WHY DO PRIESTS CHOOSE NOT TO MARRY? IS IT SCRIPTURAL? 1. THE BIBLE AFFIRMS THE PRIESTHOOD OF ALL BELIEVERS (1 Pet 2:9. Not a priesthood that stands separate from other Christians. 2. Those who served as elders/pastors were not only free to marry, but were required (1 Tim. 3:1-12). 3. God recognized there would be times when it was best not to marry (Matt. 19:12; 1 Cor. 7:32-35). The context shows (a) this to be the exception and (b) not required, not a commandment. In the apostasy that swept the church, human wisdom made what was the exception the rule, and made what was a matter of individual choice a requirement. 4. CE III,p.483: until 325 Council of Nicaea "the clergy was free to marry." Council of Trullo 692 provided that a bishop must be celibate. Pope Gregory VII in 1075 initiated sweeping reform requiring complete celibacy of deacons, priests and bishops. Confirmed by Fourth Lateran Council 1215 and Council of Trent 1563. The Protestant Reformation of the 16th Century vigorously rejected enforced celibacy of the clergy in favor of a return to apostolic freedom cf. 1 Tim. 4:1-4.