Does 1 Corinthians 7:32-35 Justify Priestly Celibacy?
After a couple of ongoing readings of Roman Catholic apologetic writings and their styles, it's plain EISEGESIS not EXEGESIS. Compared to Charles Haddon Spurgeon's meticulous exegetical works, these Roman Catholic apologists have tried to justify 1 Corinthians 7:32-35 to justify priestly celibacy. What they don't realize is that celibacy is NOT enforced but an option. Perhaps Paul married sooner or later, but what we realize is that Paul later in his letters wrote these things that actually debunked the idea of priestly celibacy which I will write from the Roman Catholic Good News Version even if I am a King James only-ist:
1 Timothy 3:1-5 says, "This is a true saying, if a man is eager to be a church leader, he desires an excellent work. A church leader must be without fault; he must have only one wife, be sober, self-controlled and orderly; he must welcome strangers in his home; he must be able to teach; he must not be a drunkard or a violent man, but gentle and peaceful; he must not love money; he must be able to manage his own family well and make his children obey him with all respect. For if a man does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of the Church of God?"
Some may argue, "Well a church leader is not a priest." but then isn't a priest a church leader? Doesn't the priest LEAD the people during a Mass? Obviously this is erroneous semantics and a lot of eisegesis here and there because they reject Sola Scriptura as the only source of tradition that the Church has. The same Paul who wrote sometimes it's better not to marry is the same Paul who wrote that church leaders must be family men of moral integrity. And in the succeeding chapters we also read again from the Good News Bible:
1 Timothy 4:1-3 says, "The Spirit says clearly that some people will abandon the faith in later times; they will obey lying spirits and follow the teachings of demons. Such teachings are spread by deceitful liars whose consciences are dead as if burnt with a hot iron. Such people teach that it is wrong to marry and to eat certain foods."
Looking again what what I have highlighted, even the Council of Trent which many Roman Catholic apologists cling to as the "final authority" have debated for centuries even about priestly celibacy. So much for bragging that Rome doesn't change.