Christian views on Celibacy, Marriage, Homosexuality and Transgenderism
Celibacy
living life without sexual activity -- Christians traditionally believes that celibacy is choosing to live the life of a single person to devote oneself completely to God
Early Christians
believed that the end of the world was coming, so they should prepare for the end instead of having children
"But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion" (those who cannot control their sexual urges should marry, those who can should practice celibacy)
"there are those who choose to live life like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven" - Matthew 19:12
Early Church
Early Church -- assumed most Christians would marry, leaders expected to be married as a sign of their moral responsibility
4th Century -- monastic tradition which celebrated total devotion of one's life to God grew, increasing negative view of sexuality and women
women could also be celibate -- being celibate gave them a more intellectual environment where they could flourish and freed from male dominance and domestic responsibilities
Catholic Church TODAY
"all the ordained ministers of the Latin Church, with the exception of permanent deacons are normally chosen from among men of faith who live a celibate life and who intend to remain celibate 'for the sake of the kingdom of heaven'" - Catechism of the Catholic Church
Orthodox Church TODAY
but there is pressure for them to end the rule of clergy celibacy, many priests leave the ministry to marry and there isn't enough priests for the Church
Priests may be married when they are ordained but not after their ordination. Bishops cannot be married, so they are selected from priests who remain celibate.
Protestant Evangelical Churches TODAY
prefer their clergy to be married with a family (as per 1 Timothy 3:1-7), believe that a celibate man fails to meet the biblical requirements for a church leader to be the husband of a wife
Marriage
Early Church
only celibacy or marriage -- St. Paul's letter to Timothy showed that being married and taking care of a family shows that the person is suitable to lead a Church congregation
View on marriage throughout the years
marriage became a sacrament, seen as receiving God's grace
Catholic tradition
Marriage remained a sacrament -- raising a Christian is a vocation, but still inferior to celibacy
4th century, priests, monks and nuns were required to remain celibate, but Eastern Churches expected most parish priests to marry, only wanted celibate bishops
Reformation
balance shifted against celibacy, in favour of marriage, family seen as God's blessing upon the union of the husband and the wife -- Protestant reformers: marriage not a sacrament, but a "wordly thing... that belongs to the realm of government" - Luther
Roman Catholic
focuses on the sacramental nature on marriage -- physical act as two individuals become 'one flesh' in marriage -- divorce is not possible (they may live apart)
protestant churches
do not see marriage as a sacrament -- means that a marriage can be dissolved if they tried their best to make it work
Jesus allows divorce only as a result of marital unfaithfulness ("saving for the course of fornication"), many protestant churches allows for remarriages as it shows that they have admitted to their failures and chose to live the life God had planned
problems of applying this belief to today's society
legal registration of marriages today do not require a religious ceremony, so it can be secular
also with homosexual marriages, are they allowed to marry in the Church (via following Jesus' example of love)?
Homosexuality
background
until European Enlightenment, it was normal of religion to be imposed by the state (e.g. whole Roman Empire was Christian in 4th century)
after protestant reformation and rise in scientific knowledge, less church authority -- end of 20th century, people wanted to explore their own spirituality without formal religious systems
until end of 1950s, Churches of all denominations regarded homosexuality as a sin. Homosexual acts were illegal, therefore Gay people may live together, but they had to be secret as they may be picked up by police
Wolfenden Report in 1957 -- suggested decriminalising homosexual acts between consenting adults, 10 years later, this became English and Welsh law through Sexual Offences Act of 1967
Contemporary responses
homosexuality is now legal and socially acceptable within much of society
some Christians argue that those who are gay should remain celibate as homosexual activity itself is a sin, but homosexuality tendencies is not a sin
catholics
homosexual tendencies are not sinful, but homosexual acts go against the principle of Natural Moral Law, therefore are sins
teleological -- sexual acts should have a final aim of producing children
reinterpreting tradition
Bible seems to condemn homosexual activity -- BUT possible problem with interpretation
legislation of homosexuality followed after the formation of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement in the UK in 1961
Old testament passages
"Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable." - Leviticus 18:22
"If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads." - Leviticus 20:13
New testament passages
"Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor the slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." - 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
"God gave them over to shameful lusts... Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion." - Romans 1:26-28
Biblical passage in support of homosexuality
"You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgement do the same things." - Romans
Paul is making a point that Christians should not judge others since all need forgiveness
Transgenderism
arguments against transgenders
all are created by God, could be argued that God does not make any mistakes when giving us our bodies, they should be content with the gender God gives them
Early Church
strongly opposed surgery which tampered their sex identity -- Eunuchs were not permitted to be ordained as priests
Some may use biblical verses which condemn homosexuality to condemn transgenderism as surgical gender transition does not change their original sexual nature -- if a transgender female sleeps with a man, it is still two men sleeping together
arguments in favour of transgenders
Imago dei -- both male and female are made in God's image, so both genders contains God's image, changing gender is just emphasising one aspect of God's image to another
"There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" - Galatians 3:28
a transgender could claim that God created them as a whole -- with the nature of one gender and the body of another, allowing them to decide how to live their life
Simon Peter said to them: 'Let Mary go away from us, for women are not worthy of life.' Jesus said: 'Look, I will draw her in so as to make her male, so that she too may become a living male spirit, similar to you. (But I say to you): Every woman who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.' (Gospel of Thomas, Logion 114)