Celibacy as an historical phenomenon has, however, other sources as well. Priests and priestesses dedicated to the service of divinities may be regarded as married to these divinities, and as therefore obliged to abstain from all intercourse with mortals. They will naturally be considered exceptionally holy, and thus an association is brought about between holiness and celibacy. Up to our own day in the Catholic Church, nuns are regarded as the brides of Christ. And this is certainly one of the reasons why it is thought wicked for them to have intercourse with mortals.
Source: Bertrand Russell :Marriage and Morals, 1929
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