Against Jovinianus

3. A denunciation of Jovinianus (c. 40), and the praises of virginity and of single marriages derived from examples in the heathen world.

§3–4 (¶1)

5. First of all, he says, God declares that4273“therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” And lest we should say that this is a quotation from…

§5–9 (¶2)

10. So far the first section has been explained. Let us now come to those which follow. “But unto the married I give charge, yea not I, but the Lord.

§10–14 (¶3)

15. The passages, however, which I have adduced in support of my position and in which it is permitted to widows, if they so desire, to marry again, are interpreted by some concerning those widows who had lost their…

§15–19 (¶4)

20. But I wonder why he set4361Judah and Tamar before us for an example, unless perchance even harlots give him pleasure; or4362Onan who was slain because he grudged his brother seed.

§20–24 (¶5)

25. What folly it was to include Elijah and Elisha in a list of married men, is plain without a word from me. For, since John Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah, and John was a virgin, it is clear that he…

§25–29 (¶6)

30. I pass to the Song of Songs, and whereas our opponent thinks it makes altogether for marriage, I shall show that it contains the mysteries of virginity.

§30–34 (¶7)

35. “The bishop, then, must be without reproach, so that he is the slave of no vice: “the husband of one wife,” that is, in the past, not in the present; “sober,” or4497better, as it is in the Greek, “vigilant,” that is…

§35–39 (¶8)

40. The Apostle has described Jovinianus speaking with swelling cheeks and nicely balancing his inflated utterances, promising heavenly liberty, when he himself is the slave of vice and self-indulgence, a dog returning…

§40–44 (¶9)

45. Strato, ruler of Sidon, thought of dying by his own hand, that he might not be the sport of the Persians, who were close by and whose alliance he had discarded for the friendship of the king of Egypt.

§45–49 (¶10)

1. The second proposition of Jovinianus is that the baptized cannot be tempted by the devil. And to escape the imputation of folly in saying this, he adds: “But if any are tempted, it only shows that they were baptized…

§1–5 (¶1)

6. I will follow in detail the views now expounded, and before I come to Scripture and show by it that fasting is pleasing to God, and chastity accepted by him, I will meet philosophic argument with argument, and will…

§6–10 (¶2)

12. We have read that some who suffered with disease of the joints and with gouty humours recovered their health by proscribing delicacies, and coming down to a simple board and mean food.

§12–18 (¶3)

19. Then, again, as regards the parable of the sower in the Gospel, we read that the good ground brought forth fruit, some a hundred fold, some sixty fold, and some thirty fold; and, on the other hand, that the bad…

§19–23 (¶4)

24. In vain, therefore, do you multiply instances of sheep and goats, of the five wise and five foolish virgins, of Egyptians and Israelites, and so forth, because retribution is not in the present, but will be in the…

§24–28 (¶5)

29. It is mere trifling to quote the passage:4895“Know ye not that your bodies are a temple of the Holy Ghost,” for it is customary in Holy Scripture to speak of a single object as though it were many, and of many as…

§29–33 (¶6)

34. The whole account of the land of Judah and of the tribes is typical of the church in heaven. Let us read Joshua the son of Nun, or the concluding portions of Ezekiel, and we shall see that the historical division of…

§34–38 (¶7)