So? Marriage is not a sin — it was created and ordained by the Almighty.
Christ’s martial status was not actually mentioned in the Bible either. This is not to say that I believe He was married ... I don’t. I, like most everyone else, assume He was unmarried (mostly because I figure His wife would’ve been mentioned had she existed). But His unmarriedness, like that of any disciples other than Paul, was not pivotal enough to warrant a mention.
The question is not whether Christ was married. It is whether celibacy should be a mandate for priests — Peter’s apostleship seems to suggest it should not.
SnakeDoc
You wrote:
“So? Marriage is not a sin — it was created and ordained by the Almighty.”
Yes, it was created by God. So was chastity. And the use of a chaste life - without marriage - for the service of God is praised by Christ in scripture.
“Christ’s martial status was not actually mentioned in the Bible either.”
Yes, it was. Christ’s only bride is the Church herself. He can have no other.
“This is not to say that I believe He was married ... I don’t. I, like most everyone else, assume He was unmarried (mostly because I figure His wife would’ve been mentioned had she existed). But His unmarriedness, like that of any disciples other than Paul, was not pivotal enough to warrant a mention.”
It was - he was married only to the Church. He had no merely earthly bride.
“The question is not whether Christ was married. It is whether celibacy should be a mandate for priests — Peter’s apostleship seems to suggest it should not.”
Actually the one has nothing to do with the other. First of all, there is no mandated celibacy for priests. It is not forced on priests. Seminarians VOLUNTARILY choose it. They know it is part and parcel of the process. If they do not want to be priests, they do not choose it. The choice is entirely theirs. Second, whether or not Peter was married would have nothing to do with married priests even just a few years later. Peter married most likely many years before he met Christ. Would he have married AFTER being made an Apostle? Would he have married after being made pope? Most likely not - especially since he what was going to happen to him.