Celibacy

• In the Christian tradition, celibacy is not simply living without sex, what is it?

  Choosing to live the life of a single person in order to devote oneself completely to God
• Who is Hildergarde of Bingen?

  A nun who wanted to take women out of the demands of motherhood and give them opportunities to study, become educated and rise to positions of responsibility
• what does the old testament command?

  ‘Be fruitful and multiply‘ - have children/reproduce
• what do the New Testament scholars believe?

  that Jesus was celibate, he did not have sexual relationships or get married
• what was celibacy seen as?

  a choice made to focus on the kingdom of god
• what does Jesus teach?

  ‘there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven’
• what did the very early Christian’s believe?

  that the end of the world was coming in the immediate future - this meant they should prepare for that, rather than having children
• Jesus and his followers believed that the arrival of the kingdom of god was…?

  imminent, they thought that the end of the world would take place within their own lifetimes - no need to reproduce
• in 1Corinthians, St Paul advocated celibacy, what did he say?

  ‘it is good for them to remain unmarried like i am‘
• from the fourth century, a monastic tradition grew up, which celebrated what?

  total devotion of one’s life to God and therefore celibacy was seen by some as a higher calling than family life
• with the increasingly negative view of sexuality, and of the place of women…?

  celibacy grew in importance for both men and women
• for many women, what did the celibate life of a convent provide?

  an intellectual environment in which they could flourish, freed from male domination and domestic responsibilities
• today, who is required to remain celibate?

  catholic monks, nuns, priests, bishops and the pope
• what is a quote in the catechism?

  (celibacy) ‘accepted with a joyous heart, celibacy radiantly proclaims the reign of God’
• Bishops may not be married so…? (in the orthodox church)

  bishops are selected from those priests who remain celibate
• in 2017, what did pope Francis say?

  that the church would consider whether married men might be ordained in ‘remote communities’ - due to shortage, this was a huge step forward for the church
• in contrast, what do many Protestant evangelical churches prefer?

  their clergy to be married with a family
• what do protestant evangelical churches argue?

  that a celibate man fails to live up to the biblical requirements for a church leader to be the husband of one wife and to have an orderly family life