A Scenario for our Male Apologists to Consider...

[_SteelHead]

Madeline,
What about christian polygamists common in Africa?

[_consiglieri]

Getting to this party a bit late.

I have recently been thinking about Abraham's willingness to obey God and sacrifice his son.

I wonder what God's reaction would have been if Abraham had stood up to God and told him he refused.

I think God would have been impressed and told him on the spot that Abraham had passed the test. Robes and crowns are dispensed and there are high-fives all around.

Abraham failed the test when he agreed to kill Isaac, and God did a palm slap because He couldn't believe Abraham would be such a dope.

God barely got the ram to the thicket in time.

Because of this, if God appeared to me personally and told me to take another wife, I would tell Him to pound sand.

Then God and I could light up the fine Cuban cigars he would pass out afterward.

All the Best!

--Consiglieri

[_Tobin]

Getting to this party a bit late.

I have recently been thinking about Abraham's willingness to obey God and sacrifice his son.

I wonder what God's reaction would have been if Abraham had stood up to God and told him he refused.

I think God would have been impressed and told him on the spot that Abraham had passed the test. Robes and crowns are dispensed and there are high-fives all around.

Abraham failed the test when he agreed to kill Isaac, and God did a palm slap because He couldn't believe Abraham would be such a dope.

God barely got the ram to the thicket in time.

Because of this, if God appeared to me personally and told me to take another wife, I would tell Him to pound sand.

Then God and I could light up the fine Cuban cigars he would pass out afterward.

All the Best!

--Consiglieri

Not likely Consig. Abraham was appalled by human sacrifice. According to the Book of Abraham, that is what his father tried to do him and must have been an anathema for him. Certainly a clear indication of the dangers in following and believing in false Gods. The fact he obeyed God's commands, despite his disgust and detest, is the moral dilemma and is the test.

Now, I do not know if Abraham was smart enough to see through this test. Perhaps that is why he agreed. If not, I dread such a test for myself. What would I be willing to give up (or do) to follow God? That is pretty scary if you think about it.

[_consiglieri]

Now, I do not know if Abraham was smart enough to see through this test. Perhaps that is why he agreed. If not, I dread such a test for myself. What would I be willing to give up (or do) to follow God? That is pretty scary if you think about it.

It is a scary test. No doubt about it.

But if God asks us to do something he has forbidden, and when what he asks is morally repugnant, should not every right-thinking person stand up and say no?

And what have we become if we just go along with it?

Have we become something God would be proud of?

Or have we become more like God himself?

All the Best!

--Consiglieri

[_Tobin]

Now, I do not know if Abraham was smart enough to see through this test. Perhaps that is why he agreed. If not, I dread such a test for myself. What would I be willing to give up (or do) to follow God? That is pretty scary if you think about it.

It is a scary test. No doubt about it.

But if God asks us to do something he has forbidden, and when what he asks is morally repugnant, should not every right-thinking person stand up and say no?

And what have we become if we just go along with it?

Have we become something God would be proud of?

Or have we become more like God himself?

All the Best!

--Consiglieri

Oh, I don't disagree that thinking and questioning are good things. But, there has to be a balance at some point. God sees more than we see. God knows more than we know. There may be very good reasons for the things he commands, that may not be apparent to us immediately and part of the test may be to see if we are intelligent enough to willingly trust and follow the Lord.

I think the difficulty arises when men state commands came from God and they make no reasonable sense to us. Then, I think in those cases we are justified if we disobey.

[_LDSToronto]

Now, I do not know if Abraham was smart enough to see through this test. Perhaps that is why he agreed. If not, I dread such a test for myself. What would I be willing to give up (or do) to follow God? That is pretty scary if you think about it.

It is a scary test. No doubt about it.

But if God asks us to do something he has forbidden, and when what he asks is morally repugnant, should not every right-thinking person stand up and say no?

And what have we become if we just go along with it?

Have we become something God would be proud of?

Or have we become more like God himself?

All the Best!

--Consiglieri

Consig, have you ever read 'Fear and Trembling' by Kierkegaard? Don't call on my reading of it as expert witness testimony, but Soren does rather interesting apologetic on Abraham.

H.

[_KevinSim]

I'm completely happy allowing polygamy, polyandry, gay marriage, you name it. I'm not happy applying that to my eternal salvation as a Must Do. Joseph and Brigham can take their multiple wives to hell, because I'm not going to a CK that requires me to share.

Harmony, the good news is that you won't have to share. Regardless of what Joseph or Brigham said about it, with a ratio of three active women to two active men, there won't be enough extra wives to necessitate every man marrying an additional wife. God is ultimately fair, so He certainly won't require (once again, regardless of what early church leaders have said) every man to have more than one wife, when there simply aren't enough wives available to make that happen.

But I don't see any way to escape the reality that God is very probably going to choose some married couples and ask each to accept an additional wife into their home. Or Harmony, do you see another way to make things work in the eternities?

Staying alone during a lifetime is one thing; it only lasts around one hundred years. Staying alone throughout all eternity is quite another thing.

I'm completely open to any other way of solving this problem. Like I said, I'm no big fan of polygamy. I just can't in clear conscience ignore the women who get left over after eternal monogamy matches up all the available pairs.

[_KevinSim]

Also, to KevinSim's point about "the alternative", in the eternal scheme of things, why are you so uncertain that the male-female ratio is bound to be uneven?

Liz3564, can you think of a way God could guarantee a more balanced ratio without trampling on individual free agency?

Maybe you're right; maybe God with his foreknowledge has some way of knowing beforehand that in the end there will be exactly as many men in the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom as there will be women. But I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for that miracle to happen.

[_just me]

All those poor poor women without a mayun to guide them and direct them, to hug them and lie with them.

Since most women are fluid they can all hook up with each other. Or masturbate.

[_KevinSim]

So, just threaten your wife, and it's all good.

If God threatens my wife, I'll tell her that someone claiming to be God had threatened her; otherwise I don't see any point implying a threat of any kind.

In Liz's scenario, the threat is for the husbands, which includes, no smashing heads. You just have to "abide this commandment". Suck it up wusses.

Then I guess I would have to suck it up. By the way, I'm pretty good at not smashing heads.