Xavier's contention that Priestly celibacy is unBiblical

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This is a good thread on this topic. The Biblical case for priestly celibacy is pretty clear, regardless of divergent opinions from those who seem to have a vested interest in arguing it.
 
I don’t see how anyone can say this is unBiblical when there are passages in the NT that talk clearly about it from the mouth of Christ Himself :bible1:
 
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ByzCath:
In the Latin Church yes, but ordaining married men to the priesthood is also a tradition that is over 2000 years old as the Eastern Churches, which includes the Byzantine Catholic Churches, has always done so.
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Of course, Christ established the priesthood–celibate or otherwise–less than 2000 years ago. 🙂 But your general point is well taken. 😉
 
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MaggieOH:
I am not sure where the notion comes from about the Latin Church not requiring celibacy until the fourth century has come from, since St. Paul himself was celibate.

Also, I am not sure that what you are attempting to say is historically correct for other reasons. The move towards priestly celibacy came about because of a need to reform the Church because of an abuse over the inheritance of property as well as of Church livings. Until the reform was introduced some rather absurd things, such as a child inheriting his uncle’s bishopric in France, occurred.

Another point that you made here is the claim that Catholics see celibacy as being dogma but that is not true. We have always understood it to be a discipline, and disciplines can change according to the circumstances.

The question about celibacy is one that gets blurred because of the increase in the number of men being reported for involvement in sexual assualt minor girls and boys. Quite often people forget that there are charges pending against pastors who have been married and concentrate instead upon Catholic priests because of the vow of celibacy. Since it is an issue that is so blurred, we tend to forget to look at the real reasons behind the discipline, and why so many mean take a vow of celibacy but fail to live up to the vow that they have made with God.

I should point out that the vow of celibacy, according to how one interprets the laws in the Old Testament, is a vow that is made before God, and the person cannot be released from that vow in the eyes of God. In the Old Testament the men often took what is known as the vow of the nazirite. This vow did not last for a lifetime, but it is a precursor to the vow of priestly celibacy.

So yes, the vow of celibacy is a Biblical teaching.

MaggieOH
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Couple of points.
Yes, celibacy is biblical… both the West AND the East view celibacy as a wonderful thing. The East does not ordain married men to the Episcopacy, taking the Bishops from the ranks of celibate monks.
A married priesthood has history in both the West and the East as well, and many priests, both converts to the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic Priests who are married do quite well in terms of pastoral service.
The both/and needs to be accepted… celibacy is Biblical and beautiful, but so is a married Priesthood. I feel that needs to be stated because I would not be surprised in the next fifty years if we have married men ordained to the Priesthood in the Latin Church. The Council Fathers at Vatican II almost brought this up, but decided to table the discussion at that time.
 
If celibacy is un-Biblical then why was Paul and Jesus celibate, or why does Revelation 14:1 have elders who have not defile themselves with women for they are chaste?

It is very Biblical and lastly, celibacy is a discipline which can change if the Bishop of Rome permits it.
 
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