Download or read book Marriage is for Losers Celibacy is for Fools written by John R. Adolph and published by . This book was released on 2016-07-12 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Marriage is for Losers Dr. John R. Adolph challenges us in this book that marriage is for losers. Every couple must lose in order to win in your marriages. The fundamental building block in any relationship starts with God at the center. Only God can help us lose selfishness, lose an unforgiving spirit, lose the bad negative attitudes that we carry as baggage. Only God can keep us from arguments, and teach us to communicate by speaking and listening. Since none of us are perfect, nor always kind, thoughtful, understanding, considerate and loving, we need to learn how to forgive. Dr. John R. Adolph nails it for us showing us how to do marriage God's way. I wished someone had pointed these principles out for me and my wife when we first started on our journey, the travel would have been much smoother. Celibacy Is For Fools The only way to adequately describe "it" is by calling it "the big IT." The world loves to talk about "it." Hollywood consistently unleashes movies filled with "it." Kids (just like I did) snicker and joke about "it" on playgrounds and in school hallways. Parents become uncomfortable even considering when might be the appropriate time to bring "it" up to their growing, pre-pubescent children who are constantly being sent a myriad of messages about "it." The "it," of course, is the s-word. You know: s-e-x. A couple of years ago, I had a teenager say to me as I was observing his Sunday school class, "Pastor Noble, in this class we always talk about the devil and temptation, especially drugs and alcohol. But when is our teacher going to talk to us about, um, you know, sex? I've asked, but Bro. Sunday-School-Teacher doesn't want to deal with it. And, in my opinion, that's the big one. Yeah, sex is the big one. Since he doesn't want to talk to us about it, is there a book you could recommend that we read on our own?" Enter the author of this book and my long-time friend, John Adolph. John understands very well that age-old assumptions about sex - assumptions that were once considered bedrocks of our puritanical, prudish, head-in-the-sand society - can no longer be considered safe assumptions. Sex before marriage is as common and unquestioned now as abstinence until marriage once was. Face it: those days of hushed tones, taboo subjects and nothing-but-the-missionary-position are long gone. Sex is here; sex is hot; sex is, well, sexy; and it's not going anywhere anytime soon. John has taken the mantle upon himself and has forged ahead with a boldness that I have come to expect from him. In fact, as I read the preview copy he sent to me, it dawned on me that John uses the word sex more in the first three paragraphs than most Christians ever hear in a lifetime of attending church! With disease and sickness and ignorance ever on the rise, someone has to take off the clergy collar and cassock and boldly go where few pastors have ever gone before. I have known John since we first met in the bookstore of the Morehouse School of Religion years ago (don't you dare ask how many years), and I can honestly say that he is broad shouldered enough to broach "it," tackle "it," deal with "it," and let the chips fall wherever they may. Be forewarned that we may not all agree upon every conclusion drawn nor upon every exegetical device employed within these pages, but shame on us if we allow disagreement to hinder us from at least engaging this most important discussion within the body of Christ. I applaud and salute my friend for his willingness to lead the way in educating us all about God's will concerning this gift that God has given us; you know..."it." Dr. Derrick-Lewis Noble, Pastor Crenshaw United Methodist Church Los Angeles, CA

Download or read book Paul on Marriage and Celibacy written by Will Deming and published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. This book was released on 2004 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Paul is traditionally seen as one of the founders of Christian sexual asceticism. As early as the second century C.E., church leaders looked to him as a model for their lives of abstinence. But is this a correct reading of Paul? What exactly did Paul teach on the subjects of marriage and celibacy? Will Deming here answers these questions. By placing Paul's statements on marriage and celibacy against the backdrop of ancient Hellenistic society, Deming constructs a coherent picture of Paul's views. According to Deming, the conceptual world in which Paul lived and wrote had substantially vanished by 100 C.E., and terms like "sin," "body," "sex," and "holiness" began to acquire moral implications quite unlike those Paul knew. Paul conceived of marriage as a social obligation that had the potential of distracting Christians from Christ. For him celibacy was the single life, free from such distraction, not a life of saintly denial. Sex, in turn, was natural and not sinful, and sex within marriage was both proper and necessary. Superbly researched and reasoned, this book corrects misinterpretations of Paul and restores him to his proper place in the history of Christian thought on marriage and sexuality.

Download or read book Celibacy written by Heinz-Jürgen Vogels and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 1993 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Catholic Church is at present tearing itself to pieces over the issue of the law of clerical celibacy. It might seem to some only a marginal or administrative problem, but it in fact goes to the heart of the matter on every side of modern church life. It is, of course, first of all an issue of sexuality, originall deriving from a beleife that all sex produces moral impurity. But it has gone on to become an issue about power, about pastoral care, and about sheer honesty. The publication in English of Vogel's scholaraly study of the subject is immensely to be welcomed. -from the Foreword byAdrien Hastings

Download or read book Handbook to Scripture written by Kenneth D. Boa and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2011-10-04 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Handbook to Scripture guides you through the big picture of the Bible by providing 365 daily readings and Scripture highlights. Each daily reading has four elements: brief introductory paragraphs, a Scripture reading, a prayer of application that relates to the Scripture text, and one or more meditation verses from the reading. These four elements work together to help you internalize the message of each chapter.

Download or read book Celibacy Til Death or Marriage Do We Part written by Jacqueline Guthrie and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2016-06-21 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: God designed us to live life to the full no matter the marital status..... While society suggests otherwise, it is possible to be victorious and committed to living single God's way whether you get married or remain single. Find out today how to be the best that you can be for God in all circumstances.

Download or read book Marriage Celibacy and Heresy in Ancient Christianity written by David G. Hunter and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2007-01-25 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A study of the 'heretic' Jovinian and the Jovinianist controversy, this work examines early Christian views on marriage and celibacy in the first three centuries and the development of an anti-heretical tradition. It provides an analysis of the responses of Jovinian's main opponents.

Download or read book Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls written by John Bergsma and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2019-09-10 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A major new work on the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest sacred documents of Judaism, which reveals their surprising connections to early Christianity. “A luminous treatment of a fascinating subject! Highly recommended!”—Scott Hahn, author of The Fourth Cup From award-winning scholar John Bergsma comes an intriguing book that reveals new insights on the Essenes, a radical Jewish community predating Christianity, whose existence, beliefs, and practices are often overlooked in the annuls of history. Bergsma reveals how this Jewish sect directly influenced the beliefs, sacraments, and practices of early Christianity and offers new information on how Christians lived their lives, worshipped, and eventually went on to influence the Roman Empire and Western civilization. Looking to Hebrew scripture and Jewish tradition, Bergsma helps to further explain how a simple Jewish peasant could go on to inspire a religion and a philosophy that still resonates 2,000 years later. In this enriching and exciting exploration, Bergsma demonstrates how the Dead Sea Scrolls—the world's greatest modern archaeological discovery—can shed light on the Church as a sacred society that offered hope, redemption, and salvation to its member. Ultimately, these mysterious writings are a time machine that can transport us back to the ancient world, deepen our appreciation of Scripture, and strengthen our understanding of the Christian faith. “An accessible introduction . . . This is a handy entry point for readers unfamiliar with Essenes or those interested in the Dead Sea Scrolls.”—Publishers Weekly

Download or read book Heavy Burdens written by Bridget Eileen Rivera and published by Brazos Press. This book was released on 2021-10-26 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Religious faith reduces the risk of suicide for virtually every American demographic except one: LGBTQ people. Generations of LGBTQ people have been alienated or condemned by Christian communities. It's past time that Christians confronted the ongoing and devastating effects of this legacy. Many LGBTQ people face overwhelming challenges in navigating faith, gender, and sexuality. Christian communities that uphold the traditional sexual ethic often unwittingly make the path more difficult through unexamined attitudes and practices. Drawing on her sociological training and her leadership in the Side B/Revoice conversation, Bridget Eileen Rivera, who founded the popular website Meditations of a Traveling Nun, speaks to the pain of LGBTQ Christians and helps churches develop a better pastoral approach. Rivera calls to mind Jesus's woe to religious leaders: "They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them" (Matt. 23:4). Heavy Burdens provides an honest account of seven ways LGBTQ people experience discrimination in the church, helping Christians grapple with hard realities and empowering churches across the theological spectrum to navigate better paths forward.

Download or read book About Celibacy I Have No Instructions from the Lord written by Carl R. Triebs and published by Trafford Publishing. This book was released on 2004 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The insistence on clerical celibacy was established in much of the Western Church beginning in the Fourth Century. It expanded slowly and unevenly throughout Late Antiquity and the early middle ages and at the Second Lateran Council in 1139 became Church Law. This Law of Celibacy decreed that Holy Orders were a absolute impediment to any in the higher clerical orders attempting to contract marriage. Any such marriage was automatically null and void in the eyes of the Church.

Download or read book Married and Single Or Marriage and Celibacy Contrasted written by Timothy Shay Arthur and published by . This book was released on 1843 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Unnatural Frenchmen written by E. Claire Cage and published by University of Virginia Press. This book was released on 2015-07-01 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Enlightenment and revolutionary France, new and pressing arguments emerged in the long debate over clerical celibacy. Appeals for the abolition of celibacy were couched primarily in the language of nature, social utility, and the patrie. The attack only intensified after the legalization of priestly marriage during the Revolution, as marriage and procreation were considered patriotic duties. Some radical revolutionaries who saw celibacy as a crime against nature and the nation aggressively promoted clerical marriage by threatening unmarried priests with deportation, imprisonment, and even death. After the Revolution, political and religious authorities responded to the vexing problem of reconciling the existence of several thousand married French priests with the formal reestablishment of Roman Catholicism and clerical celibacy. Unnatural Frenchmen examines how this extremely divisive issue shaped religious politics, the lived experience of French clerics, and gendered citizenship. Drawing on a wide base of printed and archival material, including thousands of letters that married priests wrote to the pope, historian Claire Cage highlights individual as well as ideological struggles. Unnatural Frenchmen provides important insights into how conflicts over priestly celibacy and marriage have shaped the relationship between sexuality, religion, and politics from the age of Enlightenment to today, while simultaneously revealing the story of priestly marriage to be an inherently personal and deeply human one.

Download or read book A History of Celibacy written by Elizabeth Abbott and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2000 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What causes people to give up sex? Abbott's provocative and entertaining exploration of celibacy through the ages debunks traditional notions about celibacy--a practice that reveals much about human sexual desires and drives.

Download or read book Spiritual Friendship written by Wesley Hill and published by Brazos Press. This book was released on 2015-04-14 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christianity Today Book Award Winner Friendship is a relationship like no other. Unlike the relationships we are born into, we choose our friends. It is also tenuous--we can end a friendship at any time. But should friendship be so free and unconstrained? Although our culture tends to pay more attention to romantic love, marriage, family, and other forms of community, friendship is a genuine love in its own right. This eloquent book reminds us that Scripture and tradition have a high view of friendship. Single Christians, particularly those who are gay and celibate, may find it is a form of love to which they are especially called. Writing with deep empathy and with fidelity to historic Christian teaching, Wesley Hill retrieves a rich understanding of friendship as a spiritual vocation and explains how the church can foster friendship as a basic component of Christian discipleship. He helps us reimagine friendship as a robust form of love that is worthy of honor and attention in communities of faith. This book sets forth a positive calling for celibate gay Christians and suggests practical ways for all Christians to cultivate stronger friendships.

Download or read book The Wait written by DeVon Franklin and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-03-28 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The authors discuss the circumstances that brought them together and their decision to abstain from sex until marriage.

Download or read book Married Priests written by Arturo Cattaneo and published by Ignatius Press. This book was released on 2012-01-01 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years the arguments in favor of married priests seem to be multiplying. Some object that celibacy is not a dogma but only a discipline that originated in the Middle Ages; that it is contrary to nature and hence harmful to a man's psycho-physical equilibrium and the maturation of the human personality. And if priests could marry, there might be an increase in vocations. In this book, various experts make contributions, responding to these and other crucial questions, allowing the reader to discover the value that celibacy has today in the lilves of thousands of priests and seminarians. - book cover.

Download or read book Celibacy and Religious Traditions written by Carl Olson and published by OUP USA. This book was released on 2008 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For an educated, general readership and for use in college courses, this text introduces the role of celibacy, or a lack of it, in various religious traditions, and the contributors present the rationale for its observance (or not) within the context of each tradition.

Download or read book Married Celibate and Saved written by Alecia Hill and published by . This book was released on 2011-02-01 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Married, Celibate, and Saved is about the life, love, and sacrifices of a couple when sex leaves their marriage, but ultimately, their relationship evolves into a beautiful friendship. Through Alecia's personal experiences with Gary Lee, through their trials and tribulations, the reader is left feeling like "true love" still exists. Various topics are explored in this non-fiction novel. Alecia discusses an array of relationship issues including dating, friendship, love, fidelity, infidelity, trust, marriage, sexual dysfunction, and having a personal relationship with God. -- Author's description.