“It behoveth therefore a bishop to be the husband of one wife”
1 Timothy 3:2, A Reflection on Celibacy
When our Evangelical brethren read this verse, they interpret it to mean that the Bishop MUST be married. Is this what St. Paul said?
Let us read the whole verse:
“It behoveth therefore a bishop to be blameless, the husband of one wife, sober, prudent, of good behaviour, chaste, hospitable, a teacher” 1 Timothy 3:2
We see that it DOES NOT SAY here that the Bishop “MUST” be married; it only says that he be “the husband of one wife”. No matter how we look at it, nowhere does this verse say he “must be married”.
Why did St. Paul say this? Because many converts to Christianity who came from paganism were polygamists; they had several wives. For this reason those converts could not be candidates for the episcopate. Only men who had a single wife could be candidates. On the other hand, there were also the Jewish converts to Christianity who were divorced and remarried, because the Law of Moses had permitted divorce, a law that Jesus abrogated when he said that “What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder” and “But I say to you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, excepting for the cause of fornication, maketh her to commit adultery: and he that shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery” Mt 5:32
Until the coming of Christ, and after St. Paul, the only known state of life was marriage. The rabbis taught that a man was only half a man if he did not marry by the age of 20, but in the Old Testament some men, such as Elijah and Jeremiah, preferred to be celibate. In the times of Jesus the rabbis spoke of the possibility of “marrying” the Torah, that is, of devoting one’s whole life to the study of the Word.
Jesus was celibate and recommended celibacy
“For there are eunuchs, who were born so from their mother’s womb: and there are eunuchs, who were made so by men: and there are eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. He that can take, let him take it” Matthew 19:12
He said very clearly that not all would understand celibacy, but only those to whom this gift has been given. And St. Paul was also celibate and recommended celibacy “I would that all men were even as myself”, and he also said “But as the Lord hath distributed to every one, as God hath called every one, so let him walk: and so in all churches I teach” (1 Cor. 7:17)
St. Ambrose, Father of the Church, wrote about celibacy: “God so loved this virtue that he would not come into the world except accompanied by it, being born of a virgin Mother” Treatise on Virgins
Finally, history teaches that several Fathers of the Church and Ecclesiastical Writers were ascetics, Bishops, priests or deacons, and did not marry:
Origen, ascetic
His family was Christian and well-to-do. His father, Leonides, died a martyr. His son was brought up in a climate of religious fervor.
Origen’s mother was left a widow with seven children. Origen was the eldest. Origen felt an eagerness for learning and asceticism. The fervor of his life and the precocity of his knowledge led Bishop Demetrius to entrust to this young man the catechetical school of Alexandria, to instruct the candidates for baptism. At the school, the young master was surrounded by seductive Egyptian women who were preparing to receive Baptism. His talent and youth must have charmed this sensitive and enthusiastic audience. Troubled perhaps by the attraction he exerted, Origen made the sacrifice of his virility. Once again he chose the heroic, extreme solution. He voluntarily made himself a “eunuch for the kingdom of heaven”.
Cyprian of Carthage, like Origen he lives in continence, priest and Bishop
The rhetorician was already famous when he converted to Christianity under the influence, in Carthage, of an elderly priest, Caecilius. The struggle was nevertheless painful for this worldly young man, passionately fond of elegant living. He recounted it in his letter to Donatus, which serves as a prelude to the Confessions. This conversion was an event in Carthage. The change was radical and constant. Cyprian never did anything by halves. He renounced profane letters, like Origen, he lives in continence and devoted himself to two readings: Scripture and Tertullian. A recruit of quality for the Church of Carthage, which ordained him a priest at the end of the year 248 or the beginning of 249; he was elected Bishop of the city.
St. Ephrem, ascetic and deacon
He was born around 306. He is, then, a contemporary of Hilary and of Basil, but also of the emperor Constantine the Great, who began to reign in 306. His parents were Christians. Although he led an eremitical life, Ephrem lived among the monks only intermittently. But he always remained in contact with the ascetics of Edessa, who exerted a profound influence on him. Bishop James kept the brilliant Ephrem with him, ordained him a deacon and entrusted to him the direction of the “school of the Persians”. A severe ascetic, the deacon lived on bread, barley and vegetables. “His body was dried up upon his bones, like a tile of clay”. Ephrem had the soul of a mystic.
St. Basil of Caesarea, monastic life and Bishop
Basil was marked from his birth. His family had been Christian from of old. Worldly life and success intoxicated him. His sister kept watch and made him realize to what extent vanity had taken hold of him. Basil finally “awakens as from a deep sleep, he himself recounts. I perceived the marvelous light spread abroad by the truth of the Gospel” At that moment he received Baptism at the hands of the bishop. He abandoned his position, then plunging into solitude to go to the school of the monks of Syria and Palestine: it was there that converts withdrew. Basil led a life of austerity. On his return, he settled in a secluded valley to live the monastic life. Gregory joined him there. Together they composed the collection of extracts from Origen which bears the title of Philocalia. In the same period Basil drew up the two Monastic Rules, which were of capital importance in the development of the cenobitic life of the East. At the age of forty Basil was made Bishop. His health was fragile. Gregory describes him: “worn thin by fasting, wasted by vigils, with hardly any flesh or blood left” (D. 42,44). But he was in full intellectual and spiritual maturity.
St. John Chrysostom, ascetic, deacon, priest and Bishop
The child was educated by his mother, an admirable Christian woman. Having finished his studies in general culture, rhetoric and philosophy, in which he was a brilliant pupil of Libanius, he established himself in the city, but soon renounced a career that promised to be brilliant in order to receive minor orders. He wished to go off to the desert, but his mother prevented him. He devoted himself to asceticism and to biblical study. In spite of his mother, Chrysostom ended up going to the mountains to live among the monks an austere life of fasting and vigils. From then on John was ready to face missionary action. Love for others made him return to Antioch, where the aged Meletius ordained him a deacon in 380-381. He then wrote the Treatise on the Priesthood, which has enjoyed extraordinary success down to our own days. He was then about 34 years old, and five years later he was ordained a priest. He devoted himself to preaching. John’s fame led to his being elected Bishop of Constantinople.
Author: Beatriz Aparicio.
Bibliography
Book: Practical Guide to the Fathers of the Church – A. Hamman – Desclée de Brouwer
