Original collection
Celibacy – This false doctrine and sacrament of the Catholic Church was first enjoined at Rome by Gregory VIII in 1073 A.D., and was established in England by Archbishop Anselm in 1175. It is the Pope’s greatest source of power in the church through the clergy. The apostle Paul said that the doctrine of “forbidding to marry” was one of the specific things the Spirit “saith expressly” would Mk the seductions described in 1 Tim 4:1-3. For centuries celibacy has been a dogma of Catholicism. It is claimed that when Peter became the Pope he separated from the wife he once had, mentioned in Matt. 8:14. They claim that Matt 19:27 means that Peter left his wife, deserted and abandoned her. This is not true because Paul in 1 Cor. 9:5 stated Peter’s wife travelled with him. If the word forsake in Matt. 19:27 means to desert or abandon, then when Jesus said that any one not willing to forsake father or mother could not be His disciple, it applies not only to a priest, but to everyone and such is not the meaning of the passage. It is claimed that in Matt 22:30 that in the resurrection they do not marry but are as angels that celibacy raises one to the dignity of angels, the fallacy of that is apparent as the resurrection state not celibacy is the subject of the passage. The real reason for the doctrine of celibacy is for Pontifical Dominion. If the priests had wives and families it would restrict their allegiance to the Pope. When the priest takes the vow of celibacy, he has no ties which bind him to home or to country, and he is the vassal of his Vatican superior.
Key KJV Scriptures:
Matthew 19:10-12; 1 Corinthians 7:7-9,32-35; 1 Timothy 3:2,12; 4:1-3
Key KJV Scriptures: Full Text
30 indexed verses · Showing 1–30. Read each passage in its chapter context.
Matthew 19:10 (KJV)
His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.
Matthew 19:11 (KJV)
But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given.
Matthew 19:12 (KJV)
For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.
1 Corinthians 7:1 (KJV)
Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.
1 Corinthians 7:2 (KJV)
Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.
1 Corinthians 7:7 (KJV)
For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.
1 Corinthians 7:8 (KJV)
I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.
1 Corinthians 7:9 (KJV)
But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.
1 Corinthians 7:25 (KJV)
Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.
1 Corinthians 7:26 (KJV)
I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress, I say, that it is good for a man so to be.
1 Corinthians 7:32 (KJV)
But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord:
1 Corinthians 7:33 (KJV)
But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.
1 Corinthians 7:34 (KJV)
There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
1 Corinthians 7:35 (KJV)
And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.
1 Corinthians 7:36 (KJV)
But if any man think that he behaveth himself uncomely toward his virgin, if she pass the flower of her age, and need so require, let him do what he will, he sinneth not: let them marry.
1 Corinthians 7:37 (KJV)
Nevertheless he that standeth stedfast in his heart, having no necessity, but hath power over his own will, and hath so decreed in his heart that he will keep his virgin, doeth well.
1 Corinthians 7:38 (KJV)
So then he that giveth her in marriage doeth well; but he that giveth her not in marriage doeth better.
1 Corinthians 7:39 (KJV)
The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 7:40 (KJV)
But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God.
1 Corinthians 9:5 (KJV)
Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?
1 Timothy 3:2 (KJV)
A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
1 Timothy 3:12 (KJV)
Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.
1 Timothy 4:1 (KJV)
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
1 Timothy 4:2 (KJV)
Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
1 Timothy 4:3 (KJV)
Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
Revelation 14:1 (KJV)
And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.
Revelation 14:2 (KJV)
And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
Revelation 14:3 (KJV)
And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
Revelation 14:4 (KJV)
These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
Revelation 14:5 (KJV)
And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
Reference selections include Orville J. Nave’s public-domain topical index, via Brady Stephenson’s bible-data (CC BY 4.0). Titles and references have been normalized, duplicates merged, and references checked against the site’s KJV. This is a passage-finding aid; its classifications do not establish doctrine.