For 1,000 Years, Priests Were Married — Who Ended It, and Why
Before Rome
13,074 views
Picture a house next to a small stone church, somewhere in Europe, around the year 1000. A fire going, a woman stirring something over it, two children arguing in the doorway. And the man of that house is the priest of that church. That is his wife. Those are his sons.
And here is the part that matters: nobody in that village finds it strange. It has looked like this, in most of the West, for about a thousand years — and within a couple of generations it will be gone so completely that most people will assume it was never there.
Before anything else, two things. I am NOT against celibacy — the Bible honours it, Paul was unmarried and wished more men were like him, and people who have given up marriage to serve God have done extraordinary things. This is about COMPULSION: the difference between a gift a man chooses and a condition an institution imposes. And this video contains NOTHING about anyone's private conduct, modern or historical. It is about a rule and where it came from.
The video also answers the fairest objection: "husband of one wife" may mean "if married, only one wife". That reading is held by serious people — but look at the surrounding paragraph, which talks about his children and how he rules his household, reasoning that does not work on a man with no household. The objection can rescue the phrase; it cannot rescue the rule. You can argue about whether Paul commanded marriage. You cannot argue that he forbade it — because one chapter later he tells you who does.
And celibacy chosen remains a gift: "I would that all men were even as I myself" (1 Corinthians 7:7); "he that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord" (7:32-35); and Jesus: "HE THAT IS ABLE TO RECEIVE IT, LET HIM RECEIVE IT" (Matthew 19:12) — the language of a gift offered, not a requirement applied.
If this stirred something in you, the next step is Be Your Own Pastor — a short, practical guide to reading Scripture for yourself with nobody between you and God, testing a requirement against the qualification list Scripture actually gives, and deciding your own faith without asking a man's permission. One-time guide, no subscription, backed by our simple guarantee:
https://yourownpastor.store
Go and read 1 Timothy 3 slowly tonight — the whole list. It takes four minutes, and it is the job description of the man who stands in front of you every week. May the peace of Christ, who honours the man who gives up marriage and never once demanded it, keep your heart and your mind until we open the Word together again.
— Before Rome
#ChurchHistory #1Timothy3 #ClericalCelibacy #EarlyChurch #KJV #BeforeRome #1Timothy4
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Unfortunately, men like myself, who desire marriage, not only have to find the "right one" (given the über-liberal attitudes out there), but in Church bodies like the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the potential wife of an ordained pastor must be a "card carrying" (cradle or converted) LCMS Lutheran before they can marry, otherwise the pastor may face disciplinary action up to and including defrocking.
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Concordia_Triglotta/The_Confession_of_Faith
For 1,000 Years, Priests Were Married — Who Ended It, and Why
Before Rome
13,074 views
Picture a house next to a small stone church, somewhere in Europe, around the year 1000. A fire going, a woman stirring something over it, two children arguing in the doorway. And the man of that house is the priest of that church. That is his wife. Those are his sons.
And here is the part that matters: nobody in that village finds it strange. It has looked like this, in most of the West, for about a thousand years — and within a couple of generations it will be gone so completely that most people will assume it was never there.
Before anything else, two things. I am NOT against celibacy — the Bible honours it, Paul was unmarried and wished more men were like him, and people who have given up marriage to serve God have done extraordinary things. This is about COMPULSION: the difference between a gift a man chooses and a condition an institution imposes. And this video contains NOTHING about anyone's private conduct, modern or historical. It is about a rule and where it came from.
The video also answers the fairest objection: "husband of one wife" may mean "if married, only one wife". That reading is held by serious people — but look at the surrounding paragraph, which talks about his children and how he rules his household, reasoning that does not work on a man with no household. The objection can rescue the phrase; it cannot rescue the rule. You can argue about whether Paul commanded marriage. You cannot argue that he forbade it — because one chapter later he tells you who does.
And celibacy chosen remains a gift: "I would that all men were even as I myself" (1 Corinthians 7:7); "he that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord" (7:32-35); and Jesus: "HE THAT IS ABLE TO RECEIVE IT, LET HIM RECEIVE IT" (Matthew 19:12) — the language of a gift offered, not a requirement applied.
If this stirred something in you, the next step is Be Your Own Pastor — a short, practical guide to reading Scripture for yourself with nobody between you and God, testing a requirement against the qualification list Scripture actually gives, and deciding your own faith without asking a man's permission. One-time guide, no subscription, backed by our simple guarantee:
https://yourownpastor.store
Go and read 1 Timothy 3 slowly tonight — the whole list. It takes four minutes, and it is the job description of the man who stands in front of you every week. May the peace of Christ, who honours the man who gives up marriage and never once demanded it, keep your heart and your mind until we open the Word together again.
— Before Rome
#ChurchHistory #1Timothy3 #ClericalCelibacy #EarlyChurch #KJV #BeforeRome #1Timothy4
clerical celibacy history, married priests, 1 timothy 3:2, titus 1:6, 1 timothy 4:1-3, forbidding to marry, hebrews 13:4, matthew 8:14 peter wife, 1 corinthians 9:5, 1 corinthians 7:7, matthew 19:12, church history explained, why priests cannot marry, second lateran council, early church, before rome, kjv bible study, be your own pastor, qualifications of an elder, bible study channel
1 Timothy 3:2 — "A bishop then MUST BE blameless, THE HUSBAND OF ONE WIFE." That is a list of requirements (blameless, vigilant, sober, apt to teach), and marriage is in it. And Paul gives the reason a few lines down: "if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?" The household is the evidence.
1 Timothy 4:1-3 — "the Spirit speaketh EXPRESSLY, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith… FORBIDDING TO MARRY."
And the men: "Peter's WIFE'S MOTHER" (Matthew 8:14). "Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles… and CEPHAS?" (1 Corinthians 9:5).
To be clear, because it matters more to me than the argument: I am not against celibacy. Scripture honours it — and Jesus's own words are the language of a gift, not a rule: "he that is able to receive it, let him receive it" (Matthew 19:12). The issue is COMPULSION. And this video says nothing about anybody's private conduct, and never will.
The rule came at the beginning of the twelfth century. And alongside the genuine reform movement there was a property problem: priests' sons inherited land, buildings, and in practice the office. A celibate clergy has no heirs — and a clergy with no heirs cannot alienate property.
If you want the three protocols written out, that is Be Your Own Pastor: https://yourownpastor.store
And tell me — which city are you watching from tonight? I read every comment and I pray for the names of the places I see.