Most of the major Christian denominations have experienced massive splits over the last few decades. These splits have happened because leaders within these denominations began taking them in a non-biblical direction that many within the church were not willing to accept. Over time, the differences became so pronounced that the two sides could no longer coexist within the same organization, so they ended up splitting.
The primary points of dispute that caused the splits centered around such things as abortion, homosexual clergy, gay marriage, the authority of the Bible, and how to interpret the Bible. Those of a more theologically conservative mindset hold on to traditional Christian beliefs concerning theology and morality. Those on the liberal side place emphasis on social justice and filter their theology through the lens of non-biblical theological methodologies such as higher criticism, liberation theology, postmodern theology, and others. The liberal approaches to theology don’t begin with the teachings in the biblical text, but rather with some other philosophy (Marxism or Secular Humanism, for instance), and interpret the Bible through those lenses.
One of the more liberal denominations, The Presbyterian Church (USA) has allowed for the ordination of openly gay clergy since 2011. In fact, in 2014 it even officially altered its definition of marriage to "two people," as opposed to a man and a women, in order to accommodate gay marriage. This was one of the issues that created the denominational split in the first place. But now, there is a new controversy that pits liberal against liberal, and the liberalism of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has now devolved even further.
In the 2026 General Assembly they are slated to vote on an amendment to their Book of Order (which serves as the first part of the denomination's constitution and outlines its form of government) that would explicitly require ordained ministers to engage only in monogamous sexual relationships (this General Assembly has not yet occurred as of this writing). You can read more about it at https://www.foxnews.com/media/presbyterian-church-faces-internal-revolt-proposing-clergy-must-monogamous-relationships. Those offering the rule argue that the practice of polyamory or polygamy can create "power imbalances, emotional harm, and spiritual confusion," particularly for women, children, and historically marginalized persons.
There are, however, three official progressive denominational church committees that are formally opposing this rule. They argue that it ignores lived relationship realities and targets LGBTQ+ communities. In other words, they believe that requiring pastors to be monogamous attempts to "regulate the private lives and relational structures of individuals in ways that risk harm rather than healing." They also claim that the rule imposes "a narrow, culturally specific understanding of family" that "privileges a dominant cultural framework over the lived realities of communities of color and global Christians." So what is going on?
The bottom line explanation is that the denomination was already operating outside of a biblical worldview by accepting gay marriage, so why would it be surprising to see it going even further down that road?
Every person, and every organization, operates based on the beliefs of some authority source. Genuine Christian faith looks to the Bible as its authority source. Theological and moral beliefs that stray outside of its teachings are considered to be sin in an objective sense. Based on biblical teachings, marriage is defined as the union of one man and one woman for life. Beyond that, sexual relations outside of marriage are said to be contrary to God’s will. What the Presbyterian Church (USA) has done, though, is to set aside the Bible and adopt naturalistic philosophy as its authority source. Under that morally relativistic system, human beings get to make up their own morality based on personal preference. This is what happens when you have no objective foundation for an authority source. Their beliefs are really no different than Secularism.
So why would one group within the church prefer monogamy, and the other wish to allow multiple partners? Actually, it really doesn’t matter since both of them are operating outside of biblical teachings. Neither one of these are Christian, no matter what words are on the sign outside of their building.
The fact is, God objectively exists and has revealed Himself and His ways to mankind. And a huge portion of the revelation He has given mankind is in the Bible. There are, of course, things in the Bible that genuine Christians can legitimately disagree about. And that’s not a problem as long as the disagreements do not relate to essential elements of the faith. But what the Presbyterians are arguing about does relate to some of the essentials. They dispute the Christian authority source itself, as well as the biblical doctrine of man. They are simply not Christian.
When people become their own authority source, there is a tendency for them to be intolerant of those who hold an opposing belief. Those people will never be satisfied.
Freddy Davis is the president of MarketFaith Ministries. He is the author of numerous books entitled The Truth Mirage, Rules for Christians Radicals, Liberalism vs. Conservatism, and his latest book Shattering the Truth Mirage and has a background as an international missionary, pastor, radio host, worldview trainer, and entrepreneur. Freddy is a graduate of Florida State University with a BS in Communication, and holds MDiv and DMin degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a popular speaker, particularly on the topic of worldview and its practical implications for the Christian life. He lives in Tallahassee, FL, with his wife Deborah.
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