Celibacy - Violation of Natural Laws?
SPIRITUAL TOPICS > Religion
Celibacy - Life pleasing to God or Violation of Natural Order?
Why Sexual Abstinence often causes more Harm than Spiritual Benefit
Countless people are extremely deferential to authority or even subservient to it. If they have been raised from childhood in a particular system of thought or belief with established scriptures, they will usually accept these uncritically as given, with the largely meaningless argument: ‘That's how it is written...’ or ‘That's how I learned it.’
This phenomenon is particularly common and strong in religious communities! Only very few people have the courage and manage to gain a better understanding of the content of these writings and, above all, to thoroughly examine their origins. But what is stopping us? Don't we clearly sense that real Truth would easily withstand such verification, while much of what has been added by unwise people and unclear sources could then be eliminated? In other words, wouldn't this be a chance to literally ‘separate the wheat from the chaff’?
How does this relate to the obligation of Celibacy, i.e. the prohibition of marriage for priests in one of the largest religious communities on Earth?
A key feature of real Truth is its simplicity! If we approach a matter with a clear, unadulterated mind, ask the right questions and draw simple, logical conclusions, it can easily happen that highly complex intellectual constructs, even those of ‘time-honoured’ institutions, quickly collapse like a house of cards. But this is exactly what the One to whom they refer and whom they claim to be the successor demands: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you turn back and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’ (Matthew 18:3)
Celibacy and the Bible
And so let us take a look at celibacy, which has recently come under pressure and been called into question due to the extremely frequent cases of child abuse that have come to light. It is striking that the number of cases of abuse is exceptionally high in celibate organisations (at least in the northern states) and that there is good reason to assume that there is a valid cause for this!
Celibacy is primarily justified by the following passages from the Bible, which are attributed to Jesus:
‘If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.’ (Luke 14:26 EU)
But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given.
For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men,
and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.
Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.” (Matthew 19:12 EU)
and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.
Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.” (Matthew 19:12 EU)
Neither of these statements can be used to justify a celibate life without violently tearing them out of context! When it comes to discipleship in the service of Jesus, it should be self-evident that every prospective disciple had to free himself from all family ties to such an extent that they could not repeatedly distract him from his self-chosen service in support of Christ's mission. And since Christ came to a spiritually depraved earth, he found himself on an extremely dangerous mission, as his final crucifixion could hardly prove more impressively! Thus, courage and self-sacrifice were also basic requirements for his disciples if he was to be able to truly rely on them.
To associate every priest of a clerical organisation with these disciples of Jesus and then, without any connection, to justify a celibate, physically abstinent life for the former can really be considered adventurous! Quite ‘incidentally’, this statement by Jesus also mentions father and mother, children, brothers and sisters, and one's own life, all of which have nothing to do with marriage, which clearly indicates that his statement must have been meant quite differently.
The second statement, ‘Not everyone can understand this word...’ is also completely taken out of context with regard to justifying celibacy and, in my opinion, can only be understood if one is sufficiently familiar with the Laws of Rebirth, the knowledge of which was self-evident to Jesus. For it is well known that, through long processes of development, human beings are very, very different, and because of our Free Will, there is of course no obligation to marry; rather, there may be various reasons for wanting to remain unmarried. These people are then ‘incapable of marriage from birth’ because they do not want it in this life! Similarly, past experiences that were very problematic or even traumatic can lead to ‘there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men,’ which also includes compulsion, as it may be the case with celibacy, for example. And finally, it may also happen that people voluntarily choose to renounce marriage ‘for the sake of the kingdom of heaven’ because that is their priority and they would definitely not miss marriage – but this is likely to be a rarer case. Nor does this necessarily mean that the kingdom of heaven is automatically closed to married people, because otherwise the majority of humanity would be excluded from paradise from the outset.
This is my personal interpretation of this statement by Jesus, which may have been meant in this sense, but most likely also contains other components.
It also explicitly refers to ‘some,’ not ‘many’ or even ‘all.’ This is easy to understand, since otherwise earthly reproduction would not be possible. In this context, the often-quoted statement by Paul must also be considered: "I wish that all people were [unmarried] like me. But each has his own gift from God, one this way, another that way." (1 Cor 7:7 EU). This statement must be regarded merely as the personal and not thoroughly thought-out opinion of this apostle! If ‘all people were unmarried,’ especially those striving for the Light, the natural consequence would be that they would die out, which really cannot be what God intended, since He gave us this Earth and many earthly lives for the purpose of development. And that is one of the reasons why He placed the sexual drive in Creation! Shortly before this, however, Paul already modified his statement: ‘It is good for a man not to touch a woman. But because of the danger of sexual immorality, everyone should have his own wife and every woman her own husband’ (1 Corinthians 7:1–2 EU).
We can see, on closer inspection, that none of these passages compellingly demand a celibate life from any human being. Jesus in particular would never have come up with such an imperfect idea! And as we will see in a moment, celibacy was not made binding until well over 1,000 years after Christ!
Celibacy and Succession of Inheritance
It is common knowledge that the largest celibate religious community on earth has amassed fabulous earthly riches in the course of its long history.
There would be nothing wrong with this if it used all these resources in a constructive way to spread the true and pure Teachings of Christ in modesty and selflessness, which would naturally lead to spiritual wealth and happiness for all humanity! For there is nothing else in the original Teachings of Jesus. However, in several articles on this website on the subject of Jesus of Nazareth, I have explained and justified in detail that this dissemination in the spirit of the Son of God never took place! On the contrary: through much that was added by humans, Christ's clear teachings were increasingly distorted and disfigured, and it became apparent that the vast majority of churches were primarily interested in expanding their power and influence, but not in spiritual service to humanity in the spirit of God and Jesus.
The culmination of these false endeavours took place in parts of Europe at the end of the Middle Ages and in the early Modern Age, when countless people who did not want to submit to church doctrine were persecuted with merciless brutality, tortured and burned at the stake. In doing so, they violated in the most serious way the Freedom of Will given to all people by God, and this action itself was a mockery of the Teaching of Love and Freedom of Spirit brought by Jesus and stood in sharp contrast to it.
This also proves that the legendary riches were accumulated for personal gain, but not to serve God – and hardly anyone can say that this has fundamentally changed today.
From this perspective, the requirement of celibacy could also appear in a different light. A reputable German popular science website has to say on this subject:
"What had been considered merely an ideal for more than a thousand years became church law in the 12th century. Under Pope Innocent II, it was decided at the Second Lateran Council in 1139 to make celibacy compulsory for Christian priests throughout the world. Existing marriages of clergy were declared invalid.
The spiritual justification for celibacy and abstinence was “for the sake of the kingdom of heaven”. However, there were also secular reasons: the church's property was to be preserved and increased. After all, married priests bequeathed their possessions to their children. The possessions of single clergymen, on the other hand, fell to the church upon their death." (planet-wissen.de)
Celibacy, Sexual Morality and Ecclesiastical Inquisition
Let us return to a chapter of human history that has already been briefly mentioned, one of the darkest chapters, lasting from the 15th to the 18th century and bringing agonising torture and death to tens of thousands of people, the vast majority of whom were women: the Papal Inquisition, which began with Pope Innocent VIII's ‘Papal Bull of Witchcraft’. Historians naturally assume that there were several causes for this period of madness, in which the Church's power-political considerations and the accompanying crackdown on ‘heretics’ also played a significant role. However, misogynistic, extremely perverted sexual morals are also considered one of the major driving forces. We will now examine these in relation to celibacy and the Power of Thought, which operates in accordance with the laws of creation.
Here I put forward the well-founded thesis that celibacy is the main cause of this excessive misogyny in the clergy. To do this, we need only connect three points and combine them in a meaningful way:
1. The strong attraction between men and women, which is given by nature
2. Its complete prevention through celibacy
3. The perversion of the image of women through this unnatural suppression
I would like to examine these points in more detail.
1. Throughout nature, we can easily see that there is a strong attraction between the sexes. On the surface, this is associated with sexuality and reproduction, but in reality, this is only one part of the whole.
The connection between woman and man is an expression of a creation-law attraction between two complementary principles and additionally brings with it a strengthening and opportunity for maturation. This is not absolutely necessary in every case, but nevertheless the vast majority of people strive for or long for a partner relationship. Of course, sexuality usually plays an important role in this.
2. As described above, celibacy was introduced by papal decree in the 12th century, thereby unnaturally and violently cutting off this great driving force for the entire clergy. These people were thus forcibly separated from close contact with the opposite sex, regardless of their own personalities and desires. Their own free will was also undermined and determined by others.
Since the Church knew how to install the Pope as God's direct representative on earth, his decrees were naturally regarded as God's Will, and any resistance to them would have been seen and felt as questioning and opposing God Himself. This is why celibacy has been able to wield such great power to this day and why it is so difficult to undermine it in good conscience.
3. This marked the beginning of a period of great suffering, inner loneliness, widespread despair and unfulfilled longings for the clergy, mainly men, without the slightest hope of being able to change anything until the end of their lives. Many came to terms with this in some way, finding fulfilling other activities within the Church at best, or else they withered away spiritually, more or less in unfulfilled desire.
Many others, however, found themselves in a Sisyphean struggle with their urges and desires, which became increasingly intense. This is because thoughts and feelings are highly ‘magnetic.’ They grow, become more powerful and condense, as I describe in detail in my article on the power of thoughts. At a certain point, this struggle against natural urges can then lead to the original, but in this case hopeless, longing for the goal, i.e. for the woman, turning into devaluation and outright hatred! In extreme cases, the unattainable must then be destroyed if it cannot be had. The blame for this lies, of course, with celibacy, but since the clergy were not allowed to question it as supposedly God-given, the aggression was then directed against women as such!
Another psychological problem that could take hold there and continues unabated to this day is guilt projection: one needs scapegoats to blame for one's own problems, in this case sexuality that has grown extremely due to oppression. In an essay by moral theologian Hans-Günter Gruber, which refers to the infamous ‘Hexenhammer’ (Witch Hammer) of 1487, we read: "They then list the various vices of women. What is striking here is the emphasis they place on the description of female sexuality. Here they speak of a sexual drive in women that has grown to monstrous proportions, an insatiability that, according to the authors, can only be satisfied by superhuman, i.e. satanic-demonic powers. They write: “Everything is done out of carnal desire, which is insatiable in them. ...”"
Mind you, this is one of the ‘standard work’ on witch hunts with great influence on this collective delusion, written by two clerics! The projection, i.e. the reflection of their own perverted state of mind, could hardly be clearer!
Celibacy and the Natural Order
However, we are now living several centuries later, and much may have changed in the meantime.
If we assume the Existence of a Perfect God, which every person of faith surely desires or at least strives for, we are still left with many outstanding questions, including the important topic of sexuality and gender relations – an issue that continues to cause countless people headaches and often leads to confusion, inner conflict and great suffering.
Millions of religious people in particular still find themselves caught in a painful conflict between the natural instinct of ‘dirty’ sexuality and the pursuit of a “pure” life that is ‘pleasing’ to God.
But doesn't that immediately raise the crucial questions: How can something that God has placed in Creation as a Natural Instinct be ‘dirty’ from the outset? All the more so since the continuation of all life depends on this Instinct – in humans, in the entire animal kingdom and predominantly in plants! How is it that we can consider sexuality in animals to be natural and ‘harmless’, but not in humans... or at least significantly less so?
This is a major problem, especially in many countries where peoples have lost a large part of their natural life. In peoples who are still more connected to nature, it is certainly viewed more natural and relaxed.
Emotional love, which is usually followed by physical love. This is how natural impulses work.
Why should God deny those who want to serve him this wonderful gift?
If the answer to the last question cannot be answered with an unrestricted ‘yes’ then we would of course have a problem and a strong indication of the imperfection of this great natural instinct and thus of the imperfection of God! But isn’t it more obvious to assume that we humans have strayed from what is right and natural in this area too and therefore need to find a new approach if we want to be free and happy?
Celibacy and Ecclesiastical Sexual Competence
If we have a problem with any everyday issue and seek advice from others, where do we go? Preferably to someone who is familiar with the problem, perhaps has experienced it themselves and knows from their own experience how to solve it! To put it bluntly, we would never go to a floor layer who has no experience with electrical wiring and ask him to install our electrical wiring, or vice versa. Or to a farmer to represent us in court as a lawyer, and much more.
That's how it is without exception ... isn't it?
Actually, no! Isn't it strange that when it comes to the fundamental questions of life, such as the Meaning of Life, where we come from and where we are going, Fate, Life after Death and much more, we follow the guidelines set by people who are ‘responsible’ for these matters but who cannot provide conclusive answers and instead demand blind faith without question – simply because they have appointed themselves as ‘servants of God’! They judge and determine matters of partnership and sexuality, the often complicated relationship between the sexes, even though they have no experience of their own in this area, but live (have to live) alone. Isn't that completely absurd!
But it goes even further: the same problem I described earlier, when I described how longing for a woman turned into hatred and contempt for her during the Inquisition, still applies today. Anyone psychologically interested knows from literature and from their own experience that everything we suppress within ourselves becomes stronger and stronger, demands an increasingly desperate struggle against it, and in the end very often bursts out with force and spirals out of control!
This can be easily explained by Natural Law: Everything we focus on intensely in our thoughts and feelings attracts similar thought forms and thus becomes stronger and more energetic – the Power of Thoughts, the Power of Silence! Whether we want it or not, the respective topic becomes increasingly powerful: be it fear, greed, suicidal thoughts ... or sexual thoughts, which can then escalate into extreme, difficult-to-control and greedy compulsiveness, and much more.
The same applies, of course, to constructive, helpful thoughts, which can then rise to undreamt heights – but this article is about the problematic effects.
And so, even today, a suppressed sex drive often escalates into great struggle and suffering, and it can also get out of control and lead to what is a recurring theme from time to time: the abuse of those who are subordinate, helpless and unable to defend themselves – primarily children.
The public's reaction to this is understandable: outrage. But wouldn't we be a hundred times better off understanding how such collective derailments can come about in the first place, so that we have something to counteract them in the future? There is no question that these events have caused immeasurable suffering and damaged countless lives, and of course there must be consequences for the perpetrators. But it is much more urgent to finally expose the cause of these crimes, get to the bottom of them and eliminate them! For it is precisely the exceptionally high incidence of such crimes in the past and present that strongly suggests that there is a systemic flaw, which is very likely to be found in celibacy and its unnatural suppression of all sexuality.
When spiritual Balm is missing
However, it is not only sexuality that is lacking in the whole issue of celibacy, but all forms of loving, intimate interaction with one another: no tenderness, no hugs, no teasing, no kisses on the cheek or forehead, and much more.
Everything that even infants absolutely need in order to thrive, and which is normally of utmost importance for well-being into old age, is simply suppressed. In many cases, this leads to lasting insecurity and serious psychological damage, even if the original intention was different.
It is contrary to the Natural Order and the Love of God, which He has so clearly and unambiguously placed in all of Nature; for even the more highly developed animals care for their offspring lovingly, tenderly and self-sacrificingly, and often continue to do so later in life. Among human couples, too, the love between the sexes can naturally find constructive physical expression; this can only be beneficial!
Love and affection in humans and animals.
Could not the natural, harmless animal kingdom offer valuable lessons for all adherents of celibacy?
But it can be a powerful lesson for all of us how far spiritual inertia has progressed in humanity when things that in all their core points contradict the Laws of Creation and thus the Will of God can gain a foothold and hold their ground, thereby considerably hindering the path to Knowledge of God! I consider it legitimate to list a few important points: the Birth of Jesus without prior corporeal Conception, the alleged necessity and God-pleasing nature of his Death on the Cross and the arbitrary substitute Liberation of mankind from its guilt, his physical Resurrection and Ascension, and other problematic legends surrounding the life of the great Bringer of Truth. Furthermore, the prohibition of the doctrine of Rebirth at the Council of 533, the introduction of celibacy well over 1000 years after Christ, the anti-scientific rejection of the heliocentric world view, the Inquisition and witch burning, the cases of abuse up to the recent past – all of which is contrary to the Laws of Creation and therefore cannot be in accordance with God's Will. And above all this stands the claim to possess the only saving Doctrine, without which no one can supposedly find God.
It is therefore really of the utmost importance that we strictly examine everything, absolutely everything, that we want to adhere to for plausibility; whether it contains inner logic and corresponds to our deeper sense of Truth, Justice and Love.
And that would also lead to a completely different conclusion regarding celibacy! God placed the sexual instinct in Creation, and everything that comes from God is useful and helpful in its origin. And this instinct is powerful; no one can suppress it without risking serious consequences. Only those who voluntarily feel no need for married life, who do not want it from within, are not suppressing it. But even then, it is good to examine for oneself whether the desire to live alone might stem from extremely bad experiences with sexuality in the past or from past lives. In that case, the driving force would be fear, which is rarely a good advisor. By ‘examining past lives,’ I mean, of course, only the inner intuitions that usually make themselves felt subliminally, but by no means regression, hypnosis or the like, which forcibly break the necessary bond for this life and often bring to light very traumatic experiences that can damage or even break the person concerned for a long time. -
However, the following applies in principle: anyone who opposes God's Gifts and His Natural Order also opposes Him. And the forces that lie in the Laws of Creation are far stronger than any human will. To be a true ‘servant of God’ therefore means to respect the Laws of the Supreme Being, to conform to them and to use their power constructively for the greatest benefit of all!
This path is open to all people, not just clergy. Only disregard for these forces can bring about the excesses that are currently coming to light.
The invisible but highly effective subtle barrier of a false idea or teaching
that binds us and robs us of our freedom of movement – as vividly illustrated in this picture.
It remains impenetrable to us humans until we have come to the right understanding.
It therefore becomes self-evident that absolutely nothing can justify unnatural celibacy and that its abolition is therefore urgently needed! The result would most likely be a gradual decline in the terrible abuse scandals and a far greater spiritual harmonisation of countless people who are still suffering from them, within a period of a few decades. --
The Grail Message, on which this website is based, also contains valuable information on this subject with regard to sexuality and its place and significance in the Order of Creation. For this article, I would like to refer to the lecture: ‘Is sexual abstinence necessary or advisable?’, which is reproduced in full below:
"There will be far less unhappiness if people will only free themselves from the error of the merits of sexual abstinence. Forced abstinence is an interference which may have dire consequences. Wherever one looks the Laws in all Creation show the way plainly enough. Suppression is against Nature. All that is against Nature is a rebellion against the Natural and thus the Divine Laws, which in this, as in all else, can never yield any good results. No exception is made on this particular point. Only man must never permit himself to be controlled by the sexual impulse, must not become a slave to his instincts, otherwise they will develop into a passion whereby what is natural and healthy will become a morbid vice.
Man should be above it, which means: he should not force abstinence upon himself but, with a pure inner morality, practice self-control so that neither he nor others will come to any harm thereby.
If some people think that through abstinence they can rise higher spiritually, it may well happen that they achieve just the opposite. Depending on individual disposition, there will be a more or less continual conflict with the natural urges. This struggle consumes a great part of the person’s spiritual powers, restricting them so that they cannot be active in other directions. Thus the free unfolding of these spiritual powers is hindered. Such persons will at times suffer from a depressing melancholy which will hinder them from joyfully soaring upwards.
The body is a gift which God entrusted to man who has the duty to take care of it. Just as he cannot abstain with impunity from satisfying the body’s needs of food, drink, rest and sleep, and of relieving bladder and bowels; and just as lack of fresh air and sufficient exercise will soon make him feel uncomfortable; so precisely the same applies to the healthy desire of a mature body for sexual activity, which he cannot artificially deny without harming himself in some way.
Fulfilling the natural desire of the body can only further and never hinder the inner man, i.e., the development of the spiritual, otherwise the Creator would not have placed this desire within him. But here, as in everything else, excesses are harmful. Great care must be taken that the desire is not the result of an imagination artificially stimulated by reading or some other cause, or the consequence of a weakened body or overwrought nerves. It really must be only the demand of a healthy body, which by no means approaches man often.
It will occur only when there has previously set in between both sexes a perfect spiritual harmony which, in its consummation, sometimes strives towards physical union as well.
All other causes are dishonoring to both parties, are impure and immoral, even in marriage. Where there is no spiritual harmony, the continuance of a marriage becomes absolutely immoral.
If the social order has not yet found the right way in this matter, then this lack can in no way change the Laws of Nature, which will never orient themselves by human dispositions or by wrongly fostered ideas. There will, however, be no other choice left to man but finally to adapt State and social institutions to the Laws of Nature, i.e., to the Divine Laws, if he wants to have true inner peace and become healthy.
Sexual abstinence has nothing to do with chastity, either. At best abstinence could be included in the concept of “decency,” resulting from discipline, education or self-control.
By true chastity is meant purity of thought, but in all things right down to everyday business. Chastity is a purely spiritual and not a physical quality. Even in the act of satisfying the sexual urge, chastity can be fully preserved through mutual purity of thought.
Moreover, physical union not only serves procreation, but also through the equally valuable and necessary intimate fusion and exchange of mutual currents greater energy levels are attained."
(Grail Message: Lecture: ‘Is sexual abstinence necessary or advisable?’)
New topics:
New: The Law of Polarity Fallacy - The Polarity Trap: The Error in our Thinking about Good and EvilNew: Free Will - How our Free Will determines the Course of our Life and thus the Choice between Good and EvilNew: Celibacy - Life pleasing to God or Violation of Natural Order? Thoughts on abuse and on suppressing sexual attraction.New: "Awake!" - the 5th Lecture from the Grail Message - spiritual Awakening, human Dignity and inner Purity.New: The Power of Thoughts - Effects beyond the mind - the immense Benefit or Harm our Thoughts can inflict.The most popular articles:Why Faith must unite with clear Spiritual Knowledge - why true Faith is not what is commonly understood by Christians.Jesus of Nazareth - how his clear and pure Teachings have been significantly distorted over the past 2,000 years.Life after Death - what happens next according to Natural Laws, and why viewing Death more naturally can be deeply liberating.More articles about very important spiritual correlations:The Grail Message – In the Light of Truth - an Introduction to the first Lectures of the great Explanation of Creation. What does it say?The Last Judgement - why it is unavoidable for the Protection and spiritual Ascension of good-hearted PeopleEnigma Coronavirus - Is the Coronavirus a random Mutation, a "Punishment from God," or something entirely different?Translated from the original German site 'spirituelle-werte.de' with the help of AI. For inaccuracies or stylistic weaknesses I ask for your sympathy.The original website spirituelle-werte.de contains many other topics, which will follow gradually here, such as Atheism, Forgiveness of Sins, the big problems of our false Monetary System and many more. For translation, I recommend the premium app deepl.com.