Craig

This is an issue I have not thought much about before – I don’t have a lot of polygamist friends 🙂
Correct me if I am wrong. I think the key point that you are differing from me on is that you very clearly see that a polygamist who becomes a christian is continuing in sin unless he gives up his polygamy. Therefore he must divorce all but one of his wives to not be in sin. Then he is able to grow in godliness and could be a leader in the church. I can see how all this would make sense and fit in with the 1 Tim 3 passage and remove the inconsistencies I had wondered about. There is no way that a person blatantly continuing in known sin like this should be considered for leadership in the church.
I still wonder though whether the bible is all that clear on these issues. I can see that God’s intention from the beginning has always been one man and one woman in marriage. But on the other hand he seems to overlook the many examples of polygamy in the O.T. and if it was indeed a common practice in N.T times there is very little explicit condemnation of it and no details I can recall of how to deal with the problem in the way you suggest.
I have heard it suggested that it should be treated like the situation of a new christian not divorcing an unbelieving wife. He should stay in the situation he is in. I have heard of missionaries taking this approach when evangelizing areas where polygamy was common. One would want to be fairly sure before telling people that God says that polygamy is sin and the only way to be godly is through divorce.
What is it that convinces you that the bible is clear on the subject?