So he says...

So he says, "Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife and every woman have her own husband."( Corinthians I, 7:2) Then as if to prevent the people from forgetting the holiness of celibacy, he continues: "I say this by way of concession, not of command. For I wish that all men were as I myself am...Therefore, I say to the unmarried and the widows that it is good for them to remain singles as I am.

But if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn." ( Corinthians I, 7:6-9) So marriage, when compared to fornication, is the lesser of two evils! St. Paul further goes on to describe that marriage means distress: "Now concerning the unmarried...I think that in the view of the present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is...Are you free from a wife? Then do not seek a wife.

But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a girl marries, she does not sin. Yet those who marry shall have trouble in flesh." ( Corinthians I, 7:25-28) According to the Bible, marriage and pleasing God are antipathetic to each other. St. Paul says, "I want you to be free from anxieties.

The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord, but the married man is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please his wife and his interest is divided...The unmarried woman cares for the affairs of the Lord, that she may be holy in body and spirit; but a married woman cares for worldly affairs, how to please her husband.

I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord." ( Corinthians I, 7:32,35) He concludes the Christian position as follows: "So that he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marrying will do better ." ( Corinthians I , 7:38) So the Christian view on marriage, in its original form, can be summarized as follows: (a) Celibacy is good and should be adopted; (b) in order to refrain from fornication, marriage is allowed; but it is regrettable and one should try his or her best to avoid it; (c) marriage retards salvation and is antipathetic to pleasing God.

Three centuries after St. Paul, came a theologian known as St. Augustine.