22. And now by plainest witnesses of divine Scriptures, such as according to the small measure of our memory we shall be able to remember, let it more clearly appear, that, not on account of the present life of this world, but on account of that future life which is promised in the kingdom of heaven, we are to choose perpetual continence. But who but must observe this in that which the same Apostle says a little after, “Whoso is without a wife has thought of the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord: but whoso is joined in marriage has thought of the things of the world, how to please his wife. And a woman unmarried and a virgin is divided;39    cf. de Bon. Conj. 10. she that is unmarried is careful about the things of the Lord, to be holy both in body and spirit: but she that is married is careful about the things of the world, how to please her husband.”40    1 Cor. vii. 32, 33, 34 Certainly he saith not, hath thought of the things of a state without care in this world, to pass her time without weightier troubles; nor doth he say that a woman unmarried and a virgin is divided, that is, distinguished, and separated from her who is married, for this end, that the unmarried woman be without care in this life, in order to avoid temporal troubles, which the married woman is not free from: but, “She hath thought,” saith he, “of the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord; and is careful about the things of the Lord, to be holy both in body and spirit.” Unless to such a degree, perchance, each be foolishly contentious, as to essay to assert, that it is not on account of the kingdom of heaven, but on account of this present world, that we wish to “please the Lord,” or that it is on account of this present life, not on account of life eternal, that they are “holy both in body and spirit.” To believe this, what else is it, than to be more miserable than all men? For so the Apostle saith, “If in this life only we are hoping in Christ, we are more miserable than all men.”41    1 Cor. xv. 19 What? is he who breaks his bread to the hungry, if he do it only on account of this life, a fool; and shall he be prudent, who chastens his own body even unto continence, whereby he hath no intercourse even in marriage, if it shall profit him nought in the kingdom of heaven?

CAPUT XXII.

22. Virginitas non propter hanc vitam, sed propter futuram diligenda ostenditur ex Apostolo. Nunc jam Scripturarum divinarum evidentissimis testimoniis, quae pro nostrae memoriae modulo recordari valuerimus, clarius appareat non propter praesentem hujus saeculi vitam, sed propter futuram quae in regno coelorum promittitur, perpetuam continentiam diligendam . Quis autem hoc non advertat in eo quod paulo post idem apostolus ait: Qui sine uxore est, cogitat ea quae sunt Domini, quomodo placeat Domino; qui autem matrimonio junctus est, cogitat ea quae sunt mundi, quomodo placeat uxori. Et divisa est mulier innupta et virgo: quae innupta est , sollicita est quae sunt Domini, ut sit sancta et corpore et spiritu; quae autem nupta est, sollicita est quae sunt mundi, quomodo placeat viro (I Cor. VII, 32-34)? Non utique ait, Cogitat ea quae securitatis sunt in hoc saeculo, ut sine gravioribus molestiis tempus transigat; neque ad hoc divisam dicit innuptam et virginem ab ea quae nupta est, id est distinctam atque discretam, ut innupta in hac vita secura sit propter temporales molestias evitandas, quibus nupta non caret: sed, Cogitat, inquit, quae sunt Domini, quomodo placeat Domino, et sollicita est quae sunt Domini , ut sit sancta et corpore et spiritu. Nisi forte usque adeo quisque insipienter contentiosus est, ut conetur asserere, non propter regnum coelorum, sed propter praesens 0408 saeculum Domino placere nos velle, aut propter vitam istam, non propter aeternam esse sanctas et corpore et spiritu. Hoc credere, quid est aliud, nisi miserabiliorem esse omnibus hominibus? Sic enim Apostolus ait: Si in hac vita tantum in Christo sperantes sumus, miserabiliores sumus omnibus hominibus (I Cor. XV, 19). An vero qui frangit panem suum esurienti, si tantum propter hanc vitam facit, stultus est; et ille erit prudens, qui castigat corpus suum usque ad continentiam, qua nec conjugio misceatur, si ei nihil proderit in regno coelorum?