The Roman Catholic church dictates that the use of contraceptives and abortion is prohibited. That is clear to me. What isn't clear to me is the fact that in the book of Genesis, it states "be fruitful and multiply and replenish the Earth" (1:28), but the same church that preaches that has an insistence on celibacy for priests and nuns. Isn't celibacy for priests and nuns a direct defiance of the command to be fruitful and multiply?
2006-11-12 05:44:27 · 17 answers · asked by I Am Legend 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Yes, you are correct. Paul says that all preachers should be married and blameless. Jesus himself said that celibacy is something for the individual to decide. He said that if you want to a celibate, fine, if not then get married. So, the Catholic Church is just one ball of contradiction and almost entirely un-biblical.
2006-11-12 05:47:02 · answer #1 · answered by . 7 · 0⤊ 3⤋
+ Vocations +
Just like Jesus, John the Baptist, the Apostle Paul, and millions of others throughout history, not everyone is called to the married life.
Both marriage and the single life are vocations. We have to determine which God has chosen for us.
+ Sex and Marriage +
Judeo-Christian tradition has taught for thousands of years:
1. Single people should be celibate.
2. Married people should be faithful to each other (adultery is wrong).
3. Married couples should welcome God's gift of children and, therefore, artificial birth control was against the will of God.
The Catholic Church recognizes the power of sex when it teaches, "Sexuality affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of his body and soul."
Chastity means the successful integration of sexuality within the person. A chaste person's body and spirit lives in unity and opposes any behavior that would impair that unity.
The purpose of sex is to bring a husband and wife closer and to create human life.
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt3sect2chpt2art6.htm#2337
+ Celibacy +
Once again, Judeo-Christian tradition has always held that single people be celibate. The question should be: Why can't priests and nuns marry?
This idea of a celibate clergy came from the Jews, John the Baptist, Jesus, and the Apostle Paul.
The Jews. The Talmud argues that a person whose “soul is bound up with the Torah and is constantly occupied with it” may remain celibate (Maimonides, Laws of Marriage 15.3). For example, Yahweh ordered the prophet Jeremiah not to marry (Jeremiah 16:1-4). Moreover, the Essenes was a group that was active in Jesus’ time that practiced celibacy and thought by most scholars to be the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
WWJD? What would Jesus do? Jesus did not marry.
John the Baptist and Jesus are both believed to have been celibate for their entire lives. Some scholars believe that the example of the Essenes influenced either or both Jesus and John the Baptist in their celibacy.
The Apostle Paul is explicit about his celibacy (see 1 Cor. 7). There is also evidence in the gospel of Matthew for the practice of celibacy among at least some early Christians, in the famous passage about becoming “eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 19:12).
The concept took many twists and turns over the years and will probably take a few more before Christ returns in glory.
+ With love in Christ.
2006-11-12 14:35:42 · answer #2 · answered by imacatholic2 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No Christian Church ever accepted contraception as morally permissible before 1930.
The Catholic Church is obviously not against marriage or you wouldn't see so many Catholic weddings.
Marriage and having children is not a right, it's a calling. And being a priest or a friar or a monk or a nun is not a right. It too is a calling from God.
But celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom is a higher calling. It's not for all but only for those who are called to it.
The bible encourages celibacy for those who can accept it. Jesus talks about this (Matt. 19:12 and Luke 18:29-30) and Saint Paul talks about it (1 Cor. 7:7-8 and 32-35).
2006-11-12 06:10:05 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
You are confusing a few things here. Monks and nuns are celibate out of choice. It is part of their religious vocation and the way of monastic orders.
Celibacy for priest is a different matter. Roman Catholic priest have not always been celibate. The reason for the change is for a variety of reasons. Some have to do with property, control of clergy and the ability of the clergy to serve the people.
Not everyone has what the RC Church calls a "vocation" to the married life. Not everyone must marry and raise children.
Now I have a theory about this. This is my thought only. IMO when women had less choices that they have to day, and they were expected to marry and be practically slaves to their husbands, the only other option for a woman was to become a nun. There are far less nuns today, because women have more options.
2006-11-12 05:55:19 · answer #4 · answered by tonks_op 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Well, look at the history of the catholic church, and it's unusual obscession with "material wealth". Now I got this directly from a very senior personage within the catholic clergy some years ago, so don't shoot the messenger, folks. According to him, the introduction of mandatory celibacy came about at one point after it became "fashionable" for wealthy Catholic Families (who of course at that time bred many offspring), to dedicate one of its sons to the priesthood, or its daughters to nunhood (if that's a word). Those were days when children tended to do whatever their parents demanded of them. The Vatican got to thinking about this and realised that where there might be some considerable estate upon the death of the Patriarch and Matriarch of such a family, any member of that family who was "of the cloth" would inherit his share of it. I think nuns were always expected to be celibate, so this applied more to the men, who would have complete ownership and control of anything they inherited and, naturally, if they were also husbands and fathers, the wife and children would be the automatic beneficiaries in most cases, because even a member of the Catholic Priesthood would hardly will his estate to the Church and leave his own family destitute.
BUT, if Rome issued an edict that all men wishing to become priests would have to enter into a vow of celibacy (no wife, no children, no sex), when HIS wealthy parents died, and he got his share, he would be huuuuugely more inclined to bequeath it on to........ you guessed it, The Church. It would obviously be impossible for Rome to order this only for men from wealthy families, so the only way to do it would be to issue it as a total rule, applying to ANY man who was thinking of becoming a priest. It was so ordered, and it has remained the ruling to this day.
I think it would be very difficult today, to try and validate the alleged command of "God" to "be fruitful and multiply" since humans have done such an excellent job of fulfilling that, half the world these days is either starving to death or living below the poverty line, while humans in well developed societies are tearing up the land, destroying the habitat of the other creaturs of the planet, and using it for what?..... . Profit.... their own personal gain.
It would seem that after all, the old adage remains true....."If they say it's not about the money....it's about the money"
2006-11-12 06:15:22 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
the Fruitful quote is not a commandment. It is a blessing. The Commandments came MUCH later.
Catholic clergy used to be able to marry, but this was abolished for political reasons (nepotism).
Episcipal Ministers already married can convert to Catholicism and keep their wives. They're ministerial position can be transformed into priest. Thus a few odd people are married Catholic Priests. Widowers can become priests too!
2006-11-12 05:49:30 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
The Catholic Church's official teaching is that all persons should be open to the possibility of life.
Celibacy is a discipline...nothing more...nothing less. (Besides, most people actually spend the better part of their waking hours NOT having sex.)
Finally, "fruitful and multiply" is directed at many things besides adding persons to the population. It also means helping to bring others to the Faith, spreading love, teaching others to help others, etc.
Deduced from all of this is the fact that birth control and abortion are selfish acts, regardless of the stated intent of the perp.
2006-11-12 05:53:40 · answer #7 · answered by 4999_Basque 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
No, it is not. Here's why. I think this explains it very well. This does not apply to everyone. It is a general command to the human race. What about Matt. 19:11–12?
"Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom it is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of God. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it."
That's pretty clear to me.
http://www.catholic.com/library/Celibacy_and_the_Priesthood.asp
Lapin and others gave very good answers as well.
Thank you for not attacking, just questioning.
God Bless you!
2006-11-12 08:50:10 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
No. Celibacy for priests and nuns is set in place so that they can place serving Christ and His Church before all else.
The Church is in favor of procreation.
2006-11-12 05:50:55 · answer #9 · answered by Nowhere Man 6 · 3⤊ 1⤋
If priests and nuns did have families, they would be distracted from their relationship with God, If you become a preist/nun you would have to accept the fact that you are totally focusing your life on God, and have barely any other life than your spiritual one.
2006-11-12 05:49:57 · answer #10 · answered by Christopher 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋