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If the attribute of perfection is ascribed to thing A, then one must be sure to understand clearly the original thing A and not a subsequent misunderstanding of thing A. Thing A₁ is not thing A.

Jesus clearly says that monogamy is the original "thing A."

The fact that stories are recounted of those who practiced a thing A₁ AND who were considered acceptable to God, does not mean that God did any more than allow a relationship with those who did less than his original intent. Moses murdered a man, but God still had a relationship with him. Does that indicate God's approval of murder? Hardly, because God used the very same Moses to relay the command that says, "Thou shalt not murder."

It indicates a willingness on God's part to be both merciful and to work with the material at hand.

You frame your arguments well, so let us continue.

“Your premise, it seems to me is this: If you change something in favor of a new thing, then the original thing must have been flawed. Or, stated differently...if thing A is changed in favor of thing B, then thing A must have been flawed.”

No, not flawed, but not perfect, the item that immediately comes to mind is the soap commercials of many, many years, “: New and improved.,” allegedly the soap worked, but now it will work better. If you have something that is working correctly then there is no need to change it, to do so would be foolish. One looks to change something when they see there would be a benefit from doing so, thereby justifying the cost involvement. Or to rely on a cliché, “Necessity is the Mother of Invention.”

But I will accept your argument, as it relates to Solomon and his many wives that perhaps God was in a good mood that day and decided to show forgiveness this time. Forgiveness is a product of compassion and compassion is a product of love. So if the premise is that God is perfect, love has to be an attribute of God. But that brings me to my next question that maybe you can help with.

Theology starts from the premise that God is perfect, which makes sense in that who is going to worship a God that makes mistakes. But then God tells us early on in the Bible that he is a jealous God, and we can see from further text that when his jealousy is aroused he can be very quick to anger and go on a extensive killing spree. I mean the guy readily becomes homicidal.

Now jealousy is thought to be a defect in character and possibly even a psychiatric disorder when it becomes real serious. It is usually the result of a low sense of self-esteem or a sense of not being worthy of love. So that in severe cases the afflicted person will try to entrap someone by getting him or her to say they love them and then the afflicted person will continuously look for ways in which they can prove that the other person is lying, thereby reconfirming their original notion that they are not worthy of love. This can often be part of the basis of an abusive relationship that women get into which results in their being beaten and sometimes murdered.

And anger, which God is very prone to, is nothing more than fear trying to pass itself off as something else.

So I am having a problem with reconciling a God that is thought to be perfect who suffers from an emotional disorder.