On Marriage and Concupiscence, Book I

Book I

• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.1 — Concerning the Argument of This Treatise. Our new heretics, my dearest son Valerius, who maintain that infants born in the flesh have no need of that medicine of Christ whereby sins are healed, are constantly…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.2 — Why This Treatise Was Addressed to Valerius. Chapter 2. [II.]—Why This Treatise Was Addressed to Valerius. Now there are three very special reasons, which I will briefly indicate, why I wished to write to you…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.3 — Conjugal Chastity the Gift of God. That chastity in the married state is God’s gift, is shown by the most blessed Paul, when, speaking on this very subject, he says: “But I would that all men were even as I myself:…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.4 — A Difficulty as Regards the Chastity of Unbelievers. None But a Believer is Truly a Chaste Man. Chapter 4.—A Difficulty as Regards the Chastity of Unbelievers. None But a Believer is Truly a Chaste Man. What, then,…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.5 — Chapter 5 [IV.]—The Natural Good of Marriage. All Society Naturally Repudiates a Fraudulent Companion. What is True Conjugal Purity? No True Virginity and Chastity Except in Devotion to True Faith. The union, then,…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.6 — Chapter 6 [V.]—The Censuring of Lust is Not a Condemnation of Marriage; Whence Comes Shame in the Human Body. Adam and Eve Were Not Created Blind; Meaning of Their “Eyes Being Opened.” Now, this being the real state…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.7 — Man’s Disobedience Justly Requited in the Rebellion of His Own Flesh; The Blush of Shame for the Disobedient Members of the Body. Chapter 7 [VI.]—Man’s Disobedience Justly Requited in the Rebellion of His Own Flesh;…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.8 — The Evil of Lust Does Not Take Away the Good of Marriage. Forasmuch, then, as the good of marriage could not be lost by the addition of this evil, some imprudent persons suppose that this is not an added evil, but…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.9 — Chapter 9 [VIII.]—This Disease of Concupiscence in Marriage is Not to Be a Matter of Will, But of Necessity; What Ought to Be the Will of Believers in the Use of Matrimony; Who is to Be Regarded as Using, and Not…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.10 — Chapter 10 [IX.]—Why It Was Sometimes Permitted that a Man Should Have Several Wives, Yet No Woman Was Ever Allowed to Have More Than One Husband. Nature Prefers Singleness in Her Dominations. Now, if to the God of…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.11 — The Sacrament of Marriage; Marriage Indissoluble; The World’s Law About Divorce Different from the Gospel’s. Chapter 11 [X.]—The Sacrament of Marriage; Marriage Indissoluble; The World’s Law About Divorce Different…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.12 — Chapter 12 [XI.]—Marriage Does Not Cancel a Mutual Vow of Continence; There Was True Wedlock Between Mary and Joseph; In What Way Joseph Was the Father of Christ. But God forbid that the nuptial bond should be…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.13 — In the Marriage of Mary and Joseph There Were All the Blessings of the Wedded State; All that is Born of Concubinage is Sinful Flesh. Chapter 13.—In the Marriage of Mary and Joseph There Were All the Blessings of the…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.14 — Before Christ It Was a Time for Marrying; Since Christ It Has Been a Time for Continence. Chapter 14 [XIII.]—Before Christ It Was a Time for Marrying; Since Christ It Has Been a Time for Continence. Now this…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.15 — The Teaching of the Apostle on This Subject. Accordingly the apostle also, speaking apparently with this passage in view, declares: “But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.16 — Chapter 16 [XIV.]—A Certain Degree of Intemperance is to Be Tolerated in the Case of Married Persons; The Use of Matrimony for the Mere Pleasure of Lust is Not Without Sin, But Because of the Nuptial Relation the Sin…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.17 — What is Sinless in the Use of Matrimony? What is Attended With Venial Sin, and What with Mortal?. Chapter 17 [XV.]—What is Sinless in the Use of Matrimony? What is Attended With Venial Sin, and What with Mortal? It…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.18 — Continence Better Than Marriage; But Marriage Better Than Fornication. Forasmuch, then, as marriage cannot be such as that of the primitive men might have been, if sin had not preceded; it may yet be like that of the…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.19 — Blessing of Matrimony. Chapter 19 [XVII.]—Blessing of Matrimony. In matrimony, however, let these nuptial blessings be the objects of our love—offspring, fidelity, the sacramental bond. Offspring, not that it be born…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.20 — Why Children of Wrath are Born of Holy Matrimony. This is the reason, indeed, why of even the just and lawful marriages of the children of God are born, not children of God, but children of the world; because also…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.21 — Thus Sinners are Born of Righteous Parents, Even as Wild Olives Spring from the Olive. Chapter 21 [XIX.]—Thus Sinners are Born of Righteous Parents, Even as Wild Olives Spring from the Olive. That, therefore, which…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.22 — Even Infants, When Unbaptized, are in the Power of the Devil; Exorcism in the Case of Infants, and Renunciation of the Devil. Chapter 22 [XX.]—Even Infants, When Unbaptized, are in the Power of the Devil; Exorcism in…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.23 — Chapter 23 [XXI.]—Sin Has Not Arisen Out of the Goodness of Marriage; The Sacrament of Matrimony a Great One in the Case of Christ and the Church—A Very Small One in the Case of a Man and His Wife. If now we…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.24 — Lust and Shame Come from Sin; The Law of Sin; The Shamelessness of the Cynics. But if, in like manner, the question be asked of the concupiscence of the flesh, how it is that acts now bring shame which once were free…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.25 — Concupiscence in the Regenerate Without Consent is Not Sin; In What Sense Concupiscence is Called Sin. Chapter 25 [XXIII.]—Concupiscence in the Regenerate Without Consent is Not Sin; In What Sense Concupiscence is…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.26 — Chapter 26.—Whatever is Born Through Concupiscence is Not Undeservedly in Subjection to the Devil by Reason of Sin; The Devil Deserves Heavier Punishment Than Men. This wound which the devil has inflicted on the…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.27 — Through Lust Original Sin is Transmitted; Venial Sins in Married Persons; Concupiscence of the Flesh, the Daughter and Mother of Sin. Chapter 27 [XXIV.]—Through Lust Original Sin is Transmitted; Venial Sins in…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.28 — Chapter 28 [XXV.]—Concupiscence Remains After Baptism, Just as Languor Does After Recovery from Disease; Concupiscence is Diminished in Persons of Advancing Years, and Increased in the Incontinent. If the question…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.29 — How Concupiscence Remains in the Baptized in Act, When It Has Passed Away as to Its Guilt. Chapter 29 [XXVI.]—How Concupiscence Remains in the Baptized in Act, When It Has Passed Away as to Its Guilt. In the case,…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.30 — The Evil Desires of Concupiscence; We Ought to Wish that They May Not Be. Chapter 30 [XXVII.]—The Evil Desires of Concupiscence; We Ought to Wish that They May Not Be. For the concupiscence of the flesh is in some…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.31 — Who is the Man that Can Say, ‘It is No More I that Do It’?. Chapter 31 [XXVIII.]—Who is the Man that Can Say, “It is No More I that Do It”? A man, however, is much deceived if, while consenting to the lust of his…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.32 — When Good Will Be Perfectly Done. The apostle then adds these words: “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perfect that which is good I find…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.33 — True Freedom Comes with Willing Delight in God’s Law. The apostle then repeats his former statement, the more fully to recommend its purport: “For the good,” says he, “that I would, I do not: but the evil which I…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.34 — How Concupiscence Made a Captive of the Apostle; What the Law of Sin Was to the Apostle. Chapter 34.—How Concupiscence Made a Captive of the Apostle; What the Law of Sin Was to the Apostle. Then, indeed, this…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.35 — The Flesh, Carnal Affection. But we have in the apostle’s own language, a little before, a sufficiently clear proof that he might have meant his flesh when he said, “Bringing me into captivity.” For after declaring,…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.36 — Even Now While We Still Have Concupiscence We May Be Safe in Christ. But the apostle pursues the subject, and says, “So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin;” which must…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.37 — The Law of Sin with Its Guilt in Unbaptized Infants. By Adam’s Sin the Human Race Has Become a 'Wild Olive Tree.'. Chapter 37 [XXXII.]—The Law of Sin with Its Guilt in Unbaptized Infants. By Adam’s Sin the Human Race…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.38 — To Baptism Must Be Referred All Remission of Sins, and the Complete Healing of the Resurrection. Daily Cleansing. Chapter 38 [XXXIII.]—To Baptism Must Be Referred All Remission of Sins, and the Complete Healing of…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.39 — By the Holiness of Baptism, Not Sins Only, But All Evils Whatsoever, Have to Be Removed. The Church is Not Yet Free from All Stain. Chapter 39 [XXXIV.]—By the Holiness of Baptism, Not Sins Only, But All Evils…vatican.va
• On Marriage and Concupiscence I.40 — Refutation of the Pelagians by the Authority of St. Ambrose, Whom They Quote to Show that the Desire of the Flesh is a Natural Good. Chapter 40 [XXXV.]—Refutation of the Pelagians by the Authority of St. Ambrose,…vatican.va