Chastity ISN'T CELIBACY!? What is it then?

[Debora123]

What is Chastity or what does it mean to be chaste? I used to think chastity means to be like a monk and have no sex at all (therefore meaning celibacy). Until one day I heard that everyone even SPOUSES should be chaste? What is Chastity then?

To be chaste means to respect God’s gift of human sexuality.

Are married couple’s disrespecting God’s gift of sexuality by having consensual, self giving sex? No.

There ya go.

 

[TimothyH]

I’d also add that marriage is a natural calling, while the priesthood is a supernatural calling. Without acknowledgement of God’s existence, being a priest makes no sense. In that sense yes being a priest goes against what we would consider natural. If we did not know God existed through Divine Revelation, being a priest would not make any sense. God’s foremost law is love of God not love of yourself or anything on this Earth.

Maybe this will help you understand this concept if you hear the words coming from a Doctor of the Church: aquinasonline.com/Topics/natlaw.html

We show God how much we love him by loving our neighbor.

One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus replied, “The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:28-31)

Our love for other human beings is how God knows we love him.

***I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” *(John 13:34-35)

Love of God and the way in which we treat other human beings cannot be separated.

-Tim-

 

[TimothyH]

To be chaste means to respect God’s gift of human sexuality.

Are married couple’s disrespecting God’s gift of sexuality by having consensual, self giving sex? No.

There ya go.

Yup, perfect.

And artificial contraception is excludes a total gift of self and so it must be avoided if we are to attain to chastity.

-Tim-

 

[Jaaanosik]

God’s law includes natural law…if you wish to revamp this argument start your own thread.

Yes, but God’s laws rule above natural laws. There is a hierarchy in the laws.
It seems that’s how the celibacy can be explained.