Nod; he don't exactly know the geography, but it was somewhere. And
there he found a woman and married her. Now I affirm this, that when
Cain killed his brother Abel he was not married, and he didn't go down
to the land of Nod, then, therefore the murder he committed didn't
grow out of monogamy, and seems to have had no relation to monogamy;
but it grew out of this fact: these two brothers came before the Lord
to present their offerings. Cain was a deist, a moralist as we may
say, that is, he had no sins to repent of. He therefore did not bring
the little lamb as a sacrificial offering, but he came with the first
fruits of the earth as a thank offering. He comes before God Almighty
and says: "I have no sins to atone for, none at all; but here, I am
conscious that thou hast created me and that I am dependent upon thee,
therefore I present to thee the first fruits of the soil." Abel comes
with his thank offering. He brings his lamb and lays it upon the altar,
and that lamb pre-intimated the coming of Jesus Christ, who is "the
lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world;" and if there is
any record that Abel brought a thank offering, it is a principle in
theology and in scriptural exposition that the whole includes the
part, just as Saint Paul says: "I beseech you, by the mercies of God,
to present your bodies a living sacrifice to God." Do you think that
he excluded the soul? No, he speaks of one as including the other. So
the offering which Abel presented was an offering, sacrificial in its
nature, pointing to Christ. Now, perhaps by sending down fire from
heaven, or at all events in some significant manner, God recognized the
righteousness of Abel, and expressed a preference for his offering, and
Cain was wroth, and his pride belched forth and he slew his brother.
The murder, therefore, had no reference, directly or indirectly, to
marriage, while the murder which the first polygamist mentioned in
history committed grew out of the marriage relation.
Then my friend goes back to Adam, and says our first parents wore
clothes made of skins, and therefore we must wear similar ones. Well,
let us see. Our first parents were placed in a garden and were driven
out of a garden, therefore we must be placed in a garden and driven
out of a garden. The first man was created out of the dust of the
earth, therefore all subsequent men must be created out of the same
material. The first woman was created out of man's rib, therefore all
subsequent women must be made so. They would make very nice women, no
doubt about that! Such is the logic of my friend! So you may follow on
his absurdities. He has failed to make a distinction between what is
essential to marriage and what is accidental to marriage; or in other
words, he has failed to make a distinction between the creation and
the fall of man, and between the institution and characteristics of
marriage. One, therefore, is surprised at such arguments, and drawn
from such premises!
Now, my friends, that first marriage in the garden of Eden is the great
model for all subsequent marriages: one man and one woman. My friend
says that God could have made more if He had chosen; but He did not
do so, and it seems to me, if God Almighty had designed that all us
men should be polygamists, and that polygamy should be the form of
marriage, that in the very beginning He would have started right, that
is, He would have made a number of women for the first man. Ah! what a
grand sanction that would be; but instead of that He makes one man and
one woman, and says--"For this cause shall a man leave his father and
mother and cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh."
This is not merely an historical fact; were it so I think the argument
would be with my friend. But as I come along the stream of time I find
this fact referred to as expressing a great law. I hear old Malachi
repeating the same words, referring to this institution of marriage
in the garden of Eden, reproving the Jews for their practice of
polygamy, putting the pungent question to their conscience--"Why have
ye dealt treacherously with the wife of your youth?"--your first wife,
the one with whom you went to the bridal altar and swore before high
Heaven that you would forsake all others and cleave unto her so long
as you both live. "Ah!" that old prophet asks, "why have you dealt
thus treacherously with the wife of your youth and the wife of your
covenant?" God hates this putting away, says the prophet, and then
he refers to Eden as a reason for his reproof. The reason is purely
monogamous, and that in the beginning God created one woman for one
man, and one man for one woman.
When the Pharisees propounded a question to the Lord Jesus Christ,
touching divorce, he refers to the same grand idea spoken of by the
Prophet Malachi: "Have ye not read that in the beginning God created
them male and female?" Thus re-enacting, as it were, the marriage law;
thus lifting marriage, which had been stained by polygamy, from its
degradation, and re-establishing it in its monogamic purity. And then
St. Paul, corroborating the words of Jesus, [at this time the umpires
said the time was up] refers to the marriage in Eden, and says, "God
created them, male and female, one flesh." This is the great truth
brought out in the Bible.
SECOND DAY.
After opening with religious exercises Prof. Pratt commenced:
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We again come before you this afternoon, being the second session of
our discussion, to examine the question: "Does the Bible Sanction
Polygamy?" I will here remark, that yesterday afternoon I occupied one
hour upon the subject, and brought forth numerous evidences from the
Bible to show that polygamy was a divine institution sanctioned by the
Bible, and sanctioned by the Almighty, who gave the laws contained in
the Bible. Here let me observe that it is of the utmost importance to
clearly understand the point under discussion. I perceive that in the
arguments that followed me yesterday the subject is dwelt upon somewhat
lengthily with regard to the meaning of the term polygamy--that it
included both a plurality of wives and a plurality of husbands. Hence a
new term was introduced by the reverend Doctor, who followed me, namely
polygyny, if I recollect the term, having reference to the plurality of
wives. This seems to be the question under discussion: Does the Bible
Sanction Polygamy? and as the word polygamy appears to be discarded
and scouted, it would be: Does the Bible Sanction Polygyny? Perhaps
I may not have the term aright; that is, Does the Bible sanction
plurality of wives? It was was said by the speaker who followed me,
in relation to the plurality of wives--perhaps I had better refer to
some of his remarks from print, lest my memory should not serve me on
the occasion. The first remark to which I will call your attention is
in regard to the original of the Bible. I admit in this discussion the
Bible called King James' translation as authority. I admit the Bible
in the original Hebrew, if it can be found. Of course we have Hebrew
Bibles at the present day. I hold one in my hand; that is, a Bible in
the Hebrew language. But there is no such thing in existence as the
original copies of the Bible; neither secondary copies; and copies that
might come in as the hundreth copy, I presume, cannot be found, as, for
instance, of the original law of Moses, written on tables of stone.
Such tables and such original law have not been in existence to our
knowledge for the last eighteen hundred years. We cannot refer to them;
we cannot refer to any copies only those that have been multiplied in
modern times--that is, comparatively modern times. And inasmuch as
these copies disagree one with the other, so much so that it is said
there are thirty thousand different readings in the various manuscripts
and copies, who is to decide whether this Hebrew Bible, translated
from one of a number of manuscripts, is translated from the original
or not? Certainly it would not do for me as an individual to set up my
judgment in the matter; nor for any other learned man to set up his
judgment. I would far rather take the translation known as King James',
made by the able translators chosen in his day; men of great learning,
who had studied the original languages, the Hebrew and the Greek, and
had become extensively acquainted with manuscripts in existence; I say
I would far rather take their judgment than one that might be advanced
by myself, or by any other learned man, however deeply he might be
versed in the Hebrew or Greek. I do not by these remarks disparage the
Bible, or set it aside. By no means. I accept it as proof that it was
translated by those men who were chosen for the purpose. And hundreds
of thousands, I may say scores of millions, of copies of this Bible
have been circulated among all nations in various languages. They have
been sent forth by millions among the inhabitants of the earth for
their information.
We will pass along after having decided upon the nature of the Bible
that is to be admitted as evidence and proof in regard to polygamy.
It was stated in the course of the remarks of the reverend gentleman
in relation to polygamy, or polygyny, whichever term we feel disposed
to choose, that marriage with more than one woman is considered
adultery. I will read one or two of Mr. Newman's sentences: "Take his
exposition"--that is the Savior's--"Take his exposition of the ten
commandments as they were given amid the thunders of Mount Sinai, and
you find he has written a commentary on the Decalogue, bringing out its
hidden meaning, showing to us that the man is an adulterer who not only
marries more women than one, but who looks on a woman with salacial
lust. Such is the commentary on the law by the Lord Jesus Christ."
With part of this I agree most perfectly. If a man, according to the
great commentary of our Savior, looks upon a woman with a lustful heart
and lustful desire, he commits adultery in his heart, and is condemned
as an adulterer. With the other part I do most distinctly disagree. It
is merely an assertion of the reverend gentleman. No proof was adduced
from the New Testament Scriptures; no proof was advanced as the words
of the great commentator, the Lord Jesus Christ, to establish the
position that a man who marries more than one woman is an adulterer. If
there is such a passage contained within the lids of the New Testament,
it has not come under my observation. It remains to be proved,
therefore.
We will now pass on to another item, that is, the meaning of the word
"sanction:" "Does the Bible sanction polygamy?" I am willing to admit
the full force and meaning of the word sanction. I am willing to take
it in all of its expositions as set forth in Webster's unabridged
edition. I do not feel like shirking from this, nor from the definition
given. Let it stand in all its force. The only adequate idea of
sanction, says Mr. Newman, is a divine and positive approbation,
plainly expressed; or stated so definitely and by such forms of
expression as to make a full and clear equivalent. It is in this way
that we take the term sanction in the question before us. Admit that
it must be expressed in definite terms, these terms were laid before
the congregation yesterday afternoon. From this Bible, King James'
translation, passage after passage was brought forth to prove the
divine sanction of polygamy; direct commands in several instances,
wherein the Israelites were required to be polygamists; and in one
instance, especially, where they were required under the heaviest curse
of the Lord: "Cursed be he that continueth not in all things written
in this book of the law; and let all the people say Amen," was the
expression. I say, under this dreadful curse and the denunciations of
the Almighty, the people were commanded to be polygamists. Did this
give authority and sanction to practise that divine institution? It
certainly is sanction, or I do not understand the meaning of the word
as defined by Webster, and the meaning of the arguments presented by
my opponent. I waited in vain yesterday afternoon for any rebutting
evidence and testimony against this divine sanction. I was ready
with my pencil and paper to record anything like such evidence, any
passage from the Bible to prove that it was not sanctioned. I heard
a remarkable sermon, a wonderful flourish of oratory. It certainly
was pleasing to my ears. It fell upon me like the dews of heaven, as
it were, so far as oratorical power was concerned. But where was the
rebutting testimony? What was the evidence brought forth? Forty-nine
minutes of the time were occupied before it was even referred to;
forty-nine minutes passed away in a flourish of oratory, without
having the proofs in rebuttal and the evidence examined which I had
adduced. Then eleven minutes were left. I did expect to hear something
in those eleven minutes that would in some small degree rebut the
numerous evidences brought forth to establish and sanction polygamy.
But I waited in vain. To be sure, one passage, and only one that had
been cited, in Deuteronomy, was merely referred to; and then, without
examining the passage and trying to show that it did not command
polygamy, another item that was referred to by myself with regard to
Lamech and Cain was brought up. Instead of an examination of that
passage, until the close of the eleven minutes, the subject of Abel's
sacrifice and Cain's sacrifice, and Cain's going to the Land of Nod
and marrying a wife, and so on, occupied the time. All these things
were examined, and those testimonies that were brought forth by me were
untouched.
Now, then, we will proceed to the fourth, or rather to the fifth
position he took; that is the first great form of marriage established
in the beginning--"one woman created for one man." However, before I
dwell upon this subject, let me make a correction with regard to Cain
and Lamech; then we will commence on this argument. I did not state
yesterday afternoon, as it was represented by the speaker who followed
me, that Cain went to the land of Nod and there married a wife, for
there is no such thing in the Bible. I stated that Cain went to the
land of Nod, after having murdered his brother Abel. I stated that we
were not to suppose that God had created any woman in the Land of Nod,
and that Cain took his wife in the land of Nod. We are not to suppose
this; but we are to suppose that he took his wife with him. He went to
and arrived in the land of Nod, and begat a child. So says the Bible.
But what has all this to do with regard to the form of marriage? Does
it prove anything? No. The murder that Cain committed in slaying his
brother Abel does not prove anything against the monogamic form of
marriage, nor anything in favor of it. It stands as an isolated fact,
showing that a wicked man may be a monogamist. How in regard to Lamech?
Lamech, so far as recorded in the Bible, was the first polygamist; the
first on record. There may have been thousands and tens of thousands
who were not recorded. There were thousands and tens of thousands of
monogamists, yet, I believe, we have only three cases recorded from
the creation to the flood, a period of some sixteen hundred years or
upwards. The silence of Scripture, therefore, in regard to the number
cf polygamists in that day, is no evidence whatever.
But it has been asserted before this congregation that this first case
recorded of a polygamist brought in connection with it a murder; and
it has been indicated or inferred that the murder so committed was
in defence of polygamy. This I deny; and I call upon the gentleman
to bring forth one proof from that Bible, from the beginning to the
end of it, to prove that murder had anything to do in relation to the
polygamic form of marriage of Lamech. It is true he revealed his crime
to his wives, but the cause of the crime is not stated in the book.
What, then, had it to do with the divinity of the great institution
established called polygamy? Nothing at all. It does not condemn
polygamy nor justify it, any more than the murder by Cain does not
condemn the other form of marriage nor justify it.
Having disposed of these two cases, let me come to the first
monogamist, Adam. Let us examine his character, and the character of
his wife. Lamech "slew a young man to his wounding, a young man to his
hurt." That was killing one, was it not? How many did Adam kill? All
mankind; murdered the whole human race! How? by falling in the garden
of Eden. Would mankind have died if it had not been for the sin of
this monogamist? No. Paul says "that as in Adam all die, so in Christ
shall all be made alive." It was by the transgression of this first
monogamist and his monogamic wife, that all mankind have to undergo
the penalty of death. It was the cause, and I presume it will be
acknowledged on the part even of monogamists that it was a great crime.
What can be compared with it? Was Cain's crime, or Lamech's crime to
be compared with the crime of bringing death and destruction, not only
upon the people of the early ages, but upon the whole human race?
But what has all that to do with regard to the divinity of marriage?
Nothing at all. It does not prove one thing or the other. But when
arguments of this kind are entered into by the opponents of polygamy,
it is well enough to examine them and see if they will stand the test
of scripture, and sound reason, of sound argument and sound judgment.
Moreover, Adam was not only guilty of bringing death and destruction
upon the whole human race, but he was the means of introducing fallen
humanity into this world of ours. Why did Cain slay Abel? Because he
was a descendant of that fallen being. He had come forth from the loins
of the man who had brought death into the world. When we look abroad
and see all the various crimes, as well as murder, that exist on the
face of the globe; when we see mankind committing them; see all manner
of degradation and lust; see the human family destroying one another,
the question might arise, What has produced all these evils among men?
They exist because a monogamic couple transgressed the law of heaven.
The learned gentleman referred us to a saying of that great man, Martin
Luther, concerning the relationship that exists between husband and
wife. It was a beautiful argument. I have no fault whatever to find
with it. And it is just as applicable to polygamy as to monogamy. The
answer of Martin Luther to the question put to him--Why God took the
female from the side of man, is just as appropriate, just as consistent
with the plural form of marriage as it is with the other form. He did
not take the woman from the head. Why? The argument wad that the man
should be the head, or as Paul says--"Man is the head of the woman,"
and that is his position. I believe my learned opponent agrees with me
perfectly in this, so there is no dispute upon this ground. Why did not
He take the woman from the foot? Because man is not to tyrannize over
his wife, nor tread her under foot. Why did He take her from his side?
Because the rib lies nearest the heart, showing the position of woman.
Not only one woman but two women, five women, ten women, twenty women,
forty women, fifty women, may all come under the protecting head. Jesus
says: "No man can serve two masters," because he may love the one and
hate the other, cleave unto the one and turn away from the other; but
it is not so with women under the protecting head.
Now let us examine polyandry, for that was referred to yesterday; and
the reverend gentleman could not see why, if a man has the privilege of
taking more wives than one, a woman should not have the same privilege.
If that is expressed in the Bible we have not found it; the other is
expressed there, and we have proved it, and call upon the reverend
gentleman to show the opposite. When we come to polyandry, or the woman
having more husbands than one, there is no sanction for it in the
Scriptures. What is the object of marriage? Companionship, we are told.
I agree with the gentleman. Another object he says is procreation.
I agree with the gentleman also in the second object. Another was
prevention. Here I agree with him so far as the argument is carried out
in a true light. Let us examine the second, namely procreation. The
Lord instituted marriage--the sacred bond of marriage--for the purpose
of multiplying the human species here on the earth. Does polyandry
assist in the multiplying of the human species, the woman having four,
or five, or ten, or fifty, or sixty husbands? Does it tend to rapidly
increase the race? I think monogamists as well as polygamists, when
they reflect, will say that a woman having more than one husband
would destroy her own fruitfulness. Even if she did have offspring,
there would be another great difficulty in the way, the father would
be unknown. Would it not be so? All knowledge of the father would be
lost among the children. Is this the case with a plurality of wives?
No, by no means. If a man have fifty wives the knowledge of the father
is as distinct as the knowledge of the mother. It is not destroyed,
therefore. The great principle of parentage on the part of the
husband, on the part of the father, is preserved. Therefore it is more
consistent, more reasonable, first for procreation, and secondly for
obtaining a knowledge of parentage, that a man should have a plurality
of wives than that a woman should have a plurality of husbands.
Again; a man with a plurality of wives is capable of raising up a
very numerous household. You know what the Scriptures have said about
children: "Children are the heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the
womb is his reward." This being the case, a faithful, righteous, holy
man, who takes, according to the great, divine institution of polygamy,
a plurality of wives, is capable of multiplying his offspring ten or
twenty-fold more than he could by one wife. Can one wife do this by
polyandry? No. Here then is a great distinction between the male and
the female. Look at that great and good and holy man, called Gideon
in the Scriptures; a man to whom the angel of God was sent, and who,
among all the hosts of Israel was chosen to go forth as the servant
of the Most High. For what purpose? To deliver Israel from their
enemies, the Midianites and others that had gathered against them.
Was he a polygamist? Yes. He had many wives. He had seventy-two sons.
How many daughters he had I do not know. Could any woman in polyandry
conceive or bring forth seventy-two sons and perhaps an equal number of
daughters? I do not know but there might be some efficacy in that herb
called "mandrake," or in some other miraculous herb that would give
power and strength for one woman to bring forth seventy-two sons. Who
knows, in a day of wonders like this! But a man has the ability, a man
has the power to beget large families and large households. Hence we
read of many of the great and notable men who judged Israel, that one
man had thirty sons--his name was Jair; you will find it recorded in
the Judges of Israel; and another had thirty sons and thirty daughters;
while another Judge of Israel had forty sons. And when we come to the
Gideon we have named, he had seventy-two. Now, we have nothing to do
with the righteousness of these men, or their unrighteousness, in this
connection. That has nothing to do with the marriage institution.
God has established it by divine command. God has given it his own
sanction, whether it be the polygamic or the monogamic form. If Gideon
afterwards fell into idolatry, as the reverend gentleman may argue,
that has nothing to do with the matter. He had the power to beget
seventy-two sons, showing he had a superior power to that of the female.