Why can’t Catholic priests get married? Does the Catholic Church hate marriage and sex and force celibacy on its priests? Catholic apologist Dave Armstrong ranks this lie #10 among the top 10 told about the Catholic Church, and former Protestant pastor Kenny Burchard joins him to answer it from the Bible. The Church calls marriage a sacrament, and nobody is forced into anything: celibacy is a discipline, not a dogma, chosen by men who follow Jesus’ words about eunuchs “for the sake of the kingdom” (Matthew 19:12) and Paul’s counsel on undistracted devotion to the Lord (1 Corinthians 7). The “forbidding marriage” warning in 1 Timothy 4 targets Gnostics who called marriage evil; Peter himself was married, and Eastern Catholic churches ordain married priests today.

CHAPTERS:
0:00 The Lie: "Priests Are Celibate Because the Church Hates Sex & Marriage"
1:40 No One Is Forced: Celibacy Is a Choice, a Discipline, Not a Dogma
2:35 Not Anti-Marriage: Eunuchs for the Kingdom & Married Eastern Priests
3:55 "Forbidding Marriage"? The Gnostic Context (and a Full Parish Parking Lot)
7:17 Dogma vs. Discipline: The Bible's Married Apostles
8:28 Leaving Everything for the Kingdom (Even Billy Graham's Regret)
9:58 The Weight of the Priesthood: Caring for 3,000 Families
11:50 Wrap-Up & Comments

RESOURCES:

• Get the PDF Download for this episode here: https://kennyburchard.com/go/unmarried-priests
• Get the books: https://davearmstrongbooks.store
• An Article from Dave about Priestly Celibacy - https://www.ncregister.com/blog/priestly-celibacy-ancient-biblical-and-pauline

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