The Catholic Church heavily promotes marriage and defends its sanctity. The vow of celibacy is simply a discipline required for certain members of the clergy and religious life in imitation of Jesus himself. Moreover, Jesus taught that celibacy has a particular value:
“For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it.” (Mt 19:12)
St. Paul praised celibacy in the following manner:
“To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain single as I do.”
“… Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek marriage.” (1Cor 7:8, 27; emphasis added)
"I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord; but the married man is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman or girl is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please her husband.
…he who marries his betrothed does well; and he who refrains from marriage will do better. (1Cor 7:32-34, 38; emphasis added)
Hence, the Catholic vow of celibacy is a discipline for living the example and teachings of Christ and Paul. When Paul wrote about the doctrines of devils, he could hardly have been considering a situation in which his own teachings concerning celibacy were instituted as the ideal. It is also worth noting that all branches of Christianity have requirements for its ministers in terms of living in accordance with biblical teaching; it is merely a question as to the extent (i.e., such as whether or not celibacy is included).
In terms of the other aspect of the doctrines of devils, Paul identifies it as “abstinence from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving… For everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected…” (1Tim 4:3,4). Some translations (such as one you quoted) use the term “meats” instead of “foods”. The Catholic practice of abstaining from meat only applies to certain days and we do this as a sign of penance. The Prophet Daniel once refrained from eating meat for the same reason:
In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks. (Daniel 10:2-3; emphasis added)
Paul said he would be willing to give up meat if it would help prevent someone from sinning:
“Therefore, if food is a cause of my brother’s falling, I will never eat meat, lest I cause my brother to fall.” (1Cor 8:13; emphasis added)
Obviously, Paul would not write this if the act of simply abstaining from meat was a doctrine of devils.
At this point let us consider what Paul did, indeed, mean in 1Timothy 4:1-5 when referring to the doctrines of devils (or doctrines of demons as some Bibles translate it). Paul does not go into a lot of detail concerning these false teachings, but if we examine his writings as a whole, he seems to be warning against overly strict versions of asceticism. One of the problems of asceticism is that people may believe that they can earn salvation by highly disciplined rigorous living, but Paul teaches that salvation instead comes from Christ (e.g., Col 2:20-23). As an example of avoiding extremes, on one hand Paul teaches about restrictions on marriage throughout chapter 7 of 1Corinthians, while on the other hand verses 28 & 36-39 of that chapter inform the reader to avoid any excessive anti-marriage interpretations. Therefore, Paul teaches that marriage is a good thing but he considers celibacy the best kind of lifestyle for certain people. The Catholic Church’s teaching on celibacy is fully in keeping with this.
In terms of food, in 1Tim 4:3-4 Paul seems to be concerned about an abstinence motivated by a denial of the goodness of creation, such as that which stems from the dietary restrictions of the Old Testament (Lev 11). Such dietary laws are not binding on Christians (Mk 7:18-19; Acts 10:9-16). Catholics do not follow these Old Testament laws, nor do we give up meat because we think meat is a bad thing. Moreover, we do not abstain from meat as an example of extreme asceticism (because we only practice it a few days out of the year). As I stated earlier, we give up eating meat on certain days simply as a type of penance.
As a side note, many Scripture scholars also interpret the doctrines of devils to be a description of the misguided Gnostic belief that the material world was evil and that people should try to rise above the demands of physical life as much as possible. This position taught that souls were good but bodies (being material) were bad, serving as a kind of prison of the soul. Such a teaching condemned marriage because it created additional “bodily prisons.”
For more information on this aspect of Gnosticism, see
CNA: Gnosticism.
For more information on the topic of priestly celibacy, see
Celibacy and the Priesthood.
For more information concerning the Church’s abstinence rules, see
Why Do Catholics Practice Fasting & Abstinence During Lent?.
