Augustine of Hippo, On Christian Doctrine

26. We must also be on our guard against supposing that what in the Old Testament, making allowance for the condition of those times, is not a crime or a vice even if we take it literally and not figuratively, can be transferred to the present time as a habit of life. For no one will do this except lust has dominion over him, and endeavors to find support for itself in the very Scriptures which were intended to overthrow it. And the wretched man does not perceive that such matters are recorded with this useful design, that men of good hope may learn the salutary lesson, both that the custom they spurn can be turned to a good use, and that which they embrace can be used to condemnation, if the use of the former be accompanied with charity, and the use of the latter with lust.

27. For, if it was possible for one man to use many wives with chastity, it is possible for another to use one wife with lust. And I look with greater approval on the man who uses the fruitfulness of many wives for the sake of an ulterior object, than on the man who enjoys the body of one wife for its own sake. For in the former case the man aims at a useful object suited to the circumstances of the times; in the latter case he gratifies a lust which is engrossed in temporal enjoyments. And those men to whom the apostle permitted as a matter of indulgence to have one wife because of their incontinence,165 1 Cor. vii. 1, 2, 9. were less near to God than those who, though they had each of them numerous wives, yet just as a wise man uses food and drink only for the sake of bodily health, used marriage only for the sake of offspring. And, accordingly, if these last had been still alive at the advent of our Lord, when the time not of casting stones away but of gathering them together had come,166 Eccles. iii. 5. they would have immediately made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. For there is no difficulty in abstaining unless when there is lust in enjoying. And assuredly those men of whom I speak knew that wantonness even in regard to wives is abuse and intemperance, as is proved by Tobit’s prayer when he was married to his wife. For he says: “Blessed art Thou, O God of our fathers, and blessed is Thy holy and glorious name for ever; let the heavens bless Thee, and all Thy creatures. Thou madest Adam, and gavest him Eve his wife for an helper and stay. . . . And now, O Lord, Thou knowest that I take not this my sister for lust, but uprightly: therefore have pity on us, O Lord.”167 Tobit viii. 5–7.

CAPUT XVIII. Quo tempore quid praeceptum vel licitum sit, considerandum.

26. Item cavendum est ne forte quod in Scripturis veteribus pro illorum temporum conditione, etiamsi non figurate, sed proprie intelligatur, non est flagitium neque facinus, ad ista etiam tempora quis putet in usum vitae posse transferri. Quod nisi dominante cupiditate, et ipsarum quoque Scripturarum, quibus evertenda est, satellitium quaerente, non faciet; nec intelligit miser ad hanc utilitatem illa sic esse posita, 0076 ut spei bonae homines salubriter videant et consuetudinem quam aspernantur posse habere usum bonum, et eam quam amplexantur esse posse damnabilem, si et ibi charitas utentium, et hic cupiditas attendatur.

27. Nam si multis uxoribus caste uti quisquam pro tempore potuit, potest alius una libidinose. Magis enim probo multarum fecunditate utentem propter aliud, quam unius carne fruentem propter ipsam. Ibi enim quaeritur utilitas temporum opportunitatibus congrua, hic satiatur cupiditas temporalibus voluptatibus implicata: inferiorisque gradus ad Deum sunt, quibus secundum veniam concedit Apostolus carnalem cum singulis conjugibus consuetudinem propter intemperantiam eorum (I Cor. VII, 2), quam illi qui plures singuli cum haberent, sicut sapiens in cibo et potu nonnisi salutem corporis, sic in concubitu nonnisi procreationem filiorum intuebantur. Itaque si eos in hac vita invenisset Domini adventus, cum jam non mittendi, sed colligendi lapides tempus esset (Eccle. III, 5), statim seipsos castrarent propter regnum coelorum: non enim est in carendo difficultas, nisi cum est in habendo cupiditas. Noverant quippe illi homines etiam in ipsis conjugibus luxuriam esse abutendi intemperantiam: quod Tobiae testatur oratio, quando est copulatus uxori. Ait enim: Benedictus es, Domine Deus patrum nostrorum; et benedictum nomen tuum in omnia saecula saeculorum. Benedicant te coeli et omnis creatura tua. Tu fecisti Adam, et dedisti illi adjutorium Evam: et nunc, Domine, tu scis quoniam non luxuriae causa accipio sororem meam, sed ipsa veritate, ut miserearis nostri, Domine (Tob. VIII, 7-9).