Marriage with a Defense of the 32nd Article of the Church of England, Chapter 2
CHAP. II. Of the Marriage of Perſons in Holy Orders.
MArriage is honourable amongſt all; our Saviour graced a Wedding with his preſence at Cana in Galilee, John 2. and there manifeſted his Glory, by working that Miracle, of turning Water into Wine: By which thoſe who enter into that ſtate, might be put in mind, that their ſorrows ſhould be turned into joys. The Apoſtle St. Paul, Epheſ. 5.32. makes Marriage a Myſtery, and to ſet out the relation and love 'twixt Chriſt and his Church. And laſtly, 'Tis thought Heaven is ſet out in Scripture by a Marriage-Feaſt, Mat. 22. and the Joys of Heaven repreſented by the joys of a Wedding, Rev. 19. The Nazarites that were whiter than Snow, by reaſon of their vow of Holineſs, were not defiled by their Marriage.
Of the Marriage of Prieſts.
The High Prieſt under the Law, was not forbidden to Marry, onelyonly he muſt have a Wife ſo and ſo qualified. Aaron the High Prieſt, the Saint of the Lord, a Type of our Lord Chriſt, was Married, and the High Prieſt-hood annexed to his Family, and entail'd on his poſterity. It is made a Character of Antiochus Epiphanes, or Epimanes rather, that he ſhould not regard Women, or deſire Women, in the Old Teſtament, Dan. 11.37. And 'tis made a mark of the Antichriſt, and branded for a Doctrine of Devils, (according to our Tranſlators) to forbid to Marry in the New Teſtament, 1 Tim. 4.1, 3. And as Prieſts and Prophets under the Law might lawfully marry, ſo might the Holy Apoſtles and Miniſters of our Lord and Saviour under our Goſpel. St. Peter the firſt, or chief of the Apoſtles, as to a primacy of Order, was of this Order himſelf. And St. Paul aſſerts his right and power to lead about a Wife or Siſter, as well as Cephas or Peter, and other of the Apoſtles of Chriſt.
The Scripture foreſeeing (ſaith a Reverend Author) the frenſie of this Hereſie, (viz. of forbidding marriage to Prieſts) made the Wall higher and ſtronger, of the lawful marriage of the Miniſtracy; for beſides the places wherein generally it is (without all exception) permitted to all Orders of men to Marry; it ſpeaketh eſpecially of the lawful uſe of Marriage in the Miniſtry. It ſpeaks particularly of their Wives, likewiſe of their Children: which we remember not to be done in any other eſtates; onelyonly of the Kings it is ſaid, That they ſhould not marry many Wives: Wherefore the Miniſters having not onelyonly the common evidence which all other men have to hold their Wives by, but alſo certain Specialties, and ſpecial Charters, whereby the quiet and peaceable poſſeſſion of them is warranted, it is evident that the Popiſh Court, which impleadeth them, and condemneth them for their Wives, is a lawleſs Court. So Mr. Cartwright, in his Anſwer to the Rhem. Teſt. Annot. on St. Mat. chap. 8.
And amongſt the Canons aſcribed to the Apoſtles, it is decreed, Can. 5. If any Biſhop, Elder, or Deacon, under colour of Religion, or reverence, put away his Wife, let him be ſeparate from his Miniſtry; if he abide in that mind, let him be depoſed.
This Canon (ſaith the aforeſaid Author) is of a contrary ſpirit to you; for you ſever men from their Wives, that ſever themſelves to the Miniſtry; and it ſevereth men from the Miniſtry, that ſever themſelves from their Wives, under pretence of the Miniſtry.
Again, Mr. Perkins, in his demonſtration of the Problem, teſtifies, That the Marriage of the Clergy, for the ſpace of 300 years after Chriſt was a thing alwayes freely allowed without prohibition, or vow of perpetual continency.
Athanaſius in his Epiſtle to Dracontius, ſaith, foreign. And there are many of the Biſhops, ſaith Athanaſius, that have not married; and contrariwiſe, many Monks we ſee daily become Fathers of Children. Again you may obſerve many Biſhops to be Fathers of Children, and many Monks that have not ſought to ſee their own Generation; for this is lawful, and the other is not forbidden, but every one as he liketh, let him undertake to live. And whereas we read, ſaith the Decretal, c. 56. That the Sons of Prieſts have come to the honour of the Papacy, we muſt not underſtand them to be begotten by Fornication, but by lawful Marriage, which was lawful for the Prieſts every where, until the time of prohibition; and in the Eaſt Churches is lawful to this day; The ſingleneſs of Prieſt-hood was inſtituted, becauſe of the poverty of the Churches wanting ſufficient means to maintain many families of Biſhops, Prieſts, and Deacons. D. 28. c. d. Syr.
Pope Siricius, about the year 385. forbad Prieſts Marriage in the Weſtern Church. But that Decree had no Univerſal Admiſſion in the Church until the time of Pope Hildebrand 1007. And 'tis obſerved that Biſhops and Prieſts married in England until Anſelms time, that is, about 1100 years after Chriſt, no Law forbidding them. 'Tis an obſervation of Balſamon on the 5th Canon of the Apoſtles, that it was lawful before the 6th Synod in Trullo, for the Biſhops to marry and have Wives, yea after they had received that dignity. And for my part, I think, Arch-Biſhop Crammer the Martyr, no leſs a Saint, though once or twice married, then if he had lived ſingle. Arch-Biſhop Parker alſo, as I have read, was a married Man; and our Church, ſince the Reformation, never forbad any of her Fathers or Children to Marry, eo nomine, or elſe they could not be Presbyters, Prieſts, Biſhops, or Arch-Biſhops.
It was ſmartly replyed by Dr. Featley, when ſome had charged it on the Puritans, that they were Calviniſtae tantum non in Sabbato, that their Adverſaries were Papiſtae tantum non in uxoratu. Certainly Biſhop Mountague of Norwich, Biſhop Wren, and Biſhop Cozens, were all Canonical Men, and yet all Married. And Biſhop Laud was one of the firſt that for a while was thought to diſcountenance Marriage in men of Holy Orders, ſaying, That in diſpoſing of Eccleſiaſtical Preferments, he would prefer the ſingle Man before the Married, ſuppoſing the Abilities of the Perſons were otherwiſe equal. But Dr. Heylin, that wrote his Life, tells us, by what means and method, he ſought to procure other apprehenſions of him; namely, by negotiating, not long after, a Marriage between Mr. Thomas Turner, one of his Chaplains, and a Daughter of Windebank, his old Friend; and he officiated the whole ſervice of their Marriage in his own Chappel, at London-Houſe, joyning their Hands, and giving the Nuptial Benediction, and perfecting all other Eccleſiaſtical Rites which belong to the Solemnization of Matrimony by the Rules of this Church. D. H. in his Life, p. 212.
I acknowledge that the Papiſts urge againſt the Marriage of our Clergy, the ill manners and lives of their Children. I confeſs I cannot tell of any one of our married Clergyes Wives, that can match that Whore, who, they ſay, was the Mother of Gratian, Petrus Corneſtor, and Peter Lumbard; yet doubtleſs there have been famous men who have been Children of Biſhops, the Fathers of the Church, and of others in Holy Orders. Biſhop King, late of Chicheſter, was the Son of Biſhop King, ſometime Biſhop of London. Biſhop Hall, late of Cheſter, was the Son of Biſhop Hall, Biſhop of Norwich, whoſe Works praiſe him in the Gate. And it hath been obſerved, that five Knightly Families deſcended from Arch-Biſhop Sands, Arch-Biſhop of York. One of the greateſt blots in our Engliſh Biſhops Eſcutcheons in this matter is, that Sir Toby Matthews, a great Son of the Church of Rome, was a Son of Arch-Biſhop Matthews of York.
Let me add, for the honour of our Married Clergy, that Sir Francis Drake, that famous Sea Captain, was the Son of a Miniſter in Devonſhire.
Many at this day have attained to the honour of Knighthood, who owe their Eſtates to Biſhops and Arch-Biſhops: And 'tis no abatement to their Honour, that the late reverend and renowned Bp. of Cheſter, Bp. Wilkins, his Mother was the Daughter of a Miniſter, viz. Mr. John Dod, a man famous in his Generation for Piety, and a learned Man, and who taught that excellent Critick of Chriſt-Church, Mr. Gregory, and the great Biſhop of Wincheſter, Hebrew.
It cannot be denyed, that moſt of the Antient Writers cry up the excellency of Virginity; and that divers of the Fathers pleading for the ſingleneſs of Prieſts, do detract from the due praiſes of Marriage.
So Siricius ſtuck not to ſay, That they that are in the fleſh, that is (ſaith he) in Matrimony, cannot pleaſe God.
And Ambroſe, Offic. Lib. 1. Cap. ult. will have the Prieſts to be pure from Marriage, and to be contaminated by Marriage. But the bleſſed Apoſtle St. Paul, a greater than theſe, allows a Biſhop to be the Husband of one Wife, that is, one who liveth chaſtly with one Wife alone at one time. And whereas ſome would oppoſe Marriage and Chaſtity, the ſame Apoſtle, in Titus 2.4, & 5. teaches us, that Wedlock and Chaſtity are not divorced or ſeparated each from other, but may dwell together in the ſame Houſe and the ſame Boſom, exhorting Titus, to teach the young Women to be ſober, to love their Huſbands, to love their Children; to be diſcreet, chaſt, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own Huſbands. That which the Apoſtle Paul ſaith, in 1 Cor. 7. That 'tis good for a man not to touch a Woman, is to be interpreted, 'Tis not expedient, viz. that if a man have the gift of continency, and with particular reſpect to the Chriſtian Church in that time of Perſecution; for the Apoſtle ſaith, Nevertheleſs to avoid Fornication, let every Man have his own Wife, and let every Woman have her own Husband, Verſ. 2. of the ſame Chapter.
And Paphnutius, a good Man, and a Biſhop in the Council of Nice, though himſelf a ſingle Perſon, named an honeſt Matrimonial Conjunction, a Godly Chaſtity.
The Celibaty, or ſingle-Life of the Clergy, and others in the Popedom, hath hindred much good, and given great occaſion to abominable ſins.
St. Ʋlrich, Biſhop of Auſpurgh, in an Epiſtle which he wrote, complained of a fearful Spectacle at Rome; namely, that after Pope Gregory had decreed and confirmed the unmarried kind of Life, he intended to fiſh in a deep Pond at Rome, hard by the Monaſtery of the Nuns; the Water of the Pond being let out, they found more than ſix thouſand Heads of Children, which had been caſt into the Pond and drowned; theſe were the fruits of the unmarried life: Whereupon Pope Gregory amazed at the ſight, aboliſhed that Decree concerning the unmarried kind of life; but the ſucceeding Popes decreed the ſame again.
And in the Monaſtry of Neuburgh in Auſtria, where there had been Nuns who were diſplaced for their ungodly leacherous doings, as my Author ſaith, when the Franciſcan Fryers, who were ſet therein, intending to build, digged up twelve great Pots, in each Pot was a Carcaſe of a little Child.
We are told, that the Multitude of Baſtards are ſo great at Rome, that they are conſtrained to build particular Monaſtries, wherein they are brought up, and that the Pope is named their Father; and that when any great Proceſſions are held in Rome, the ſaid Baſtards go all before the Pope. If the Pope be accounted Father to all the Baſtards, that may call the Whore of Babylon Mother, I ſuppoſe he may have as many Children every day in the year, as that Counteſs had at a Birth, namely, as many as there are dayes in the year.
Our Hiſtories tell us, That John de Crema, a… Italian Cardinal, was ſent over from Rome to England, with his bigneſs and bravery, to bluſter our Engliſh Clergy out of their Wives, he made, 'tis ſaid, a moſt gaudy Oration in the commendation of Virginity; and on the ſame Night at London he was caught in Bed with a Harlot. See F. H. B. 3. p. 23. But the Cardinal might far ſooner and eaſier be permitted his Concubine or Harlot, than the Engliſh Clergy their lawful Wives, the Pope being Judge.
We find afterwards, that the Clergy paying a Fee or Fine to the Pope, were tolerated their Concubines: And this cuſtom was ſo general, and thought ſo juſtifiable, that when one of the Prieſts pleaded he had no Concubine, it was anſwered ſtrait, Habeat ſi velit, ſolvat pecuniam, He may have one if he will, let him pay his Money.
Yea, it has of late dayes been maintained, That Marriage in a Clergy-Man, is a greater ſin than Fornication, if not than Adultery; and yet their Schoolmen, Thomas and Scotus, that in other things differ, agree in this, That the ſingle life of Prieſts, is not by Scripture prohibited, but by the Conſtitutions of the Church.
What ſhall we ſay to theſe Men that make it a greater ſin to break the Law of the Church, than the Commandments of God? Sure we are, … Scripture prohibits the Marriage of Prieſts or Miniſters of the Church. The Apoſtles were no more enjoyned to forſake their Wives, than their Father and Mother, Houſe and Land; and that ſaying of our Saviour, That whoſoever did forſake father or mother, or houſe and land, or wife for his ſake, reſpected thoſe that were not Apoſtles, as well as them that were. 'Tis well noted by our Church Hiſtorian, that Enoch walked with God, and begat ſons and daughters: In which Enoch, ſaith he, met the threefold capacity of King, Prieſt and Prophet: He made not a Prayer the leſs for having a child the more; and let us be but alike holy with Enoch, and let others be more holy with Anſelm and Dunſtan, that oppoſed the marriage of the Clergy here in England. They ſay of the latter, that he took the Devil by the noſe; how true that is I know not, but in this point, forbidding to marry, being a doctrine of Devils, 'tis true enough, that the Devil led him by the noſe. If that place be urged, 1 Cor. 7.33. where the Apoſtle ſaith, that he that is married careth for the things of the world, how he may pleaſe his wife. The Hiſtorian anſwers, Theſe things are vitia m…iti, not matrimonli; uxoris, not uxoratus, flowing neither from the exerciſe of marriage, but only from the depraved uſe thereof, which by Gods aſſiſtance and mans beſt endeavours, may be rectified and amended. So he.
That other ſaying of the Apoſtle in the ſame Chapter, Defrand ye not one another, except it be with conſent, for a time, that ye may give your ſelves to faſting and prayer, and come together again, that Satan tempt you not, by reaſon of your not having the gift of continency, doth not juſtifie the Popiſh Prohibition of marriage; for that Interdiction of the Marriage-bed is voluntary, by mutual conſent of the parties, and temporary only, durante bene placito: But the Popiſh Prohibition is impulſive, by the power of others; and perpetual, to continue during their lives, F.H.b. 3. p. 22. Wo to them by whom ſo great offences and ſcandals come, as do daily in the Papacy, from the forbidding to marry. If marriage be a Sacrament, why ſhould the Prieſt be Interdicted the uſe of it? and if it be uncleanneſs, as the Marcionites and Manichees taught, why are the common people, the Laity indulged it? There were, I know, the Scripture ſaith, Mat. 19.12. ſome that made themſelves Eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven: But our Saviour hath laid upon his Diſciples, whether Miniſters or ordinary Chriſtians, no ſuch unneceſſary burthen. If a man have the gift of continency, which is not a common, but a proper gift, he may receive it, but not in Origens ſenſe, who allegorized other Scriptures, and 'tis ſaid, took this in a literal ſenſe; by the ſame reaſon we ſhould cut off our right hands, and pluck out our right eyes, and diſmember our ſelves, and deſtroy our bodies, leſt they ſhould be occaſions and inſtruments of ſin to us: But this way of interpreting thoſe ſayings of Chriſt in the Goſpel, would be contradictory to God's Law, viz. the Sixth Commandment. The Apoſtle Paul ſaith indeed, Mortifie your members which are upon earth, which he expounds to be fornication, uncleanneſs, evil concupiſcence, &c. But whilſt the Church of Rome would compell her Prieſts and Nuns to be like the Angels of Heaven, neither marrying, nor giving in marriage, 'tis too apparent, they occaſion many to be worſe than Beaſts, and to be delivered over to the unclean Spirit, or to be poſſeſſed with an unclean Devil.
It is marked, that thoſe who have neglected the remedy of marriage, which God hath preſcribed, have in vain uſed other means and methods of cure. In vain, as to the cure of Concupiſcence, did St. Jerome ſtrike his breaſt with ſtones, St. Francis embrace and kiſs the ſnow, to cool himſelf, and quench this fire of Luſt; and St. Benedict ſtrip himſelf naked, and lie among the thorns. In vain do the Romiſh Prieſts and Nuns make Vows oſ Celibacy, or Single-life; they Vow that which is not in their power, that is, to live always ſingle, and yet chaſtely; whereas the gift of continency is a proper gift, and rarely given. If they ſay, they will pray for this gift. But where hath God promiſed to hear ſuch prayers, it not being neceſſary to ſalvation to live chaſtely, without uſing the remedy. God gave not this gift to thoſe he loved dearly, to Moſes, to Aaron, to Samuel, to David, to Iſaiah, &c. Ignatius and Ambroſe tell us, that all the Apoſtles except John, were married; Philip the Evangeliſt had four Daughters; and Platina in the Life of Cletus the firſt, ſaith, that St. Luke was married, and that his wife was in Bithynia.
'Tis a fond ſaying, an imagination of theſe mens brains, that the Apoſtles had wives, but that after their undertaking the Office of Apoſtleſhip, they never accompanied with them; they may as well ſay, they left for ever all propriety in their children, in their houſes, in their fiſher-boats: But we ſee that they did not, St. John had his houſe, wherein he entertained the Bleſſed Virgin Mary after the death of our Saviour.
Again; as to the Vows of Monks and Nuns, ordinarily they are made unwillingly, or without knowledge of what they do, and whether they ſhall have power to contain. Men make their daughters Nuns at twelve years of age, and their ſons Monks at fourteen, when they know not what Concupiſcence meaneth, and which after kindling, burns more violently, like cinders covered over with aſhes, at laſt break out violently into a flame. Witneſs the unchaſte lives of many that are under this Vow of Chaſtity. But if they cannot contain, it is better for them to marry than to burn; better break an unneceſſary and unlawful Vow, than the Commandment of God; better a Prieſt, or Monk, or Nun, their Vow notwithſtanding, marry, than to break the Commandments of God, and their Vow in Baptiſm. 'Tis horrid to think that the Popes forbid marriage, and permit or tolerate fornication and adultery in their Prieſts as a leſs crime than marriage.
Again, That although a man that hath had two Wives, be accounted irregular in the Papacy, yet he that hath had divers Concubines is not, as Pope Innocent III. declareth. If for the ſtrengthning of their unlawful Vows, they urge that of the Apoſtle, 1 Tim. 5.11, 12. where he ſaith, Refuſe the young widows; for when they have begun to wax wanton againſt Chriſt, they will marry; having damnation, becauſe they have broken their firſt faith. This may be anſwered from the context, namely, that younger widows ſhould marry, and guide the houſe, and not be received into the Office of Deaconeſſes, of being ſervants to the Church, to relieve or look to the ſick, and to ſuccour the poor, becauſe ſuch perſons, if they ſhould make ſuch a promiſe to the Church, to continue in that ſtate all the days of their life, would be apt to break it, either by being wanton againſt Chriſt, committing fornication, or elſe would be under the power of their husband, and ſo not be at liberty to ſerve the Church. Now therefore the Apoſtle concludes, that none ſhould be received into the Church as Deaconeſſes, under the age of threeſcore, at which time, ſaith one, the Vow of not marrying would be ridiculous. Therefore the Pope and his Clergy, ſaith Dr. Fulk, admitting other widows or virgins to profeſs or vow Continency, do ſin againſt the expreſs Commandment of the H. Ghoſt. Nor was the want of Monaſteries, and Monkiſh and Nuniſh Rules and Orders in the Apoſtles times, the occaſion of this Prohibition or reſtraint: For, ſaith my Author, the Incontinency of Nuns and Monks in Cloyſters, and under all your Rules and Orders, hath and doth daily give ſufficient proof, that Luſt will not be kept out by the walls of your Monaſteries, nor by the Rules and Preſcripts of your Orders. So then as the experience of ſome younger widows that had followed after Satan, was a ſufficient reaſon to cauſe the Apoſtle to refuſe all young widows to the Office of Deaconeſſes; ſo the experience of ſo many Milch Nuns, and filthy Monks and Friers, teach us, that no young perſons are to be admitted to any Vow or Profeſſion of perpetual Continency. Let me add here what the ſaid Doctor hath out of Wierus de Praeſtig. Daemon. l. 3. cap. 9, 11. edit. 3. That the Devil helpeth the Nuns in their abominable luſts, in divers Nunneries in Germany, namely, in the Province of Colen, where the Devil in the likeneſs of a Dog, was ſeen to fall upon them in the day time, in moſt beaſtly manner, about the year of our Lord, 1558. alſo in the Nunnery of Nazanth in Colen, the Nuns in moſt filthy manner, ſuffered the ſame illuſion oftentimes, in the ſight and preſence of many, anno 1564.
The ſtate of the Church, ſaith Gerſon Chancellor of Paris, is grown altogether bruitiſt and monſtrous; and ſhould give an Item to the Overſeers to enquire, whether the Cloyſters of Nuns, be not become the Stews of Harlots — and who would think, ſaith the Author of the Triumph of Rome over deſpiſed Proteſtancy, that ſo wiſe a man as Caeſarius Branchedorus could ſo far over-reach as to ſay, that the luſts of whoredom and gluttony, and other ſhameful enormities, had gotten ſuch a head, that young men did pati muliebria, and Prieſts did facere virilia; and that their Nuns did, as it were, openly profeſs unchaſtity; and at laſt, that whoſoever was noted to be a ſhameleſs Adulterer, or a wild Ruffian, that had laviſh'd out all his Patrimony, anu, pene, ventre, was ſure to betake himſelf to the Court of Rome as his Sanctuary. And again, Who could have looked for ſuch language to fall from ſo grave an Author as Eſpencaeus, that our Anceſtors wiſh'd, that our Clerks ſhould turn their wives into their ſiſters; but now our age turns them into Lemmans and Whores, and conſequently their lawful iſſue into Baſtards. And again, God hath taken away our ſons, and the Devil hath given us Nephews; and could imagine that ſo learned and ingenious a …n as Eraſmus would ſo far wrong his neighbours, as to ſay, that a number of Monaſteries are ſo degenerated, that the Stews are more chaſte, and ſober, and modeſt then they.
The ſupplication of Beggars tender'd to King Henry VIII. aſſured him, that by virtue of the Sacred Votaries, there were a hundred thouſand Whores in this our Nation. Fryar Menolem in the Pulpit cryed to the Clergy, Ye my Maſters of the Church, do not damn your ſouls: Ye have now Birds in the Cage that chirp to you by night; yt know my meaning, put them away. So the Author of Romes Triumph over deſpiſed Proteſtancy, which ſome ſay was Biſhop Hall.
Our Church Hiſtorian tells us, that King Stephen's fury fell moſt fiercely on the Dean and Canons of Pauls, for croſſing him in the choice of their Biſhop; for he ſent and took their Focaria's, that is (Roger Hoveden being Interpreter) their Concubines, and caſt them into the Tower of London; where they continued many days, not without much ſcorn and diſgrace, till at laſt thoſe Canons ranſom'd their liberty at a great rate, F. Hiſt. Book 3. p. 27.
From theſe premiſes, I hope we may ſafely draw this good and honeſt Concluſion, That marriage is not to be prohibited to a whole Order of men within the pale of the Church, neither directly, nor by conſequence; and that 'tis not expedient to ſuffer young men, and young maids or women to vow Celibacy all their lives.
It was piouſly ſaid of Pope Pius the ſecond, That for great cauſes Prieſts wives were taken from them, but that for greater cauſes they ought to be reſtored to them again: See Platina in the life of the ſaid Pope.
It is better to marry than to burn, ſaith St. Paul; and the Canons of St. Paul's Church aforenamed, had much better have had Wives than Focaria's, Fire-makers, or Concubines.
How horrible is it that the Church of Rome doth hold, That 'tis much better, and leſs offence, for a Prieſt to uſe another mans wife, than to marry one of his own, after that he hath once accepted and married our dear Mother the holy Church for his wife during life.
But leaving ſuch Apocryphal Doctrine of the Romiſh Church, I come to the Canon of the holy Scripture, 1 Cor. 7.2. To avoid fornication, let everyman (and therefore Spiritual perſons are not exempted) have his own wife, and every woman (and therefore Nuns are not interdicted) have her own husband, and to avoid fornication it is enjoyned; and therefore all perſons of both Sexes, who have not the gift of Continency, are bound to marry; nor can any Vow or Oath be vinculum iniquitatis, i. e. a Bond of Iniquity, and oblige againſt God's Law, which ſaith, Thou ſhalt not commit Adultery; and, It is better to marry than to burn. Beſides, if two Oaths be taken, and the one contradict the other, the firſt is obligatory, and not the ſecond. Now all Prieſts and Nuns in Baptiſm vowed to keep all God's Commandments, and therefore the Seventh, not to commit Adultery.
Thoſe Scriptures, Be ye holy, for I am holy; and, Pray continually, concern all Chriſtians, as well as Prieſts and Profeſſed perſons; and therefore if they be interpreted to oblige from marriage, they oblige the Laity as well as the Clergy, to uſe the ordinary diſtinction. Beſides, Aaron and his Sons, though married perſons, were daily both morning and evening to attend upon the Sacrifice, and to burn Incenſe every morning, Exod. 30.7. and this Incenſe was a Type of Prayer, which every Chriſtian, whether married or ſingle, is bound to offer up unto God daily. As for holineſs, Matrimony is not inconſiſtent with holineſs, witneſs Abraham, Iſaac and Jacob, Aaron the ſervant of the Lord, and Enoch that walked with God, and yet did not forſake his wife and children; and 'tis obſervable, that the Boſom of Abraham, although a married perſon, is uſed to ſet out Heaven by in the Scripture. If Heaven had been ſet out by the Boſom of any Saint in Heaven, that had always led a ſingle life on earth, what triumphs would Rome have made on that occaſion. And whereas 'tis ſaid, Rev. 14.4. Thoſe that follow the Lamb whitherſoever he goeth, theſe are they which are not defiled with women, for they are Virgins. Certainly Chriſt is followed whitherſoever he goeth, not only by the bleſſed Saints that have led a ſingle life, but alſo by married perſons, as Patriarchs, Apoſtles, Martyrs, and innumerable others, as the Scripture ſpeaketh, 2 Cor. 5.6. 1 Theſſ. 4.17. And the Apoſtle ſpeaks of all kind of true Believers, 2 Cor. 11.2. Theſe are bought from among men, to be firſt-fruits unto God and the Lamb; theſe are dedicated, as firſt-fruits uſed to be, unto God. They are called ('tis thought) Virgins, becauſe they adhered to Chriſt, when the Whore of Babylon had made all the Kings and Nations of the earth drunk with the cup of her fornication. It is conceived this place may have reference to thoſe Iſraelites that were inticed to Idolatry by the Midianitiſh women; and 'tis frequent in Scripture to call, or compare Idolatry to Adultery or Fornication; becauſe God's people are betrothed and married unto him, he is their Husband, and they his Spouſe, and when they go after Idols, they are ſaid to give God a Bill of divorce, and to go a whoring after other gods. Or, as Dr. Hamond on the place, Theſe are they which had kept pure from all the heretical Gnoſtick corruptions of uncleanneſs. Where there is neither ſpiritual nor carnal Fornication or Adultery, there is no defiling with women; for the marriage-bed in Scripture-Dialect is the bed undefiled, and to the pure all things are pure. The unbelieving husband, is ſanctified by the believing wife; and the unbelieving wife, by the believing husband, and therefore are their children holy. If marriage was filthineſs, or uncleanneſs, or a vice, or that married perſons could not pleaſe God, doubtleſs the H. Ghoſt would never have ſaid, Marriage is honorable amongst all, and therefore amongſt Clergy men; nor would our bleſſed Saviour have been born of a Mother, though a Virgin, yet eſpouſed and married to a husband, namely to Joſeph. Marriage, one ſaith, fills earth, and Virginity heaven; but if there were no Saints in earth, how ſhould there be any in heaven? if earth were empty, how could heaven be full of Saints? He did not commend his Sex that ſaid, a woman was a neceſſary evil, for how evil then muſt man be deemed, for whom ſuch an evil is neceſſary? and I take him to be a fool as well as mad, that being asked, whether he was married? he anſwered, He was never ſo mad yet; for I dare ſay, there are more made ſober than mad by marriage. I preſume, that Hypochondriacal Melancholy, a ſpecies of madneſs, doth more ſeiſe and diſtract ſingle, than married married perſons. And confident I am, as one ſaith, that the Patriarchs did converſe with many wives more chaſtely, than many do now adays with one; ſo that many live now more holily and chaſtely in Wedlock, than others in their Cloyſters and Cells. And if when a voyce from heaven calls to ſingle perſons, whether man or woman, whether Eccleſiaſtical or Temporal perſons, Let every man have his own wife, &c. Let them not ſay or reply, I do not meddle with any ſtate that is common or unclean. If they ſhould, I reply to them again, What God hath cleanſed, or rather always accounted a pure, holy and undefiled eſtate, that call not thou common or unclean.