20. Far be it, therefore, that the Apostle so said, unto such as are married or are about to marry, “But I spare you,” as if he were unwilling to say what punishment is due to the married in another life. Far be it that she, whom Daniel set free from temporal judgment, be cast by Paul into hell! Far be it that her husband’s bed be unto her punishment before the judgment seat of Christ, keeping faith to which she chose, under false charge of adultery, to meet either danger, or death! To what effect that speech, “It is better for me to fall into your hands, than to sin in the sight of God:”34    Hist. of Sus. 23 if God had been about, not to set her free because she kept married chastity, but to condemn her because she had married? And now so often as married chastity is by truth of holy Scripture justified against such as bring calumnies and charges against marriage, so often is Susanna by the Holy Spirit defended against false witnesses, so often is she set free from a false charge, and with much greater ado. For then against one married woman, now against all; then of hidden and untrue adultery, now of true and open marriage, an accusation is laid. Then one woman, upon what the unjust elders said, now all husbands and wives, upon what the Apostle would not say, are accused. It was, forsooth, your condemnation, say they, that he was silent on, when he said, “But I spare you.” Who (saith) this? Surely he, who had said above; “And, if thou shalt have taken a wife, thou hast not sinned; and, if a virgin shall have been married, she sinneth not.”35    1 Cor. vii. 28 Why, therefore, wherein he hath been silent through modesty, suspect ye a charge against marriage; and wherein he hath spoken openly, recognize ye not a defense of marriage? What, doth he condemn by his silence them whom he acquitted by his words? Is it not now a milder charge, to charge Susanna, not with marriage, but with adultery itself, than to charge the doctrine of the Apostle with falsehood? What in so great peril could we do, were it not as sure and plain that chaste marriage ought not to be condemned, as it is sure and plain that holy Scripture cannot lie?

20. Absit ergo ut ita dixerit Apostolus nuptis sive nupturis, Ego autem vobis parco; tanquam noluerit dicere quae poena conjugatis in futuro saeculo debeatur. Absit ut a Daniele de temporali judicio liberatam Paulus mittat in gehennam. Absit ut maritalis thorus ei poena sit ante tribunal Christi, cui fidem servando elegit sub falsa accusatione adulterii vel periclitari, vel mori. Quid egit vox illa, Melius est mihi 0406 incidere in manus vestras, quam peccare in conspectu Dei (Dan. XIII, 23), si Deus eam fuerat, non quia pudicitiam nuptialem servabat liberaturus, sed quia nupserat damnaturus? Et nunc quoties castitas conjugalis adversus calumniatores criminatoresque nuptiarum Scripturae sanctae veritate munitur; toties a Spiritu sancto contra falsos testes Susanna defenditur, toties a falso crimine liberatur, et multo majore negotio. Tunc enim uni conjugatae, nunc omnibus; tunc de occulto et falso adulterio, nunc de vero et manifesto connubio crimen intenditur. Tunc una mulier ex eo quod iniqui seniores dicebant, nunc omnes mariti et uxores ex eo quod Apostolus dicere noluit, accusantur. Damnationem quippe vestram, inquiunt, tacuit, cum ait, Ego autem vobis parco. Quis hoc? Nempe ille qui superius dixerat: Et si acceperis uxorem, non peccasti; et si nupserit virgo, non peccat. Cur igitur in eo quod modeste tacuit, conjugiorum suspicamini crimen; et in eo quod aperte dixit, conjugiorum non agnoscitis defensionem? An eos damnat tacitus, quos locutus absolvit? Nonne jam mitius accusatur Susanna, non de conjugio, sed de ipso adulterio, quam doctrina apostolica de mendacio? Quid in tanto periculo faceremus, nisi tam certum apertumque esset pudicas nuptias non debere damnari, quam certum apertumque est sanctam Scripturam non posse mentiri?