2006-09-06 00:41:51 · 14 answers · asked by vik_016 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The Catholic church doesn't want priests married because they claim Jesus wasn't married and was chaste. They want their priests to be in Jesus' image. Your own opinion to that is what matters.
You won't find it in the Bible, as Jesus did not create the Catholic church. He did put in motion the creation of Christianity though.
2006-09-06 00:49:28 · answer #1 · answered by dlobryan1 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Actually, it's not specifically stated that priests cannot marry. The Old Testament priests married, and some of the apostles(like Peter, the alleged founder of the catholic church, according to Catholic theology) were married. In the early history of the Christian Church when there were major churches in Rome, Alexandria, Constantinople, etc., some priests were married. However, as the the asceticism movement took hold where holiness and closeness to God were defined more by how much a person deprived-and in some cases punished themselves- the Church began to strongly discourage marriage among the priesthood. Advocates of this position pointed to the Nazarites in the Old Testament and the apostle Paul, Jesus, and others who denied themselves the privileges of marriage, and eventually the Catholic church forbade marriage among the priesthood altogether. However, I believe the Greek Orthodox church, which is the Eastern version of the Church and has roots as historically deep as the Catholic Church, allows priests to marry.
Sorry for the long answer, but there is no verse specifically forbidding priests/ministers/elders/deacons or any other leader in the church from marrying.
2006-09-06 00:55:24 · answer #2 · answered by Tynes 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I had a Catholic Priest once tell me that requiring priests to remain celibate stemmed from back when the church granted homesteads to priests. The church didn't want there to be anyone to inherit the land so the property would go back to the church.
However, I suppose others would point to Paul's treatise on marriage in, hmmm, Colossians I think where he states "it's better for a man to remain as I am" (unmarried). The context of that is that an unmarried man has fewer earthbound concerns and also more time to focus on the gospel and therefore for some people, the choice to remain unmarried is a good thing.
2006-09-06 00:50:19 · answer #3 · answered by KDdid 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Nowhere is ti found in the bible - OT or NT - that priest cannot marry. Aaron and all the other priests in the OT were married. In the NT Paul commanded priests to be married in 1 Timothy and Titus. The Catholic Church wants men to be unnatural.
"A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife" (1 Timothy 3:2)
"Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife" (1 Tim. 3:12)
"For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God" (Titus 1: 5 - 7).
Peter was married. As for Jesus being married or single, the bible is silent on that.
2006-09-06 00:46:41 · answer #4 · answered by ? 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The catholic cult had a big problem with nepotism, bastard children, and concubines, having priests and bishops screwing everything and eating up the profits. To prevent it, a pope dictated that no priests be allowed to marry.
It had nothing to do with "blessings from god", it was damage control.
Now it's no longer needed, and in fact is probably causing more problems than it solves for the cult. The priests and nuns are aging with no young people to replace them, branch offices (sometimes called "parishes) have to be closed and stop generating revenue, and they're also the problem of pedophiles, people who can't deal with normal relationships so they hide in a "job" where sex and marriage aren't allowed.
(For the uninformed or simply hateful, pedophilia is not a "gay" crime. It is perpetrated by people who can't handle functional adult relationships. Check with the American Psychological Association: pedophiles are *less* likely to be gay. In fact, most pedophiles are described as heterosexual, socially conservative males.)
2006-09-06 00:55:48 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are some married priests. If a married Episcopalian or Orthodox priest converts or reverts to the Roman Catholic Church then they may remain married. They may not marry as a Catholic priest.
1 Corinthians 7:25
Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who has obtained mercy from the Lord to be trustworthy.
26 I think that it is good therefore, because of the distress that is on us, that it is good for a man to be as he is.
27 Are you bound to a wife? Don't seek to be freed. Are you free from a wife? Don't seek a wife.
2006-09-06 00:52:40 · answer #6 · answered by Debra M. Wishing Peace To All 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No where in the bible does it state that priest can not marry. This is strictly a catholic practice. Some believe that many years ago the catholic church did not want their priest to marry because they wanted to be sure that all their worldly possessions would go to the church.
2006-09-06 00:50:02 · answer #7 · answered by Jesus_Loves 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well it's not. Go read the whole thing and you'll cross your eyes looking for it. You will however in one of the epistles, find a verse something like "A Bishop must be faithful, the husband of one wife."
For a full treatment of the issue of priestly celibacy read
Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven: Women, Sexuality, and the Catholic Church: Books: Uta Ranke-Heinemann by
2006-09-06 01:08:06 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is no specific reference to my knowledge. The practice of priests not marrying in the Catholic church stems from the writings of the apostle Paul who if I remember correctly made reference to being free from the needs of the flesh. It is believed that aspiring to be free from these needs brought one closer to god. Look in Paul's writings. The belief is from implication and not from any specific passage stating this literally.
2006-09-06 00:54:20 · answer #9 · answered by spirus40 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The actual reason from theior mouths and documents is because the Catholic church was tired of losing propert or land to Old Priests families. So they made it so that Piest who owned land ( or anything else like that that would remain in/to the church) could not get married therefore keeping what they felt belonged to them.
Some priest will say the vow of chastity over rules their desires. They use the example of Spiritual Eunuchs. The bible discusses "Spiritual" eunuchs who gave and dedicated their whole life to God and his work. Not wanting to marry because they realized to marry and have kids means to be dedicated to your new family.
2006-09-06 00:47:21 · answer #10 · answered by david s 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋