Religious Differences between Married and Celibate Clergy: Does Celibacy Make a Difference?

There has been a long tradition of clerical celibacy within Roman Catholicism. It is argued, using several biblical texts and traditional statements, that celibacy is the better choice for the clergy because it frees the person from concerns of marriage and children and enables a person to be more d...

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Bibliographische Detailangaben
1. VerfasserIn: Swenson, Donald S. (Verfasst von)
Medienart: Elektronisch Aufsatz
Sprache:Englisch
Verfügbarkeit prüfen: HBZ Gateway
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Veröffentlicht: 1998
In: Sociology of religion
Jahr: 1998, Band: 59, Heft: 1, Seiten: 37-43
Online-Zugang: Volltext (JSTOR)
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Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:There has been a long tradition of clerical celibacy within Roman Catholicism. It is argued, using several biblical texts and traditional statements, that celibacy is the better choice for the clergy because it frees the person from concerns of marriage and children and enables a person to be more devoted to God and to have a more mature spiritual life. However, this argument has never been tested empirically. A data base consisting of 1294 evangelical ministers (most of whom are married) and 80 Roman Catholic priests in Canada was utilized to test this argument. It was theorized and verified that being a celibate did not make a significant difference to one's spiritual life. A discussion ensues and a pastoral recommendation follows.
ISSN:1759-8818
Enthält:Enthalten in: Sociology of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.2307/3711964