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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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To: annalex; Dr. Eckleburg; Forest Keeper; HarleyD; P-Marlowe; George W. Bush; fortheDeclaration
"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."

The plain meaning of the three references (1 Timothy 3:2, 1 Timothy 3:12 and Titus 1:6) is that one of the requirements for Pastor or Deacon is that they be married to a real live woman and have a family so they know how to lead a family, the local body given to them to lead by Jesus. Continence or chastity comes under adultery and having a good reputation. It is nonsense to read into this any celibacy theory.

Your use of 1 Corinthians 7:32-40 to support the celibacy theory fails in at least two places. The letter was written to the whole church, not just the leaders. To follow your arguement through to its logical conclusion we should all be celibate and then breaking one of the most fundamental laws of God, "Be fruitful and multiply". Celibacy is a gift of God, not a man made rule for the ministry and Paul says, few have it. This chapter 7 is Paul's judgment, not God's statement on the matter. God's declaration is "husband of one wife and children under control".

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

So then priests aren't members of the church, the bride of Christ, if they are "married" to it. They must be like the groomsmen or friends of the groom or maybe more like Jacob when he became Esau after he bought the birthright. One would think that something that is as important as the bride's relationship to her lover, Jesus, if there was going to be an interim groom to whom she was married, that the scripture would be more explicit about this interim relationship.
7,582 posted on 06/01/2006 5:44:11 PM PDT by blue-duncan
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