While I am not a monk I would like to be one. I'm curious to see if wanting to be a eunuch is common to people who wish to be a monk or is a monk.

Oyktiro1 (imported) wrote: Sat Jul 08, 2017 8:21 am While I am not a monk I would like to be one. I'm curious to see if wanting to be a eunuch is common to people who wish to be a monk or is a monk.

There is a famous Bible quote in Matthew: 19, 12... for those who want to make themselves eunuchs and to spend their lives closer to God. I take this to mean being a monk, priest, brother, pastor, reverend, etc...or simply to be much, much more prayerful and spiritual (lacking thoughts of sex as a eunuch would make this state of spirituality easier one would assume)...to which I personally aspire.

Matthew 19:12

"For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it."

Matthew 19:12 has been the subject of much controversy throughout history. It was the inspiration for the Valesians and Origen to undertake the practice. I believe that the Skoptzy of Russia also cited this verse.

When he gets time, I'm sure that our Jesus A. can point us to more data on the subject than we could ever digest!

However, the original Greek translations of the book of Matthew are said to use the word "ευνούχος", which means, to paraphrase, "that you had the surgery", not just adopted the lifestyle. (I think I got the right word there.)

Deuteronomy 23 has this harsh bit to say. 23 He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord.

yet, in the new testament, there is Queen Candice's Bold Eunuch, (Acts 8) And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.

Eunuchs are no where near treated so harshly today... though I wonder if any were made so in the American slaving days so they could be someone's Ethiopian Eunuch.

Many agree that the Deuteronomy 23 verse implies that eunuchs could not serve as priests, and/or had to worship further outside. In fact, no one with a disability could; not even if you had a bum leg.

While there is some dispute over the meaning of Matthew 19:12, much of the dispute is between ministers who cannot read the original language and/or who prefer not to study the history of Biblical interpretation and those Biblical scholars who not only read the original language, but also carefully study the cultural and historical context of the text.

The New Testament scholars generally agree that what is meant in the chapter is a eunuch whose testicles have been removed, not someone with testicles who is celibate, as too many non-scholars would prefer to believe. There were adequate words available to indicate celibacy. The original Greek used in the text, εὐνοῦχος, which specifically means one who has been castrated. It does not mean celibacy.

All of Matthew 19:12 is frequently considered to be a direct translation of the exact words of Jesus, not a paraphrase. A few Biblical scholars go further and note the following two verses:

13 Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them.

14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

Some, though fortunately only a few, then argue that this signifies Jesus’ approval of the castration of children! The Skoptsy sect of the Russian Orthodox Church (flourished 1721 to 1945) pointed to both this and to Revelation 14:4 to indicate that the Resurrection would not occur until there were 144,000 devout Christian eunuchs, all castrated before puberty, waiting to greet Jesus on his return. Estimates are that they surpassed that number.

There is even debate about the Ethiopian eunuch who appears in Acts 8:26–40. Too many non-scholars want to turn him into a government official who was not castrated. If you go to Google Images and search for “Ethiopian eunuch,” you will find many images of him as BEARDED. Officials of the Ethiopian court were normally castrated. They certainly were if they were to approach the queen.

Another Biblical eunuch who was definitely castrated before puberty, but who generally shows up with a full beard in religious images, was the prophet Nehemiah.

It is generally accepted by Biblical scholars that Nehemiah was a genuine historical figure. He served as a eunuch in the palace of King Artaxerxes of Persia. His position is often described as “cup-bearer” with an implication that he was intact. Cup-bearers to the king were required to accompany him into the royal harem. They were invariably castrated before puberty (and would have no beard). The Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible clearly states that he was a eunuch, despite the avoidance of that term in English translations.

As early Christianity became a Roman religion, the issue of castration became far more important. Roman law forbade castration, both castration of slaves and self-castration. It was a capital offense to castrate oneself! Too many devout Christian males were castrating themselves or seeking castration by others. At the First Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325, not only was the Nicaean Creed developed, but the very first canon adopted by the Council was to prohibit self-castration by Christians.

The propriety of castration in Christianity is a much disputed subject. And has been since the earliest years.

So does anyone know of eunuchs nowadays other than monks? I guess it is not known/recorded how many there actually are. I would be honoured to meet a eunuch and hear from him why he decided to be physically castrated and how his life has changed since castration

If there are any eunuchs on this forum & would like to enter into dialogue feel free to text/phone me & I'll phone you right back

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In the past few years I have spoken at length to three Roman Catholic priests about being castrated...all three have given me their permission. All three are over fifty and one has known me for a dozen years. This issue leaves me puzzled to some extent. I have gone to a dozen shrinks in my years and have received a dozen different diagnoses. As the Catholic Church has been for all believers (Katolic is Greek for "universal"...I think), then I am sure of the biblical quote by Matthew being the Word of God vis-a-vis Jesus Christ. And, as everything in Catholocism occurs in threes, having talked to three priests seems to me extraordinarily Catholic.

I'm reading about Origen of Alexandria and he was castrated in his youth when at the time when in the Roman law it was a capital punishment to be caught as a eunuch.