Did St. Paul Say Bishops Must Be Married?

Therefore, a bishop must be irreproachable, married only once, temperate, self-controlled, decent, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not aggressive, but gentle, not contentious, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, keeping his children under control with perfect dignity (1 Tim. 3:2-4).

A bishop could be married; it’s not an absolute impediment. However, the Church for most of its history has asked priests and bishops to be celibate.

The Scripture passage in question is not setting up requirements for bishops in the sense that a man chosen to be a Bishop must be married. If that were the case, St. Paul himself could never have been a bishop. What this passage is saying is that a man chosen to be a bishop should not have been married more than once. The fact that the word once is used shows clearly that passage is about limiting something rather than requiring.

Notice also the context is about the character of the individual being chosen. St. Paul is talking about the need for a man chosen as bishop to be of impeccable character, a requirement to be married doesn’t seem to fit that context very well. It makes much more sense that St. Paul is limiting the number of marriages for candidates for bishop to be considered.

Furthermore, to take this passage as literal requirements would mean a candidate for bishop must not only be a father but must also have more than one child, since the passage also says he must keep his “children” (plural) under control. I doubt even the most fundamentalist of fundamentalists would interpret the passage in that way.