Most world religions consider the connection between a woman and a man to be nasty and sinful. In this regard, people who have dedicated their lives to serving God make a vow of celibacy or take celibacy. So religious people and monks fend off themselves from worldly fuss.
The history of celibacy
Adherents of most existing world religions take a vow of celibacy. But celibacy also existed in pagan beliefs. He was one of the prerequisites for the service of the vestal as early as Ancient Rome. If they violated the vow of celibacy, they were punished in a special way - they buried him alive.
In Christianity, the words of the Apostle Paul served as a prerequisite for the emergence of celibacy. In his speech, he mentioned that a married man would rather serve his own wife than God.
In the Roman Catholic Church, celibacy was legalized in the second half of the 6th century, and in the Byzantine church at the end of the 7th century. But the vow of celibacy could take root in the faithful only to the XII century.
Celibacy in European religions
At present, all Catholic clergy, except for deacons, are obliged to accept celibacy. Certain concessions are possible only for priests who came from Anglicanism. In this case, they can freely continue their family relationships.
In the Orthodox faith, servants of God are allowed to marry, but only celibate or monastic priests can become bishops.
Unlike Orthodoxy and Catholicism, Adventists and Protestants, on the contrary, honor married priests.
Celibacy in Eastern religions
In Hinduism, celibacy is called brahmacharya. It implies abstinence from contacts with a woman and should be observed in the last stages of a priest's life - hermitism and asceticism. In India alone, there are currently about 5 million monks who adhere to celibacy. An interesting fact is that instead of enjoying sexual intimacy, monks want to receive superpowers in return, for example, to be able to fly, walk on water or become invisible to the human eye.
In the same way, the vow of celibacy is also observed in Buddhism. But in some of its branches, monks are given the right to go to brothels.
