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To: annalex; Dr. Eckleburg; Forest Keeper; HarleyD; P-Marlowe; George W. Bush; fortheDeclaration
"Catholic priests are married to one wife, Christ's church,"

Then the church is in a polygamous, adulterous relationship since it is the Bride of Christ.

I think the warning in 2Pe 3:16 is well taken.
7,471 posted on 05/31/2006 5:42:34 PM PDT by blue-duncan
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To: blue-duncan; Dr. Eckleburg; Forest Keeper; HarleyD; P-Marlowe; George W. Bush; fortheDeclaration
Then the church is in a polygamous, adulterous relationship since it is the Bride of Christ

And priests act in the person of Christ. "As the Father hath sent me, I also send you" (John 20:21).

The one-to-many relationship that exists between the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church and the multiplicity of parishes in no way makes the eternal marriage of Christ to His Church polygamous. It should not surprise anyone who has read the parable of multiple brides in Matthew 25:1-13 (the miracle of the multiple loaves also comes to mind). Likewise, the fact that one Christ sent many bishops (John 20:21 again) does not make the Church polygamous (or is it now polyandrous?)

But let us examine the "husband of one wife" admonition, found in 1 Timothy 3:2, 1 Timothy 3:12 and Titus 1:6 a bit closer. Its direct meaning is that the bishops, priests and clergy be sexually continent. The ranks of ordained clergy were filled initially from adult converts, the majority of them married. The admonition is then not to ordain those given to sexual voracity; the common, if perhaps not universal practice was for the married priests to abstain from sex; certainly not to remarry or have affairs. Combined with Pauline call to celibacy in 1 Corinthians 7:32-40, the scriptural teaching is that continence is the minimum requirement for clergy and celibacy is the ideal. This is consistent with the current diverse disciplines of both the Latin Church and the Churches of the East, either Catholic or Orthodox.

A very good exegesis of 1 Timothy 3:2 and the related verses is The biblical foundation of priestly celibacy by Ignace de la Potterie.

7,552 posted on 06/01/2006 3:06:53 PM PDT by annalex
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