Celibacy, (celibatus, Lat. ccelebs or caolebs, unmarried, derived by some Roman writers from cali beatitudo, the blessedness of heaven), the state of virginity, or of unmarried persons.
1. In the Scripture. — Under the Mosaic law, priests were not only allowed, but encouraged to marry. The priesthood was confirmed to the descendants of one family, and consequently involved even an obligation to marry. In the N.T. we find passages in which an unmarried life, voluntarily assumed, is commended, under certain circumstances (Matthew 19:12; 1 Corinthians 7:1-35). But no passage in the N.T. can be interpreted into a prohibition against the marriage of the clergy under the Gospel dispensation; on the contrary, there are many from which we may infer the contrary. One of the twelve, Peter, was certainly a married man (Matthew 8:14), and it is supposed that several of the others were also married. Philip, one of the seven deacons, was also a married man (Acts 21:9); and if our Lord did not require celibacy in the first preachers of the Gospel, it cannot be thought indispensable in their successors. Paul says, Let every man have his own wife” (1 Corinthians 7:2); and that marriage is honorable in all (Hebrews 13:4), without excepting those who are employed in the public offices of religion. He expressly says that “a bishop must be the husband of one wife” (1 Timothy 3:2); and he gives the same direction concerning elders, priests, and deacons. When Aquila traveled about to preach the Gospel, he was not only married, but his wife Priscilla accompanied him (Acts 18:2); and Paul insists that he might have claimed the privilege “of carrying about a sister or wife (1
Corinthians 9:5), as other apostles did.” The “forbidding to marry” (1 Timothy 4:3) is mentioned as a character of the apostasy of the latter times.
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Author: McClintock and Strong Cyclopedia
Keywords: Celibacy
Bible reference(s): 1 Corinthians 7:1, 1 Timothy 3:2, 1 Timothy 4:3, Acts 18:2, Acts 21:9, Hebrews 13:4, John 8:44, Matthew 19:12, Matthew 8:14
Source: John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature.
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