Q. The Jewish religion from the time of Moses until about the 14th Century permitted a Jewish man to have more than one wife.  For example, if a Jewish man had a wife who had a serious mental illness, such as schizophrenia, he could keep the first wife and marry the second wife to have children. Please give me the canon of the church and its date that prohibited a second wife.

A. We are aware of no "canon" law in the history of the Christian church that at some point "prohibited a second wife." In the Christian understanding, Jesus taught that monogamy was the norm from the very beginning, a truth consistently and unanimously held by the New Testament writers. By way of example, the following paragraphs summarize the Lutheran understanding of the scriptural teaching:

"'Polygamy is prohibited by Scripture and all Christian churches. Monogamous marriage is the only form of marriage recognized by Jesus as instituted by God for all times (Matt. 19:4-6)....While Scripture records instances of polygamous marriage in the Old Testament, it does not thereby sanction polygamy. It is forbidden in the Moral Law (Lev. 18:18). The Civil Law of Moses did indeed permit it (Deut. 21:15-17), as it permitted also divorces not sanctioned by the Moral Law, and for the same reason, 'because of the hardness of their hearts' (Matt. 19:8). This toleration and regulation of polygamy and of divorce does not carry with it the sanction of Moral Law. A thing may be legally right, but not morally." (E. Koehler, A Summary of Christian Doctrine, 286)

"According to the divine institution, lawful marriage consists of one man and one woman (Gen. 2:18,24). Christ supported monogamy as the only proper form of marriage (Matt. 19:4-6). While the Bible does not directly condemn the plural marriages that occurred in the Old Testament, it candidly reports the evil effects of polygamy (or polygyny), as in the families of Jacob (Gen. 35:22; 37:18-28), David (2 Sam. 13; 15),  and especially Solomon (1 Kings 11:1-2)."  (J. T. Mueller, The Concise Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, "Polygamy")

The above-described position is similar to that held by the Roman Catholic Church (see Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1610, 1645, 2387).

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