Jackson on Article XXXII: Of the Marriage of Priests

The practice of celibacy seems to have grown up side by side with the sacrificial idea of the Mass. The exaggerated idea of the priestly” function led to an exaggerated idea of the priestly life. The Priest must conform to a higher ideal of sanctity. He must be separate from ordinary life. He must not be married. The error of this lay not only in the unnatural privation which it forced upon the clergy, but in its entirely unscriptural view that the single state is superior in holiness to the state of matrimony. The Article is a vindication of the honourable character of the married state. It leaves the Bishops, Priests and Deacons of our Church free to marry or not, ‘‘ as they shall judge the same to serve better to godliness.’’ These last words are emphatic. They define the principle which Clergy must follow in this matter. Only within the limits of this prinicple may they “ marry at their own discretion.’’ That there may be ad- vantages in the single state seems clear from

a a ie ee ee area Sere ee et *“Including Deacons, as the Wording of the Article shows.

St. Matt. xix., 12, and 1 Cor. vii., 32 and 33. But on the other hand the example of St. Peter and such passages as | Tim. iii., 2-5, show that the married state may be consistent with real holi- ness of personal life, and even a desirable quali- fication for high office in the Church.

ARTICLE XXXIII. OF EXCOMMUNICATE PERsSoNs, How THEY ARE TO BE AVOIDED.