Homilies on First Corinthians 19

'It is good for a man not to touch a woman;

but because of fornications, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.'

Having set right the three most grievous charges—the first, that the Church was being torn asunder; the second, concerning the fornicator; the third, concerning the covetous man—he henceforth employs a gentler discourse;

and in the meantime he introduces exhortation and counsel concerning marriage and virginity, giving his hearer respite from the more burdensome matters.

But in the second Epistle he does the contrary;

he begins indeed from the gentler matters, but ends with the more forbidding ones.

And here too, having completed his discourse concerning virginity, he again passes over to the more striking matters, not placing them all in unbroken succession, but varying the discourse in either case, as the occasion demanded and the need of the subjects in hand required.

For they had written to him, whether it is right to abstain from a woman, or not.

And answering these questions and laying down laws concerning marriage, he introduces also the discourse concerning virginity, saying:

'It is good for a man not to touch a woman.'

'For if you seek the good that is even far surpassing,' he says, 'it is better not to have any intercourse at all with a woman;

but if you seek that which is safe and a help to your weakness, join yourself to marriage.'

And since it was likely—as indeed happens even now—that the husband should be willing, but the wife no longer so, or the contrary, observe how he discourses concerning each.

And some indeed say that this word was spoken by him with reference to priests;

but I, judging from what follows, would not say that this is so;

for he would not have laid down the exhortation in a universal manner.

But if he were writing these things to priests only, he would have said:

'It is good for the teacher not to touch a woman;'

but as it is, he has laid it down universally, saying, 'It is good for a man,' not for a priest only;

and again, 'Are you loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife.'

He did not say, 'You who are a priest and a teacher,' but indefinitely;

and the whole discourse proceeds throughout in this manner.

And having said, 'Because of fornications, let each man have his own wife,' by that very cause of the concession he led them on toward continence.

'Let the husband render unto the wife the honor that is due;

and likewise also the wife unto the husband.'

But what is the honor that is due? 'The wife has not authority over her own body,' but is both slave and mistress of the husband.

And if you withdraw from the servitude that is fitting, you have offended God;

but if you wish to withdraw, let it be when the husband permits, and even that only for a short time.

For this reason he called the matter a debt, that he might show that no one is master of himself, but that they are servants of one another.

When, therefore, you see a harlot tempting you, say:

'The body is not mine, but my wife's.'

Let the wife also say these things to those who wish to undermine her chastity:

'This body of mine is not mine, but my husband's.'

And if the husband or the wife has not authority over the body, much more is this so concerning money.

Hear, all you women who have husbands, and all you men who have wives.

For if one ought not to have a body of one's own, much more is this so of money.

Elsewhere, indeed, he gives to the husband great precedence, both in the New and in the Old Testament, saying:

'Your desire shall be toward your husband, and he shall rule over you.'

But Paul, making his distinction, says thus:

'Husbands, love your wives, and let the wife fear her husband.'

But here there is no longer the greater and the lesser; rather, the authority is one and the same.

Why then? Because his discourse here was about chastity.

For in other matters, he says, let the husband have the advantage;

but where the matter is one of chastity, this is no longer so.

'The husband has no authority over his own body, neither does the wife.'

Great is the equality of honor here, and no advantage-taking at all.

'Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by mutual agreement.'

What then does this mean? Let not the wife practice continence, he says, against her husband's will, nor the husband against the wife's wish.

Why so? Because great evils are begotten from this kind of continence;

for indeed adulteries and fornications and the ruin of households have often arisen from this.

For if, while having their own wives, men commit fornication, much more will they do so if you deprive them of this consolation.

And well did he say, 'Do not deprive,' having spoken here of deprivation and above of a debt owed, that he might show the intensity of the mutual mastery.

For the one practicing continence against the will of the other is depriving that other;

for not even if, having persuaded me, you should take something of mine, do I say that I am being deprived.

But he who takes from one who is unwilling and under compulsion, he deprives;

which is exactly what many women do, working a sin greater than any claim of righteousness, and by this becoming answerable for their husband's licentiousness, and tearing everything apart.

One must prefer concord above all things, since this is more sovereign than everything else; and, if you will, let us examine the matter itself in practical affairs.

For suppose there is a wife and a husband, and the wife practices continence against her husband's will;

what then, if he thereupon commits fornication, or, though he does not commit fornication, yet is pained and troubled and inflamed and quarrels, and causes his wife countless troubles? What is the gain of the fasting and the continence, when love is torn asunder? Nothing.

For how many revilings must arise from this, how many troubles, how great a war must there of necessity come to be? (2)

For when in a household the husband and wife are at variance, the house will be in no better state than a ship laboring in a storm, when the helmsman is at strife with the man at the prow.

'Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a season, that you may have leisure for fasting and prayer;'

here speaking of prayer offered with greater earnestness.

For if he hinders those who come together with one another from praying, how could praying without ceasing have any occasion? It is possible, then, both to be with one's wife and to attend to prayer;

but with a stricter continence this prayer becomes more perfect.

For he did not say simply, 'That you may pray,' but 'That you may have leisure,' as though the thing produced a preoccupation, but not an uncleanness.

'And come together again to the same place, that Satan may not tempt you.'

For lest the thing should seem to be a matter of legislation, he adds also the reason.

And what is this? 'That Satan may not tempt you.'

And that you may learn that it is not the devil alone who works this matter of adultery, he added:

'But this I say by way of concession, not by way of command.'

'For I would that all men were even as I myself, in continence.'

This he does in many places, whenever he exhorts concerning difficult matters;

he sets himself in the midst, and says:

'But each has his own gift from God, one after this manner, and another after that.'

For since he had strongly accused them, saying, 'Because of your incontinence,' again he consoled them by adding:

'Each has his own gift from God;'

not making this plain, that the good achievement has no need of our own earnestness, but, as I said before, consoling them.

For if it is a gift, and man contributes nothing toward it, how do you add:

'But I say to the unmarried and to the widows,'

'it is good for them if they remain even as I.'

'But if they do not have continence, let them marry.' Do you see the discernment of Paul, how he both shows continence to be the better, and yet does not compel him who cannot attain to it, fearing lest some fall should occur? 'For it is better to marry than to burn.'

He indicated how great is the tyranny of desire.

And what he says is of this sort:

If you endure much violence, he says, and burning, be rid of toils and sweats, lest at some point you also be overturned.

'But to those who are married I give charge, not I, but the Lord.'

Since he is about to read out a law expressly laid down by Christ, concerning not putting away a wife except for fornication, on this account he says:

for the things spoken before, even though they had not been expressly stated, yet these too seem good to him;

this, however, he delivered expressly.

So that the 'I' and the 'not I' have this difference.

For lest you should suppose that even his own words are merely human, on this account he added:

'For I think that I too have the Spirit of God.'

What then is it that the Lord charged those who are married? 'That the wife be not separated from her husband; but if she also be separated, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband;'

'and that a husband not put away his wife.' For since it happened that separations arose both on account of continence and on account of other pretexts and pettinesses of soul, it is better, he says, that it not even come about in the first place;

but if indeed it should happen, let the wife remain with her husband—if not in bodily union, at least by bringing in no other man.

'But to the rest I say, not the Lord:'

'If any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she consents to dwell with him, let him not put her away.'

'And if any woman has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to dwell with her, let her not put him away.'

For just as, when discoursing about separating from fornicators, he made the matter easy by his correction, saying, 'And not altogether with the fornicators of this world;'

so also here he made provision for much easiness, saying:

'If any woman has an unbelieving husband, or any man an unbelieving wife, let him not put her away.'

What are you saying? If he is an unbeliever, let him remain with his wife;

but if he is a fornicator, no longer? And yet fornication is a lesser thing than unbelief.

Fornication indeed is a lesser thing, but God is exceedingly sparing of what is yours.

This he does also in the matter of the sacrifice, saying:

'Leave your gift, and be reconciled to your brother;'

this also in the case of him who owed the ten thousand talents.

For indeed that man, when he owed him ten thousand talents, he did not punish; but when he demanded a hundred denarii of his fellow servant, then he took vengeance on him.

Then, so that the wife may not be afraid, as though she were becoming unclean through intercourse, he says:

For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the husband.

And yet, if he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her, it is quite plain that she too who is joined to an idolater is one body with him;

she is indeed one body with him, yet she does not become unclean; rather the purity of the wife overcomes the uncleanness of the husband, and again the purity of the believing husband overcomes the uncleanness of the unbelieving wife.

How is it, then, that here the uncleanness is overcome, so that intercourse is even permitted;

yet in the case of the woman who has committed fornication the husband is not blamed for putting her away? Because here there is hope of saving the lost partner through the marriage, but there the marriage has already been dissolved;

and there both parties are corrupted, but here the charge lies against the one only.

She who has once committed fornication is defiled.

If, therefore, he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her, and he himself becomes defiled by mingling with a fornicatress, on this account all purity flies away.

But how is it here? The idolater is unclean, yet the wife is not unclean.

For if she shared with him in that very respect in which he was unclean—I mean in his impiety—then she too would become unclean;

but as it is, the idolater is unclean in one respect, while the wife shares with him in another matter, in which she is not unclean.

For it is marriage and the union of bodies, in respect of which their fellowship consists.

Again, there is hope that this one may be recalled by the wife, for she has been made his own;

but that other case is not at all easy.

For how shall she who dishonored the former time, and became another man's, and destroyed the rights of marriage, be able to recall the man she has wronged—and moreover him who abides as a stranger to her? Again, there, after the fornication, the husband is no longer a husband;

but here, even though the wife be an idolatress, the husband's right is not lost.

And he does not simply bid her dwell with the unbeliever, but with one who is willing;

and he himself consents to dwell with her.

For what harm is there, tell me, when both the things of piety remain unimpaired, and there are good hopes concerning the unbeliever, that those already yoked together should remain, and not furnish occasions for needless wars

to bring in? For he is not now speaking about those who have not yet come together, but about those who have already come together.

For he did not say, If anyone wishes to take an unbeliever, but, If anyone has an unbeliever;

that is, if anyone, after marrying or being given in marriage, received the word of piety, and then the other party remained in unbelief yet is content to dwell together, let him not break the union;

For the unbelieving husband, he says, is sanctified in the wife.

So great is the abundance of your purity.

What then? Is the Greek holy? By no means;

for he did not say, He is holy, but, He is sanctified in the wife.

And he said this, not to show that the man is holy, but that from this abundance he might remove the wife's fear, and lead the man to a longing for the truth.

For the uncleanness does not lie in the bodies, whose is the fellowship, but in the will and the reasonings.

For if, remaining unclean, you bear a child, and the child is not from you alone, then the child is unclean, or half pure;

but as it is, it is not unclean.

Therefore he also added, Else were your children unclean;

but he himself called them holy, by the fullness of the expression again casting out the dread arising from such a suspicion.

But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart.

For here the matter is no longer fornication.

And what does it mean, But if the unbeliever departs? That is, if he bids you to sacrifice and to share with him in his impiety on account of the marriage, or else to withdraw, it is better that the marriage be broken up and not your piety.

A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases.

If day by day he should fight and cause wars on this account, he says, it is better to be freed.

For this he hints at, when he says:

But God has called us in peace.

For that one has furnished the ground, just as did the one who committed fornication.

For how do you know, O wife, whether you shall save your husband? This again bears upon the words, Let her not put him away.

For if he does not raise strife, remain, he says;

remain, and exhort and counsel and persuade;

for no teacher will be able to prevail so mightily as a wife.

And he neither lays a necessity upon her and altogether demands the accomplishment of the thing from her, lest again he make it too burdensome, nor does he bid her despair, but leaves it suspended upon the uncertainty of the future, saying:

For how do you know, O wife, whether you shall save your husband? And how do you know, O husband, whether you shall save your wife? And again:

Only, as God has distributed to each one, as the Lord has called each, so let him walk.

Was anyone called being circumcised? Let him not become uncircumcised.

Was anyone called in uncircumcision? Let him not be circumcised.

Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.

Let each one abide in the calling wherein he was called.

Were you called being a slave? Let it not trouble you.

These things contribute nothing to the faith, he says;

do not therefore be contentious, nor be disturbed;

for faith has cast out all these things.

Let each one abide in the calling wherein he was called.

Were you called having an unbelieving wife? Remain having her;

do not on account of the faith cast out the wife.

Were you called being a slave? Let it not trouble you.

Were you called being uncircumcised? Remain uncircumcised.

Did you believe being circumcised? Remain circumcised.

For this is what it means, To each one as God has distributed.

For these things are no hindrances to piety.

You were called being a slave, another having an unbelieving wife, another being circumcised.

Just as circumcision profits nothing, nor does uncircumcision harm, so neither does slavery nor freedom.

And that he may show this more clearly out of abundance, he says:

But even if you can become free, rather use it.

And why in the world does he bid the one who is able to be set free remain a slave? Because he wishes to show that slavery does no harm, but even profits.

And I am not unaware that some say the words, Rather use it, are spoken concerning freedom, saying that, If you can be set free, be set free;

But the saying would be quite contrary to Paul's manner, if it hinted at this.

For he would not, while consoling the slave and showing that he had suffered no wrong, have bidden him to become free.

What then? If I cannot, am I wronged and made the lesser? No, this is not what he says.

But, as I said, wishing to show that nothing more accrues to him who has become free, he says:

Even if you have it in your power to be set free, remain rather in slavery.

Then he also adds the reason:

'For he who was called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord's freedman;'

'likewise also he who was called while free is Christ's slave.'

'For in the things that pertain to Christ,' he says, 'both are equal;'

for you likewise are Christ's slave, and likewise also is your master.

How then is the slave a freedman? Because He has freed you not from sin only, but also from that outward slavery, even while you remain a slave.

For He does not allow the slave to be a slave, no, not even a man who continues in slavery;

for this is the marvel.

And how is the slave free while remaining a slave? When he has been delivered from the passions and the diseases of the soul; when he despises riches and anger and all the other passions of that kind.

'You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men.'

This word is spoken not to household slaves only, but to free men as well.

For it is possible for one who is a slave not to be a slave, and for one who is free to be a slave.

And how is he who is a slave not a slave? When he does all things for God's sake; when he does not play the hypocrite, nor do anything out of eye-service to men;

this is to be free while serving men.

Or again, how does one who is free become a slave? When he renders to men some wicked service, whether for gluttony, or for the desire of riches, or for the love of power.

For such a one is more servile than all, even though he be free.

And consider both these cases:

Joseph was a slave, but not a slave of men;

wherefore even in his slavery he was freer than all the free.

At any rate he did not yield to his mistress in the things which she who owned him desired.

Again, she was free, yet she was more servile than all, flattering and entreating her own servant;

but she could not persuade the free man to do what he did not will.

So then this was not slavery, but freedom of the most exalted kind.

For in what was he hindered from virtue by his slavery? Let both slaves and free men hear this:

Which of them was the slave? he who was entreated, or she who entreated? she who besought, or he who despised her supplication? For indeed there are bounds for slaves laid down by God;

and how far these must be kept has also been laid down by law, and to transgress them is not right.

For when the master commands nothing of the things that displease God, one must follow and obey;

for thus the slave becomes free.

But if you go beyond this, then even if you are free, you have become a slave.

This at least he hints at when he says:

'Do not become slaves of men.'

But if this were not his meaning—if instead he commanded them to forsake their masters and to strive contentiously to become free—how could he exhort them, saying:

'Let each remain in that state in which he was called'? and elsewhere, 'Let as many slaves as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor; and let those who have believing masters not despise them, because those who partake of the benefit are brethren'? And writing to the Ephesians and to the Colossians, he ordains and lays down the same things.

Whence it is clear that he does not abolish this kind of slavery, but that which arises from vice and befalls even free men—which is the most grievous slavery of all, even if he who serves it be a free man.

For what did Joseph's brothers gain by being free? Were they not more servile than all slaves—lying to their father, telling the merchants what was untrue, and to their brother as well? But the free man is not such; rather he is everywhere and in all things truthful;

and nothing was able to enslave him—not bonds, not slavery, not his mistress's passion, not his being in a foreign land;

but he remained free everywhere.

For this above all is freedom: when it shines forth even in slavery.

Such is Christianity:

in slavery it bestows freedom.

And just as the body that is by nature invulnerable is then shown to be invulnerable, when it receives an arrow and suffers no harm;

so also he who is strictly free is then made manifest, when even though he has masters he is not enslaved.

For this reason he bids him remain a slave.

But if it were impossible for one who is a slave to be a Christian as he ought, the pagans would charge our religion with great weakness;

but when they learn that slavery in no way harms godliness, they will marvel at the preaching.

For if death does not harm us, nor scourges, nor chains, much less does slavery; fire and sword and countless tyrannies and diseases and poverty and wild beasts, and things ten thousand times more grievous than these, have not harmed the faithful, but have even made them mightier.

'And how,' someone says, 'could slavery ever harm us?' It is not this slavery that harms, beloved, but the slavery that is truly such—the slavery of sin.

And if you are not a slave of this slavery, take courage and rejoice;

no one will be able to do you any wrong, since you have a character that cannot be enslaved;

but if you are its slave, then even if you are free ten thousand times over, your freedom profits you nothing.

For what profit is it, tell me, if you serve no man, yet lay yourself down beneath the passions? Men indeed often know how to spare; but those masters are never sated with your destruction.

Do you serve a man? Well, your master also serves you—providing for your food, caring for your health, your clothing and shoes, and taking thought for everything else.

And you do not so fear lest you offend your master, as he fears lest any of your necessities should fail.

But he reclines at ease, you say, while you stand.

And what of that? For this is not on his side only, but on yours as well.

Often, at any rate, while you are lying down and sleeping sweetly, he not only stands, but also endures countless vexations in the marketplace, and keeps vigil more painfully than you.

What then? Did Joseph suffer anything from his mistress such as she suffered from her own desire? For he did not do what she wished to command;

but she did everything that her own mistress—I mean lewdness—commanded her;

and it did not desist until it had covered her with shame.

What master commands such things? what cruel tyrant? 'Beseech your slave,' it says; 'supplicate the captive; flatter the man bought with silver;'

'and if he spurns you, persist again; and if you speak many times and he does not consent, watch for a moment when he is alone, use force, and make yourself a laughingstock.'

What is more dishonorable, what more shameful, than these dictates? 'And if even so you accomplish nothing, then slander him and deceive your husband.'

See how servile, how shameful its commands are; how harsh and cruel and frenzied.

What master ever commands such things as lewdness then commanded that queenly woman? And yet she did not dare to disobey.

But Joseph endured nothing of the kind; rather, all was to the contrary—things that brought him glory and honor.

Would you also see another man commanded to do many things by a harsh mistress, yet who dared not disobey in anything? Consider Cain, and how many things he was commanded by envy.

She commanded him to slay his brother, to lie to God, to grieve his father, to be shameless; and he did all these things, and disobeyed in nothing.

And what of it? If they learn that slavery in no way harms godliness, they will marvel at the preaching.

For if death does not harm us, nor scourgings, nor bonds, much less does slavery; fire and sword and countless tyrannies and diseases and poverty and wild beasts, and things far more grievous than these, have not harmed the faithful, but have even made them stronger.

'And how can slavery harm?' one asks. It is not this slavery that harms, beloved, but the slavery that is by nature, the slavery of sin.

And if you are not a slave to this slavery, take courage and rejoice;

no one will be able to wrong you in anything, since you keep your character unenslaved;

but if you are a slave to this, though you were ten thousand times free, your freedom profits you nothing.

For what profit is it, tell me, when you are not enslaved to a man, but bow yourself down under the passions? For men often know how to spare, but those masters never have their fill of your ruin.

Do you serve a man? But the Master also serves you, providing you with your food, caring for your health, your clothing, your shoes, and taking thought for all the rest.

And you do not so fear lest you offend your master as he fears lest anything needful should fail you.

'But he reclines at ease, while you...'

And what of this? For this is not the case with him alone, but with you also.

For often, while you are reclining and sleeping sweetly, he not only stands, but endures countless violence in the marketplace, and keeps watch more painfully than you.

What then? Did Joseph suffer such things from his mistress as she suffered from her own lust? For he did not do the things she wished to command;

but she did all the things that her mistress—I mean lasciviousness—commanded her;

and it did not desist until it had utterly disgraced her.

What master commands such things? What cruel tyrant? 'Beg your slave,' it says; 'entreat the captive; flatter the one bought with silver;

and if he spurns you, persist again; and if you speak often and he will not bear it, watch for solitude, and use force, and make yourself a laughingstock.'

What is more dishonorable, what more shameful than these words? And if not even so you accomplish anything, then slander and deceive the one who dwells with you.

See how ignoble, how shameful the commands are, how harsh and cruel and mad.

What such thing does the Master command as lasciviousness commanded that royal woman of old? Yet nevertheless she did not dare to disobey.

But Joseph endured nothing of the sort; rather the very opposite of all these, things that brought him glory and honor.

Would you also see another man commanded to do many things by a harsh mistress, yet who dared not disobey in anything? Consider Cain, and how many things he was commanded by envy.

She commanded him to slay his brother, to lie to God, to grieve his father, to be shameless; and he did all these things, and disobeyed in nothing.

And why do you marvel if in one man this mistress has such power? Often she has destroyed whole peoples.

The women of the Midianites took the Jews almost as bound captives, subduing them all by the desire for their own comeliness.

Casting out this slavery, therefore, Paul said:

'Do not become slaves of men';

that is, Do not obey men who command absurd things, nor even your own selves.

Then, lifting up his thought and making it sublime, he says:

'Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord;

yet I give my judgment, as one who has obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.'

Advancing by way and order, he now makes mention also of virginity.

For since he had trained and disciplined them by his words about self-control, he passes on to what is greater, saying, 'I have no commandment, but I consider it good.'

Why? For the same reason he laid down concerning self-control.

'Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed.'

'Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife.'

These things are not contrary to what went before, but altogether in harmony with them;

and here again, 'Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed.'

But this is not contrary;

for that which is against one's will is a loosing;

but if both should practice self-control according to their will, it is not a loosing.

Then, lest this should seem to be legislation, he added:

'But if you do marry, you have not sinned.'

Then he alleges the present circumstances, the present necessity, the constricted season, and the tribulation.

For marriage drags along many things, which he hinted at both here and in his discourse concerning self-control; there saying that the wife has no authority over her own body, and here saying:

'But if you do marry, you have not sinned';

not concerning her who has chosen virginity;

for if widows incur judgment by entering into second marriages, once they have chosen widowhood, much more do virgins.

'But such shall have tribulation in the flesh.'

But see how he checked even this by the brevity of the season, saying:

'The time is short';

that is, We are commanded to depart and to go forth henceforth, yet you run further inward.

And indeed, even if marriage had nothing burdensome, one ought thus to press on toward the things to come;

but when it also has tribulation, why should one drag along a load? Why should one take up so great a weight, when even after taking it one must so use it as though not having it? For, 'Those who have wives,' he says, 'let them be as though they had none.'

Then, having inserted something also concerning the things to come, he again brought the discourse back to the present.

namely, that the one cares for the things of her husband, but the other for the things of God;

and as for the things of the present life, this: 'I want you to be free from care.'

But nevertheless, even so he leaves them masters of their own choice.

For he who, after showing what is preferable, again compels, seems not to trust his own words.

So that by allowance he rather drew them on and held them fast, saying:

'This I say for your own benefit, not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for what is seemly and constantly attends upon the Lord.'

Let the virgins hear that virginity is not defined by this alone;

for she who cares for the things of the world would be neither a virgin nor seemly.

For having said, 'The wife and the virgin are divided,' he set down this difference, and that by which they are distinguished from one another.

And in giving the definition of the virgin and of her who is not a virgin, he named neither marriage nor self-control, but freedom from cares and busyness with many affairs.

For intercourse is not the evil, but being hindered in the pursuit of the philosophic life.

'But if anyone thinks that he is behaving unseemly toward his virgin...'

Here he seems indeed to be discoursing on behalf of marriage;

But this whole passage he speaks concerning virginity.

For he even permits a second marriage, only saying, 'In the Lord.'

And what does 'In the Lord' mean? With self-control, with decency.

For there is need of this everywhere, and one must pursue it; for otherwise it is not possible to see God.

For otherwise it is not possible to see God.

But if we have passed over the matters concerning virginity, let no one condemn us for negligence.

For a whole book has been composed by us upon this very theme, and having there treated of all things with such exactness as was within our power, we thought it superfluous to insert the same matters here again.

Wherefore, having referred the hearer thither for these matters, here we will say only this: that one must pursue continence.

For 'Pursue peace,' he says, 'and holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord.'

In order, then, that we may be counted worthy to see Him, whether we be in virginity, or in a first marriage, or in a second, let us press after this, that we may attain the kingdom of the heavens, by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father together with the Holy Spirit be glory, might, honor, now and ever, and unto the ages of the ages. Amen.