AuCu, celibacy is not the problem.
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I agree Snuff. It is just one of the problems. Here is another.
As their empire grew, the Romans accepted new deities that they encountered as different manifestations of gods they already knew. Rather than eliminating foreign cults, the Roman conquerors accepted and adopted them. Rome’s religion thus became as varied as her multicultural population. Roman religious sensibilities did not demand exclusive worship. People could worship several different deities at the same time.
Supreme among Rome’s native gods was Jupiter, dubbed Optimus Maximus, the best and the greatest. He was thought to manifest himself in wind, rain, lightning, and thunder. Jupiter’s sister and consort, Juno, who was associated with the moon, was said to watch over all aspects of the lives of women. His daughter Minerva was goddess of handicrafts, professions, arts, and war.
The Roman pantheon seemed endless. Lares and Penates were family gods. Vesta was the goddess of the hearth. Two-faced Janus was a god of all beginnings. Each trade had its patron deity. The Romans even deified abstractions. Pax safeguarded peace, Salus health, Pudicitia modesty and chastity, Fides fidelity, Virtus courage, and Voluptas pleasure. Every act of Roman public and private life was thought to be subject to the will of the gods. So in order to ensure a favorable outcome in an endeavor, the appropriate god had to be propitiated by ritual prayers, sacrifices, and festivals.
One way to ascertain the will of the deities was to look for omens. Chief among these practices was the examination of the entrails of sacrificed animals. It was thought that the condition and appearance of these organs indicated whether the gods disapproved of or favored the enterprise at hand.
By the late second century B.C.E., Rome had come to identify her chief deities with those of the Greek pantheon—Jupiter with Zeus, Juno with Hera, and so on. The Romans had also adopted the mythology that went along with the Greek deities. These legends were by no means flattering to the gods, who had the same flaws and limitations as humans. For example, Zeus was depicted as a rapist and a pedophile who had sexual relations with mortals and supposed immortals. The shameless adventures of the gods—often wildly applauded in ancient theaters—gave devotees license to indulge their basest passions.
Likely, few educated people accepted the legends in a literal sense. Some interpreted them as allegories. This may account for Pontius Pilate’s famous question, “What is truth?” (John 18:38) It has been taken to express “a prevalent feeling of cultivated men, that the attempt to ascertain anything certain on these things is vain.”
The reign of Augustus (27 B.C.E. to 14 C.E.) saw the birth of emperor worship. Particularly in the Greek-speaking provinces of the East, many felt genuine gratitude toward Augustus, who had established prosperity and peace after a long period of war. People wanted ongoing protection by a visible power. They desired an institution that could overcome religious distinctions, promote patriotism, and unite the world under its “savior.” As a result, divine honors were bestowed on the emperor.
Although Augustus did not allow others to call him a god when he was alive, he insisted that the personification of Rome as a goddess—Roma Dea—be worshipped. Augustus was deified posthumously. Local religious sentiment and patriotism in the provinces were thus directed toward both the center of the empire and its rulers. The new imperial cult, which soon spread to all the provinces, became a way of expressing homage and loyalty to the State.
Domitian, emperor from 81 to 96 C.E., was the first Roman ruler to demand worship as a god. By his time, the Romans had distinguished Christians from Jews and opposed what was viewed as a new cult. It was likely during Domitian’s reign that the apostle John was exiled on the isle of Patmos for “bearing witness to Jesus.”—Rev. 1:9.
Trajan praised Pliny’s handling of the cases brought before him and directed that Christians who refused to worship Roman gods be executed. “However,” wrote Trajan, “where the party denies he is a Christian, and shall make it evident that he is not, by invoking our gods, let him (notwithstanding any former suspicion) be pardoned upon his repentance.”
Roman thinking could not conceive of a religion that demanded exclusive devotion from its adherents. Roman gods did not require it, so why should the God of the Christians? It was felt that worship of State deities simply indicated recognition of the political system. Therefore, refusal to worship them was considered treason. As Pliny found out, there was no way to force most Christians into compliance. For them, such an act would signify unfaithfulness to Jehovah, and numerous early Christians preferred to die rather than perform idolatrous emperor worship.
Why should this be of interest to us today? In some lands, citizens are expected to revere national symbols. As Christians, we certainly respect the authority of secular governments. (Rom. 13:1) When it comes to ceremonies involving national flags, however, we are motivated by Jehovah God’s insistence on exclusive devotion and the counsel of his Word to “flee from idolatry” and “guard [ourselves] from idols.” (1 Cor. 10:14; 1 John 5:21; Nah. 1:2) Jesus said: “It is Jehovah your God you must worship, and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.” (Luke 4:8)
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AuCu, celibacy is not the problem. ------------ I agree Snuff....
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