ACTUAL, BIBLICAL MONOGAMY DEFINED
True, genuine, biblical monogamy consists of a godly man, who has never known a woman carnally, marrying a virgin in the Lord. By "virgin", I mean a woman who has never carnally known a man. I do not refer to a woman who has been humbled, or to those who claim to be "spiritual virgins". The two become one flesh and remain that way for as long as they both shall live. It is very rare and it is very precious because it rarely ever happens.
Although many couples today may well live "monogamously", even this style of cohabitation is not precisely the same thing as actually engaging in the uncompromised state of monogamy incarnate for as long as they both shall live; but rather, these sort of marriages represent an approximation or facsimile of genuine monogamy. One may well call this arrangement "monogamy by proxy" but; it isn't the genuine article. There is a difference between the similitude of a thing and the actual thing itself - hence the words, "monogomous" and "monogamous - ly". Monogamous is the genuine article and "monogamously" is the facsimile of it.
All those other examples of alleged "monogamy" do not qualify for the true definition of monogamy which cannot be compromised by the existence of having more than one spouse in a single life time. Widows and widowers who have re-married in the LORD are not truly monogamous. They may well be living monogamously, but this is not genuine, MONOGAMY ONLY. In fact, the original meaning of the word, "bigamy" applied exclusively to widows and widowers until it was recently redefined in the early 1900's to meet the changing requirements of a new age language. Bearing this in mind, it should then follow that all approximations to monogamy (one marriage) are either compromised by and through carnal marriage (one flesh), or else they are compromised in spirit and truth, with respect to the integrity of the term, "Mono-gamy", and therefore they are not true examples of biblical Monogamy; nor indeed can they be. Any widow or widower who marries more than once in their lifetime is indeed a bigamist in the truest, literal, sense of the word.
Biblical Monogamy is strictly non-compromised. It can only occur between two heterosexual virgins who marry one another in the flesh and in the sight of God. I should like to add here that God is not at all myopic and would caution the reader to bear in mind that "shacking up" is indeed ONE FLESH in the sight of God. Now this, I fully realize, is a bone of contention among many; nonetheless what the LORD God has called One flesh, let not man put asunder. As with all marriage, it is sanctified only by God if it is indeed marriage; for they must be found, saith the Word, and if it is not marriage, then it is indeed something else. It would stand to reason why the Apostle Paul advised the true monogamists and widows in the church with respect to remaining unmarried as he did even though Paul was no hypocrite and surely had a wife; for who can say that Paul was no Elder in the Church? "Therefore let every man have his own wife", said Paul.
There is no scriptural example of biblical monogamy as a mandate for defining the state, or institution, of marriage among believers in the LORD. In fact, the Apostle Paul stresses this point in the first book of Corinthians, chapter seven concerning marriage with the knowledge that each has their "proper gift". Not all in the Body of Christ are required to be monogamists (yet monogamy is a gift indeed) and there is no scripture in the Holy Bible requiring this to be the only criteria touching an acceptable marriage in the sight of God. For many of the Lord's own patriarchs married more than once and many had more than one wife; howbeit the regard of God is not to be trifled with. The LORD God had more than one wife and He did put one away. A true example of monogamy holds true both in spirit and in truth. As far as the flesh is concerned monogamy is manifest precisely this way but not all can receive this saying and not all those who are in the Kingdom of God, have the testimony of monogamy here, on earth. Some even have the testimony of celibacy. Some have the testimony of husbandry. All who are His have the testimony of Jesus Christ, the greatest Patriarch that ever was and is and ever will be.
For more information on the history of monogamy in the church I recommend the following link:
MONOGAMY IN THE CHURCH.
When I was a youngster I actually studied lepidoptera. I was quite obsessed with all of GOD's handiwork and shared a remarkable appreciation for it.
(I must admit that the Latin language has a certain flare of it's own.)
Polygonia gracilis zephyrus (W. H. Edwards, 1870)
(Zephyr Anglewing) Go to SOURCE: http://www.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/papilionoidea/nymphalidae/nymphalinae/nymphalis/index.html#gracilis%20zephyrus
Main Species Page �?Live Adults 1 �?Live Adults 2 �?Live Adults 3
Immatures
1 �?/FONT> Immatures 2 �?Larval Foodplants �?Habitats
Rocky Mountains - Pacific, Nevada Zephyr Anglewing
Grapta zephyrus Edwards, 1870; Trans. amer. ent. Soc. 3: 16, TL: Nevada
Polygonia zephyrus f. thiodamas Scudder, 1875; (unavail.)
= Polygonia gracilis zephyrys ; [NL4A, #2033a] Polygonia gracilis zephyrus, Butterflies of America [BOA]
Polygonia zephyrus, NSG Voucher Specimen [Wahlberg]
Polygonia zephyrus, Butterflies and Moths of North America [BAMONA]
Polygonia gracilis zephyrus, Listing of Mexican Butterflies [ILMB]
Polygonia zephyrus, Butterflies of Southeastern Arizon [Bruce Walsh]
Polygonia zephyrus ; Dyar, 1903, Bull. U.S. natn. Mus., 52: 22; [EBW]; [NACL, #4426]; [BOW: pl. 14, f. 28, pl. 41, f. 17]
Polygonia gracilis zephyrus ; Scott, 1988, J. Lep. Soc. 42 (1): 46-56
Polygonia gracilis zephyrys ; [NL4A, #2033a]
Nymphalis (Polygonia) gracilis zephyrus ; [Joseph Belicek]