The Bible, Polyamory, and Monogamy
A New Pastoral Paper by Dr. Branson Parler
I often get asked, “What’s the next topic we’ll face in the sexuality conversation?” My quick answer is: “Polyamory, though sex with robots is a close second.” This may sound far fetched, but both of these—polyamory in particular—are live questions people are asking.
Many church leaders I know (especially in urban centers) are already seeing a growing number of polyamorous people asking them about their church’s position on polyamory, and, as we’ll see in this paper, polyamorous relationships are much more common than you may think. In fact, I would suggest that you’ve had more polyamorous people in your church than you may realize.
So, what do you say when someone asks, “Is your church accepting of poly people? Does the Bible really say that marriage is between one man and one woman? What about all the marriages in the OT that didn’t follow this paradigm? If God accommodated to polygamous relationships in the OT, can we accommodate to polyamorous relationships today? Why, or why not?”
How can we respond with both grace and truth to questions related to polyamory?
The following pastoral paper by Dr. Branson Parler addresses these questions and more. Enjoy!