“Raymond F. Collins’ study of the practice of celibacy in Latin Catholicism is a calm and critical assessment of the data that has generated this tradition. Collins’ skills as a New Testament scholar are well known; his skills as an interpreter of the patristic and early canonical tradition of the Latin Church become evident as this study opens and then unfolds. This clearly written and well-documented study . deserves to become an essential point of reference for all future discussions of this question.” Francis J. Moloney, SDB, AM, FAHA Senior Professorial Fellow Australian Catholic University Melbourne, Australia “Accompanied by a Believing Wife is the definitive work on celibacy and the New Testament, with important implications for the church of our own day. Raymond F. Collins brings decades of experience and learning as a New Testament scholar to this project, and it is evident on every page. His conclusions are often bold and challenging but always supported by careful investigation. With a reputation for exemplary clarity, his writing is highly accessible to scholar, student, clergy, and layperson. Essential reading for all.” Margaret Y. MacDonald Professor St. Francis Xavier University Nova Scotia, Canada Accompanied by a Believing Wife Ministry and Celibacy in the Earliest Christian Communities Raymond F. Collins A Michael Glazier Book LITURGICAL PRESS Collegeville, Minnesota www.litpress.org A Michael Glazier Book published by Liturgical Press Cover design by Jodi Hendrickson. Cover photo: Thinkstock. Unless cited within patristic and canonical writings, all Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition © 1989, 1993, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. © 2013 by Order of Saint Benedict, Collegeville, Minnesota. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, microfilm, micro- fiche, mechanical recording, photocopying, translation, or by any other means, known or yet unknown, for any purpose except brief quotations in reviews, without the previous written permission of Liturgical Press, Saint John’s Abbey, PO Box 7500, Collegeville, Minnesota 56321-7500. Printed in the United States of America. 123456789 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Collins, Raymond F., 1935– Accompanied by a believing wife : ministry and celibacy in the earliest Christian communities / Raymond F. Collins. pages cm “A Michael Glazier book.” Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-8146-8213-5 — ISBN 978-0-8146-8238-8 (e-book) 1. Celibacy—History of doctrines—Early church, ca. 30–600. 2. Celibacy —Catholic Church—History. I. Title. BV4390.C64 2013 253'.2509015—dc23 2013024504 For those who Search • For those who Sacrifice • For those who Strive • For those who Struggle • For those who Stumble • For those who Suffer Contents Preface ix List of Abbreviations xiii 1. A Methodological Introduction 1 2. The Time of Jesus 31 3. Jesus and the Disciples 70 4. The Apostle Paul 111 5. The Apostle’s Advice 139 6. Early Church Legislation 162 7. Married Only Once 184 Conclusion 215 Bibliography 227 Index of Scripture References 245 Index of Classical, Jewish, and Patristic Sources 255 Index of Modern Authors 264 Index of Topics 269 Preface ach of the books that I have written during the past three de- cades has its own history and its own story. In many ways the Estory of this book began more than a half century ago when I was ordained a subdeacon in the Roman Catholic Church for the service of the diocese of Providence, Rhode Island. I made the requisite prom- ises—namely, that I pray the daily office and commit myself to a life of celibacy. At the time I did not anticipate writing this book or any other book. I envisioned that I would be ordained to the priesthood the fol- lowing year and then serve as a parish priest in my native diocese. Little did I know that in the mysterious ways of Divine Providence, the obedi- ence I had promised to my bishop would lead to a life of teaching and writing about the New Testament, mixed with no small measure of academic and ecclesiastical administration. In 1993 life as scholar and administrator brought me to The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, where I was to become dean of the university’s School of Religious Studies. My predecessor as dean was Professor William Cenkner, OP, whose academic interests focused on the religions of the East, particularly Hinduism. As dean, he formu- lated a three-year, three-faith conference on marriage and the family. The three faiths were Roman Catholicism, Judaism, and Islam. The first year of the conference was devoted to the horizontal axis of the family, the relationship between husband and wife. The second year was devoted to the vertical dimension of the family, the relationships between parents and children, children and parents. The third year was devoted to the entire gestalt, the family circle. Each year included nine presentations, three each by scholars from the respective faith traditions. One presentation focused on the topic from the vantage point of the tradition’s scriptures. Another presentation considered the topic from the standpoint of law and morality. The third presentation studied the topic from the point of view of its history and sociology. ix x Accompanied by a Believing Wife Thus it was that when I came to Washington to discuss with Dean Cenkner some of the specifics of the position that I was about to assume, he asked me if I would be willing to speak on marriage in the New Tes- tament during the conference that was to convene just three months into my deanship. I willingly consented, thus setting the stage for this book. In addition to the nine presentations, the conference had an open, public session. During this session, an Iranian imam pointedly asked me how I could claim to be a man of God when I so publicly flaunted God’s law. The question nonplussed me. I was startled. To this day I wish that I could remember my answer but I cannot. Many times I had been asked about priestly celibacy. Many times have I discussed the topic, particu- larly when I was a seminary rector in the 1970s. Never before had I been personally confronted with the idea that priestly celibacy was a violation of God’s law. The imam’s question led me to begin thinking about celi- bacy in a new way. The imam’s question obviously arose from his understanding of the Qur <an’s vision of creation. “And among his Signs is this,” says Surah 30:21, “that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that you may dwell in tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy between your ‘hearts.’ Verily, in that are the Signs for those who reflect.” Similarly, in a staccato-like series of reflections on creation, Surah 78:8 says, “And [have we not] created you in pairs?” No wonder then that Surah 24:32 commands, “Marry those among you who are single.” The Qur <an’s vision of the creation of human beings with the conse- quent obligation that believers be married is most likely influenced by the idea of creation found in the first pages of Genesis. In any case, the visions are remarkably similar. The older narrative of creation, the Yahwist’s tale, tells the imaginatively beautiful story of the creation of woman (Gen 2:18-24) because, in God’s judgment, “It is not good that the man [hadam] should be alone” (Gen 2:18). In a parallel, and probably later account of creation, the Priestly narrative says, “In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply” (Gen 1:27b-28a). With a divine mandate, humans are to be God’s representatives and agents within the world of creation. While the imam’s question personally challenged me and prompted me to reflect on the biblical origins of the Roman Catholic discipline of ecclesiastical celibacy in its Western Church, the Latin Church, my study of the New Testament led me to want to investigate the matter still further. Preface xi A little more than twenty years ago, Michael Glazier asked me to write a book on divorce in the New Testament.1 In the course of studying the pertinent texts I came to realize how widely misused, in the discussion of Matthew 19:1-12 (Matthew’s version of the dialogue between some Pharisees and Jesus on the subject of divorce), Jesus’ words were: “And there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 19:12c). My study of Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians led me to question seriously the popular interpretation of some of the apostle’s words, in- cluding, “It is well for a man not to touch a woman” (1 Cor 7:1), and, “To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain unmarried as I am” (1 Cor 7:8; cf. 7:7a). I often wondered why my Roman Catholic tradition so often cites passages from the Pastoral Epistles, particularly First Timothy and Titus, as proof texts for a threefold ordering of ministerial leadership in the church—bishop, priest, and deacon—yet at the same time neglects these texts’ inclusion of “married only once” among the qualities that bishops and deacons should have (cf. 1 Tim 3:2, 12). In sum, this book has come into being because of my life experience as a Roman Catholic priest, an administrator of ecclesiastical institutions, and a New Testament scholar.