information:highlighting, linguistic:paraphrasing
Christianity

There is no commandment in the New Testament that Jesus Christ 's disciples have to live in celibacy. However, it is a general view that Christ himself lived a life of perfect chastity; thus, "Voluntary chastity is the imitation of him who was the virgin Son of a virgin Mother". One of his invocations is "King of virgins and lover of stainless chastity" (Rex virginum, amator castitatis).

Furthermore, Christ, when his disciples suggest it is "better not to marry," stated "Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can" (Matthew 19:10-12, NRSV). While eunuchs were not generally celibate, over subsequent centuries this statement has come to be interpreted as referring to celibacy.

Paul the Apostle emphasized the importance of overcoming the desires of the flesh and saw the state of celibacy being superior to that of marriage. Paul made parallels between the relations between spouses and God's relationship with the church. "Husbands, love your wives even as Christ loved the church. Husbands should love their wives as their own bodies" (Ephesians 5:25–28). Paul himself was celibate and said that his wish was "that all of you were as I am" (1 Corinthians 7:7). In fact, this entire chapter endorses celibacy while also clarifying that marriage is also acceptable.

The early Christians lived in the belief that the end of the world would soon come upon them, and saw no point in planning new families and having children. According to Chadwick, this was why Paul encouraged both celibate and marital lifestyles among the members of the Corinthian congregation, regarding celibacy as the preferable of the two.

In the counsels of perfection (evangelical counsels), which include chastity alongside poverty and obedience, Jesus is said to have " the rule of the higher life, founded upon his own most perfect life", for those who seek "the highest perfection" and feel "called to follow Christ in this way"—i.e. through such "exceptional sacrifices".

A number of early Christian martyrs were women or girls who had given themselves to Christ in perpetual virginity, such as Saint Agnes and Saint Lucy. According to most Christian thought, the first sacred virgin was Mary, the mother of Jesus, who was consecrated by the Holy Spirit during the Annunciation. Tradition also has it that the Apostle Matthew consecrated virgins. In the Catholic Church and the Orthodox churches, a consecrated virgin is a woman who has been consecrated by the church to a life of perpetual virginity in the service of the church.