tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post6827248042029261037..comments2022-11-11T00:56:30.446-08:00Comments on Concordia | The Lutheran Confessions: Roundtable 24: The Marriage of PriestsRev. Paul T. McCainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04846468267196335350noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-29090979573612083842007-09-10T19:46:00.000-07:002007-09-10T19:46:00.000-07:00I'd hesitate to posit a direct causal linkage here...I'd hesitate to posit a direct causal linkage here. Post hoc ergo propter hoc.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, one has to wonder if there isn't some correlative relationship that draws the sexually disordered to a life of enforced religious celibacy. I'm sure the relationship is complex, to say the least.WM Cwirlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12317197804776939257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-85773156994083305252007-09-09T06:23:00.000-07:002007-09-09T06:23:00.000-07:00On a more serious note, reading this particular ar...On a more serious note, reading this particular article of the Augustana, one can't help but wonder to what extent the great tragedy of clergy sexual misconduct could have been prevented in the Roman Church if it had permitted priests to marry as a result of the Reformation's call for it. I just read the other day that yet another Roman Catholic Archdiocese is shelling out over $200 million Rev. Paul T. McCainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04846468267196335350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-53266363973133289882007-09-03T20:26:00.000-07:002007-09-03T20:26:00.000-07:00Pr. Cwirla,(LOL). You got humor.How about this def...Pr. Cwirla,<BR/><BR/>(LOL). You got humor.<BR/><BR/>How about this definition of tradition: Because we say so.<BR/><BR/>LPCLPChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11352627830833515548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-2852216390273049272007-08-31T07:53:00.000-07:002007-08-31T07:53:00.000-07:00The last time I checked, only one of those vows ha...The last time I checked, only one of those vows has "until death parts us" and it isn't the ordination vow. I'm always more than a little nervous when marriage is used as an analogy for the relationship between a pastor and his congregation. Shepherd and flock works fine.<BR/><BR/>BTW, my grandfather hailed from the Ukraine where he was an Eastern Rite Catholic. Though under the papacy in RomeWM Cwirlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12317197804776939257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-34744764713327303492007-08-30T10:34:00.000-07:002007-08-30T10:34:00.000-07:00I appreciate the quotes from Smith, as the four re...I appreciate the quotes from Smith, as the four reasons to the issue of married clergy. While maybe attempting to be humorous, there is much truth found in those line.<BR/><BR/>Now, to more serious issues. There is something to be said for both married and celibate clergy. Being married, I have my best "support group" at home... My best friend and my sons help me retain my sanity. The RevSmokehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16465142609733928937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-28198219753712796972007-08-28T15:40:00.000-07:002007-08-28T15:40:00.000-07:00Speaking of bishops, from that marvelous pastoral ...Speaking of bishops, from that marvelous pastoral theology, "How to Become a Bishop Without Being Religious" (Charles Merrill Smith) - four reasons why a pastor should marry:<BR/><BR/>"First, a cergyman who remains unmarried for more than a year after graduation from seminary is suspected of being abnormal, immoral, or chicken.<BR/><BR/>Second, there will be those who will speculate that he has WM Cwirlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12317197804776939257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-84688405251174897692007-08-28T15:26:00.000-07:002007-08-28T15:26:00.000-07:00The archbishop's assistant also acknowledged that ...The archbishop's assistant also acknowledged that it was easier to be Lutheran.<BR/><BR/>But, like Staupitz, he knew where his pension plan was.WM Cwirlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12317197804776939257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-67260466078940531602007-08-28T15:06:00.000-07:002007-08-28T15:06:00.000-07:00William,Great words from the bishop's assistant!William,<BR/><BR/>Great words from the bishop's assistant!William Weedonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01383850332591975790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-19850184987899166922007-08-28T15:05:00.000-07:002007-08-28T15:05:00.000-07:00Jeffrey,Well, there is Revelation 14:4. And of co...Jeffrey,<BR/><BR/>Well, there is Revelation 14:4. And of course, it is the teaching of the Lutheran Symbols that virginity is a higher state than matrimony, though both can be and are pleasing to God when lived in chastely (and chaste here obviously means something different for the celibate than for the married) with confidence in the Mediator.William Weedonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01383850332591975790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-1084055760677816742007-08-28T13:46:00.000-07:002007-08-28T13:46:00.000-07:00Just talking to myself...On the other side of thin...Just talking to myself...<BR/><BR/>On the other side of things is the difficulty many unmarried Lutheran pastors have in their congregation's expectation that their pastor will be happily married and have enough kids to keep the Sunday School Christmas program afloat.<BR/><BR/>There is a delightful paradox in the Scriptures. St. Paul prefers the single state to the married (1 Cor. 7:32ff), yet WM Cwirlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12317197804776939257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-78370780028150200932007-08-28T11:04:00.000-07:002007-08-28T11:04:00.000-07:00On that long and happy note...I recall being lunch...On that long and happy note...<BR/><BR/>I recall being lunch companions with the secretary to the archbishop of St. Louis. We were talking about clergy celibacy. I asked him what he thought about the apostle Paul's requirement that that the clergy in Ephesus (bishops and deacons alike) be married men with children. He replied, "No doubt about it. You Lutherans have the Scriptures in your WM Cwirlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12317197804776939257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-14176962772213523152007-08-28T08:24:00.000-07:002007-08-28T08:24:00.000-07:00Truly a fascintating subject that is both timely a...Truly a fascintating subject that is both timely and rooted in tradition. I wonder if it would be fair to say, that among all of the areas that "early tradition" provides guidance for interpreting Holy Scripture, the "most suspect" is in the area of human sexuality. The aversion to all "pleasures of the flesh" held by many fathers, seems most manifest when it comes to the "joy of sex" between aUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17418844100357543934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19071531712378916.post-20413482543381661642007-08-27T12:41:00.000-07:002007-08-27T12:41:00.000-07:00Here is the Roman response to the Augsburg Confess...Here is the Roman response to the Augsburg Confession's rejection of the forced vow of celibacy for clergy.<BR/><BR/>Their enumeration among abuses, in the second place, of the celibacy of the clergy, and the manner in which their priests marry and persuade others to marry, are verily matters worthy of astonishment, since they call sacerdotal celibacy an abuse, when that which is directly Rev. Paul T. McCainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04846468267196335350noreply@blogger.com