Co-host Wendy Griffith started off the segment with this question by a listener named Margaret: "Why did God allow the men of faith in the Old Testament to have multiple wives and concubines? And when did God change his mind and make marriage monogamous?"
You've got to hear Pat Robertson's response:
Pat Robertson: I don't think God changed his mind. The truth is that women have babies. When they have babies, they can't fight wars because they're having babies. They're looking after their babies. And they need someone to look after them. That's why husbands are supposed to look after their wives. And a man can look after several wives whereas one wife cannot look after several husbands. But I think in the early days, there must have been more women than men. Y'know, multiple wives was standard stuff in the primitive societies. They still are in Africa. I know one guy. He was a chief or general. He had 60 wives. So you'd say, "That's a little excessive," and indeed it is.To summarize, Pat Robertson admitted that polygamy is culturally neutral in the Bible and denied that there is any real prohibition against it. In fact, he was pretty blasé about the concept despite the whole "one man/one woman/one flesh" garbage that ministries like The 700 Club have pushed for decades and used to deny marital rights and rites to same-sex couples.
But nevertheless, God didn't change his mind but there came the New Testament and Jesus gave the standard of marriage -- a man will leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and between them they'll become one flesh -- and so that's the Biblical order of the New Testament.
But the culture has changed. God didn't changed his mind. The culture changed. Still... I'm not sure I know anything in the Bible that indicates that polygamy as such is against the Bible. But we don't do it and a lot of laws are based on the New Testament and don't permit it. That's the way we are.
Wendy Griffith: And praise the Lord for that!
Pat Robertson: *Laughs* Y'know, you go to China and now there are more men than there are women to go around so maybe a wife will get several husbands!
So next time the 700 Club begins talking about marriage, just remember that "polygamy in a culture? = good" while "same-sex marriage in a culture = bad" -- despite the fact that there is no prohibition against same-sex marriage in the Bible. Understand?
You can watch the entire segment here.