Priests had many concubines - too costly for the Church
The idea of Catholic celibacy does not come from the Bible. It apparently has roots much deeper than anything Biblical. Peter, the first Pope, is guessed to have been married. As an interesting note, for the first three centuries, priests were almost as likely to be women as they were men. Note that in 352, the Council of Laodicea decreed the stoppage of ordination for women.
See Paul's words at 1 Timothy 3:2 BBE:
The Bishop, then, is to be a man of good name, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, serious-minded, having respect for order, opening his house freely to guests, a ready teacher;
Most of the early priests, Bishops and Popes often had a wife. Because the phrase "one wife" could also translate to "a wife", many took this to mean that one wife was a minimum and many became polygamists. Remember that many of the early leaders came from Judaism. In the Tanakh, Jewish priests suggest four wives as a good number. For nearly five hundred years, priests took their wives and had many offspring. This caused a problem for the business of the Catholic Church called inheritance. The church lost many assets because of all the children of these men. In 580, Pope Pelagius II made new priests agree that their wives and offspring could not inherit Church property.
Priests continued to marry, and asset protection of the Church began in earnest. St Boniface of Crediton reported during the Eight Century that nearly none of the priests in Germany were celibate. Fast forward to the Eleventh century and we find Pope Gregory VII in 1074, declaring that new priests must pledge celibacy. Note that he said nothing about existing priests. Pope Urban II dealt a major blow to the institution of priestly marriage in 1089. He had priests wives sold into slavery and the children abandoned for dead or sold into slavery as well. In 1095, Pope Urban II decreed: "Married priests who ignore the celibacy laws should be imprisoned for the good of their souls, and their wives and children to be sold into slavery, and the money to go to church coffers". He made a profit for the church in the process of destroying the marriage institution.
In 1123, under Pope Calistus II, the First Lateran Council invalidated all clerical marriages. The Second Lateran Council affirmed this in 1139 under Pope Innocent II. The trashing of the marital institution had nothing to do with morality; multiple women for males had long been the norm since before biblical times. In biblical times many wives, concubines and breeders was common. Even the comments spoken by Paul to Timothy and Titus could be taken as meaning at least one wife.
1st Corinthians 7 is often the theological argument for celibacy.
Now I will answer the questions that you asked in your letter. You asked, "Is it best for people not to marry?" (1 Corinthians 7:1 CEV)
In my opinion, that is what should be done, though I don't know of anything the Lord said about this matter. I wish that all of you were like me, but God has given different gifts to each of us. Here is my advice for people who have never been married and for widows. You should stay single, just as I am. (1 Corinthians 7:6-8 CEV)
Read the above again, though Paul gives advice to stay single, he admits that it is only his opinion, not the Creator and not Jesus. Presume you too are a road warrior like Paul in his day. You do not have a home and you never stay in one place for more than a couple years. This life is hard on a marriage. However, if you are a homebody, then having a spouse or spouses is easier because you stick around. How many priests over time have been travelers like Paul? For fun, read verse 12,
I don't know of anything else the Lord said about marriage. All I can do is to give you my own advice. If your wife isn't a follower of the Lord, but is willing to stay with you, don't divorce her. (1 Corinthians 7:12 CEV)
In the same chapter used as the basis for priestly celibacy, Paul admits twice that the advice is his own opinion, not Jesus' word. Why do you suppose he must say this? He admitted this because he was not one of the original twelve. He became the thirteenth apostle after the resurrection of Jesus. For a clear opinion on marriage, we should really examine the lives of the other apostles. They were married men.
If not the Bible, then where did the idea of celibacy arise? It began as an active asset protection program in the newly founded Church of Rome. It became a social more over time that that sexual activity caused spiritual impurity. Wherever did this idea come from? Look to the church for that answer, not the Bible.
Someone who wants to be celibate may be showing a deeper emotional issue that needs to be dealt with. Celibacy may be more of a disease than a blessing - we are not created to be celibate. Someone who lacks spiritual maturity would ignore the Creator's most powerful way of sharing loving intimacy. Celibacy does not emanate from the Bible. If one chooses a celibate life, it may be due to lack of self-esteem, performance anxiety or religious false teachings based on shame based, sex negative tradition rather than true scriptural sexuality. Many women say the biggest mistake they made was not having much more sexual experience and variety before marriage.
By far, the group that has the highest rate of HIV infection of any occupation is Catholic priests from gay relationships. It is logical that many gay men would choose the priesthood in an attempt to deny their natural sexual orientation. Eventually, with celibacy being so unnatural, few can remain celibate, which is an unscriptural idea to begin with.
Matthew Gerrior - 12/1/2005, revised 12/20/2005
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