1 Timothy 4:1-3 However, the inspired utterance says definitely that in later periods of time some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to misleading inspired utterances and teachings of demons, 2 by the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, marked in their conscience as with a branding iron; 3 forbidding to marry, commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be partaken of with thanksgiving by those who have faith and accurately know the truth.
2007-02-26 10:40:02 · 11 answers · asked by Jason W 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Luke 4:38 After getting up out of the synagogue he entered into Simon’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was distressed with a high fever, and they made request of him for her.
Simon was Peter and he was married.
1 Cor 4:6 Now, brothers, these things I have transferred so as to apply to myself and A·pol´los for YOUR good, that in our case YOU may learn the [rule]: “Do not go beyond the things that are written,” in order that YOU may not be puffed up individually in favor of the one against the other.
Paul said we can not go beyond the things that are written. Paul wrote 14 books of the Bible including 1 and 2 Timothy. This goes for all religions that make the word of God invalid by their traditions. Mat 15:6 Jesus said, "And so YOU have made the word of God invalid because of YOUR tradition".
2007-02-26 11:02:38 · update #1
Wow! Thankyou for sharing this, I never thought of this being the catholic church and priests! I wonder how many other things, are relevant to today that are being overlooked...lots.
2007-02-26 10:45:19 · answer #1 · answered by Erin 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I'd say the whole thing is pretty self explainatory. The whole "priests can't marry" thing is deffinatly a form of this. But I think we haven't seen anything yet.
In its end-times form, this may (though I hope it doesn't) manifest in the removal of marriage as an institution altogether, because of gay-marriage controversies, people who "shack up" and don't get married, and the ease at which many people seem to get divorced nowadays. I could see a new-age society just flushing marriage and the family relationship so that it is no longer legally recognized or endorsed by society. In a society like this, all sexual relationships would become fornicative and adulterous and families would no longer have any recognized bond holding them together. Making children wards of the state or removing them from their parents would be theoretically easier.
Lord forbid this would ever come about, however, and I pray that it doesn't. It would be a disaster for society and for the mental and emotional health of the people in it. It would also be a legal disaster, and a disaster for kids who need a stable environment to grow up in and develop. Again, Lord forbid such a thing would ever happen!!!
2007-02-26 19:08:52 · answer #2 · answered by The Link 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It also talks about those who make themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of God. Priests do not have to take Holy Orders if they don't want to. Nobody is standing there with a gun to their head making them become a priest. Everybody likes to judge things by this worlds wisdom when Jesus himself said that his Kingdom was not of this world. Today it is put out there by enemies of the Catholic Church that a person just has to have sex all the time or they are not human, but that is just not right. Not everyone in the Catholic Faith is forbidden to marry. You are just against the Real Church. It also says of the Catholic Church "Thou art Peter , Rock, and upon this Rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against her" Notice he said his CHURCH not Churches.
2007-02-26 18:50:27 · answer #3 · answered by Midge 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you put that back into context, you will see what the author is talking about. Also, you have to be careful with the Epistles - they are letters written by men to a specific group of people who lived at a specific time in a specific place. They should not be used out of context or as some sort of prophecy.
(besides, are you going to tell me you believe 1 Timothy 3:11-15 that says women should sit down and shut up and never ever teach? Cuz let me tell ya, the Catholics aren't the only ones who let women be Sunday School teachers.)
2007-02-26 18:44:37 · answer #4 · answered by Church Music Girl 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Yes, lots of them. Those joining the priesthood know that marriage is not an option for them. They are not forced to become a priest, and willingly accept that rule.
The verses from Tim that you quoted do not point to the Catholic Church. You are on an old, old bandwagon...
You are talking tradition, not Tradition. Do a little research...HUGE difference
2007-02-26 18:46:37 · answer #5 · answered by SpiritRoaming 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I agree. The Catholic Church, although originally founded by true men of God/Christ, has since then apostatized from Christ's teachings and has lost the truth. I believe this happened around 400 A.D. Since this time, the Catholic Church has not had the truth, nor the authority to act in the name of God. In other words, a false church.
2007-02-26 18:44:49 · answer #6 · answered by Presagio 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Priests were not always forbidden to marry. As I understand it they decided this after married priests were required to give property up to thier heirs or the heirs asked for an inheritance. Its ultimately about maintaining power and weath, not based on the bible.
Clearly I am not a catholic.
2007-02-26 18:53:49 · answer #7 · answered by CHELLE BELLE 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
GO BACK TO GOD'S CREATION OF THE WORLD. DIDN'T HE GIVE ADAM EVE SO HE WOULDN'T BE ALONE? I FEEL THAT THE PRIESTS SHOULD BE PERMITTED TO MARRY. I AM NOT OF THE CATHOLIC FAITH SO I LOOK AT THIS FROM A DIFFERENT STANDPOINT. I TAKES A VERY DEDICATED MAN TO ABSTAIN FROM THE TEMPTATIONS OF THE WORLD. THERE ARE SOME, BUT NOT MANY. WITH THE ACCUSATIONS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT, IT APPEARS THAT THERE AREN'T TOO MANY OF THE DEDICATED ONES LEFT.
AGAIN, NOT BEING OF THE CATHOLIC FAITH I REALLY DON'T WANT TO BAD-MOUTH ANYONE'S RELIGION. HOWEVER, I DO QUESTION SEVERAL OF THEIR BELIEFS.
2007-02-26 18:58:02 · answer #8 · answered by MS. PEG 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The celibate clergy did not come into full bloom until about 1000 A.D. There were many married priests, bishops, and popes before this time.
Priests, religious brothers and religious sisters (nuns) as part of their vocation choose not to marry following:
+ The practice recommended in the Bible
+ The example of Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, and the Apostle Paul.
This vocation is chosen not forced upon them.
+++ Scripture +++
+ In Matthew 19:12, Jesus says, "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 heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it."
Jesus says celibacy is a gift from God and whoever can bear it should bear it. Jesus praises and recommends celibacy for full time ministers in the Church. Because celibacy is a gift from God, those who criticize the Church's practice of celibacy are criticizing God and this wonderful gift He bestows on His chosen ones.
+ In Matthew 19:29, Jesus says, "And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life."
Whoever gives up children for the sake of His name will receive a hundred times more and will inherit eternal life. Jesus praises celibacy when it is done for the sake of His kingdom.
+ Matthew 22:30 - Jesus explains, "At the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like the angels in heaven."
In heaven there are no marriages. To bring about Jesus' kingdom on earth, priests live the heavenly consecration to God by not taking a wife in marriage. This way, priests are able to focus exclusively on the spiritual family, and not have any additional pressures of the biological family (which is for the vocation of marriage). This also makes it easier for priests to be transferred to different parishes where they are most needed without having to worry about the impact of their transfer on wife and children.
+ In 1 Corinthians 7:1, Paul writes, "It is a good thing for a man not to touch a woman."
This is the choice that the Catholic priests of the Roman rite freely make.
+ Then in 1 Corinthians 7:7, Paul says, "Indeed, I wish everyone to be as I am."
Paul acknowledges that celibacy is a gift from God and wishes that all were celibate like he is.
+ In 1 Corinthians 7:27, Paul writes, "Are you free of a wife? Then do not look for a wife."
Paul teaches men that they should not seek marriage. In Paul’s opinion, marriage introduces worldly temptations that can interfere with one’s relationship with God, specifically regarding those who will become full time ministers in the Church.
+ In 1 Corinthians 7:32-33, Paul teaches, "I should like you to be free of anxieties. An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife." And in verse 38, "So then, the one who marries his virgin does well; the one who does not marry her will do better."
Paul recommends celibacy for full time ministers in the Church so that they are able to focus entirely upon God and building up His kingdom. He “who refrains from marriage will do better.”
See also
1 Timothy 5:9-12
2 Timothy 2:3-4
Revevation 14:4
Isaiah 56:3-7
Jeremiah 16:1-4
+++ Scriptural Examples +++
Biblical role models 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.
A priest is "married" to the Church. Some people think that a priest who takes his duties seriously cannot take proper care of a wife and family. "A man cannot serve two masters."
With love in Christ.
2007-02-27 00:45:01 · answer #9 · answered by imacatholic2 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
True that!! The are people who are blessed with the gift of singleness like Paul...HOWEVER you must be called to do that not just a priest.
2007-02-26 18:44:17 · answer #10 · answered by Beautiful1 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋