15.3: Christian Celibacy

Some scholars who think about the history of Christendom link the notion that sex is sinful or dangerous for the soul to the fact that almost all Christian religious leaders in Europe from about the fifth century until the Reformation were celibate or at least paid lip service to practicing celibacy. If sex is good, why wouldn't priests allow themselves to marry and procreate? There must be something uniquely holy about depriving onself of sex which then implies that there must be something sinful or degrading about sex. The question of how and why we got the idea that priests should be celibate is not a minor one. It echoes across the culture and informs the way we think about sex across the Western world straight up to the present day.