CELIBACY

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It’s been somewhat humorous to me that while I’ve been writing on relationships and romance, I have at the same time been reading up on celibacy (lifelong, voluntary singleness).  This is a subject that has been on my mind for over six years now, and I feel like I’ve finally begun to make some progress with it.  It isn’t talked about much in the Protestant church, so I’ve had to delve into the wealth of experience and knowledge on the subject found in the Catholic church, but I’m really trying to get BIBLICAL clarity on the subject. 

You might say to me, “Becky, why should you care?  You’re not called to be a celibate are you?”  Most Protestants are either altogether unaware of the subject (never even considering it for anyone, much less themselves), or they are actively avoiding the subject for fear that they’ll get called to it against their will by the Lord (which mainly comes from the horrible notion that God will inevitably call us to do that which we never wanted to do with our lives).  While you and I may or may not be called to the charism of celibacy, since every believer is called to discipleship, we must have understanding to be able to impart to those who are going to walk through the journey of celibacy.

While I want to go into depth of what I have discovered on this subject (Biblically and otherwise) in further posts, I will simply begin by attempting to cast some vision for celibacy itself, just to begin stirring the pot.  This is a quote from the real deal, a celibate writing on celibacy (don’t get confused by the use of the word “virginity” -  it’s being used synonymously with celibacy in respect to 1 Corinthians 7):

“The idea of viginity is not very popular in the worldly world.  What was formerly referred to as a woman’s honor has in the erotomania of our day become almost a dishonor.  It is often considered as a deprivation at best, an illness at worst.  Nonetheless we shall in these pages retain the biblical word virginity with not the least apology for it.  Because the tern designates a primal, unspoiled, total readiness for one Beloved, there is no reason why we should allow the secular mind to co-opt a beautiful reality, reduce it to a mere physical condition, and then proceed to denigrate what it does not understand.  Evangelical virginity is always a consecrated freshness, a complete self-gift to the Beloved…

“Celibacy is seen by almost everyone as a surrender, a giving up of “sex” and marraige.  Even those who attribute to it a positive finality, think that it itself is nothing more than denying the sexual side of one’s personality, the physical expression of that side.  Second, in our imaginary survey no one thought of celibacy as being in love with God, an eminently fulfilling, joy-bringing way of life, a new way of loving of men and women warmly and humanly… Few people suspect the beauty of gospel virginity.”

In this series, we will survey several aspects of celibacy:

• Biblical precedent
• Marriage vs. Celibacy
• Historical precedent (men and women on fire)
• Glories and pitfalls
• Discerning your call: practical steps forward
• Helping others in the journey

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Filed under Amateur Sociology, Celibacy Series