The legend of Attis and the celebration of his castration also conveyed the cutting off of genitals as a way to appease the divine and become more holy. Attis was the lover of the Mother of the Gods. Despite this, it was The Mother of the Gods that castrated Attis, which ultimately caused his death. According the cult of Cybele, she did this because the nature of the divine and eternal beings wanted to "make the masculine virtue of the soul rise up to her" (Rouselle, 122). Castration, therefore, was an act that appeased the gods, and served as a method to bring a mortal man closer to divinity.

             The voluntary practice of castration for religious celibacy appeared early in Christian history as a method to become a more spiritual being. It is important to understand ancient Christian views of marriage and sex in order to understand that castration was a choice that would lead a man to the gates of heaven. In his First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul identified the immoralities of man, and made clear that those who were corrupt would not inherit the kingdom of God. Fornication, Paul said, was a sin against the body, for the body was a "Temple of the Holy Spirit". Fornication, of course, was not forbidden in Christianity. However, because sex was a danger to man- since fornication was not a way to enter the kingdom of God- Paul recommended marriage only to suppress sexual urges. Marriage was recommended for the weak, those who were unable to control sexual desire, and only the spiritually strong were able to live as a eunuch. By completely renouncing fornication, a eunuch would become closer to god, and would therefore be able to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

             The motive of castration in the Christian religion was to cut off the part of the body that caused a man to fornicate and commit sin. By committing a sin, a man became less like god and was therefore less entitled to an eternal life in heaven.