celibacy

celibacy, the state of being unmarried and, therefore, sexually abstinent, usually in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, the term is applied only to those for whom the unmarried state is the result of a sacred vow, act of renunciation, or religious conviction. Celibacy has existed in one form or another throughout history and in virtually all the major religions of the world.

Wherever celibacy has appeared, it generally has been accompanied by the view that the religious life is essentially different or even alienated from the normal structures of society and the normal drives of human nature. On the other hand, the religious style that disparages celibacy gives priority to the role of religion as employing and sanctifying the “natural” states of life: sexuality, family, and work.

Types of celibacy

Celibacy is practiced in a variety of different contexts. One type of celibacy is sacerdotal, the celibacy of priests and priestesses. A priest may be defined as one who, as a mediator, performs the sacred function of communicating through rites the needs of the people to heaven and the sacred power and presence from heaven to the congregation. His function is objective. Its efficacy is assured if the priest conducts the proper rite and has the proper qualifications of ordination and, perhaps, of ritual purity, regardless of whether he is particularly moral or fervent. Celibacy serves as such an objective mark of special state and ritual purity. Celibacy probably is derived from taboos that regarded sexual power as a rival to religious power, and the sexuality of the opposite sex as a polluting factor, especially in sacred or crisis situations.

Another type of celibacy is that associated with monasticism. The main purpose of the monk’s celibacy is moral and spiritual advancement, not the ritual purity required for sacerdotal rites. To this end, celibacy helps the monk to achieve inner freedom and affords him the opportunity for asceticism and meditation. These experiences, possibly together with the “new family” of the religious community, contribute to a sense of separation from the ordinary that facilitates the monk’s spiritual growth. Types of monasticism include the solitary—the hermit in the woods or the desert, the anchorite living in isolation in a church or monastery—the cenobite living a stabilized monastic life in community, and the mendicant ascetic who wanders from place to place gathering alms. In any case, the celibate state is viewed as an inseparable part of the monk’s way of life.

Institutional celibacy for women is also typically conceived of as an aid to spiritual advancement. Virginity and celibacy are regarded as assets in the attainment of spiritual goals. Most institutional female celibates are nuns in residential cloisters—though there have been occasional solitary figures, such as the anchoress (female hermit) Dame Julian of Norwich (born 1342).

Individual noninstitutional and nonsacerdotal religious celibacy may be practiced by the layperson or the occasional clergyman in a faith not requiring celibacy who makes a vow to remain unmarried out of devotion or to allow the performance of some special religious service.

Pagan religions of the ancient Mediterranean

In the great pagan religions of the ancient Mediterranean, celibacy was practiced in various contexts. In Rome the institution of the Vestal Virgins, who were required to remain celibate for at least the 30 years of their service, indicates that celibacy was a very ancient aspect of Roman religion. As Classical civilization developed, two ideals of masculine celibacy appeared, that of the ascetic philosopher and that of the priest of the mystery religions. The Pythagoreans are an excellent example of the former. Pythagoras (c. 580 bc–c. 500) established a small community that emphasized study, vegetarianism, and sexual restraint or abstinence. Many later philosophers believed that celibacy is conducive to the detachment and equilibrium required by the philosopher’s calling. The Stoic philosopher Epictetus (ad 55–c. 135) for example, held that the ideal teacher would be unmarried and that his task would require freedom from the cares of family life.

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A different mood was set by the celibate priests of the mysteries. Celibacy was especially characteristic of priest-devotees of the Great Mother cults. The well-organized priesthood of the religion of Isis, for example, represented a serene sacerdotalism; sexual abstinence was an absolute requirement of those who celebrated her holy mysteries. In many other cults—e.g., Manichaeism, Gnosticism, and Hermeticism—an inner circle of worshipers was required to observe strict continence. The philosophical and religious ideals of celibacy in the Classical world strongly influenced subsequent practices of celibacy and monasticism in Christianity.

The religions of Asia

The religious traditions of India embody a variety of attitudes toward celibacy. In Hinduism the priesthood is hereditary and thus not celibate. Among the prominent religious personages of India, however, are the sadhus (“holy men”), who live a life free of possessions and family obligation. The sadhus have no organization or corporate discipline. Many sadhus, male and female, become celibate after marriage or widowhood; others do so early in life. The sadhu is one who has left the type of life ruled by the order of dharma (cosmic and societal law—i.e., of caste, family, money, and state) in order to seek moksha (final liberation). Celibacy is also an important practice in Jainism. All Jain monks vow to avoid sexual relations, and the laity are encouraged to be chaste and even to become celibate after the birth of a son.

Buddhism began as a celibate order in India dedicated to the attainment of enlightenment through control of the passions and withdrawal from attachment to material objects. As Buddhism became a world religion, certain variations arose: in Southeast Asia, most young men spent only a year in the order; in Tibet, Tantric monks were married; in Japan, the large Jōdo Shinshū denomination dispensed with the celibacy ideal altogether.

Adherents of Chinese Daoism include monastics and independent celibate adepts. Although the tradition was probably derived originally from shamanism, Daoist monasticism and the Daoist priesthood are now modeled on Buddhist practices.

Shintō in Japan has no monks or celibate priesthood, though it has embraced shamanesses “married” to the shrine god and celibate priestesses in major shrines, especially in premodern times.