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On Exhortation to Chastity

Tertullian

Chapter 12

About this work

Author: Tertullian

Chapter XII.—Excuses Commonly Urged in Defence of Second Marriage. Their Futility, Especially in the Case of Christians, Pointed Out.

I am aware of the excuses by which we colour

‹ Chapter 11 Chapter 13 ›

our

insatiable

carnal

appetite

.

Our

pretexts

are

:

the

necessities

of

props

to

lean

on

;

a

house

to

be

managed

;

a

family

to

be

governed

;

chests

and

keys

to

be

guarded

;

the

wool

-

spinning

to

be

dispensed

;

food

to

be

attended

to

;

cares

to

be

generally

lessened

.

Of

course

the

houses

of

none

but

married

men

fare

well

!

The

families

of

celibates

,

the

estates

of

eunuchs

,

the

fortunes

of

military

men

,

or

of

such

as

travel

without

wives

,

have

gone

to

rack

and

ruin

!

For

are

not

we

,

too

,

soldiers

?

Soldiers

,

indeed

,

subject

to

all

the

stricter

discipline

,

that

we

are

subject

to

so

great

a

General

?

Are

not

we

,

too

,

travellers

in

this

world

?

Why

moreover

,

Christian

,

are

you

so

conditioned

,

that

you

cannot

(

so

travel

)

without

a

wife

?

“

In

my

present

(

widowed

)

state

,

too

,

a

consort

in

domestic

works

is

necessary

.

”

(

Then

)

take

some

spiritual

wife

.

Take

to

yourself

from

among

the

widows

one

fair

in

faith

,

dowered

with

poverty

,

sealed

with

age

.

You

will

(

thus

)

make

a

good

marriage

.

A

plurality

of

such

wives

is

pleasing

to

God

.

“

But

Christians

concern

themselves

about

posterity

”

—

to

whom

there

is

no

to

-

morrow

!

Shall

the

servant

of

God

yearn

after

heirs

,

who

has

disinherited

himself

from

the

world

?

And

is

it

to

be

a

reason

for

a

man

to

repeat

marriage

,

if

from

his

first

(

marriage

)

he

have

no

children

?

And

shall

he

thus

have

,

as

the

first

benefit

(

resulting

therefrom

)

,

this

,

that

he

should

desire

longer

life

,

when

the

apostle

himself

is

in

haste

to

be

“

with

the

Lord

?

”

Assuredly

,

most

free

will

he

be

from

encumbrance

in

persecutions

,

most

constant

in

martyrdoms

,

most

prompt

in

distributions

of

his

goods

,

most

temperate

in

acquisitions

;

lastly

,

undistracted

by

cares

will

he

die

,

when

he

has

left

children

behind

him

—

perhaps

to

perform

the

last

rites

over

his

grave

!

Is

it

then

,

perchance

,

in

forecast

for

the

commonwealth

that

such

(

marriages

)

are

contracted

?

for

fear

the

States

fail

,

if

no

rising

generations

be

trained

up

?

for

fear

the

rights

of

law

,

for

fear

the

branches

of

commerce

,

sink

quite

into

decay

?

for

fear

the

temples

be

quite

forsaken

?

for

fear

there

be

none

to

raise

the

acclaim

,

“

The

lion

for

the

Christians

?

”

—

for

these

are

the

acclaims

which

they

desire

to

hear

who

go

in

quest

of

offspring

!

Let

the

well

-

known

burdensomeness

of

children

—

especially

in

our

case

—

suffice

to

counsel

widowhood

:

(

children

)

whom

men

are

compelled

by

laws

to

undertake

(

the

charge

of

)

;

because

no

wise

man

would

ever

willingly

have

desired

sons

!

What

,

then

,

will

you

do

if

you

succeed

in

filling

your

new

wife

with

your

own

conscientious

scruples

?

Are

you

to

dissolve

the

conception

by

aid

of

drugs

?

I

think

to

us

it

is

no

more

lawful

to

hurt

(

a

child

)

in

process

of

birth

,

than

one

(

already

)

born

.

But

perhaps

at

that

time

of

your

wife’s

pregnancy

you

will

have

the

hardihood

to

beg

from

God

a

remedy

for

so

grave

a

solicitude

,

which

,

when

it

lay

in

your

own

power

,

you

refused

?

Some

(

naturally

)

barren

woman

,

I

suppose

,

or

(

some

woman

)

of

an

age

already

feeling

the

chill

of

years

,

will

be

the

object

of

your

forecasting

search

.

A

course

prudent

enough

,

and

,

above

all

,

worthy

of

a

believer

!

For

there

is

no

woman

whom

we

have

believed

to

have

borne

(

a

child

)

when

barren

or

old

,

when

God

so

willed

!

which

he

is

all

the

more

likely

to

do

if

any

one

,

by

the

presumption

of

this

foresight

of

his

own

,

provoke

emulation

on

the

part

of

God

.

In

fine

,

we

know

a

case

among

our

brethren

,

in

which

one

of

them

took

a

barren

woman

in

second

marriage

for

his

daughter’s

sake

,

and

became

as

well

for

the

second

time

a

father

as

for

the

second

time

a

husband

.

Notes

1
Comp. herewith, ad Ux., l. i. c. iv.
2
Or “purses.”
3
Comp. 2 Tim. ii. 3, 4; Heb. ii. 10.
4
Or “age”—sæculo. Comp. Ps. xxxix. 12 (in LXX. xxxviii. 13, as in Vulg.) and Heb. xi. 13.
5
Comp. Matt. vi. 34; Jas. iv. 13–15.
6
Comp. Phil. i. 23.