Of the Love of Boys, Adultery, and Fornication.
XXVIII. But we do not say so of that mixture that is contrary to nature, or of any unlawful practice; for such are enmity to God. For the sin of Sodom is contrary to nature, as is also that with brute beasts. But adultery and fornication are against the law; the one whereof is impiety, the other injustice, and, in a word, no other than a great sin. But neither sort of them is without its punishment in its own proper nature. For the practisers of one sort attempt the dissolution of the world, and endeavour to make the natural course of things to change for one that is unnatural; but those of the second sort--the adulterers--are unjust by corrupting others' marriages, and dividing into two what God hath made one, rendering the children suspected, and exposing the true husband to the snares of others. And fornication is the destruction of one's own flesh, not being made use of for the procreation of children, but entirely for the sake of pleasure, which is a mark of incontinency, and not a sign of virtue. All these things are forbidden by the laws; for thus say the oracles: "Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind." [3316] "For such a one is accursed, and ye shall stone them with stones: they have wrought abomination." [3317] "Every one that lieth with a beast, slay ye him: he has wrought wickedness in his people." [3318] "And if any one defile a married woman, slay ye them both: they have wrought wickedness; they are guilty; let them die." [3319] And afterwards: "There shall not be a fornicator among the children of Israel, and there shall not be an whore among the daughters of Israel. Thou shalt not offer the hire of an harlot to the Lord thy God upon the altar, nor the price of a dog." [3320] "For the vows arising from the hire of an harlot are not clean." [3321] These things the laws have forbidden, but they have honoured marriage, and have called it blessed, since God has blessed it who joined male and female together. [3322] And wise Solomon somewhere says: "A wife is suited to her husband by the Lord." [3323] And David says: "Thy wife is like a flourishing vine in the sides of thine house; thy children like olive-branches round about thy table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord." [3324] Wherefore "marriage is honourable" [3325] and comely, and the begetting of children pure, for there is no evil in that which is good. Therefore neither is the natural purgation abominable before God, who has ordered it to happen to women within the space of thirty days for their advantage and healthful state, who do less move about, and keep usually at home in the house. Nay, moreover, even in the Gospel, when the woman with the perpetual purgation of blood [3326] touched the saving border of the Lord's garment in hope of being healed, He was not angry at her, nor did complain of her at all; but, on the contrary, He healed her, saying, "Thy faith hath saved thee." When the natural purgations do appear in the wives, let not their husbands approach them, out of regard to the children to be begotten; for the law has forbidden it, for it says: "Thou shalt not come near thy wife when she is in her separation." [3327] Nor, indeed, let them frequent their wives' company when they are with child. [3328] For they do this not for the begetting of children, but for the sake of pleasure. Now a lover of God ought not to be a lover of pleasure.
How Wives Ought to Be Subject to Their Own Husbands, and Husbands Ought to Love Their Own Wives.
XXXIX. Ye wives, be subject to your own husbands, and have them in esteem, and serve them with fear and love, as holy Sarah honoured Abraham. For she could not endure to call him by his name, but called him lord, when she said, "My lord is old." [3329] In like manner, ye husbands, love your own wives as your own members, as partners in life, and fellow-helpers for the procreation of children. For says He, "Rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her conversation be to thee as a loving hind, and a pleasant foal; let her alone guide thee, and be with thee at all times: for if thou beest every way encompassed with her friendship, thou wilt be happy in her society." [3330] Love them therefore as your own members, as your very bodies; for so it is written, "The Lord has testified between thee and between the wife of thy youth; and she is thy partner, and another has not made her: and she is the remains of thy spirit;" and, "Take heed to your spirit, and do not forsake the wife of thy youth." [3331] An husband, therefore, and a wife, when they company together in lawful marriage, and rise from one another, may pray without any observations, and without washing are clean. But whosoever corrupts and defiles another man's wife, or is defiled with an harlot, when he arises up from her, though he should wash himself in the entire ocean and all the rivers, cannot be clean.
[3313] Lev. xv.
[3314] Prov. vi. 22.
[3315] Matt. xix. 4; Gen. i. 28.
[3316] Lev. xviii. 22
[3317] Lev. xx. 13
[3318] Ex. xxii. 19
[3319] Lev. xx. 10; Deut. xxii. 22
[3320] Deut. xxiii. 17, 18
[3321] Prov. xix. 13, LXX.
[3322] Gen. i. 28
[3323] Prov. xix. 14
[3324] Ps. cxxviii. 3, 4
[3325] Heb. xiii. 4
[3326] Matt ix. 22
[3327] Lev. xviii. 19; Ezek. xviii. 6.
[3328] [But if this be otherwise done, it may be well to compare Lactantius as to a question of actual crime. See p. 190, n. 1, supra.]
[3329] 1 Pet. iii. 6
[3330] Prov. v. 18, etc.
[3331] Mal. ii. 14, 15, 16
Sec. VI.--Conclusion of the Work.
That It is the Custom of Jews and Gentiles to Observe Natural Purgations, and to Abominate the Remains of the Dead; But that All This is Contrary to Christianity.
XXX. Do not therefore keep any such observances about legal and natural purgations, as thinking you are defiled by them. Neither do you seek after Jewish separations, or perpetual washings, or purifications upon the touch of a dead body. But without such observations assemble in the dormitories, reading the holy books, and singing for the martyrs which are fallen asleep, and for all the saints from the beginning of the world, and for your brethren that are asleep in the Lord, and offer the acceptable Eucharist, the representation of the royal body of Christ, both in your churches and in the dormitories; and in the funerals of the departed, accompany them with singing, if they were faithful in Christ. For "precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." [3332] And again: "O my soul, return unto thy rest, for the Lord hath done thee good." [3333] And elsewhere: "The memory of the just is with encomiums." [3334] And, "The souls of the righteous are in the hands of God." [3335] For those that have believed in God, although they are asleep, are not dead. For our Saviour says to the Sadducees: "But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which is written, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God, therefore, is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to Him." [3336] Wherefore, of those that live with God, even their very relics are not without honour. For even Elisha the prophet, after he was fallen asleep, raised up a dead man who was slain by the pirates of Syria. [3337] For his body touched the bones of Elisha, and he arose and revived. Now this would not have happened unless the body of Elisha were holy. And chaste Joseph embraced Jacob after he was dead upon his bed; [3338] and Moses and Joshua the son of Nun carried away the relics of Joseph, [3339] and did not esteem it a defilement. Whence you also, O bishops, and the rest, who without such observances touch the departed, ought not to think yourselves defiled. Nor abhor the relics of such persons, but avoid such observances, for they are foolish. And adorn yourselves with holiness and chastity, that ye may become partakers of immortality, and partners of the kingdom of God, and may receive the promise of God, and may rest for ever, through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
To Him, therefore, who is able to open the ears of your hearts to the receiving the oracles of God administered to you both by the Gospel and by the teaching of Jesus Christ of Nazareth; who was crucified under Pontius Pilate and Herod, and died, and rose again from the dead, and will come again at the end of the world with power and great glory, and will raise the dead, and put an end to this world, and distribute to every one according to his deserts: to Him that has given us Himself for an earnest of the resurrection; who was taken up into the heavens by the power of His God and Father in our sight, who ate and drank with Him for forty days after He arose from the dead; who is sat down on the right hand of the throne of the majesty of Almighty God upon the cherubim; to whom it was said, "Sit Thou on my right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool;" [3340] whom the most blessed Stephen saw standing at the right hand of power, and cried out, and said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God," [3341] as the High Priest of all the rational orders,--through Him, worship, and majesty, and glory be given to Almighty God, both now and for evermore. [3342] Amen.
[3332] Ps. cxvi. 15.
[3333] Ps. cxvi. 7.
[3334] Prov. x. 7.
[3335] Wisd. iii. 1.
[3336] Ex. iii. 6; Luke xx. 38.
[3337] 2 Kings xiii. 21
[3338] Gen. l. 1
[3339] Ex. xiii. 19; Josh. xxiv. 32.
[3340] Ps. cx. 1.
[3341] Acts vii. 56.
[3342] One V. ms. reads: "to Him be worship, and majesty, and glory, along with the Father and the co-eternal Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen."
constitutions of the holy apostles