showing that their marriages, in which husband was the head, were arranged according to the rules of good management: those who are ''in command'' (''quae principantur'') in their society were always singular, while ''subordinates'' (''subiecta'') were multiple. He gave two examples of such relationships: ''dominus-servus'' – master-servant (in older translation: ''slave'') and ''God-soul''. The Bible often equates worshiping multiple gods, i.e. idolatry to fornication.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Marcus |first=Joel |title=Idolatry in the New Testament |journal=Interpretation |date=April 2006 |volume=60 |issue=2 |pages=152–164 |doi=10.1177/002096430606000203|s2cid=170288252 }}</ref> Augustine relates to that: "On this account there is no True God of souls, save One: but one soul by means of many false gods may commit fornication, but not be made fruitful."<ref>[[s:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume III/Moral Treatises of St. Augustin/On the Good of Marriage/Section 20|Augustine, ''On the Good of Marriage'', ch. 20]]; cf. [[s:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume V/On Marriage and Concupiscence/Book I/Chapter 10|''On Marriage and Concupiscence'', I,10]]</ref>

As tribal populations grew, fertility was no longer a valid justification of polygamy: it "was lawful among the ancient fathers: whether it be lawful now also, I would not hastily pronounce (utrum et nunc fas sit, non temere dixerim). For there is not now necessity of begetting children, as there then was, when, even when wives bear children, it was allowed, in order to a more numerous posterity, to marry other wives in addition, which now is certainly not lawful."<ref>St. Augustin [[s:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume III/Moral Treatises of St. Augustin/On the Good of Marriage/Section 17|''On the Good of Marriage'', ch.17]]; cf. [[s:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume V/On Marriage and Concupiscence/Book I/Chapter 9|''On Marriage and Concupiscence'', I,9.8]]</ref>

Augustine saw marriage as a covenant between one man and one woman, which may not be broken. It was the Creator who established monogamy: "Therefore, the first natural bond of human society is man and wife."<ref>[[s:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume III/Moral Treatises of St. Augustin/On the Good of Marriage/Section 1|''On the Good of Marriage'', ch.1]]</ref> Such marriage was confirmed by the Saviour in the Gospel of Matthew (Mat 19:9) and by His presence at the wedding in Cana (John 2:2).<ref>[[s:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume III/Moral Treatises of St. Augustin/On the Good of Marriage/Section 3|''On the Good of Marriage'', ch.3]]</ref> In the Church—the City of God—marriage is a sacrament and may not and cannot be dissolved as long as the spouses live: "But a marriage once for all entered upon in the City of our God, where, even from the first union of the two, the man and the woman, marriage bears a certain sacramental character, can in no way be dissolved but by the death of one of them."<ref>[[s:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume III/Moral Treatises of St. Augustin/On the Good of Marriage/Section 17|''On the Good of Marriage'', 17]]</ref> In chapter 7, Augustine pointed out that the Roman Empire forbad polygamy, even if the reason of fertility would support it: "For it is in a man's power to put away a wife that is barren, and marry one of whom to have children. And yet it is not allowed; and now indeed in our times, and after the usage of Rome (nostris quidem iam temporibus ac more Romano), neither to marry in addition, so as to have more than one wife living." Further on he notices that the Church's attitude goes much further than the secular law regarding monogamy: It forbids remarrying, considering such to be a form of fornication: "And yet, save in the City of our God, in His Holy Mount, the case is not such with the wife. But, that the laws of the Gentiles are otherwise, who is there that knows not."<ref>Augustine, [[s:Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume III/Moral Treatises of St. Augustin/On the Good of Marriage/Section 7|''On the Good of Marriage'', ch. 7]]</ref>

The Council of Trent condemns polygamy: "If anyone saith, that it is lawful for Christians to have several wives at the same time, and that this is not prohibited by any divine law; let him be [[anathema]]."<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/trent/twenty-fourth-session.htm| title = PapalEncyclicals: Council of Trenty, 24th Sessions| date = 11 November 1563| access-date = 14 April 2019| archive-date = 14 April 2019| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190414024049/http://www.papalencyclicals.net/councils/trent/twenty-fourth-session.htm| url-status = live}}</ref>

In modern times a minority of Roman Catholic theologians have argued that polygamy, though not ideal, can be a legitimate form of Christian marriage in certain regions, in particular Africa.<ref>"''The Ratzinger report: an exclusive interview on the state of the Church Pope Benedict XVI, Vittorio Messori"'', p.&nbsp;195, Ignatius Press, 1985, {{ISBN|0-89870-080-9}}</ref><ref>"''Morality: The Case for Polygamy",'' Time Magazine, 10 May 1968, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090205142602/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,902227,00.html time.com] and "''Christianity and the African imagination: essays in honour of [[Adrian Hastings]]''", edited by David Maxwell with Ingrid Lawrie, p.&nbsp;345–346, Brill, 2002, {{ISBN|90-04-11668-0}}</ref> The Roman Catholic Church teaches in its Catechism that: <blockquote>
polygamy is not in accord with the moral law. [Conjugal] communion is radically contradicted by polygamy; this, in fact, directly negates the plan of God that was revealed from the beginning, because it is contrary to the equal personal dignity of men and women who in matrimony give themselves with a love that is total and therefore unique and exclusive.<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a6.htm Catholic Cathechism, para. 2387] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020910104753/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a6.htm |date=10 September 2002 }} 5 April 2009, Vatican website</ref></blockquote>