Monday, February 2, 2026

It is the 2nd of February 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

A very happy Monday to you, welcome to the second month of the year- as we barrel through 2026 and approach the 8th season of this show… I collect your questions that come in through the mail at danv@1517.org, and on Mondays, we see if we can answer them. Richard, in Jamestown, New York, wrote in Jamestown, New York- there in the western part of the state- home to Lucille Ball, where you have not one, but two statues of her? Also, Roger Goodell, NFL commissioner, and if the internet is to be trusted, one of the Backstreet Boys.

 

Richard wondered about the history of celibacy in the church, especially wondering about the injunction in the Catholic Church about priests not getting married. He asks where this came from… Richard, I don’t want to be cheeky- but it comes from the Bible… but hold on to that for a second.

 

Our cultural assumptions about marriage and the faith, and ministry in particular, run deep. I try to stay away from the online discourse, but there was recently some fuss over a Christian influencer teaching that marriage and a family are your highest earthly calling- it can be a holy and important calling- but our idolizing of the married state- especially for ministers- would have looked very strange in the early church.

 

Jesus? Famously single. Paul? Same. Read 1 Corinthians 7- Paul, in the context of his own singleness in ministry, writes:

 

“I wish that all of you were as I am. But each of you has your own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

8 Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do. 9 But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.”

 

It isn’t terribly romantic.

 

You can, of course, go to the Old Testament and the various rules for priests and physical relationships and ideas about when one is clean or unclean.

 

In the early church, the call to celibacy for those in ministry was voluntary. It was an ascetic choice- giving up one of the pleasures of the world for single-mindedness and devotion.

 

But, humans being human are going to start playing a spiritual version of “anything you can do… I can do better” and we go from injunctions about a minister being married, but abstaining from marital relations before celebrating mass to, post Niceae in 325 priests could be married prior to ordination and remain married, but none were to be married after ordination.

 

In the Middle Ages, there were your typical issues surrounding those who made vows of celibacy and were unable to uphold them… by the 900s, we have calls to encourage clerical marriage- there was a perception of such immorality from monasteries and convents that there seems to have been two options: relax the rules on celibacy or double down.

 

By 1074, we have the Pope, Gregory VII, making it official as part of his “Gregorian reform.” Married priests had become too much of a headache when it came to church property and nepotism, and the perception of impropriety.

 

For contrast, by 1074 it becomes the standard, but by 1054 we have the schism between the East and the West- so, what does the Eastern Orthodox church do with regard to celibacy? They look a lot like the earlier church- a monk or nun is obviously celibate. If you rise to the rank of bishop, you are celibate. If you are married and then ordained? That’s ok. What if you’re widowed? You don’t remarry.

 

And then, of course, the radicals of the 16th century. One argument of the Reformers' opponents was that they were really just making their whole fuss because they wanted… well, the opposite of celibacy.

 

Between the three primary traditions of the church, we see three distinct takes on church ministry and marriage and celibacy… it’s good to remember that what you might consider obvious and normal… well, the church is really old and really big and there are a lot of ideas that might shock us, or at least humble as little. Thanks for the email, Richard in Jamestown, New York.

 

We’ve got a mailbag weekend show in the works- if you have a question of either massive significance or just something you always wondered… like, why do the Orthodox have that little thing at the bottom of their crosses…

 

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and Hebrews 2:

14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them,[k] fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

 

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 2nd of February 2026 brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man with enough kids to field a baseball team- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man with enough kids to field a singles tennis competition… I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.