What is the justification for priests/bishops not being allowed to marry given 1 Timothy 3 stating clearly that being married is not only permitted, but a requirement?
>This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
>2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
How can Catholics and Orthodox claim to be biblical if they don't allow their priests and bishops to marry?
Their priests can marry.
It's not the custom of the Latin rite but they are married priests in the Roman Rite.
Priests are married to the church
>married to the church
Lol just like how you're married to your right hand
that's clearly not the intended meaning of the verse. besides it's well known from other early christian writings that priests often were married.
>Their priests can marry
They can't though, and being "married to the church" isn't being "the husband of one wife"
yea but in medieval times priests were fuckin rockstars and they were getting all the girls and it was getting too crazy, somebody had to stop it.
I am married to my waifu and i don't expect a pleb cattle to understand.
Orthodox priests do marry
Priests were giving their parishes to their heirs
Same reason Buddhist monks are celibate
Eastern Orthodox priest can generally marry, although to my knowledge it has to be before they take up holy orders. Eastern Orthodox bishops do have to be celibate.
As for Catholics, well the majority of priest in the Latin Church are indeed celibate, although some Anglican and Lutherans who become Catholic and still want to retain their ministry but have wives are allowed to be ordained and still be married. The Eastern Catholic Churches, 23 sui juris Churches in full communion with Rome, have their own rules regarding clerical celibacy. Byzantine Catholics, for example, usually follow the same rules as Eastern Orthodox do on clerical celibacy.
The rule is just a discipline in the Church that can be changed at any time but so far has been in place for the last thousand years. It much more beneficial for clergy.
Paul says it's better to be unmarried and he himself was never married, or at least if he was he was a widow but it's more likely he never married.
"Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do." - 1 Corinthians 7:8
No, they can become priests after they are already married, or never marry at all.
why?
you have the priests who were often noblemen or at least able to read, which at this age meant they were smart, getting all the girls
it was Eugenics 0.1
To keep the diocese from being a family business
It's good practice. Early on there were married bishops, but celibacy has always been looked upon positively by almost all Christians right up to the Reformation. That text says that if a bishop has a household he must manage it well, not that he necessarily must have a family. Aside from Peter all of the Apostles were said to be continent. Eventually the Church decided to enforce this discipline for bishops because celibacy has been looked upon positively (bishops were often chosen from monasteries as well, and monks have always been celibate. The Eastern Churches often pick bishops from monasteries to this day).
Later on it was generally expected for priests to be celibate even if they were married (though it often wasn't followed). The Western Church decided to disallow their priests from getting married in the first place, whereas the East went the other way and encouraged their clergy to be married (unless they're monks). Starting in the Middle Ages and ending after Vatican II deacons were pretty much always seen as a temporary order before the priesthood, but today in the Western Church there are people who become deacons without becoming priests and they can be married. In the rare cases when a married Anglican priest converts to Catholicism he can be ordained as a Catholic priest and remain married.
In the East (including Eastern Catholics) it's unusual for priests or deacons to be unmarried unless they are also monks. Often unmarried priests who aren't monks are either old or widowed.
You should also note that in every case whether Catholic or Orthodox someone has to be married before they are ordained, after ordination you can't get married. Also keep in mind that these are church disciplines rather than direct products of divine revelation (though that doesn't mean that they will every change, I don't think there is any good reason to).
this pic makes it look like they are having some kind of rap battle n'shit
Original east coast vs west coast
It's not based off any biblical mandates, it was something the very early priests chose to do out of their own will, and was eventually made a requirement.
The reasoning is that priests are supposed to let go of as many earthly pleasures as possible, it is a sacrifice in the name of god.
Given the other things it lists there, I'd say that passage refers to the priest being a faithful husband with one wife rather than 10 wives/girlfriends, rather requiring him to be a husband no matter what.
I wouldn't say that, there is encouragement for celibacy (if possible) in the New Testament.
For example:
Matthew 19:12
>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.
1 Corinthians 7:8-9
>To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain single as I do. But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion.
is pretty much something like this, the early catholic church was accruing a lot of land, their priesthood was literate, relatively wealthy even at the lower levels, and wielded a lot of influence over the populous
the monarchs of europe and the pope arranged the priests would be celibate and all the catholic sanctuaries and most of the property within wouldn't be inherited by anyone since it would be the property of the catholic church, not any of its members'
Meme answer. When was church property ever hereditary?
How do you reconcile that with Genesis 1:28?
>28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
By not basing your religion only on a literalistic interpretation of sacred scripture.
Does being fruitful and multiplying mean that every single person must be married? The Catholics and Orthodox of course see having children as a good thing, but that doesn't mean that every single person has to be reproducing all the time. Practice isn't formed by nitpicking individual verses and applying them, and Christianity isn't reverse-engineered from scripture.
I wonder which is the more natural state of man, celibacy or reproduction?
He said "I am the Alpha and Omega"
I'd say that's pretty clear, he didn't say Beta, so celibacy is not permitted.
Reproduction, celibacy is a supernatural calling.
So why didn't God just make us celibate to begin with?
Why would everyone need to be celibate?
Why not? It's pretty clear that Jesus was pushing some kind of apocalyptic death cult so reproducing would be pointless because everyone thought the end of days would be soon.
>It's pretty clear that Jesus was pushing some kind of apocalyptic death cult
Memes