VII.  How then dost thou demand Chastity, while thou dost not thyself observe it?  How dost thou demand that which thou dost not give?  How, though thou art equally a body, dost thou legislate unequally?  If thou enquire into the worse—The Woman Sinned, and so did Adam.8    Gen. iii. 6.  The serpent deceived them both; and one was not found to be the stronger and the other the weaker.  But dost thou consider the better?  Christ saves both by His Passion.  Was He made flesh for the Man?  So He was also for the woman.  Did He die for the Man?  The Woman also is saved by His death.  He is called of the seed of David;9    Rom. i. 3. and so perhaps you think the Man is honoured; but He is born of a Virgin, and this is on the Woman’s side.  They two, He says, shall be one Flesh; so let the one flesh have equal honour.  And Paul legislates for chastity by His example.  How, and in what way?  This Sacrament is great, he says, But I speak concerning Christ and the Church.10    Ephes. v. 32.  It is well for the wife to reverence Christ through her husband:  and it is well for the husband not to dishonor the Church through his wife.  Let the wife, he says, see that she reverence her husband, for so she does Christ; but also he bids the husband cherish his wife, for so Christ does the Church.11    Ib. v. 22 seq.  Let us, then, give further consideration to this saying.

Ζʹ. Πῶς οὖν σὺ σωφροσύνην μὲν ἀπαιτεῖς, οὐκ ἀντεισφέρεις δέ; πῶς, ὃ μὴ δίδως, αἰτεῖς; πῶς ὁμότιμον σῶμα ὢν, ἀνίσως νομοθετεῖς; Εἰ δὲ τὰ χείρω σκοπεῖς: ἥμαρτεν ἡ γυνὴ, τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Ἀδάμ: ἀμφοτέρους ὁ ὄφις ἠπάτησεν. Οὐ τὸ μὲν ἀσθενέστερον εὑρέθη, τὸ δὲ ἰσχυρότερον. Ἀλλὰ τὰ βελτίω λογίζῃ; ἀμφοτέρους σώζει Χριστὸς τοῖς πάθεσιν. Ὑπὲρ ἀνδρὸς σὰρξ ἐγένετο; τοῦτο καὶ ὑπὲρ γυναικός. Ὑπὲρ ἀνδρὸς ἀπέθανε; καὶ ἡ γυνὴ τῷ θανάτῳ σώζεται. Ἐκ σπέρματος Δαβὶδ ὀνομάζεται: τιμᾶσθαι ἴσως οἴει τὸν ἄνδρα; ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ Παρθένου γεννᾶται, τοῦτο καὶ ὑπὲρ γυναικῶν. Ἔσονται μὲν οὖν οἱ δύο, φησὶν, εἰς σάρκα μίαν: καὶ ἡ μία σὰρξ ἐχέτω τὸ ὁμότιμον. Παῦλος δὲ καὶ τῷ ὑποδείγματι τὴν σωφροσύνην νομοθετεῖ. Πῶς, καὶ τίνα τρόπον; Τὸ μυστήριον τοῦτο μέγα ἐστίν: ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω εἰς Χριστὸν καὶ εἰς τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν. Καλὸν τῇ γυναικὶ Χριστὸν αἰδεῖσθαι διὰ τοῦ ἀνδρός: καλὸν καὶ τῷ ἀνδρὶ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν μὴ ἀτιμάζειν διὰ τῆς γυναικός. Ἡ γυνὴ, φησὶν, ἵνα φοβῆται τὸν ἄνδρα: καὶ Χριστὸν γάρ. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ ἀνὴρ, ἵνα περιέπῃ τὴν γυναῖκα: καὶ γὰρ Χριστὸς τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν. Μᾶλλον δ' ἔτι καὶ προσφιλοπονήσωμεν τῷ ῥητῷ.