§2.2Igitur cum quaedam istis diebus nuptias suas de ecclesia tolleret ac gentili coniungeretur, idque ab aliis retro factum recordarer, miratus aut ipsarum petulantiam aut consiliariorum praevaricationem, quod nulla scriptura eius facti licentiam profert, Numquid, inquam, de illo capitulo sibi blandiuntur primae ad Corinthies, ubi scriptum est: Si quis fratrum infidelem habet uxorem, et illa matrimonio consentit, ne dimittat eam: simfliter mulier fidelis infideli nupta, si consentaneum maritum experitur, ne dimiserit eum; sanctificatur enim infidelis vir a fideli uxore et infidelis uxor a fideli marito; ceterum immundi essent filii vestri? Hanc monitionem fors de fidelibus iunctis simpliciter intellegendo putent etiam infidelibus nubere licere.
Therefore, when a certain woman in these days removed her marriage from the church and was joined to a pagan, and I remembered that this had been done by others in the past, wondering either at their own petulance or at the prevarication of their advisers, because no scripture offers permission for that deed, I said, "Do they not flatter themselves from that chapter of the First to the Corinthians, where it is written: 'If any of the brethren has an unbelieving wife, and she consents to the marriage, let him not dismiss her; likewise a believing woman married to an unbelieving husband, if she finds him agreeable, let her not dismiss him; for the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the believing wife, and the unbelieving wife by the believing husband; otherwise your children would be unclean'?" Perhaps, by understanding this admonition simply as being about believers who are already joined, they think it is also permitted to marry unbelievers.
Qui ita interpretatur, absit ut sciens se circumscribat.
Far be it that anyone who interprets it thus should knowingly deceive himself.
Ceterum manifestum est scripturam istam eos fideles designare qui in matrimonio gentili inventia dei gratia fuerint, secundum verba ipsa.
For the rest, it is manifest that this scripture designates those believers who were found by the grace of God in a pagan marriage, according to the words themselves.
Si quis, inquit, fidelis uxorem habet infidelem. Non dicit, Uxorem ducit infidelem. Ostendit iam in matrimonio agentem mulieris infidelis mox gratia dei conversum perseverare cum uxore debere, scilicet propterea, ne qui fidem consecutus putaret sibi divertendum esse ab aliena iam et extranea quodammodo femina.
"If any believer," it says, "has an unbelieving wife." It does not say, "takes an unbelieving wife." It shows that he who is already living in a marriage with an unbelieving woman and is soon converted by the grace of God ought to persevere with his wife, namely for this reason, lest anyone who has obtained the faith should think he must divorce a woman who is now in a way foreign and strange to him.
Adeo et rationem subicit, in pace nos vocari ad dominum deum et posse infidelem a fideli per usum matrimonii lucrifieri.
Therefore he also adds the reason: that we are called to the Lord God in peace, and that the unbeliever can be won over by the believer through the practice of marriage.
Ipsa etiam clausula hoc ita intellegendum esse confirmat, Ut quisque, ait, vocatur a domino, ita perseveret. Vocantur autem gentiles, opinor, non fideles.
The very conclusion also confirms that this must be understood in this way: "As each one," he says, "is called by the Lord, so let him persevere." But those who are called, I suppose, are pagans, not believers.
Quod si de fidelium tantum matrimonio pronuntiasset absolute, permiserat sanctis vulgo nubere.
But if he had pronounced absolutely concerning the marriage of believers only, he would have permitted the holy to marry commonly.
Si vero permiserat, nunquam tam diversam atque contrariam permissui suo pronuntiationem subdidisset, dicens: Mulier defuncto viro libera est; cui vult nubat, tantum in domino. Hic certe nihil retractandum est; nam de quo retractari potuisset, spiritus cecinit: Ne quod ait, Cui velit nubat, male uteremur, adiecit, Tantum in domino, id est in nomine domini, quod est indubitate Christiano.
But if he had permitted it, he would never have subjoined a pronouncement so diverse and contrary to his permission, saying: "A woman is free when her husband is dead; let her marry whom she wishes, only in the Lord." Here certainly nothing is to be reconsidered; for concerning what could have been reconsidered, the Spirit declared: lest we should make bad use of what he said, "Let her marry whom she wishes," he added, "Only in the Lord," that is, in the name of the Lord, which is undoubtedly to a Christian.
Ille igitur spiritus sanctus, qui viduas et innuptas integritati perseverare mavult, qui nos ad exemplum sui hortatur, nullam aliam formam repetundarum nuptiarum nisi in domino praescribit, huic soli condicioni continentiae detrimenta concedit: Tantum, inquit, in domino. Adiecit pondus legi suae, Tantum. Quo sono et modo enuntiaveris dictum istud, onerosum est: et iubet et suadet, et praecipit et hortatur, et rogat et comminatur.
That Holy Spirit, therefore, who prefers widows and the unmarried to persevere in integrity, who exhorts us after his own example, prescribes no other form of remarriage except in the Lord, and concedes the losses of continence to this condition alone: "Only," he says, "in the Lord." He added weight to his law, "Only." With whatever sound and manner you pronounce this saying, it is heavy: it both commands and advises, it both prescribes and exhorts, it both entreats and threatens.
Districta, expedita sententia est, et ipsa sui brevitate facunda.
The sentence is strict and direct, and eloquent in its very brevity.
Sic solet divina vox, ut statim intellegas, statim observes.
Such is the way of the divine voice, so that you may understand immediately and observe immediately.
Quis enim non intellegere possit multa pericula et vulnera fidei in huiusmodi nuptiis, quas prohibet, apostolum providisse, et primo quidem carnis sanctae in carne gentili inquinamentum praecavisse? Hoc loco dicit aliquis, Quid ergo refert inter eum qui in matrimonio gentili a domino allegitur et olim id est ante nuptias fidelem, ut non proinde carni suae caveant, cum alter a nuptiis infidelis arceatur, alter in eis perseverare iubeatur? cur, si a gentili inquinamur, non ille diiungitur, quemadmodum iste non obligatur? Respondebo, si spiritus dederit, ante omnia allegans dominum magis gratum habere matrimonium non contrabi quam omnino disiungi: denique divortium prohibet, nisi stupri causa, continentiam vero commendat.
For who could not understand that the apostle foresaw many dangers and wounds to the faith in marriages of this kind, which he forbids, and first of all guarded against the defilement of holy flesh in pagan flesh? At this point someone says: "What then is the difference between him who is chosen by the Lord in a pagan marriage and him who was a believer long ago, that is, before marriage, that they should not likewise guard their flesh, when the one is barred from marriage with an unbeliever, and the other is commanded to persevere in it? Why, if we are defiled by a pagan, is the former not separated, just as the latter is not bound?" I will answer, if the Spirit permits, alleging above all that the Lord is more pleased that a marriage not be contracted than that it be entirely dissolved; in short, he forbids divorce, except for the cause of fornication, but commends continence.
Habeat igitur ille perseverandi necessitatem, hic porro etiam non nubendi potestatem.
Let the former, therefore, have the necessity of persevering, and the latter furthermore even the power of not marrying.
Tunc si secundum scripturam qui in matrimonio gentili a fide deprehendentur, propterea non inquinantur, quia cum ipsis alii quoque sanctificantur, sine dubio isti qui ante nuptias sanctificati sunt, si extraneae carni commisceantur, sanctificare eam non possunt in qua non sunt deprehensi.
Then, if according to the scripture those who are found by faith in a pagan marriage are not defiled for this reason, because others are also sanctified with them, without doubt those who were sanctified before marriage, if they are mingled with strange flesh, cannot sanctify that flesh in which they were not found.
Dei autem gratia illud sanctificat quod invenit.
But the grace of God sanctifies what it finds.
Ita quod sanctificari non potuit, immundum est: quod immundum est, cum sancto non habet partem, nisi ut de suo inquinet et occidat.
Thus what could not be sanctified is unclean; what is unclean has no part with the holy, except to defile and kill from its own.