In 1517, Martin Luther, a Catholic priest, nailed his 95 Thesis to the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany. These were the 95 “grievances” he had against the Roman Catholic Church as he compared it to the truths of scripture. This began what would come to be known in church history as the Reformation. Luther was a Catholic priest who was committed to celibacy as a sign of his devotion to God. Eventually Luther completely separated from the Catholic Church, revoked his vow of celibacy, and married Katherina von Bora. This began a swing back towards the belief that the clergy should be married. Most Protestant clergy in the centuries to come would follow Luther’s lead.
In John Witte, Jr.’s Lecture, “The Perils of Celibacy: Clerical Marriage and the Protestant Reformation”, he shares Luther’s view of marriage during the Reformation.
“The marital estate was as indispensable an agent in God's redemption plan as the church. The best example of such an idealized marital household was the local parsonage, the home of the married Lutheran minister. The reformers had already argued that pastors, like everyone else, should be married--lest they be tempted by sexual sin, deprived of the joys of marital love, and precluded from the great act of divine and human creativity in having children. Here was an even stronger argument for clerical marriage. The clergy were to be exemplars of marriage. The minister’s household was to be a source and model for the right order and government of the local church, state, and broader community. As Adolf von Harnack put it a century ago: “The Evangelical parsonage, founded by Luther, became the model and blessing of the entire German nation, a nursery of piety and education, a place of social welfare and social equality."[1]
Concerning this change of perspective from single clergy to married clergy John Witte Jr. continues later in his lecture with these words.
“Before we Protestants become too content with ourselves, however, it is worth remembering that some of these early Protestant marital reforms, however meritorious, were not without their own enduring problems. Yes, the Protestant reformers did outlaw monasteries and cloisters. But these reforms also ended the vocations of many single women and men, placing a new premium on the vocation of marriage. Ever since, Protestant single women and men have chafed in a sort of pastoral and theological limbo, objects of curiosity and pity, sometimes even suspicion and contempt. These are stigmata which singles still feel today in more conservative Protestant churches, despite the avalanche of new ministries to help them.”[2]
We can thank God for the Reformation and the removal of obligatory celibacy for clergy. At the same time it has led the church to favor married clergy and become a little leery of single ministers. Luther has a good argument for the benefits that marriage brings for the development of the life of the minister and the church, but that does not negate the advantages of single ministers that Paul highlights in 1 Cor. 7. Whether single or married honor God with your life today. Marriage and singleness are both a gift from God.
[1] Jr John Witt, "The Perils of Celibacy: Marriage and Protestant Reformation," speech delivered to Candler School of Theology, October 22, 2002, The Kessler Reformation Lecture, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
[2] Jr John Witt, "The Perils of Celibacy: Marriage and Protestant Reformation," speech delivered to Candler School of Theology, October 22, 2002, The Kessler Reformation Lecture, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Good information....thanks
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