>>>>>>>>Exodus 21:10, "If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights."
>>>>>>>>In 2 Samuel 5:13; 1 Chronicles 3:1-9, 14:3, King David had six wives and numerous concubines.
>>>>>>>>In 1 Kings 11:3, King Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines.
>>>>>>>>In 2 Chronicles 11:21, King Solomon's son Rehoboam had 18 wives and 60 concubines.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Jesus said: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law (the Old Testament) or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke or a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law (the Old Testament) until everything is accomplished. (Matthew 5:17-18)"
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>So it seems to me that the New Testament agrees with the Old testamente, where examples of polygamy abound.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Again, you only provide examples where polygamy was practiced. I can give you examples of Godly men who are noted in the Bible as having lied, murdered, committed adultery and other things that scripture would not condone. These are usually given to us to show the negative consequences of doing such things. I see nothing is your "proof" above that show that God's way for marriage is for one man to have many wives - or - that God approves of such arrangements.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>If the Bible is the word of God, and he talks freely about many cases of noted people practising polygamy without specifically sayings it is wrong or better yet, punishing them like he mercilessly and ruthly does with some others, then it follows that it is condoned, does it not?
>>>>>
>>>>>The Bible IS the word of God.
>>>>
>>>>And you know this, of course, because it says so in the Bible, right?
>>>
>>>Exactly and I believe that by faith granted to me through Jesus Christ.
>>
>>What it all comes down to is the same for you as for most everyone else. You believe as you are predisposed to believe. The book does not matter. You believe in the Bible because you choose to believe in the Bible. Others believe in the Koran for exactly the same reasons you use for your belief in the Bible. I knew folks back in the mid sixties who believed in the I Ching for similar reasons.
>>
>>Circular arguments are pointless. I believe in the book because the book says I should believe in it is to me nothing more than a lazy person's way to abdicate the responsibility we all have to think rationally and critically. It's an argument that could be used to push for a belief in every silly diet and self help book ever written.
>
>There are many ways one can authenticate the Bible. All of which, I'm sure you would discount as nonsense. And most of which I'm sure you're already aware.
>
>The bottom line is this - believe it or not the Bible is the word of God and if you refuse to trust in the work of Christ for your salvation you will spend eternity paying the penalty for your sins.

I'm always leery of those who have a lock on 'truth', and who know that their own interpretation of whatever they are using to bolster their beliefs is the one correct interpretation. As I said, it's pointless. Once one's mind is closed by the fact of having discovered 'truth', thus requiring no further examination of the subject, any futher discussion is not worth persuing. No matter what anyone says, your answer will always be 'I have truth on my side'. How wonderful it must be to be incapable of error unlike the rest of us fallable humans.

My take? You may be right; you may not; but belief is belief, and should not be confused with 'truth'.