What do you think about priests not allowed to marry?

[angelinearth123]

I don't even know why it's not allowed ... sweatdrop
A priest being married is of benefit because they can give advices to couples. question  

[Garland-Green]

I agree. Marriage should be encouraged, not banned. It is an institution that God himself invented: Adam and Eve.

Matthew 19:4-6
"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh' ? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."

So forcing priests to live in celibacy is inviting sin:


1 Corinthians 7:1-16
Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry. But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I say this as a concession, not as a command. I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?  

[Aquatic_blue]

Garland-Green

I agree. Marriage should be encouraged, not banned. It is an institution that God himself invented: Adam and Eve.

Matthew 19:4-6
"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh' ? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."

So forcing priests to live in celibacy is inviting sin:


1 Corinthians 7:1-16
Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry. But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I say this as a concession, not as a command. I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

I fully agree with this. I couldn't have said it better myself smile

Married couples should be encouraged and marriage is a cure for lust and marriage will have troubles of it's own, but both people can work them out. I strongly encourage marriage and I love being married.  

[Yasha Victoria]

Garland-Green

I agree. Marriage should be encouraged, not banned. It is an institution that God himself invented: Adam and Eve.

Matthew 19:4-6
"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh' ? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."

So forcing priests to live in celibacy is inviting sin:


1 Corinthians 7:1-16
Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry. But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I say this as a concession, not as a command. I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Yup! Totally agree! biggrin

Uhh...probably they're following Jesus' example because He also didn't get married in this life? i don't even know where they got that idea that priests shouldn't marry -- but i don't think this should be so...Jesus came here to die for us and not to live with us. So He really shouldn't marry.. whee

And even priests in the Old Testament were allowed to marry.

Leviticus 21:13 (NIV) says "The woman he (the priest) marries must be a virgin. He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people, so he will not defile his offspring among his people. I am the Lord, who makes him holy."

See? and he's even allowed to have children. Even if this is OT, and whatever rule God has for priests regarding their marriage, the thing is, they are allowed.

Well, how many priests in the news do sexual harassments because some couldn't control their urges? I'm not discrediting any priest here and i hope i don't offend anybody but it's quiet true. So i think, priest should be allowed to get married.  

[Aquatic_blue]

Aishin Mikomi

Garland-Green

I agree. Marriage should be encouraged, not banned. It is an institution that God himself invented: Adam and Eve.

Matthew 19:4-6
"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh' ? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."

So forcing priests to live in celibacy is inviting sin:


1 Corinthians 7:1-16
Now for the matters you wrote about: It is good for a man not to marry. But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. I say this as a concession, not as a command. I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife. To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

Yup! Totally agree! biggrin

Uhh...probably they're following Jesus' example because He also didn't get married in this life? i don't even know where they got that idea that priests shouldn't marry -- but i don't think this should be so...Jesus came here to die for us and not to live with us. So He really shouldn't marry.. whee

And even priests in the Old Testament were allowed to marry.

Leviticus 21:13 (NIV) says "The woman he (the priest) marries must be a virgin. He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people, so he will not defile his offspring among his people. I am the Lord, who makes him holy."

See? and he's even allowed to have children. Even if this is OT, and whatever rule God has for priests regarding their marriage, the thing is, they are allowed.

Well, how many priests in the news do sexual harassments because some couldn't control their urges? I'm not discrediting any priest here and i hope i don't offend anybody but it's quiet true. So i think, priest should be allowed to get married.

This is an excellent point as well because they probably are trying to "be like Jesus" possibly - even if that means marriage is out of the question. However, Jesus didn't come to earth to get married and came here to show humans that we can live as believers in God. Also, Jesus had to be a "perfect" sacrifice. If Jesus had gotten married, it would've more than likely been a distraction and would've stopped him from being the perfect sacrifice for all of our sins. Saving the world from sin is a huge job and Jesus put his all into that, and he needed to keep his focus on what he was here to do.

I've also heard a lot about priests sexually harassing members of their church and sadly, this isn't anything new sad I'm not sure if marriage would stop the problem or not, but it is a possibility since a lot of work does go into a marriage.

I believe that all priests should be able to marry because I believe that it helps us a lot with our beliefs if we marry the right person. That way, you could encourage each other and pray together. I know that being married helped me a lot with my beliefs because I had someone who could explain it to me a lot and someone to pray with, read the word with, and we can encourage each other with God's word on a bad day. Also, loving your spouse is a type of love. Together, we can also concentrate on loving God and doing His will. Some days when I feel agitated or accidentally snap at my husband, it teaches me a lot about learning to keep my feelings under control and not let them control me and it also teaches me humility to be able to say that I was wrong, or for both of us to admit that we were both wrong about something.

Although, if it was God's will for me not to be married then I wouldn't be married, but my marriage with my husband was definitely God's will in more ways than one smile