monogamy – 11:3 Restoration

“I support normal marriage…”

One of the benefits of the public stance I have taken regarding the Biblical positions of patriarchy and polygyny have been the number of people who have reached out to me with questions, support, or to share their story in how the Father opened their eyes in this challenging area. Currently, I am blessed to see the breadth of what the Father is doing as my connections and contacts now span the globe and cross multiple languages.

The recent video series on YouTube has been a particularly good connector with others, especially Torah teachers and keepers.

Benjamin, in a recent email conversation, shared some extremely insightful thoughts on rightly framing the argument. In his own words (and with his permission), here are the significant portions of one email:

Practical Patriarchy: The “My Man” Myth

“I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine…”
Song of Solomon, 6:3

The average person in western egalitarian Christianity misunderstands the ‘my’ in ‘my man’ leading to a foundational error in man-woman relationships. So, buckle up and let us ponder something that will help us return to the ancient paths and walk after the King!

Is there a difference between a man saying, ‘my woman’ and a woman saying, ‘my man?’ Have you ever thought about it?

Feminism, Witchcraft and Monogamy

Several evenings ago, I recommended the sixth chapter of James Wesley Stivers’ Eros Made Sacred while commenting on another blog. That chapter, originally written by Stivers as a stand alone essay to explore the conceptual affinity between the three doctrines, is an amazing wealth of thought and philosophy. I found it online yesterday and have copied and pasted it from another website and strongly recommend that if this material piques your interest, you order this short and powerful book and read it. There is a link on our Resources page. We gain nothing from the links on that page.

Chapter 6. Feminism, Witchcraft and Monogamy

113 Qualifier: It is not the view of 113Restoration that monogamy itself is the source of feminism and witchcraft, which is the impression which may erroneously be conveyed by this chapter, but state- and culture-enforced monogamy-ONLY laws. It is therefore the anti-polygyny laws that are feminism’s and witchcraft’s catalysts. The universal practice of polygyny by all men and women everywhere would be undesirable and impractical in this age.

Feminism, monogamy, and witchcraft form an unholy trinity working the destruction of Christian civilization. This is an astonishing assertion and one which will not sit well with most people. Most people will view witchcraft as a plausible rival of the Christian faith. Some will view militant feminism with distrust. But to associate monogamy with the two seems preposterous. To prove the linkage, let us begin with some basic definitions of these terms.

Breaking Torah. (Let me count the ways…)

“Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform, so that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. ²You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.”
Deuteronomy 4:1-2

To the credit of the Hebrew roots/Torah observant community, we take the Word of God seriously and understand that He says what He means and means what He says. As a whole, we generally are very concerned with keeping Shabbat correctly, eating clean and observing the feasts. We try hard, though imperfectly, to follow all that is written in the Torah without adding or subtracting from those various commands and the different details scattered throughout the Torah.

In those major areas, we are pretty good at not breaking the Torah. But, there is one area where we break the Torah continually. We are so good at it that we don’t even think about it. Consistently, we add to the Torah, take away from it, and break multiple commands, without even thinking about it… Let me share a little of what the Father has been teaching me.