(Wondering if a married Protestant "bishop" can't "bishop" until he and his wife are able to produce children.)
The thrust of the qualification is that a bishop can't be a two-woman man. Not a womanizer. Just one wife, if married. Historically, bishops and priests that were married could not remarry if their wife died -- and couldn't GET married at all if ordained while single.
If marriage was an absolute requirement, then Paul couldn't have been a bishop. Neither could Jesus. The consensus is also that John (the apostle) was unmarried.
Login to reply
Replies (2)
Jesus should not even be compared in your equation at all. The word of God is the word of God.
Perversion is clear.
The apostasy desires that all exceptions become the rule and that the common sense of Scripture be disregarded.
Again, I ask, is your way a way of salvation or is it a convoluted structure meant to numb men into believing they are not saved through Jesus Christ. Clearly the LORD made man and woman to be married and in service with each other.
Do you want to prove a point and apologize for apostasy or do you want to send souls to be with Christ?
Jesus is a very good comparison for those who believe the Bible, which calls him the "Shepherd and Bishop of our souls" (1 Peter 2:25, KJV).
As the model for all bishops, Jesus lived a celibate life. And so Paul did as well, and John, and Timothy. And throughout history (for those who don't choose to ignore it), there have been so many to this day who served as bishop unmarried.
Paul strongly recommends the single life for those who want to want to focus on the affairs of the Lord (see 1 Corinthians 7:32-34). How would that not align perfectly with the bishopric? If not the bishopric, what other vocation demands more attention to the Lord's affairs?
Yes, God made man and woman to be married, but the generality doesn't rule out the exception, as both Paul (1 Cor. 7) and Jesus (Mat. 19:12) make abundantly clear for Bible believers.
Obviously I reject apostasy and want all souls to be saved in Christ.
If we love Christ, we should love his Book AND his Church (aka, "the pillar and foundation of the truth") -- his visible Body.