Project Gutenberg 2020-01-15 Public domain in the USA. 254 Lea, Henry Charles 1825 1909 Lea, H. C. (Henry Charles) a10002128 An Historical Sketch of Sacerdotal Celibacy in the Christian Church Produced by deaurider, Les Galloway and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) "An Historical Sketch of Sacerdotal Celibacy in the Christian Church" by Henry C. Lea is a historical account written in the late 19th century. The book explores the evolution and implications of enforced celibacy among the clergy in Christianity, presenting an in-depth study of its origins, effects on society and the church, and its historical context. Lea aims to provide an objective overview devoid of polemics, making it accessible to both scholars and general readers interested in the social and moral ramifications of clerical celibacy. The beginning of this work outlines the influence of the church on the development of Western civilization and discusses the origins of clerical celibacy, tracing its roots through early Judaism and ascetic movements. Lea emphasizes the contrast between the materialistic perspective of the Old Testament and the spiritualism brought forth by Christ, which fostered a rising ascetic ideal in Christianity. The text highlights the gradual acceptance of celibacy among clergy, noting the efforts to regulate marriage and the increasing asceticism within the early church, setting the stage for the complex relationship between religious authority and personal morality that would follow throughout history. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 49.8 (College-level). Difficult to read. en Church history Catholic Church -- Clergy Celibacy -- Catholic Church BV Text Category: History - European Category: History - Religious 2746160 2025-06-24T09:39:13.158309 text/html 2592996 2024-10-17T15:45:09 text/html 1090849 2025-06-24T09:39:57.024585 application/epub+zip 1114039 2025-06-24T09:39:20.768254 application/epub+zip 1022284 2025-06-24T09:39:16.815295 application/epub+zip 1813347 2025-06-24T09:40:22.537498 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 1742900 2025-06-24T09:39:52.600633 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 1650925 2022-09-27T16:08:10.162289 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 1969443 2025-06-24T09:39:06.918337 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 1949472 2024-10-17T15:45:09 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17186 2025-06-24T09:40:22.739525 application/rdf+xml 27588 2025-06-24T09:39:17.397283 image/jpeg 2500 2025-06-24T09:39:17.110272 image/jpeg 974494 2025-06-24T09:39:13.356316 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia