John the Polygamist – Prince of Sumba – Snippet from Chapter 10 – A Hard Teaching

Prince John from Prince of Sumba, Husband to Many Wives xAI generated image all rights reserved to xAI
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Out of the mouth of John the Polygamist
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John couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “What?” His voice bellowed. “You’ve never heard this explanation of husband of one wife before? What about the rest of you, anyone?”
John looked around the room at us. We answered with silence. The idea was completely new to us.
“Ish, you’ve been through seminary, correct?”
“Yes John, and I’ve never heard this explanation of 1 Timothy 3:2 before today; not in seminary, not anywhere.”
“Then your professors truly are the liars and tyrants that I feared they were. Tyrants first kill those who dissent, as in the case of Bernardino Ochino who they exiled to a certain death along with his children in the middle of winter.16 Next, they wipe out the traces of the dissenter, or they replace the truth with lies.17 Worse yet, they will even erase an entire section of history just to cover up the existence of a prominent dissenter, as in the case of Martin Madan, one of the best known and greatest defenders of the Christian faith. How could any Christian Historian bear the title Historian without knowing about the Lex Papia Poppaea!”18
“The Lex what?” I said.
“The Lex Papia Poppaea; the marriage laws of Rome at the time of Paul! Any professor of Christian history would certainly be familiar with those laws. The Lex Papia Poppaea punished celibacy and rewarded fruitfulness. A man with many children was rewarded with an exemption from troublesome civil duties and unwanted offices. Paul knew this. That’s why he exempted men with many children from the office of bishop, elder, and deacon.19 The fact that your history professors failed to teach you this shows me that they are liars and co-conspirators or ignorant buffoons!”
“I’ll vote for the latter!” Suni raised her hand.
John fumed. “Till this day, I thought it was only Christians in old theology books who thought 1 Timothy 3:2 was a prohibition and not an exemption. Your teachers have kept you in darkness! It makes me wonder what else your teachers have covered up. I thought every modern Christian knew the meaning of Husband of One Wife. I’ve been familiar with that expression since I was a child. The first time I heard it, I was in the market with my uncle. One of the vendors had a stunningly beautiful daughter and my uncle said to him, ‘If the rest of your daughters are as beautiful as this one, you’ll become rich with dowries.’ The vendor replied, ‘I’ll have to be satisfied with the profits I make from selling my goods for she is my only child.’ My uncle then leaned over to me and whispered, ‘Surely he is the husband of one wife.’ ‘Without a doubt.’ I replied, considering it an entirely logical conclusion. Since that day, I’ve heard the expression Husband of One Wife many times in that same context. It’s a common expression in my kingdom for a man with few children.”
It was clear that in John’s home, sermons weren’t set aside for a certain hour on a certain day. They could come at any time and John wasn’t finished with his.
“Any historian who had truly studied first century Rome, would have read much of the Lex Papia Poppaea, the Roman marriage law which included rewards for having many children and penalties for remaining single. It’s also clear that this is why Paul defended celibacy, not to promote celibacy as a permanent state, but in reaction to certain of the regulations in the Lex Papia Poppaea. If a single man between the age of puberty and sixty was to receive an inheritance, he would lose it if he didn’t get married within one hundred and twenty days. The same applied to single women between the age of puberty and fifty. Paul simply urged that none marry due to government edict but for the right reasons, companionship and to be fruitful and multiply. We certainly know that Paul never meant for any woman to be without a husband. He clearly stated, I will, therefore, that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.13 Paul’s command that younger women must marry put a huge responsibility upon the men of the church to make sure that all the younger women were married and since the inception of Christianity there have always been more women in the church than men. The men who refused to marry them, quite logically, were given the troublesome church offices. They weren’t busy doing anything else. And the offices of elder, bishop, and deacon were certainly troublesome offices. As we’ve discussed, those who were not the Husband of One Wife were given an exemption from those offices.”
Sam and I looked at each other, clueless.
“So, it is really true?” John was incredulous. “Your seminaries have removed the history books from their libraries that would have easily explained this to you? You’re telling me that every single student of Christianity is still taught that 1 Timothy 3:2 is a prohibition?”
Sam and I both nodded. John shook his head in disbelief.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. It’s not your fault. You’ve had these things hidden from you. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.20 We can only pray your professors repent before they meet their end.”

Footnotes

16. “So for the last time Ochino went into exile. On the way he was struck down by the plague at Pinczow. It carried off three of his children; he himself remained alive. Wearied to death, he bade his friends and companions in the faith a last farewell on Advent Sunday. There we lose every trace of him. At the close of the year 1564, he died in solitude at Schlackan, in Moravia. This man, once so highly honored, shared the fate of those who dared to advance beyond the narrow limits of the age they live in, and to take their own path.”
Bernardino Ochino, of Siena: A Contribution Towards the History of the Reformation
By Karl Benrath, Helen Zimmern Translated by Helen Zimmern
Published by J. Nisbet & Co., 1876 – Page 297
17. There are hundreds of articles in journals, dictionaries, and biographies that repeat the lie that Madan composed only one or two hymns. I don’t wish to give publicity to liars so I will not cite them. I will, however, cite the first man with the courage to give the evidence of Madan’s genius in composition; Nicholas Temperley, through his Hymn Tune Index, has methodically detailed the evidence that proves Madan composed more Christian music, for general use in the church, than any other Eighteenth Century composer. Handel is the only Eighteenth Century composer of sacred hymn tunes who was more prolific than Madan but the majority of his music is too difficult to be classified for general use in the church. To this day, most of Handel’s hymns are reserved for special performances. Handel’s Messiah is one such hymn. So Madan’s hymnal became the basis for all singing from the pews and he was in fact, the Father of the Evangelical Hymnal.
18. Jus Trium Liberorum is the term frequently used to describe what is more accurately called the Lex Papia Poppaea, A.D. 9, which granted special privileges to men with many children and punished celibacy by limiting the rights of single men. This can account for Paul’s discussions on celibacy which should not be taken as encouraging celibacy but as defending the right of a man or woman to voluntarily choose marriage instead of feeling compelled to marry by government decree. The Lex Papia Poppaea decreed punishments such as the loss of inheritance rights for those who remained single after having attained puberty up to the age of fifty for women and sixty for men. A man or woman was given one hundred days to get married upon finding out they were the beneficiary of an inheritance or forfeit the inheritance.
A Systematic and Historical Exposition – ROMAN LAW – In the Order of a Code by W. A.Hunter EMBODYING THE INSTITUTES OF GAIUS AND THE INSTITUTES OF JUSTINIAN, TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH BY J. ASHTON CROSS, B.A. of Balliol College, Oxford, BARRISTER-AT-LAW, Fourth Edition 1803
19. Deacon: A servant, attendant, domestic, one who serves or waits upon. Obviously, the original Greek definition given here is much different from the definition in many churches where a deacon is improperly assigned much authority.
20. 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”

Excerpt from Prince of Sumba, Husband to Many Wives Copyright © 2009 Don Milton All Rights Reserved

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385 footnotes. That’s got to be a record for a novel.

Prince of Sumba, Husband to Many Wives

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