Chastity

Allegory of chastity by Hans Memling.

Chastity, in many religious and cultural contexts, is a virtue concerning the state of purity of the mind and body. The term is most often associated with refraining from sexual intimacy, especially outside of marriage. Chastity is often taken to be synonymous with virginity or abstention from all sexual activity. However, sexually active married couples are also considered to practice chastity if they remain faithful to their marital vows.

Due to the prohibitions of sexual intimacy outside of marriage in Abrahamic religions, deriving from the Ten Commandments and Mosaic law, the term has become closely associated with premarital sexual abstinence in Western culture. however, in the context of religion, the term remains applicable to persons in all states, single or married, clerical or lay, and has implications beyond sexual temperance.

Chastity is one of the Seven holy virtues of Catholic teaching, opposing the deadly sin of lust. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "chastity" is the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of a human person in his or her bodily and spiritual being.

Classical origin

The word derives, via the French chasteté, from the Latin castitas, which is the abstract of castus (the root of chaste), which originally meant a `pure' state of conformity with the Greco-Roman religion, rather the practical counterpart of a pious (Latin pius) state of mind, in no way limited to the sexual sphere. As the etymological link suggests, castigation or chastisement is originally the use of (harsh) means to preserve or restore this state as a form of catharsis. This meaning is preserved fully in the parallel term "chastening."

In ancient times the value of chastity was highly debated in both the homosexual and heterosexual spheres. In particular, Socrates was an advocate of chaste pederastic relations between men and boys, in opposition to the sexually expressed pedagogic relationships prevalent in his time. Plato, having transmitted many of these teachings, has become the eponym for this type of chastity, known today as Platonic love (as opposed to romantic love, parental love, sibling love, etc.)

Abrahamic religions

Traditionally, acts of sexual nature are prohibited outside of marriage in Islamic and Judeo-Christian ethical contexts and are considered sinful. Since offenses against the virtue of chastity are most often perceived as fornication or adultery, the term has become closely associated with sexual abstinence in common usage throughout most of the English-speaking world.

Not all ethical systems proscribe all of the following, but among those acts considered as offenses against chastity are: Adultery, Anal sex, Birth control, Fornication, Lust, Masturbation, Oral sex, Pornography, Prostitution, Rape, Sexual intimacy during or shortly after menstruation, and Sexual intimacy for a period of time after the birth of a child

The state of chastity may include not only sexual abstinence but also: Coitus within the context of marital fidelity, Natural family planning, and yet, as above, the particular ethical system may not prescribe each of these.

For example, within the scope of Christian ethic, Roman Catholics view sex within marriage as chaste, but prohibit the use of artificial contraception as an offense against chastity, seeing contraception as contrary to God's will and design of human sexuality. Many Anglican churches allow for artificial contraception, seeing the restriction of family size as possibly not contrary to God's will. A stricter view is held by the Shakers, who prohibit marriage (and indeed sexual intercourse under any circumstances) as a violation of chastity.

Vocational expressions of chastity

Marriage

In the context of traditional marriage, the spouses commit to a lifelong relationship which excludes the possibility of sexual intimacy with other persons. The Roman Catholic Church also forbids masturbation, and non-procreative sexuality within the confines of marriage while most Protestant Christian denominations disagree. Some see prohibition of unitive, non-procreative marriage as a heretical position, similar to that of the Apostoloci. Many in the Catholic church seek to reform this position on Chastity, for example, see the Winnipeg Statement.

Marriage may also carry the following rights and obligations, although no society has all, and none are universal: establishing the legal father of a woman's child; establishing the legal mother of a man's child; giving the husband or his family control over the wife's sexual services, labor, and/or property; giving the wife or her family control over the husband's sexual services, labor, and/or property; establishes a joint fund of property for the benefit of children; and establishing a relationship between the families of the husband and wife.

Marriage has traditionally been a prerequisite for starting a family, which usually serves as the building block of a community and society. Thus, marriage not only serves the interests of the two individuals, but also the interests of their children and the society of which they are a part.

In most of the world's major religions, marriage is traditionally a prerequisite for sexual intercourse. Unmarried people are not supposed to have sex, which is then called fornication and is socially discouraged or even criminalized. Sex with a married person other than one's spouse, called adultery, is even less acceptable and has also often been considered a crime, especially in the case of a person who is a representative of the government (e.g. president, prime minister, political representative, school teacher, or military officer).

Virginity

Virginity, the physical state of innocent sexual purity, has often been a requirement for certain religious functions, especially as priests and priestesses. For example, Vestal Virgins in Ancient Rome were required to be virgins, and remain so until they left office at about age 40.

The status of virginity is respected and valued in certain societies, particularly when there are religious views regarding sexual conduct before marriage. A woman who is a virgin is also sometimes referred to as a maiden.

Female virginity is closely interwoven with personal or even family honor in many cultures. Traditionally in some cultures, there has been a widespread belief that the loss of virginity before marriage is a matter of deep shame. In some cultures (for example the Bantu of South Africa), virginity testing or even surgical procedures guaranteeing premarital abstinence (infibulation) are commonplace. This would typically involve personal inspection by a female elder.

In Western marriage ceremonies, brides traditionally wear veils and white wedding dresses, which are inaccurately believed by many people to be symbols of virginity. In fact, wearing white is a comparatively recent custom among western brides, who previously wore whatever colors they wished or simply their "best dress." Wearing white became a matter first of trendy fashion and then of custom and tradition only over the course of the nineteenth century.

Celebacy

Celibacy refers to an individual having decided to refrain from sexual activity (sexual abstinence), or to remain unmarried. Also known as "consecrated virginity," celebacy usually refers to ordained clergy or persons in religious orders, and is an avowed way of living in which the person forsakes all sexual gratification.

Common reasons to deliberately abstain from the physical expression of sexual desire include religious or philosophical reasons (such as chastity), material reasons (to prevent undesired pregnancy or Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) transmission), or to conform to legal injunctions.

Some religions require celibacy of their priests, regarding sexual purity as essential in order to perform the rites and rituals that connect the people to heaven. Others regard the priestly function more in terms of ministering to the people, and thus a healthy marriage is considered as good if not better than celibacy. In monastic orders, a vow of sexual abstinence is often viewed as essential in order to align one's mind and spirit to the path of spiritual growth, renouncing cares of the physical world, which include sexual relationships. Philosophers, too, have taken this path.

The Roman Catholic Church requires a promise of celibacy prior to ordination to the diaconate by both secular clerics and religious in perpetual vows. Married men can be ordained only by dispensation of the Holy See. Currently, this dispensation is given only to married men, ordained in another denomination, who convert. Widowers with children can be ordained. By contrast, marriage is accepted or even encouraged for priests in the Anglican and many Protestant churches.

Vows of chastity can also be taken by laypersons, either as part of an organized religious life (such as Roman Catholic Beguines and Beghardss) or on an individual basis, as a voluntary act of devotion and/or as part of an ascetic lifestyle, often devoted to contemplation. The voluntary aspect has led it to being included among the counsels of perfection.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church traditions, celibacy is not required of secular priests but is required in monastic orders, from which bishops are selected. In all three traditions, celibacy is almost always required of monastics—monks, nuns, and friars—even in a rare system of double cloisters, in which husbands could enter the (men's) monastery while their wives entered a (women's) sister monastery.

Anglicanism does not require celibacy of its heterosexual clergy, and rather favors married clergy—the vicar's wife is considered part of a typical parish. Most Protestant traditions allow clergy to marry; the Mormons even used to encourage polygamy, and certain subsects still do.

In some religions, celibate monastic life is commonly practiced as a temporary phase, as by many men in Buddhism.

For many, however, celibacy is seen as unnatural, even unhealthy. While debate persists on this issue, religious teachings maintain that fidelity within marriage is vital to the sacrament and to the health of the marriage and ensuing family. Beliefs in the sacredness of marriage and human sexuality provide reasons for abstinence prior to marriage, fidelity to one's spouse after marriage, and lifelong abstinence if a person does not marry.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Evert, Jason. If You Really Love Me: 100 Questions on Dating, Relationships, and Sexual Purity, Catholic Answers, 2003. ISBN 978-1569553695
• Krishnamurti, J. The Mirror of Relationship: Love, Sex, and Chastity, Krishnamurti Publications of America, 2007. ISBN 978-1888004908
• Padgett, Chris, & Padgett, Linda. Not Ready for Marriage, Not Ready for Sex: One Couple's Return to Chastity, Servant Publications, 2006. ISBN 978-0867167450
• Panzer, Richard. Relationship Training: A Course in Character and Relationships, Center For Educational Media, 2000. ISBN 978-1888933130
• Suell, Tamara A. The Single Man's Guide to Chastity, PublishAmerica, 2006. ISBN 978-1424104840

External links

• Catechism of the Catholic Church (III.2.I)
• Early Shaker Writings Relating to Sexual Abstinence

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