No abstract available. / Dissertation (MA(Theol))--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

People of Africa have travelled a long way with discrimination oppression and abuse, more especially women married as second wives in a Polygamous marriage. They have been abused oppressed and discriminated in the church, in the family and in the community. This has happened for a very longtime due to a long time male dominance in the church and in the community. This has left the church crippled in the ministering of women more especially second wives married in a Polygamous marriages. The researcher aims to help our community to confess for the past sins and ask for forgiveness. The aim here is to help the church to see that culture and Christianity works together with the aim of having one culture as Mugambi states “It can be change” ( Mugambi J.N. 1997.14). by doing so it will be pleasing in God’s eyes and we will be blessed as Africans. The researcher focuses on how the Methodist Church of Sothern Africa can play a role in addressing issues faced by the second wives married in a Polygamous marriage so that they have dignity and human rights. How can the church deal with the trauma and pains caused by the church, the in Laws and the community more especially after the death of a husband, this will help the women’s married in a polygamous marriages to share their painful stories so that they can be helped, and accepted by the church and organizations in the church as full members. This research is a way of helping and educating the church to have compassion and love for the women’s married in a Polygamous marriage, and that will make the church to be christlike and that will be pleasing in God’s eyes and we will be blessed as Africans and as the people of God. / Dissertation (MA(Theol))--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Practical Theology / unrestricted

Infidelity of clergy has been defined as a culture, by those who believe in polygamous marriage. Women are often controlled by men and very few societies exhibit an equalitarian relationship. One paramount way in which men control women is through sex and sexual power. Infidelity is abuse because the characteristics of the unfaithful are like those of a battered and the symptoms of the victim are like those of the battered. Sitting in on battered women’s group, I heard the same things-women wanting to go back; full of anger and rage, saying they’d rather be beaten than wonder where their partner was sleeping at night. The researcher is ministering among Pondo and Bhaca people who are no strangers to this oppressing practice. Few marriages in these days last beyond few years, because infidelity has become such an accepted alternative way of living and working out marital problems. The problem disturbed author’s ministry as a junior minister. As result I am researching this problem so as to come out with a theory that will help to address this issue. Clergy spouses approach the act of infidelity very painful, they ended up traumatizing their own spouses, children and their ministry. One of my favourite clergy in Pondo even resigned his pastorate about a year ago due to adultery and fathering a child outside of his marriage. All of these high profile ministers have been involved in some form of infidelity. But still the powerful words from Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:13 “no temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it”. Today, many churches invite unfaithful itinerant clergies to preach to their congregations unaware of the spiritual poison they are injecting directly into the life blood of their congregations and the Christian community. No wonder many churches are so full of infidelity, dishonesty and immorality of the worst kind. Clergy spouses decided to stay in their marriage are taught forgiveness, so that they can move away from their traumatic experience. / Dissertation (MA Theol)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Practical Theology / unrestricted

Written in Swedish with an English abstract. Polygamy has recently received more and more attention in Sweden due to, among other things, the streams of refugees and globalization. The Swedish norm of marriage is monogamy thus family constellations that go against this sometimes have difficulties to adapt to the Swedish family law. Polygamy is a collective name for marriages where a person is married to several people at the same time. The sex basically does not play a role in the concept of polygamy, but the most common marriage constellation, and the constellation that this essay has delimited itself to, is the one where one man is married to several women. Today, polygamy is mainly practiced in the Muslim countries of Asia and Africa where the Qur'an is an important part of the construction of the countries' legal systems. In order for polygamy to be allowed in Sweden, it is required that the marriage can be recognized according to the law on certain international legal relationships concerning marriage and guardianship (lag om vissa internationella rättsförhållanden rörande äktenskap och förmynderskap). According to the Swedish Tax Agency's (Skatteverket) investigation, there are currently 679 persons registered with one or more spouses in the population register in Sweden; on the other hand, the figure is not considered to reflect reality. When a person dies, there are many things to be organized. Most of these issues in Sweden are regulated in the Inheritance Code (ärvdabalken). But since most of the family law in Sweden is based on the Swedish norm of marriage of monogamy, there are several application problems when the Inheritance Code is to be applied to polygamous marriages. But although the law is mainly designed for monogamy, it is possible to apply the law to polygamous family constellations. Even though it is not designed for this purpose, the law should be considered flexible enough that it can be applied. However, the application of the law creates problems among other things when it comes to the women in the relationship. It is clear that women in polygamous marriages have more uncertainties than women in monogamous marriages when it comes to the right to inherit and survivor`s protection. It is also difficult to presume that the proposal for legislative amendment that are on the table will contribute to strengthening the protection of the women. However, there are many indications that it in general looks good for the children in the marriages. There is really not much that suggests that children whose parents are in polygamous relationships are treated a lot differently when it comes to the right to inherit then children with parents in monogamous marriages. / Polygami har på senare tid uppmärksammats mer och mer i Sverige med anledning av bland annat flyktingströmmar och globalisering. Den svenska äktenskapsnormen är tvåsamhet, monogami vilket således har lett till att familjekonstellationer som går emot denna norm ibland har svårt att anpassas till den svenska familjerätten. Polygami är ett samlingsnamn för äktenskap där en person är gift med flera personer samtidigt.  I grunden spelar könet inte någon betydelse för begreppet polygami men den vanligaste äktenskapskonstellationen, och den konstellation som uppsatsen har avgränsat sig till, är den där en man är gift med flera kvinnor. Idag är polygami främst praktiserat i de muslimska länderna i Asien och Afrika där Koranen är en viktig del av uppbyggnaden av ländernas rättsordningar. För att polygami ska bli tillåtet i Sverige krävs det att äktenskapen kan erkännas enligt lagen om vissa internationella rättsförhållanden rörande äktenskap och förmynderskap. Enligt Skatteverkets utredning finns det idag 679 personer registrerade med en eller flera makar i folkbokföringsdatabasen i Sverige, däremot anses siffran inte spegla verkligheten. När en människa dör är det mycket saker som ska anordnas. De flesta av dessa angelägenheterna i Sverige regleras i ärvdabalken. Men eftersom den till största delen av familjerätten i Sverige utgår från den svenska äktenskapsnormen om tvåsamhet, föreligger det ett flertal tillämpningsproblem när ärvdabalken ska tillämpas på polygama äktenskap. Men trots att lagen i huvudsak är utformad för monogami finns det möjlighet att tillämpa lagen vid polygama familjekonstellationer. Trots att lagen i sig inte är konstruerad för polygama familjer torde den dock vara så flexibel att den går att tillämpa. Tillämpningen av lagen är dock behäftade med problem för bland annat kvinnorna i relationen. Det är tydligt att kvinnor i polygama äktenskap har det mer osäkert än kvinnor i monogama äktenskap när det kommer till arv och efterlevnadsskydd. Att de förslag till lagändring som ligger på bordet kommer bidra till en stärkelse av kvinnornas skydd är även det svårt att förmoda. Mycket tyder dock på att det överlag ser bra ut för barnen i äktenskapen. Det finns egentligen inte mycket som tyder på att barnen i hög utsträckning blir särbehandlade jämte barn i monogama äktenskap.