I once wrote a scholarly article about the attitude of the church fathers towards sex. Folks, it was far more neoplatonic than Biblical. "Never send Clement a Valentine!" The very word "celibacy" traces back to the rites of self-castration practiced by the devotees of Cybele, the prototypical suffering mother goddess.
A sagacity and truth bump to the top. I would include Augustine and Jerome as having a totally warped view of the subject matter as well. They set a whole lot of bad inclination in motion.
133 posted on 12/05/2006 8:33:42 AM PST by AlbionGirl
Sagacity and truth, indeed. It all started with that fellow who talked about "eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven," and then one of his followers had the temerity to explicitly praise celibacy, saying things about how unmarried men and women were free to follow the Lord.
Whatever were they thinking?
134 posted on 12/05/2006 8:39:59 AM PST by Campion
("I am so tired of you, liberal church in America" -- Mother Angelica, 1993)