Name:Heather •
Title: Celibacy In The Bible •
Date posted: 02/27/07 17:16
Q: Where in the Bible does it say that priests should be celibate? Where did this idea come from? I thought marriage represented a holy union.
Name:Kurgan •
Date: 03/01/07 18:05
A: Paul recognizes that celibacy (which he himself practices) is better than marriage, and that some people can't handle the higher calling.
Some people try to argue that Paul is actually preaching AGAINST celibacy, but if you read it in context, he makes a good case for both stations in life:
(quotes are from NASV):
"1 Corinthians 7
1Now concerning the things about which you wrote, it is (A)good for a man not to touch a woman.
2But because of immoralities, each man is to have his own wife, and each woman is to have her own husband.
3The husband must fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband.
4The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.
5Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
6But this I say by way of concession, not of command.
7Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am However, each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner, and another in that.
8But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I.
9But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion."
Also:
" 24Brethren, each one is to remain with God in that condition in which he was called.
25Now concerning virgins I have no command of the Lord, but I give an opinion as one who by the mercy of the Lord is trustworthy.
26I think then that this is good in view of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is.
27Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife.
28But if you marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet such will have trouble in this life, and I am trying to spare you.
29But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none;
30and those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess;
31and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away.
32But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord;
33but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife,
34and his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
35This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.
36But if any man thinks that he is acting unbecomingly toward his virgin daughter, if she is past her youth, and if it must be so, let him do what he wishes, he does not sin; let her marry.
37But he who stands firm in his heart, being under no constraint, but has authority over his own will, and has decided this in his own heart, to keep his own virgin daughter, he will do well.
38So then both he who gives his own virgin daughter in marriage does well, and he who does not give her in marriage will do better.
39A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.
40But in my opinion she is happier if she remains as she is; and I think that I also have the Spirit of God."
1 Timothy 3:2 says:
"2 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,"
This text is considered scripture, but its attribution to Paul is disputed (probably written by another disciple or follower of Paul) by critical scolars today. Some take this passage to mean that an "overseer" (bishop), MUST be married. Others say it's only forbidding polygamists from becoming bishops. Still others think it only means if his wife dies, he isn't allowed to remarry after ordination (which is the current rule btw for Catholic deacons).
In any case, it seems clear that celibacy for clerics was optional in Paul's time. Celibacy was popularly preached by the successors of the Apostles and their successors (known as the "Fathers of the Church") with only a few praising, however grudgingly, marriage (folks like Tertullian and some would say, Augustine). Celibacy for clerics eventually became a discipline in the West (Latin rite) to combat lay investiture and simony (abuses wherein the secular monarchs would put their own men into office to control the church, wealthy nobles who had wives and mistresses... obviously because they wanted heirs, by promoting instead the disciplined monks who were celibate ascetics, the church could ensure there wouldn't be outside influence in the church offices).
Now onto Jesus himself:
Matthew 19:3-13
" 3Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?"
4And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE,
5and said, 'FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND (D)THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH'?
6"So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."
7They said to Him, "Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?"
8He said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way.
9"And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery."
10The disciples said to Him, "If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry."
11But He said to them, "Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given.
12"For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother's womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it."
To this day, Anglican priests are allowed to marry, and if they convert to Catholicism and become ordained as Catholic priests, they have been recently allowed to stay married to their wives and practice their priestly office. Similarly to Orthodox priests.
In the Eastern Orthodox Churches, priests are allowed to marry.
The Eastern Rite Catholic churches (aka Eastern Catholics, they don't prefer the old term "Uniate" anymore apparently), who have some things in common with Orthodoxy, but are fully in union with the Pope of Rome (the Orthodox reject his claim of supreme authority over their churches). Their clergy have optional celibacy, much like the Orthodox and are allowed to exercise all their duties in peace. However I think their bishops may be required to be celibate to participate in councils with the Latin Rite, but I could be wrong about this (and this rule may be relaxed soon if it is still in place, due to misunderstandings and bad feelings that have resulted in the recent past). The Eastern Rites (there are I think 21 or 22 of them), are very small, but still an important part of the Catholic church, and thus it is correct to say that there are some married priests in good standing in Catholicism.
Most of the Protestant churches of course don't have "priests" and they don't seem to care about the marriage issue and may even (like many Jewish congregations) simply EXPECT that the minister will be a "good family man". Though some more traditionally conservative denominations, like the Southern Baptists refuse to allow female ministers (except maybe "children's ministers"). That's another topic entirely...
The argument that Jesus was not married therefore, priests, in imitation of Jesus, should not be, is not really the argument put forth (though I suppose you could toss it on the pile if you wanted to, until it's been proven that Jesus was anything but celibate). Paul's celibacy is also an argument like this. Though Peter was married (his mother in law is mentioned in the NT and Paul mentions him as having a wife), so you could go both ways on that I suppose. These aren't the arguments used for celibacy.
Basically, if the priest is unmarried, he has more time to devote to his flock. It's easier for him to be at the beck and call of the bishop (no family to uproot if he moves to another parish). He doesn't have to worry about inheritance or the church providing for his family.
There are downsides sure. He may have a harder time helping married people deal with their problems if he has no experience in those areas (unless he was married and his spouse died before his ordination or something). He might fall to sexual temptation without a regular partner (though the argument about the child abuse scandals wouldn't work, because a pedophile isn't going to stop molesting just because he has an adult sex partner!) as Paul implies. His wife might also do a lot of work around the church and help him out (as is the case in many Orthodox churches).
Some of the prophets in the Bible were also celibate, for example John the Baptist. The Jewish Essenes practiced celibacy as well as some other groups in the first century. So it was not uncommon, nor should we be suprised if it was popular in the early Church (which began as a Jewish sect).
Anyway, good question. ;)
Name:Pat •
Date: 03/01/07 19:44
A: Heather wrote:
Where in the Bible does it say that priests should be celibate? Where did this idea come from? I thought marriage represented a holy union.
Dear Heather:
Marrige is a holly union. The apostles were married men too. And sex is not a sin with adults.
The celibacy of the priesthood was decreed by Pope Hildebrand, Boniface VII, in the year....1079
Jesus imposed no such rule, nor did any of the apostles. On the contrary, St. Peter was a married man, and St. Paul says that bishops were to have wife and children. (Read I Tim. 3:2,5, and 12; Matt. 8:14-15).
Voluntary celibacy on the part of those who are dedicated to a great cause and who have what we may term “the gift of celibacy,” can be a real blessing. The Bible commends such practice. But celibacy enforced indiscriminately against whole groups of men and women is shown by its fruits to be not only difficult and irksome but productive of untold evils.
“Many things happen in marriage besides the act that leads to procreation, but the Roman Catholic priest’s ignorance makes him unequipped to advise others about them. He has no concept of the softer, enduring, satisfying, non‑sexual aspects of marriage, such as the intellectual complement between two people, the emotional balancing between a man and a woman”
Thus during the first centuries of the Christian era the clergy were permitted to marry and have families, and for more than a thousand years after the time of Christ, the Roman priesthood, without too much opposition, exercised the privilege.
It is easy to see why the pope and the hierarchy are so insistent on enforcing the law of celibacy against the priests, monks, and nuns. The reasons are both ecclesiastical and economic. In the first place it gives the pope and his prelates a higher degree of control over the priests and nuns, so that, not having wives or husbands or families which must be consulted in making their plans, they are more responsive to the orders of the hierarchy and can be transferred more readily from one parish to another or to different points around the world. And secondly, property owned by the priests, which in some cases is quite considerable, and which if they were married would go to their families, either automatically falls to the church or likely will be left to it by choice in much larger proportion. Thus the pope has secured for himself an army readily available to carry out his commands. That in accomplishing this purpose the priests and nuns are doomed to a life of celibacy, oftentimes to a life of misery in contending against nature, appears to be of little concern to the hierarchy.
Name:Rat_Terrier_Rules_Me •
Date: 03/07/07 17:13
A: It doesnt.
Name:Rat_Terrier_Rules_Me •
Date: 03/07/07 17:19
A: Someone wrote: "The Jewish Essenes practiced celibacy as well as some other groups in the first century. So it was not uncommon, nor should we be suprised if it was popular in the early Church (which began as a Jewish sect). "
If that was the case then this group would have died out from not getting married and bringing forth children. So that sect would have been gone and not carried on.
And in fact they would have been considered a cult and not a true sect of Judasim because they go against the Torah and not procreating which is the commandment given. go forth and multiply. People look at celebacy from a Christian standpoint not from a Jewish one. Remember that this man was Jewish.
Name:KRS •
Date: 03/09/07 2:50
A: Although, Hypolitus notes the marrying essenes - which may be referring to Qumran, and FF Bruce (one of the better scholars to work with the Qumran community) notes that there were likely a lower order of Essenes who lived in the city to facilitate trade (deduced from the Qumran Scrolls)
Heather,
I Cor 7 address sex by addressing a lot of different groups. Paul also, in another letter, indicates he wanted younger widows to remarry (which seems contradictory to the advice given in chapter 7). Verse 26 notes a coming distress, and there is a lot of speculation on what that means, but I think something was expected to happen that meant this wasn't a good time for people to be getting married; what precisely, I don't know, but I think that is an implication (there are scholars that differ with meon this).
As for celibacy for the clergy, my deduction (which I can't prove from hard evidence) is that the tradition may have started early on because of Roman persecution. Being a Christian was illegal between the time of Nero and the time of Constantine, and there were intermittent local and official persecutions. The overseer (or bishop) and the elders were very likely a marked men, and if a persecution began, they would be the first to lose their heads - if they were lucky enough to be Roman citizens. It may have been felt that it was best if such men didn't need to worry about what would happen to their families. Again its conjecture, so take it as you will.
Name:Tijet •
Date: 11/11/07 0:35
A: Clearly no one has read the Song of Songs from the Old Testament lately. If that is not a stamp of approval for having a healthy married relationship I don't know what is.
