JustAGuy said:
The Latin sentence doesn't stop there, the source shows a colon, not a period, "
: verum tamen apud Christianos id exempli nollem primo introduci, apud quos decet etiam ea intermittere, quam ibique Paulus exigit."
Google translates the last part as, "
Nevertheless, in this example, the Christians would not want the first to be introduced, with whom it should also desist from which there Paul calls."
What does the last part mean?
My first thought was that Paul was very specific about getting married rather than burning with passion - which many people don't realize applies to taking a second, third, etc...wife. Although polygyny was commonly practiced at the time, neither Jesus or Paul addresses it due to the fact that anything pertaining to a first wife would also pertain to a second, third, etc...no need to discuss it as it was already understood. Paul also stated that if a person was so gifted they should remain unmarried. Paul also stated that we should refrain from things that might cause others to stumble...we are also told that we should obey the laws of men where they do not conflict with the laws of God (this is debated both ways about polygyny). Paul never stated that a man should not or could not take more than one wife which leads me to wonder about the accuracy of Google translate...I have translated Japanese communications using it and get gibberish for the most part - I think it likely that a much more accurate translation could be had from a scholar of the language and the scriptures.
The "Christians" mentioned may be the ignorant masses that think sitting in a church makes them a Christian which would make sense that they would not want polygyny as they are taught that a man can have only one wife. They do not even understand that adultery ONLY takes place when a married woman sleeps with a man that is not her husband.
If anything...considering cultural ignorance and the statements of Paul, it seems to me that Luther may have stated that Paul would have recommended avoiding polygyny, at least publicly, so as not to cause others to stumble and get in trouble with the public authorities.
So...my take on it...modifying Google's translation:
Nevertheless, in this example, the common "Christians" would not want polygyny legalized; Paul calls us to avoid causing other Christians to stumble and also to avoid trouble with the authorities, so if you are called to practice polygyny do it privately, do not flaunt it.
Our focus needs to be on removing the bigamy and anti-polygyny laws. Once that is accomplished polygyny will eventually become legalized somewhere in the US, and then more and more places. With time it will be more widely accepted. Remember that until 1963 it was illegal in the US for a black man to marry a white woman. Many still don't like "mixed" marriages, but eventually they will be a very small minority...the same will eventually happen for polygyny through educating the "Christian" masses.
