Ken wrote: ↑Sat Sep 16, 2023 3:53 pm
Falco Knotwise wrote: ↑Sat Sep 16, 2023 3:23 pm
MaxPC wrote: ↑Sat Sep 16, 2023 12:59 pm
Nuclear families are the nucleus of civilisation.
Yes, but people often think in terms of physics today which apparently can cause con-
fusion.
The Bible seems to prefer extended families and the modern tendency to idealize the nuclear family is perhaps part of a social
atomization process.
In point of fact, the nuclear family as it is defined today (
one mother,
one father, and children) is not remotely Old Testament Biblical. And most certainly is not some master plan laid out in Genesis as Josh asserts. How many wives did Abraham have? He is the patriarch of the Genesis story. How many did Jacob have? What about Esau? Those are central figures from Genesis. Exodus 21:10 lays out God's rules for polygamy and the taking of slave wives. Deuteronomy 21:15-17 lays out God's rules of inheritance for polygamist families. How many wives did Saul have? What about David? What about Solomon?
In fact, despite Josh's assertions to the contrary, I suspect examples of true nuclear families (composed
only of one mother, one father, and minor children) are few and far between in the Old Testament.
What the historical record actually tells us is that the monogamist nuclear family as we understand it today arose from pagan Roman culture not Hebrew culture. And it was the pagan Romans who imposed monogamy and nuclear families across the Roman Empire. Roman historians such as Josephus talk about the deeply rooted tradition of polygamy in Hebrew lands and how it took centuries for Roman law and rule to completely extinguish that custom. Indeed, Paul's writings (which include monogamy) represent to some extent the Hellenization of Jewish teachings for a wider non-Hebrew audience across the Roman world.
Well, I'm not disagreeing with Josh that the basic family unit is the conjugal family. Far from it, I heartily agree with that.
Abraham and the patriarchal familes are a complex case because when God decided to make a new covenant after dividing the nations at the Tower of Babel, he called Abraham out of the city of Ur of the Chaldeans, which had been absorbed into the Babylonian empire.
Therefore, though Abraham leaves the city of Ur he originally brings along some of the practices of Babylonian culture with him. He had to learn gradually over time about a proper family plan under a covenant with God. In fact, when Abraham was called he was already married to his half-sister! This was a practice that was allowed in Babylon only among families of high standing.
Later, of course, when the law of Moses was given it would be explicitly forbidden to marry one's half-sister. But for the time being, God would tolerate it. Similarly, even though the practice of polygamy was tolerated in Babylon and mideast culture in general, Abraham would have to learn over time that it wasn't exactly God's plan for him. Under Mosaic law polygamy would still be tolerated but it would be frowned upon. Sometimes it was considered necessary, as in war time when men were few, or perhaps converts would bring them more than one spouse and couldn't be separated. It was not considered ideal.
In international politics it was often necessary for a king to marry the daughters of other kings as a matter of diplomacy. Israelite kings were therefore allowed to practice polygamy in the interests of peace but were warned against taking
too many wives. (A commandment Solomon ignored.)
The Catholic Church agrees it was never the original plan according to Genesis and that polygamy is an offense against the dignity of the person. Therefore, polygamy is forbidden by the Church. I agree with this.
I'm currently reading a very good book about this by a Jewish scholar, which is where I got these insights.
https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo ... 50671.html