Issues and Dilemmas of Christian Missionaries

CASE STUDY
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Issues and Dilemmas
The dilemma is whether to baptize a polygamist where Christian missionaries wanted to evangelize and minister to a group of polygamist Indians. Romans 7:2-3 highlights that a woman is bound to her husband by the law as long as he is alive, but if with another man when the husband is alive, she is adulterous. There is no dispute that the Indian man’s marriage with the first wife was acceptable to all. The dilemma is whether he was to be baptized together with the other wives. Even as there is diversity in the Christian community, baptism remains a widely accepted religious ritual (Howell and Paris, 2019, p. 194). People are baptized in faith and admitted to the community of faith where there are other believers. Baptism is important for Christians, where water symbolizes spiritual transformation.
The New Testament emphasizes monogamy as the ideal form of marriage, and this is the norm. However, ministers are expected to evangelize and baptize people living in an area where polygamy is accepted among the indigenous Indian community. The people have long-standing social institutions and culture on marriage and the role of men and women in society. The indigenous Indians have encountered a new religion and faith that is different from their culture. The people may be afraid of outside influence on the people’s culture, especially if it appears that missionary work is likely to destabilize the culture.
Rationale Informing Actions
The Church does not accept bigamy, polygamy, and polyandry, which poses a challenge on how best to handle the situation of polygamist Indians. One group argued that only the first marriage was valid, b...