Well, ready or not, it's finally here. Months of allegations, abuse, finger-pointing, and mudslinging have come down to this one event: the meeting of the American bishops in Dallas this weekend. The decisions that they reach will, for better or for worse, change the face of the American Church, but in the meantime we must get ready to be part of the recovery process.
After it's all over, the Church will need our support more than ever. We may not be able to help the bishops in Dallas this weekend, but we can stand with them in defending our Church against dissenters and naysayers who will continue to use this opportunity to attack the Church's discipline of celibacy in the priesthood.
To that end, CRISIS has put together a list of arguments for priestly celibacy and responses to commonly heard criticisms. We hope it helps you better prepare for the future and the role all of us must play in restoring the moral authority of our Church.
Best,
Deal Hudson
Fundamentalists will tell you that celibacy has no basis in the Bible whatsoever, saying that Christians are called to "Be fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 1:28). This mandate speaks to humanity in general, however, and overlooks numerous passages in the Bible that support the celibate life. In 1 Corinthians, for example, Paul actually seems to prefer the celibate life: "Are you free from a wife? Do not seek marriage. . . . Those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. . . . 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" (7:27-34). This is not to say that all men should be celibate, however; Paul explains that celibacy is a calling for some and not for others by saying, "Each has his own special gift from God, one of one kind and one of another" (7:7).
This passage was written to the Corinthians in general, not to a specific group of Corinthians, i.e., pastors and bishops, among others.
The early church truly believed that Jesus' return was to occur very soon.
If one were to take this passage as you prefer to have us understand it, the only people on the earth today would be godless. That is what happens when the church does not have kids.
I am reading a book called "The Idiot's Guide to Jewish History and Culture." I am doing this since I have a heart for the Jewish people and understand the "Jewishness" of the Gospel.
The author, Rabbi Benjamin Blech, says this on the subject of Jewish intelligence (pg 14):
Historians have pointed out a fascinating difference between Jews and Christians. In Christianity, as well as in many other religions, holiness was identified with asceticism, great spirituality with the practice of celibacy. For centuries the finest minds among Christians were urged to become priests. That effectively condemned their genetic pool of intelligence to an untimely end.
Jews, on the other hand, took quite seriously the first commandment to mankind-to be fruitful and multiply. Sex was never seen as sinful, but rather as one of those things created by God that He surely must have had in mind when He declared, in reviewing His work, that "Behold everything was good." Among Jews, the most intelligent were encouraged to become religious leaders. As rabbis, they had to serve as role models for their congregants as procreators and "fathers of their countries." Brains got passed on from generation to generation, and Jews today are still reaping the benefits of the frequent sexual activities of their ancestors.
One must really stretch the letter to the Corinthians to make it a rule made specifically to the pastors (or priests) of the church.
It amazes me that when non-Catholics want to debate catholic tradition with the Bible, we are ridiculed as being in the "Sola Scriptura" crowd. Where does this use of the scripture (as out of context as it may be) place you?