1 Corinthians 7:24–35

He says this not to slaves alone, but also to free people, exhorting all Christians to do nothing for the sake of pleasing men and not to obey them if their commands are unlawful. This is what it means: having been bought by God, to become slaves of men. He is not urging slaves to fall away from their masters—no; this is clear from his subsequent words: "in whatever calling one was called," and so on, that is, if someone was called even in a state of slavery, let him remain in it. He added "before God" so that through obedience to lawless masters one would not fall away from God. He is concerned about both things, that is, on the one hand, that slaves not fall away from their masters under the pretext of obedience to God, and on the other, that by rendering excessive obedience to their masters, they not fall away from God.

Paul repeats what he said above in order to underline its importance.

The apostle himself practiced very meticulously what he preached to others.

Concerning virginity we have received no commandment; but we leave it to the power of those that are willing, as a vow: exhorting them so far in this matter that they do not promise anything rashly; since Solomon says, "It is better not to vow, than to vow and not pay." [Ecclesiastes 5:5] Let such a virgin, therefore, be holy in body and soul, as the temple of God, [1 Corinthians 7:34] as the house of Christ, as the habitation of the Holy Spirit. For she that vows ought to do such works as are suitable to her vow; and to show that her vow is real, and made on account of leisure for piety, not to cast a reproach on marriage. Let her not be a wanderer abroad, nor one that rambles about unseasonably; not double-minded, but grave, continent, sober, pure, avoiding the conversation of many, and especially of those that are of ill reputation.

This counselor, namely Christ, has many counselors, to whom he imparts his counsel. And the Apostle himself says: 'In this I give counsel, but I have no precept.' Augustine says that 'Christ became poor to such an extent that he does not have what the foxes have, because foxes have holes, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head; understand: Christ became poor so that we might imitate his poverty.' The Master says that we should imitate him in giving alms, in humility, in poverty, and in obedience.

As to the excellence of virtue, it attests to the highest virtue that someone in mortal flesh should lead a life not human but heavenly, should extinguish heat in fire, and in nature should surpass the force of nature: and this virginity does. Hence Jerome to the virgin Demetrias: "Just as in the furnace the fourth one, having the appearance as it were of the Son of man, tempered the immense flames and amid the conflagration of the raging furnace taught the flames to lose their heat and to threaten one thing to the eyes and present another to the touch: so also in the virginal soul, by the heavenly dew and the cold of fasting, youthful heat is extinguished and the manner of life of angels is obtained for the human body. Wherefore also the vessel of election says of virgins that he does not have a precept of the Lord, because it is against nature, nay rather beyond nature, not to exercise that for which you were born, to kill your root within you and to pluck only the fruits of virginity, to know no stranger's bed, to shudder at all intimacy with men, and to live in the body without the body."

We are to defend Christianity itself—the faith preached by the Apostles, attested by the Martyrs, embodied in the Creeds, expounded by the Fathers. This must be clearly distinguished from the whole of what any one of us may think about God and man. Each of us has his individual emphasis: each holds, in addition to the faith, many opinions which seem to him to be consistent with it and true and important. And so perhaps they are. But as apologists it is not our business to defend them. We are defending Christianity; not "my religion." When we mention our personal opinions we must always make quite clear the difference between them and the faith itself. St. Paul has given us the model in I Corinthians vii. 25: on a certain point he has "no commandment of the Lord" but gives "his judgment." No one is left in doubt as to the difference in status implied.

The Lord also showed that certain precepts were enacted for them by Moses, on account of their hardness [of heart], and because of their unwillingness to be obedient, when, on their saying to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a writing of divorcement, and to send away a wife?" He said to them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts he permitted these things to you; but from the beginning it was not so;" thus exculpating Moses as a faithful servant, but acknowledging one God, who from the beginning made male and female, and reproving them as hard-hearted and disobedient. And therefore it was that they received from Moses this law of divorcement, adapted to their hard nature. But why say I these things concerning the Old Testament? For in the New also are the apostles found doing this very thing, on the ground which has been mentioned, Paul plainly declaring, "But these things I say, not the Lord." And again: "But this I speak by permission, not by commandment." And again: "Now, as concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful." But further, in another place he says: "That Satan tempt you not for your incontinence." If, therefore, even in the New Testament, the apostles are found granting certain precepts in consideration of human infirmity, because of the incontinence of some, lest such persons, having grown obdurate, and despairing altogether of their salvation, should become apostates from God,-it ought not to be wondered at, if also in the Old Testament the same God permitted similar indulgences for the benefit of His people, drawing them on by means of the ordinances already mentioned, so that they might obtain the gift of salvation through them, while they obeyed the Decalogue, and being restrained by Him, should not revert to idolatry, nor apostatize from God, but learn to love Him with the whole heart.

"Now concerning virgins. I have no commandment of the Lord; but I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful."

Advancing on his way in regular order, he proceeds next to speak concerning virginity. For after that he had exercised and trained them, in his words concerning continence, he goes forth towards what is greater, saying, "I have no commandment, but I esteem it to be good." For what reason? For the self-same reason as he had mentioned respecting continence.

I have now brought to an end what I have to say respecting continence and marriage and chastity, and intercourse with men, and in which of these there is help towards progress in righteousness; but it still remains to speak concerning virginity-if, indeed, anything be prescribed on this subject. Let us then treat this subject also; for it stands thus:

Paul is coming here to a higher wisdom, but he is hesitant to impose it directly because that might show up the inadequacy of his hearers. Therefore he sets it out as an opinion rather than as a command.

Some rules are given as commandments of God, while others are more flexible and left by God to the decision of the individual. The first kind are those commandments which pertain to salvation. The others are better, because even if we do not keep them, we shall still be saved. There is no merit in doing what is obligatory, but there is in doing that which is optional.

It is clear that Paul says this not because he has no command to teach about virginity but because God has not told him that these people should practice chastity themselves. That is why he writes to them giving his opinion and recommending chastity, without imposing it on them.

Above he occupied us with a conversation about chastity, and now he turns to a more important subject, namely virginity, and says that the Lord did not lay down a law and did not give a commandment concerning virginity, but only said: "He that is able to receive it, let him receive it" (Matt. 19:12). Therefore I too do not dare to prescribe anything regarding this subject; it is an important matter, but at the same time a dangerous one; however, I give my opinion, that is, my counsel, since I myself, by the mercy of God, have been deemed worthy to be faithful, that is, close to Him and one to whom mysteries can be entrusted.

Here Paul teaches that virginity is better, not just because it is more pleasing to God but also because it is the more sensible course to follow in the present [end-time] circumstances.

Now, if in all cases he says it is best for a man thus to be; "Thou art joined to a wife seek not loosing" (that you may give no occasion to adultery); "thou art loosed from a wife, seek not a wife," that you may reserve an opportunity for yourself: "but withal, if thou shalt have married a wife, and if a virgin shall have married, she sinneth not; pressure, however, of the flesh such shall have,"-even here he is granting a permission by way of "sparing them." On the other hand, he lays it down that "the time is wound up," in order that even "they who have wives may be as if they had them not.

In my opinion, he says, it is best of all for a person to abstain from marriage on account of the inconveniences and unpleasantnesses connected with it, and not because marriage is impure.

Paul says that no one should be divorced from his wife except in a case of fornication. As for the unmarried, what advantage is there in giving in to the lusts of the flesh?

"Art thou bound unto a wife? Seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife."

These words carry no contradiction to what had been said before but rather the most entire agreement with them. For he says in that place also, "Except it be by consent:" as here he says, "Art thou bound unto a wife? Seek not separation." This is no contradiction. For its being against consent makes a dissolution: but if with consent both live continently, it is no dissolution.

For the apostle, although preferring the grace of continence, yet permits the contraction of marriage and the enjoyment of it, and advises the continuance therein rather than the dissolution there of. Christ plainly forbids divorce, Moses unquestionably permits it.

Why should you restore what God has put an end to? Why do you, by repeating the servitude of matrimony, spurn the liberty which is offered you? "You have been bound to a wife," sap the apostle; "seek not loosing.

Why should you restore what God has put an end to? Why do you, by repeating the servitude of matrimony, spurn the liberty which is offered you? "You have been bound to a wife," sap the apostle; "seek not loosing. You have been loosed from a wife; seek not binding.

However, touching second marriage, we know plainly that the apostle has pronounced: "Thou t been loosed from a wife; seek not a wife. But if thou shalt marry, thou wilt not sin." Still, as in the former case, he has introduced the order of this discourse too from his personal suggestion, not from a divine precept.

With the words "are you bound to a wife?" he showed that marriage, as a bond, brings with it troubles. By "divorce" he means not abstinence by mutual agreement, but divorce without sufficient cause; for if the spouses abstain by mutual agreement, then this is not divorce. Having said "do not seek a wife," lest they think he is commanding celibacy, he adds: "but if you do marry, you have not sinned." Notice, meanwhile, how imperceptibly he encourages virginity, calling marriage a bond, and virginity a release and freedom.

The man who marries does not sin because he is doing something which is permitted. But if he refuses to do it, he earns merit and a crown in heaven, for it takes great self-control to avoid doing something which is not expressly forbidden.

That conjugal chastity is to be approved according to the evangelical law is shown by authority, as follows. 1 Corinthians 7: If you have taken a wife, you have not sinned: and if a virgin shall have married, she does not sin: therefore if one was previously continent without a wife, it seems that one will also be continent with a wife.

To that objection that the act of marriage is by way of indulgence: it must be said that this is not said of marriage itself and of the nuptial act that is performed for the procreation of children, but of that which is performed for the restraining of incontinence, because this has venial fault joined to it. Hence Augustine, in the book On the Good of Marriage: "If you have taken a wife, you have not sinned: and if a virgin marries, she does not sin. From this it is no longer permissible to doubt that marriage is not a sin; therefore the Apostle does not grant marriage by way of pardon. For who would hesitate to say that it is most absurd to say that those to whom pardon is given have not sinned? But he grants that intercourse by way of pardon which takes place on account of incontinence, not solely for the sake of procreating, but also sometimes with no purpose of procreating; which marriage does not compel to happen, but obtains pardon for, provided however that it is not so excessive as to impede the times that ought to be set aside for prayer, nor changed into that use which is against nature."

Then, lest this should seem to be laying down a law, he subjoins, "but if thou marry, thou hast not sinned." He next alleges the existing state of things, "the present distress, the shortness of the time," and "the affliction." For marriage draws along with it many things, which indeed he hath glanced at, as well here as also in the discourse about continence: there, by saying, "the wife hath not power over herself;" and here, by the expression, "Thou art bound."

"But if and thou marry, thou hast not sinned." He is not speaking about her who hath made choice of virginity, for if it comes to that, she hath sinned. Since if the widows are condemned for having to do with second marriages after they have once chosen widowhood, much more the virgins.

"But such shall have trouble in the flesh." "And pleasure too," you will say: but observe how he curtails this by the shortness of the time, saying, "the time is shortened;" that is, "we are exhorted to depart now and go forth, but thou art running further in." And yet even although marriage had no troubles, even so we ought to press on towards things to come. But when it hath affliction too, what need to draw on one's self an additional burden. What occasion to take up such a load, when even after taking it you must use it as having it not? For "those even that have wives must be," he saith, "as though they had none."

For this is acceptable to God, he does not wish these things to be said as by authority, and as the mind of the Lord, with reference to the giving of a virgin in marriage; for after he had said. So, immediately after he had said, "if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned "he added, "such shall have trouble in the flesh: but I spare you."

The virgin is spared earthly troubles and set free by her purity, as she awaits the blessed Bridegroom.

For even if you do not "sin" in re-marrying, still he says "pressure of the flesh ensues." Wherefore, so far as we can, let us love the opportunity of continence; as soon as it offers itself, let us resolve to accept it, that what we have not had strength (to follow) in matrimony we may follow in widowhood.

By "virgin" here he means not one who is consecrated to God (for if such a one marries, she undoubtedly sins, since by this, besides her Bridegroom Christ, she introduces an adulterer to herself), but a still-unmarried maiden. So if such a one marries, she does not sin, because marriage contains nothing impure in itself.

By "tribulations" he means the cares and sorrows connected with marriage. "And I," he continues, "feel sorry for you," as for children, and I wish that you were free and without sorrow. Marriage is a bond; and those who are under its yoke do not have authority over themselves, as was said above.

Paul means by this that the end of the world is coming soon. Given this fact, believers should not worry about having children and instead should dedicate themselves to the service of God. For there will be many unprecedented pressures on them, and many will fall into the devil's trap. No one among us who has a proper fear of the pressures which the Savior predicted will want to be caught like that.

Against conjugal chastity it is objected: 1 Corinthians 7: Let those who have wives be as though not having them; but he who does not have a wife does not use her: therefore he who has one should not use her. But this is contrary to the act of conjugal continence: therefore conjugal continence is repugnant to the law of God.

To that objection that those who have wives ought to be as though not using them: it must be said that the Apostle does not there prohibit every use of worldly things; for then it would be necessary for man to go out of the world, and thus no one in this world would be just and good; but he shows there that one's intention must not be fixed on this world, nor should it be loved as an end, but as a way to the end. This is clear from what he adds: For the figure of this world passes away. Hence from this it is not established that one should not use a wife, but that one should not rest in love of her and use of her, since she is not a stable good, but one transitory and perishable.

Those who practice physical sterility should observe fruitfulness in souls, and those who cannot have earthly children should try to beget spiritual ones. All our deeds are children. If we perform good works every day, we shall not lack spiritual offspring.

"For the time is short," as says the apostle. This then remains that we do not make a ridiculous figure, as some are seen in the public spectacles outwardly anointed strikingly for imposing effect, but wretched within. Explaining this more clearly, he adds, "It remains that they that have wives be as though they had none, and they that buy as though they possessed not." And if he speaks thus of marriage, in reference to which God says, "Multiply," how do you not think that senseless display is by the Lord's authority to be banished? Wherefore also the Lord says, "Sell what thou hast, and give to the poor; and come, follow me."

They say, accordingly, that the blessed Peter, on seeing his wife led to death, rejoiced on account of her call and conveyance home, and called very encouragingly and comfortingly, addressing her by name, "Remember thou the Lord." Such was the marriage of the blessed and their perfect disposition towards those dearest to them. Thus also the apostle says, "that he who marries should be as though he married not," and deem his marriage free of inordinate affection, and inseparable from love to the Lord; to which the true husband exhorted his wife to cling on her departure out of this life to the Lord.

That he who has attained to trust, having put off the former man, ought to regard only celestial and spiritual things, and to give no heed to the world which he has already renounced. In Isaiah: "Seek ye the Lord; and when ye have found Him, call upon Him. But when He hath come near unto you, let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him be turned unto the Lord, and he shall obtain mercy, because He will plentifully pardon your sins." Of this same thing in Solomon: "I have seen all the works which are done under the sun; and, lo, all are vanity." Of this same thing in Exodus: "But thus shall ye eat it; your loins girt, and your shoes on your feet, and your staves in your hands: and ye shall eat it in haste, for it is the Lord's passover." Of this same thing in the Gospel according to Matthew: "Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewith shall we be clothed? for these things the nations seek after. But your Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Likewise in the same place: "Think not for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for itself. Sufficient unto the day is its own evil." Likewise in the same place: "No one looking back, and putting his hands to the plough, is fit for the kingdom of God." Also in the same place: "Behold the fowls of the heaven: for they sow not, nor reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of more value than they? " Concerning this same thing, according to Luke: "Let your loins be girded, and your lamps burning; and ye like unto men that wait for their lord, when he cometh from the wedding; that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may open to him. Blessed are those servants, whom their lord, when he cometh, shall find watching." Of this same thing in Matthew: "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but the Son of man hath not where He may lay His head." Also in the same place: "Whoso forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be my disciple." Of this same thing in the first to the Corinthians: "Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a great price. Glorify and bear God in your body." Also in the same place: "The time is limited. It remaineth, therefore, that both they who have wives be as though they have them not, and they who lament as they that lament not, and they that rejoice as they that rejoice not, and they who buy as they that buy not, and they who possess as they who possess not, and they who use this world as they that use it not; for the fashion of this world passeth away."

For this reason the Apostle Paul says: "The time is short: it remains that those who have wives be as though not having them, those who weep as though not weeping, and those who rejoice as though not rejoicing, and those who buy as though not possessing, and those who use this world as though not using it; for the form of this world is passing away." For he has a wife, but as though not having one, who knows how to pay the debts of the flesh in such a way that he is not compelled through her to cling to the world with his whole mind. For when the same excellent preacher says again: "He who has a wife thinks about the things of this world, how he may please his wife," that man has a wife as though not having one who strives to please his spouse in such a way that he nevertheless does not displease his Creator. He also weeps, but as though not weeping, who is so afflicted by temporal losses that he nevertheless always consoles his soul with thoughts of eternal gains. But he rejoices, yet as though not rejoicing, who is so gladdened by temporal goods that he nevertheless always considers the everlasting torments; and in that by which he lifts up his mind with joy, he immediately presses it down with the weight of prudent fear. Moreover, he buys, but as though not possessing, who both prepares earthly things for use, and yet with careful thought foresees that he will soon leave these behind. He also uses the world, but as though not using it, who both outwardly applies all necessary things to the service of his life, and yet does not allow these same things to dominate his mind, so that they serve as subjects externally, and never break the intention of a soul striving toward higher things. Whoever therefore are such, for them indeed all earthly things are present not for desire but for use, because they make use of necessary things indeed, but desire to have nothing with sin. From these very possessions they daily acquire rewards, and they rejoice more in good work than in good possession.

But yet if it shall please you who find chastity hard to bear, rather to turn to marriage; I consider it to be profitable for you to restrain yourselves in the gratification of the flesh, not making your marriage an occasion for abusing your own vessels to uncleanness. "Then he adds. But those who are goaded on by their lusts, although they do not commit fornication, yet who, even in the things which are permitted with a lawful wife, through the heat of unsubdued concupiscence are excessive in embraces, how shall they celebrate the feast? how shall they rejoice, who have not adorned their tabernacle, that is their flesh, with the boughs of the Agnos, nor have listened to that which has been said; that "they that have wives be as though they had none? "

Let us expect, therefore, hour by hour, the kingdom of God in love and righteousness, since we know not the day of the appearing of God. For the Lord Himself, being asked by one when His kingdom would come, replied, "When two shall be one, and that which is without as that which is within, and the male with the female, neither male nor female." Now, two are one when we speak the truth one to another, and there is unfeignedly one soul in two bodies. And "that which is without as that which is within" meaneth this: He calls the soul "that which is within," and the body "that which is without." As, then, thy body is visible to sight, so also let thy soul be manifest by good works. And "the male with the female, neither male nor female," this meaneth, that a brother seeing a sister should think nothing about her as of a female, nor she think anything about him as of a male. If ye do these things, saith He, the kingdom of my Father shall come. [1 Corinthians 7:29]

If married people are supposed to live as if they were single, how is it possible not to prefer virginity?

Now, if any limitation is set to marrying-such as the spiritual rule, which prescribes but one marriage under the Christian obedience, maintained by the authority of the Paraclete, -it will be His prerogative to fix the limit Who had once been diffuse in His permission; His to gather, Who once scattered; His to cut down the tree, Who planted it; His to reap the harvest, Who sowed the seed; His to declare, "It remaineth that they who have wives be as though they had none," Who once said, "Be fruitful, and multiply; "His the end to Whom belonged the beginning.

Now, when Marcion wholly prohibits all carnal intercourse to the faithful (for we will say nothing about his catechumens), and when he prescribes repudiation of all engagements before marriage, whose teaching does he follow, that of Moses or of Christ? Even Christ, however, when He here commands "the wife not to depart from her husband, or if she depart, to remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband," both permitted divorce, which indeed He never absolutely prohibited, and confirmed (the sanctity) of marriage, by first forbidding its dissolution; and, if separation had taken place, by wishing the nuptial bond to be resumed by reconciliation. But what reasons does (the apostle) allege for continence? Because "the time is short." I had almost thought it was because in Christ there was another god! And yet He from whom emanates this shortness of the time, will also send what suits the said brevity.

Since, then, the Creator promised the gift of His Spirit in the latter days; and since Christ has in these last days appeared as the dispenser of spiritual gifts (as the apostle says, "When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son; " and again, "This I say, brethren, that the time is short" ), it evidently follows in connection with this prediction of the last days, that this gift of the Spirit belongs to Him who is the Christ of the predicters.

Why so? Because he had laid down the premiss, saying, "The time is wound up." If, then he shows plainly that even wives themselves are so to be had as if they be not had, on account of the straits of the times, what would be his sentiments about these vain appliances of theirs? Why, are there not many, withal, who so do, and seal themselves up to eunuchhood for the sake of the kingdom of God, spontaneously relinquishing a pleasure so honourable, and (as we know) permitted? Are there not some who prohibit to themselves (the use of) the very "creature of God," abstaining from wine and animal food, the enjoyments of which border upon no peril or solicitude; but they sacrifice to God the humility of their soul even in the chastened use of food? Sufficiently, therefore, have you, too, used your riches and your delicacies; sufficiently have you cut down the fruits of your dowries, before (receiving) the knowledge of saving disciplines.

What, then, will the case be if God now keep us from the vices which of old were detestable before Him? "The time," says (the apostle), "is compressed. It remaineth that they who have wives act as if they had them not.

"Good," he says, "(it is) for a man not to have contact with a woman." It follows that it is evil to have contact with her; for nothing is contrary to good except evil. And accordingly (he says), "It remains, that both they who have wives so be as if they have not," that it may be the more binding on them who have not to abstain from having them. He renders reasons, likewise, for so advising: that the unmarried think about God, but the married about how, in (their) marriage, each may please his (partner).

Therefore, if all these (considerations) obliterate the licence of marrying, whether we look into the condition on which the licence is granted, or the preference of continence which is imposed, why, after the apostles, could not the same Spirit, supervening for the purpose of conducting disciplehood into "all truth" through the gradations of the times (according to what the preacher says, "A time to everything" ), impose by this time a final bridle upon the flesh, no longer obliquely calling us away from marriage, but openly; since now more (than ever) "the time is become wound up," -about 160 years having elapsed since then? Would you not spontaneously ponder (thus) in your own mind: "This discipline is old, shown beforehand, even at that early date, in the Lord's flesh and will, (and) successively thereafter in both the counsels and the examples of His apostles? Of old we were destined to this sanctity. Nothing of novelty is the Paraclete introducing. What He premonished, He is (now) definitively appointing; what He deferred, He is (now) exacting."

Lest someone add to his words "will have troubles in the flesh" the thought "but also pleasure at the same time," he cuts off all hope of pleasure by pointing to the shortness of the time. For everything is hastening toward destruction, and the Kingdom of Christ has drawn near, and finally we must appear before Christ. Therefore, even if there is any pleasure in married life, it is unstable and short-lived.

If even those who have wives ought to be as though they have none, then what benefit is there in binding oneself in marriage and placing a burden upon oneself? What then does "as though not having" mean? It means: not clinging to marriage and a wife and not exhausting all one's cares upon them. In the same way, no one ought to be overly preoccupied with anything else either: neither with sorrowful circumstances, which he hinted at with the word "weeping," nor with joyful ones, which he indicated with the word "rejoicing," nor with transactions, which he expressed with the word "buying." And why, he says, enumerate this and that? Simply, those who make use of this world must not misuse it, that is, cling to it with all their zeal and attachment; for excessive use that goes beyond the bounds of what is proper is misuse.

Those who know that the end of the world is near realize that they will soon be consoled, and they comfort each other with this hope.

You say that you are wealthy and rich; but it becomes not a virgin to boast of her riches, since Holy Scripture says, "What hath pride profited us? or what benefit hath the vaunting of riches conferred upon us? And all these things have passed away like a shadow." And the apostle again warns us, and says, "And they that buy, as though they bought not; and they that possess, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as though they used it not. For the fashion of this world passeth away." Peter also, to whom the Lord commends His sheep to be fed and guarded, on whom He placed and founded the Church, says indeed that he has no silver and gold, but says that he is rich in the grace of Christ-that he is wealthy in his faith and virtue-wherewith he performed many great works with miracle, wherewith he abounded in spiritual blessings to the grace of glory. These riches, this wealth, she cannot possess, who had rather be rich to this world than to Christ.

And refrain from much business, and you will never sin: for they who are occupied with much business commit also many sins, being distracted about their affairs, and not at all serving their Lord.

"Now it has ever been the wont of glory to exalt, not to humble. "Why, shall we not use what is our own? "Who prohibits your using it? Yet (it must be) in accordance with the apostle, who warns us "to use this world as if we abuse it not; for the fashion of this world is passing away." And "they who buy are so to act as if they possessed not." Why so? Because he had laid down the premiss, saying, "The time is wound up." If, then he shows plainly that even wives themselves are so to be had as if they be not had, on account of the straits of the times, what would be his sentiments about these vain appliances of theirs? Why, are there not many, withal, who so do, and seal themselves up to eunuchhood for the sake of the kingdom of God, spontaneously relinquishing a pleasure so honourable, and (as we know) permitted? Are there not some who prohibit to themselves (the use of) the very "creature of God," abstaining from wine and animal food, the enjoyments of which border upon no peril or solicitude; but they sacrifice to God the humility of their soul even in the chastened use of food? Sufficiently, therefore, have you, too, used your riches and your delicacies; sufficiently have you cut down the fruits of your dowries, before (receiving) the knowledge of saving disciplines. We are they "upon whom the ends of the ages have met, having ended their course." We have been predestined by God, before the world was, (to arise) in the extreme end of the times. And so we are trained by God for the purpose of chastising, and (so to say) emasculating, the world. We are the circumcision -spiritual and carnal-of all things; for both in the spirit and in the flesh we circumcise worldly principles.

Note that Paul says that the form of this world is passing away, not the substance of it. Therefore if the form of the world is going to perish, there is no doubt that everything in the world will vanish. It will all pass away. Every day the world gets older.

Now the figure of this world is said to pass away, not as regards the total destruction of this sensible world, but because through the action of that fire all flammable elementary things will be consumed, plants and animals; the elements will be purged and renewed, especially air and earth; the just will be purged and the reprobate will be burned; and when these things have been accomplished, the motion of the heavens will also cease, so that, with the number of the elect completed, there may come about a certain renewal and rewarding of worldly bodies.

Since God according to His most orderly wisdom made this entire sensible and greater world for the sake of the lesser world, namely man, who is placed in the middle between God and these lower things: hence it is that, so that all things may be congruent with one another, and the dwelling may have harmony with the dweller, when man was well established, this world ought to have been established in a good and peaceful state; when man fell, this world also ought to have deteriorated; when man was disturbed, it ought to have been disturbed; when man was purged, it ought to have been purged; when man was renewed, it ought to have been renewed; and when man was consummated, it ought to have been brought to rest.

To that objection that those who have wives ought to be as though not using them: it must be said that the Apostle does not there prohibit every use of worldly things; for then it would be necessary for man to go out of the world, and thus no one in this world would be just and good; but he shows there that one's intention must not be fixed on this world, nor should it be loved as an end, but as a way to the end. This is clear from what he adds: For the figure of this world passes away. Hence from this it is not established that one should not use a wife, but that one should not rest in love of her and use of her, since she is not a stable good, but one transitory and perishable.

The fashion of this world passeth away; as if he said: the present order of things shall be changed, the succession of day and night shall cease, the stars shall no longer accomplish their courses and the air shall no longer be in motion, and neither the water nor the earth shall any more produce their harvests, but a new state of things shall be introduced suitable for immortal and incorruptible men and angels.

For Thine is the power and the glory for ever. Let grace come, and let this world pass away. [1 Corinthians 7:31] Hosanna to the God (Son) of David! If any one is holy, let him come; if any one is not so, let him repent. Maran atha. Amen.

And of all those things that can be tested by experience I could tell the same story: that there was a time when I thought the Catholic doctrine was meaningless, but that even that was not the very earliest time, which was a time of greater simplicity, when I had a sort of glimpse of the meaning though I had never even heard of the doctrine. The world deceived me and the Church would at any time have undeceived me. The thing that a man may really shed at last like a superstition is the fashion of this world that passes away.

As to their malignantly asserting that if heaven is indeed the throne of God, and earth His footstool, and if it is declared that the heaven and earth shall pass away, then when these pass away the God who sitteth above must also pass away, and therefore He cannot be the God who is over all; in the first place, they are ignorant what the expression means, that heaven is [His] throne and earth [His] footstool. For they do not know what God is, but they imagine that He sits after the fashion of a man, and is contained within bounds, but does not contain. And they are also unacquainted with [the meaning of] the passing away of the heaven and earth; but Paul was not ignorant of it when he declared, "For the figure of this world passeth away." In the next place, David explains their question, for he says that when the fashion of this world passes away, not only shall God remain, but His servants also, expressing himself thus in the 101st Psalm: "In the beginning, Thou; O Lord, hast founded the earth, and the heavens are the works of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure, and all shall wax old as a garment; and as a vesture Thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed: but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail. The children of Thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established for ever;" pointing out plainly what things they are that pass away, and who it is that doth endure for ever God, together with His servants. And in like manner Esaias says: "Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heaven has been set together as smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they who dwell therein shall die in like manner. But my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not pass away."

For since there are real men, so must there also be a real establishment (plantationem), that they vanish not away among non-existent things, but progress among those which have an actual existence. For neither is the substance nor the essence of the creation annihilated (for faithful and true is He who has established it), but "the fashion of the world passeth away;" that is, those things among which transgression has occurred, since man has grown old in them. And therefore this [present] fashion has been formed temporary, God foreknowing all things; as I have pointed out in the preceding book, and have also shown, as far as was possible, the cause of the creation of this world of temporal things. But when this [present] fashion [of things] passes away, and man has been renewed, and flourishes in an incorruptible state, so as to preclude the possibility of becoming old, [then] there shall be the new heaven and the new earth, in which the new man shall remain [continually], always holding fresh converse with God. And since (or, that) these things shall ever continue without end, Isaiah declares, "For as the new heavens and the new earth which I do make, continue in my sight, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain."

We answer, because it is usual for the Scriptures to call the change of the world from its present condition to a better and more glorious one, destruction; as its earlier form is lost in the change of all things to a state of greater splendour; for there is no contradiction nor absurdity in the Holy Scriptures. For not "the world "but the "fashion of this world "passeth away,

He cannot hope for the kingdom of the heavens, whose finger or wand abuses the heaven.

Let, then, the flesh begin to give you pleasure, since the Creator thereof is so great. But, you say, even the world is the work of God, and yet "the fashion of this world passeth away," as the apostle himself testifies; nor must it be predetermined that the world will be restored, simply because it is the work of God.

"Why, shall we not use what is our own? "Who prohibits your using it? Yet (it must be) in accordance with the apostle, who warns us "to use this world as if we abuse it not; for the fashion of this world is passing away.

That is, it passes away and is destroyed. Why then become attached to that which is destroyed? By the term "figure" he showed that the things of the present world only flash before the eyes, are exceedingly fleeting, and have nothing solid or substantial in them.

The same holds good also in the case of poverty. For it compels the soul to desist from necessary things, I mean contemplation and from pure sinlessness, forcing him, who has not wholly dedicated himself to God in love, to occupy himself about provisions; as, again, health and abundance of necessaries keep the soul free and unimpeded, and capable of making a good use of what is at hand. "For," says the apostle, "such shall have trouble in the flesh. But I spare you. For I would have you without anxiety, in order to decorum and assiduity for the Lord, without distraction."

Of the benefit of virginity and of continency. In Genesis: "Multiplying I will multiply thy sorrows and thy groanings, and in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children; and thy turning shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." Of this same thing in the Gospel according to Matthew: "All men do not receive the word, but they to whom it is given: for there are some eunuchs who were born so from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who have been constrained by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He who can receive it, let him receive it." Also according to Luke: "The children of this world beget, and are begotten. But they who have been considered worthy of that world, and the resurrection from the dead, do not marry, nor are married: for neither shall they begin to die: for they are equal to the angels of God, since they are the children of the resurrection. But, that the dead rise again, Moses intimates when he says in the bush, The Lord, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto Him." Also in the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: "It is good for a man not to touch a woman. But, on account of fornication, let every man have his own wife, and every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render what is due to the wife, and similarly the wife to the husband. The wife hath not power over her own body, but the husband. And in like manner, the husband hath not power over his own body, but the wife. Defraud not one the other, except by agreement for a time, that ye may have leisure for prayer; and again return to the same point, lest Satan tempt you on account of your incontinency. This I say by way of allowance, not by way of command. But I wish that all men should be even as I am. But every one has his proper gift from God; one in one way, but another in another way." Also in the same place: "An unmarried man thinks of those things which are the Lord's, in what way he may please God; but he who has contracted marriage thinks of those things that are of this world, in what way he may please his wife. Thus also, both the woman and the unmarried virgin thinketh of those things which are the Lord's, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit; but she that hath married thinks of those things which are of this world, in what way she may please her husband." Also in Exodus, when the Lord had commanded Moses that he should sanctify the people for the third day, he sanctified them, and added: "Be ye ready, for three days ye shall not approach to women." Also in the first book of Kings: "And the priest answered to David, and said, There are no profane loaves in my hand, except one sacred loaf. If the young men have been kept back from women, they shall eat." Also in the Apocalypse: "These are they who have not defiled themselves with women, for they have continued virgins; these are they who follow the Lamb whithersoever He shall go."

"And again, going on and challenging them to the same things, he confirmed his statement, powerfully supporting the state of virginity, and adding expressly the following words to those which he had spoken before, he exclaimed,

To be concerned about the things of the Lord is not anxiety but salvation. Paul has just told them that he wants them to be free of anxiety.

Here Paul explains why virginity is preferable to marriage. It has nothing to do with the rightness or wrongness of sex. Rather it is a question of anxieties which prevent the mind from concentrating on the worship of God.

But you will please them in proportion as you take no care to please others. Be ye without carefulness, blessed (sisters): no wife is "ugly" to her own husband.

If we look deeply into his meanings, and interpret them, second marriage will have to be termed no other than a species of fornication. For, since he says that married persons make this their solicitude, "how to please one another" (not, of course, morally, for a good solicitude he would not impugn); and (since), he wishes them to be understood to be solicitous about dress, and ornament, and every kind of personal attraction, with a view to increasing their power of allurement; (since), moreover, to please by personal beauty and dress is the genius of carnal concupiscence, which again is the cause of fornication: pray, does second marriage seem to you to border upon fornication, since in it are detected those ingredients which are appropriate to fornication? The Lord Himself said, "Whoever has seen a woman with a view to concupiscence has already violated her in his heart.

He renders reasons, likewise, for so advising: that the unmarried think about God, but the married about how, in (their) marriage, each may please his (partner). And I may contend, that what is permitted is not absolutely good.

And in what way could we be without cares? If we were to remain unmarried. Therefore he adds the following.

How is it, Paul, that while desiring us to be free from care and for this reason commending celibacy to us, you again say: "the unmarried man cares for the things of the Lord"? For behold, here too there are cares. But not such cares, he says, as are joined with marriage: cares for the things of the Lord are salvific and sweet, whereas cares for the things of the world are harmful and burdensome. Indeed, is it not a burden and a grief to strive to please a wife, and especially one who loves adornment and demands gold and pearls and other vain things? This is what disposes wretched husbands to injustice and soul-harming management of affairs.

Looking after a wife and family is a worldly thing. Sometimes, just to keep them happy, it even leads to doing things which ought to be punished.

Paul allows marriage and considers it worthy of blessing, but he contrasts it with his own preoccupation with the concerns of God and hints that the two things are incompatible.

Against conjugal chastity it is objected: 1 Corinthians 7: He who is with a wife is solicitous for the things of the world, and how he may please his wife: but solicitude for and complacency in this world is condemned and is contrary to the law of God: therefore so also is conjugal continence.

To that objection, that he who has a wife is anxious, etc.: it must be said that solicitude is twofold: one kind is under God, and this is called distracting and occupying solicitude; the other kind leads to forgetfulness of God, and this is suffocating solicitude: similarly a distinction must be made concerning friendship as well. The Apostle, however, speaks of the first kind, and the argument proceeds from the second.

That is, they differ among themselves, and do not have one and the same concern, but are divided in their cares: one is concerned with such matters, and the other with others. Since their concerns are different, one must choose those among them which are better and easier.

"The unmarried woman and the virgin think of the things of the Lord, that they may be holy in body and spirit." She has then her wall against the tempests of this world, and so fortified by the defence of divine protection she is disturbed by none of the blasts of this world.

It is the human spirit which either sanctifies or corrupts the body. If anyone tries to have a pure body but a corrupt soul, he will soon have to choose between them. Either the soul must be honored, or the body will be drawn toward corruption.

Concerning virginity we have received no commandment; but we leave it to the power of those that are willing, as a vow: exhorting them so far in this matter that they do not promise anything rashly; since Solomon says, "It is better not to vow, than to vow and not pay." [Ecclesiastes 5:5] Let such a virgin, therefore, be holy in body and soul, as the temple of God, [1 Corinthians 7:34] as the house of Christ, as the habitation of the Holy Spirit. For she that vows ought to do such works as are suitable to her vow; and to show that her vow is real, and made on account of leisure for piety, not to cast a reproach on marriage. Let her not be a wanderer abroad, nor one that rambles about unseasonably; not double-minded, but grave, continent, sober, pure, avoiding the conversation of many, and especially of those that are of ill reputation.

This should not be interpreted to mean that a married woman is not meant to be holy in body as well as in soul.

The blessed Virgin brought forth that price as strong and holy with the holiness of uncorrupted modesty. Whence in Ecclesiasticus: "Grace upon grace is a holy and modest woman"; and the Angel said: "Hail, full of grace," because she was holy and modest: holy in flesh and modest in mind. The Apostle: "The unmarried woman and the virgin thinks on the things of the Lord, that she may be holy in body and in spirit."

For then am I plainly consecrated altogether to the Lord, when I not only strive to keep the flesh untouched by intercourse, but also unspotted by other kinds of unseemliness. For "the unmarried woman "it is said,

For even by this very fact, that he has not named "virgins" (as he does in another place where he is teaching touching marrying), he sufficiently predicates that his remark is made touching every woman, and touching the whole sex; and that there is no distinction made between a "virgin" and any other, while he does not name her at all.

Further, if we set down in order the higher and happier grades of bodily patience, (we find that)it is she who is entrusted by holiness with the care of continence of the flesh: she keeps the widow, and sets on the virgin the seal and raises the self-made eunuch to the realms of heaven.

As if I were speaking to Gentiles, addressing you with a Gentile precept, and (one which is) common to all, (I would say, ) "You are bound to please your husbands only." But you will please them in proportion as you take no care to please others.

But we withal retort the self-same line of argument. For he who knew elsewhere how to make mention of each sex-of virgin I mean, and woman, that is, not-virgin-for distinction's sake; in these (passages), in which he does not name a virgin, points out (by not making the distinction) community of condition. Otherwise he could here also have marked the difference between virgin and woman, just as elsewhere he says, "Divided is the woman and the virgin." Therefore those whom, by passing them over in silence, he has not divided, he has included in the other species.

It is not enough to be holy in body; one must also be holy in spirit, for in this—that is, in purity of soul—true virginity consists. In practice, many who are pure and blameless in body are defiled in soul. Beyond this, note also that she who is concerned with worldly things is no virgin. Therefore, when you see a woman who presents herself as a virgin yet is occupied with worldly matters, know that she differs in no way from a married woman. Paul established definite marks for both by which they may be recognized—not marriage and continence, but on the one hand, great and anxious activity, and on the other, quiet attention to one's own affairs. Consequently, she is no virgin who burdens herself with a multitude of vain occupations. And the married woman continues to care about how to please her husband, and therefore devotes special attention to her appearance, or, so that she may be regarded as a good housewife, shows herself to be thrifty and frugal.

What Paul has just said may seem harsh to some people, which is why he adds this here.

Since widowed continence has more in itself of the nature of the honorable on account of purity, more of the nature of the advantageous on account of the removal of impediment, more of the nature of the delightful on account of the removal of burdens which follow upon the law of marriage: hence it is that widowed continence is counseled to all who are unbound; and those who wish to adhere to this counsel according to the dictate of evangelical perfection are not to be restrained but rather encouraged, that is, not only in old age but also in youth. For one is persuaded to abstain from marriage or to be continent, both by the Lord and by the Apostle himself, 1 Corinthians 7: She shall be happier if she so remain, according to my counsel. And the reason for this he himself states beforehand: Moreover, this I say for your profit, not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is honorable, and which may afford the opportunity of beseeching the Lord without hindrance.

"And this I say for your own profit, not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is seemly, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction." Let the virgins hear that not by that one point is virginity defined; for she that is careful about the things of the world cannot be a virgin, nor seemly. Thus, when he said, "There is difference between a wife and a virgin," he added this as the difference, that wherein they are distinguished from each other. And laying down the definition of a virgin and her that is not a virgin, he names, not marriage nor continence but leisure from engagements and multiplicity of engagements. For the evil is not in the cohabitation, but in the impediment to the strictness of life.

As not to perceive in this statement the higher praise which Paul accords to chastity? "And this "he says,

When anger comes upon you, or harshness, know that he is in you; and you will know this to be the case also, when you are attacked by a longing after many transactions, and the richest delicacies, and drunken revels, and divers luxuries, and things improper, and by a hankering after women, and by overreaching, and pride, and blustering, and by whatever is like to these.

But if we listen to the apostle, forgetting what is behind, let us both strain after what is before, and be followers after the better rewards. Thus, albeit he does not "east a snare upon us," he points out what tends to utility when he says, "The unmarried woman thinks on the things of the Lord, that both in body and spirit she may be holy; but the married is solicitous how to please her husband.

On the other hand, this worldly concupiscence (to which I referred) has, as its causes, glory, cupidity, ambition, want of sufficiency; through which causes it trumps up the "necessity" for marrying,-promising itself, forsooth, heavenly things in return-to lord it, (namely,) in another's family; to roost on another's wealth; to extort splendour from another's store to lavish expenditure which you do not feel! Far be all this from believers, who have no care about maintenance, unless it be that we distrust the promises of God, and (His) care and providence, who clothes with such grace the lilies of the field; who, without any labour on their part, feeds the fowls of the heaven; who prohibits care to be taken about to-morrow's food and clothing, promising that He knows what is needful for each of His servants-not indeed ponderous necklaces, not burdensome garments, not Gallic mules nor German bearers, which all add lustre to the glory of nuptials; but "sufficiency," which is suitable to moderation and modesty, Presume, I pray you, that you have need of nothing if you "attend upon the Lord; " nay, that you have all things, if you have the Lord, whose are all things.

I spoke, he says, about virginity, knowing that this state is beneficial for you, since it is free from sorrow and cares, and provides more advantages to the soul; I did not speak about this in order to compel you against your will to remain in virginity (for by "bonds" he meant compulsion).

For this reason, he says, so that you may live becomingly and in purity; for what can be more becoming and purer than virginity? And also so that you, being free from the unpleasantries of marriage, may serve the Lord without distraction and stand before Him always, casting all your cares upon Him (1 Peter 5:7).