- Abstinence from sexual intercourse, especially by reason of religious vows.
- The condition of being unmarried.
celibacy
Dictionary:
cel·i·ba·cy (sĕl'ə-bə-sē)  |
| World of the Body: celibacy |
The ideal of celibacy — abstaining from sexual activity for religious or spiritual reasons — exists within several religions. It has been an ideal within Christianity from the earliest times. Jesus spoke of those who are ‘eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven’ (Matthew 19: 12), and Paul recommended celibacy as the best way of living, for it enabled a person to be free from distracting ‘worldly’ concerns, especially the household, children, and sex — and for men, the worldly was particularly represented by the female body — and therefore free to serve Christ. Thus, for many centuries, especially in the West, marriage was regarded as an inferior option for Christians, for those who needed to produce heirs or could not practice self-control because they did not have the ‘gift’ of celibacy. Only at the Reformation, when Protestant reformers began to privilege and justify marriage, was this view seriously challenged. Even in the post-Reformation period, there have been new Christian groups which have set celibacy as an ideal or rule, most notably the Shakers in nineteenth-century America, who formed communities of celibate men and women to live a simple life together. Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican monastic communities retain the ideal of celibacy to this day.
In the early Church celibacy had been an individual vocation, so marriage was not incompatible with holding ecclesiastical office; but beginning with the canons of the Council of Elvira (c.306), the Church in the West increasingly moved towards clerical celibacy as the norm; married men who were ordained were urged to put aside their wives, go on living with them as sister and brother, or exchange vows of continence with them; their wives might then become deaconesses or join a monastic community. Throughout the later Middle Ages the Roman Catholic Church attempted to enforce clerical celibacy, not always with great success; the second Lateran Council (1139) made clerical marriages invalid. Clerical celibacy remains the rule in the Roman Catholic despite pressures in the late twentieth century to change this. The Church of England allowed clerical marriage in 1549, as did the Protestant churches at the Reformation. The Eastern Orthodox churches have always allowed their priests and deacons to marry before ordination, though not after, and their bishops must be celibate.
Within Buddhism, celibacy is a permanent vocation for monks and nuns. Within Hinduism, celibacy is part of the fourth and final stage — samnyasa — for the Hindu who is following the Vedic way. This is the stage of renouncing all ties to family, caste, and property. Within a number of religions, reactions to celibacy are mixed. For Sikhs, it is not an ideal, for the Gurus taught that the married state (grihastha ashrama) was the ideal. But there are two Sikh groups that dissent from this: the Udasis (meaning ‘withdrawn’ or ‘dejected’) are an ascetic order, also forbidden to consume flesh, tobacco, or spirits; they wear salmon-coloured clothing and are clean shaven, though they often have long, matted hair. The Nirmalas (meaning ‘spotless’ or ‘pure’) are a learned monastic group who live in monasteries called akharas (meaning ‘wrestling arenas’) and wear saffron robes. Islam is generally hostile to celibacy, emphasizing the God-given goodness of creation, though Sufism, especially in its beginnings, has emphasized the strong control of body and spirit via ascetical practices, including celibacy. Early Sufi leaders saw lust as one of the seven gates to hell, one Sufi leader even going so far as to say that Sufism was founded on celibacy.
Judaism has generally not advocated celibacy, seeing marriage as important for the fulfilment of procreation as commanded in Genesis 1: 28. The High Priest in Temple times had to be married (Leviticus 21: 13) and the unmarried were barred from holding various public offices, though there were two important Jewish first-century Ascetic groups. The Therapeutae (Latin, ‘healers’), described by Philo, lived in Egypt in solitude, poverty, and (as far as was possible) celibacy, meditating on spiritual writings. Both men and women could be members. Every fiftieth day, they gathered for a meal and sang and danced. The all-male Essene community by the Dead Sea (where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947) sought to bring Israel back to God by their own rigorous and celibate way of life. This relationship between apocalyptic beliefs and the ideal of celibacy forms the backdrop to Jesus' preaching about the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven, which was intimately entwined with his call to follow him and leave behind all family ties. Thus in Christianity, the celibate was seen to anticipate the state of the human being at resurrection — described by some as a state in which the sexes do not exist and there is no place for marriage. The celibate therefore sought to return to his or her original — that is pre-Fall — state. As Genesis records Adam and Eve as having had sexual intercourse only after the Fall, sexual renunciation was a vital component in acquiring this pre-lapsarian ‘state’. This meant the transcendence of gender, and while, for some celibates at least, it meant that the body was seen as alien to the true self, many explored the possibilities of that transcendence. Celibacy, and the ascetic way of life in general, were appealing because they allowed any Christian, regardless of gender or social status, to transcend what their body represented in this world; this was particularly appealing for women, especially élite women, whose bodies functioned primarily to produce heirs and thereby circulate wealth in the Roman world. That some writers spoke of Christian women ‘becoming male’ to indicate their great holiness illustrates the double-edged nature of this ideal of celibacy for women. Suspicion of the female body, and projection onto it of all the male celibate's fears of ‘the world’ exists within Christianity generally, and has existed particularly within the monastic communities from the fourth century onwards, and is shared by Buddhism and the early Sufis.
— Jane Shaw
Bibliography
- Brown, P. (1988). The body and society, men, women and sexual renunciation in early Christianity. Columbia University Press, New York
See also asceticism; chastity; religion and the body.
| Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: celibacy |
For more information on celibacy, visit Britannica.com.
| Encyclopedia of Judaism: Celibacy |
Marriage is a commandment in Jewish tradition and celibacy is deplored. The first positive precept in the Bible is "be fruitful and multiply" (Gen. 1:28) and this sets the pattern for Jewish attitudes. Procreation is a holy obligation, so that deliberate abstention from marriage has never been condoned; indeed many authorities regard it as a sin. Halakhically speaking, the commandment to be fruitful is binding upon males only, so that female celibacy is less problematic. The biblical Nazirite took various vows of abstinence; sexual abstinence, however, was not among them. One exception in the Bible was Jeremiah, who apparently chose to remain celibate owing to his unwillingness to bring children into the world to face the impending doom of the Jewish people. According to Josephus, celibacy was practiced among the sectarian Essenes. The normative teaching is contained in the saying, "He who is without a wife is without joy, without blessing, without happiness, without learning, without protection, without peace; indeed he is no man" (Yev. 62b).
One talmudic scholar, Ben Azzai, never married, but he and his colleagues acknowledged that he was an exception. None of the medieval rabbis is known to have been unmarried, and bachelors were not allowed to occupy positions of leadership in the Jewish community. Judaism, moreover, encouraged early marriage to counter sexual temptation.
| The Religion Book: Celibacy |
Monastic orders of many religious traditions have rules concerning celibacy. Marriage and sexual union are forbidden for practical or spiritual reasons.
Sometimes, as in some Hindu and Buddhist traditions, sexual expression is considered to be a detriment to meditation and growth, a "giving in" to the body and its desires. Celibacy is then considered to be a form of asceticism.
In early Christianity, celibacy was inspired by the words of the apostle Paul advising that those who chose not to marry had more time to serve the Lord. He implied that sex, as opposed to spiritual work, was a base human need when he said it "was better to marry than to burn." And since the early church believed Jesus was soon to return, it didn't make much sense to settle into a stable home life that would not last much longer. Besides this, Jesus had said that "in heaven they neither marry nor are given in marriage." All these together seemed to imply marriage was for the weak, at best.
This notion was taken to its logical conclusion by the Shaker community in the United States. Nobody was allowed to have sex. The community only grew by conversions.
In Roman Catholic tradition, celibacy is seen as a crucial vow taken by ordained clergy to allow them both time and uninterrupted energy to devote to the practical matter of being available for ministry. It is not that clergy are not married. They are married to the church and are expected to give the same devotion to Christ as they would to earthly spouses. Although a mystique surrounding "unavailable" male priests and "pure" female nuns undoubtedly places celibate clergy on a pedestal in the popular psyche, this was not the official intention of the church.
Sources: Smart, Ninian. The Religious Experience. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996.
| Buddhism Dictionary: celibacy |
Celibacy is obligatory for all members of the Saṃgha. Sex is regarded as a powerful bond to the mundane (laukika) world and not appropriate for one who has renounced home and family. Since Buddhism regards craving (tṛṣṇā) as the cause of suffering (duḥkha), the dangers of sexual desire are obvious, and are frequently pointed out in Buddhist literature. There are strict penalties in the Vinaya or monastic code for monks and nuns who fail to remain celibate. The first of the four pārājika-dharmas prohibits sexual intercourse, and the penalty for breaking it is lifelong expulsion from the Order. More minor offences, such as masturbation or lewd conduct, reported in the Vinaya, are punished less severely. Married lay-people may also adopt the practice of voluntary celibacy for longer or shorter periods.
| Columbia Encyclopedia: celibacy |
celibacy (sĕl'ĭbəsē) , voluntary refusal to enter the married state, with abstinence from sexual activity. It is one of the typically Christian forms of asceticism. In ancient Rome the vestal virgins were celibates, and successful monasticism has everywhere been accompanied by celibacy as an ideal. Among ancient Jews the Essenes were celibates. In the Judaism of postexilic times, sexual activity in the married state was considered lawful and good; otherwise it was unlawful. This norm remained in Christianity. But the mainstream of Christian tradition from the start has interpreted the Gospels and epistles as teaching that voluntary celibacy, especially virginity, is peculiarly meritorious.
In the Orthodox Eastern churches, ordinary parish clergy are married, but monks, nuns, and bishops are celibates. In the West, celibacy was common among the parish clergy beginning the 3d cent.; as time passed, the Holy See became adamant in opposing the marriage of the secular clergy (see orders, holy). By the early Middle Ages, marriage of the clergy had fallen into disrepute; church reformers aimed at concubinage and violations of the laws of chastity rather than of marriage. In the 12th cent. the most stringent laws were enacted, and by the time of the Reformation popular opinion tolerated neither concubinage nor marriage in the clergy. Protestantism rejected voluntary celibacy as an ideal.
The Roman Catholic Church in the Roman rite allows no sacerdotal marriage, but the clergy of Eastern rites united with the Holy See are often married before ordination. Some married priests from other religions or rites have converted to Catholicism and been accepted, but not all dioceses have permitted these priests to practice. Although recent popes and various national groupings of bishops have insisted on the retention of celibacy for priests, there has been considerable pressure in the United States and Europe in support of voluntary marriage for the clergy. A standard defense of the Western discipline of celibacy for parish priests is that marriage would prevent the priest from giving his complete attention to his parish; critics complain that unmarried clergy are unfit to give counsel on marital and sexual problems. Since the Second Vatican Council, the Roman Catholic Church has restored the office of deacon to a prominent place in the ministry and accepts married men into it.
| Quotes About: Celibacy |
Quotes:
"How deep a wound to morals and social purity has that accursed article of the celibacy of the clergy been! Even the best and most enlightened men in Romanist countries attach a notion of impurity to the marriage of a clergyman. And can such a feeling be without its effect on the estimation of the wedded life in general? Impossible! and the morals of both sexes in Spain, Italy, France, and. prove it abundantly."
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
"I think that one of the qualifications of artists should be a vow of celibacy. They should be confined to ruining only their own lives."
- Roger Lewis
"Marriage may often be a stormy lake, but celibacy is almost always a muddy horse pond."
- Thomas Love Peacock
"Celibacy is not just a matter of not having sex. It is a way of admiring a person for their humanity, maybe even for their beauty."
- Timothy Radcliffe
"A celibate, like the fly in the heart of an apple, dwells in a perpetual sweetness, but sits alone, and is confined and dies in singularity."
- Jeremy Taylor
| Wikipedia: Celibacy |
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This article or section has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page.
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Celibacy in its strictest definition means to be unmarried. However, the term is often popularly used to describe a state of life where one chooses to abstain from all sexual activities which is strictly "continence".
Contents |
Etymology
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This section requires expansion. |
The English word celibacy derives from the Latin cælibatus meaning 'married'.
Some Motivations
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This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (July 2009) |
- Religious beliefs - Clerical celibacy, sannyasa.
- To focus energies on other matters, like one's career or social issues, sublimation.
- To cultivate a relationship according to an ideal of chastity.
- A distaste or lack of appetite for sex - asexuality or antisexualism.
- An inability to form a sexual relationship - involuntary celibacy.
- Perceived benefit of alteration of physiological factors, hormonal changes.
- As an attempt to gain a sense of self and independence from others.
- Poor health - medical celibacy.
- Avoiding risk of venereal disease.
- Avoiding being emotionally hurt.
- As a means of birth control.
- Avoiding prosecution for homosexual relations under sodomy laws.
- Punishment
- Erectile dysfunction
The term involuntary celibacy has recently appeared to describe a chronic, unwilling state of celibacy.
Vedic thought and practice
Celibacy termed as Brahmacharya in vedic scripture is the fourth of the yamas (according to Yog Darshan) and the word, literally translated means ‘dedicated to the Divinity of Life’. The word is often used in yogic practice to refer to celibacy or denying pleasure, but this is only a small part of what Brahmacharya represents. The purpose of practicing Brahmacharya is to keep you focused on your purpose in life, the things that instill a feeling of peace and contentment.
Christianity
Celibacy is viewed differently by various Christian sects.
The Bible teaches celibacy to be honorable, and to be required outside of marriage. The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 7, "Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: 'It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.' But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband." (verses 1-2); "I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am. But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion." (verses 7-9); "I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord." (verses 32-35)[1]
A few Christian sects even advocated celibacy as a better way of life for everyone. These groups included the following: the Shakers, the Harmony Society, and the Ephrata Cloister.
Celibacy not only for religious and monastics (brothers/monks and sisters/nuns) but also for bishops is upheld by the Roman Catholic Church traditions. In late 16th-century Venice, nearly 60% of all patrician women joined convents, and only a minority of these women did so voluntarily.[2]
Catholic perspective
The view of the Roman Catholic Church is that celibacy is a reflection of life in Heaven, and a source of detachment from the material world, which aids in one's relationship with God. Catholic priests are called to be espoused to the Church itself, and espoused to God, without overwhelming, exclusive commitments interfering with the relationship. Catholics understand celibacy as the calling of some, but not of all. Celibacy was generally required of the bishop in the early church. A married man could be made bishop, but after his ordination, he was generally required to live apart from his wife. Celibacy was also practiced by many presbyters, especially in the West, but was not universally required. It became obligatory for all priests in the west in the 12th century.
Usually, only celibate men are ordained as priests in the Latin Rite.[3][4]. Married men may become deacons, and married clergy who have converted from other denominations may become Catholic priests without becoming celibate.[5] Mandatory priestly celibacy is not a doctrine of the Church but a church rule or discipline. As such, it can change at any time. The Eastern Catholic Churches ordain both celibate and married men.[6][7] All rites of the Catholic Church maintain the ancient tradition where marriage is not allowed after ordination. Men with transitory homosexual leanings may be ordained deacons following three years of prayer and chastity, but homosexual men who are sexually active, or those who have deeply rooted homosexual tendencies cannot be ordained.[8]
The Catholic view on celibacy is based on the Christ's example, on his teaching as given in Matthew 19:11-12 and on the writings of Paul, who wrote of the advantages celibacy allowed a man in serving the Lord,[9] Celibacy was "held in high esteem" from the Church's beginnings. It is considered a kind of spiritual marriage with Christ, a concept further popularized by the early Christian theologian Origen. Clerical celibacy began to be demanded in the 4th century, including papal decretals beginning with Pope Siricius.[10] Mandatory celibacy was typically expected of priests in the 11th century, as part of efforts to reform the medieval church, and became universal in the 12th.[11]
Universal Celibacy
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This section requires expansion. |
This characterization by Jesus Christ (in Matthew 22:30) of the future status of all persons (in heaven) is officially designated "universal celibacy"[12] by the Roman Catholic Church : "For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven."
Islamic perspective
Islam does not promote celibacy; rather it promotes marriage. In fact, according to Islam, the purpose of marriage enables one to attain the highest form of righteousness within this sacred spirtual bond. It disagrees with the concept that marriage acts as a form of distraction in attaining nearness to God.
"They devised monasticism as a means of seeking Allah’s pleasure. We did not prescribe it for them" (Qur'an 57:27).
There have been incidents where people have come to the prophet and explained how they love to be engaged in prayer and fasting for the sake of God. However, the Prophet Mohammed told them that despite this being good it is also a blessing to raise a family, to remain moderate and not to concentrate too much on one aspect as not only can this be unhealthy upon an individual as well as upon society, it may also take one away from God.
Note: That there is no compulsion in Islam however for one who choses to lead their life this way, it simply questions the practicality of employing this on a large scale and that one can attain just a high a station of one who is celibate through their good deeds.
Abstinence and Celibacy
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This section requires expansion. |
The words abstinence and celibacy are often used interchangeably, but are different. Abstinence is the absence of intercourse (even for an individual who is married), but celibacy is the avoidance of all forms of sexual activity (including, but not limited to, the state of marriage itself).
See also
References
- ^ http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%207;&version=47;
- ^ Jutta Gisela Sperling: Convents and the Body Politic in Late Renaissance Venice
- ^ "Canon 1037". 1983 Code of Canon Law. Vatican. http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3R.HTM. Retrieved on 9 March 2008.
- ^ "Canon 1031". 1983 Code of Canon Law. Vatican. http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P3Q.HTM. Retrieved on 9 March 2008.
- ^ Cholij, Roman (1993). "Priestly Celibacy in Patristics and in the History of the Church". Vatican. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/rc_con_cclergy_doc_01011993_chisto_en.html. Retrieved on 6 April 2008. A priest who is married at time of ordination continues to be married, with full obligation to all expectations of the marriage, but cannot remarry and remain in the practice of the priesthood.
- ^ Niebuhur, Gustav (16 February 1997). "Bishop's Quiet Action Allows Priest Both Flock And Family". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07EEDD133FF935A25751C0A961958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved on 4 April 2008.
- ^ "1990 Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium, Canons 285, 373, 374, 758". Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 1990. http://www.gwo.cz/pravda/1990_Code_of_Canon_Law.htm. Retrieved on 12 September 2008.
- ^ Pope Benedict XVI (4 November 2005). "Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations with regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in view of their Admission to the Seminary and to Holy Orders". Vatican. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccatheduc/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_doc_20051104_istruzione_en.html. Retrieved on 9 March 2008.
- ^ Schreck, p. 255.
- ^ Bokenkotter, p. 54.
- ^ Bokenkotter, p. 145.
- ^ http://www.catholic.com/library/Celibacy_and_the_Priesthood.asp
External links
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| Translations: Celibacy |
Nederlands (Dutch)
celibaat, seksuele onthouding
Français (French)
n. - célibat, chasteté
Deutsch (German)
n. - Zölibat, Ehelosigkeit
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - άγαμος βίος, εργενιλίκι
Português (Portuguese)
n. - celibato (m)
Русский (Russian)
безбрачие, сексуальное воздержание
Español (Spanish)
n. - celibato, soltería
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - celibat
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
独身生活
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 獨身生活
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 금욕, 독신, 독신주의
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) عزوبه
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - רווקות, פרישות
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