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| Commandment Fourth. On Putting One’s Wife Away for Adultery.
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On Putting One’s Wife Away for Adultery.
Chap. I.
“I charge you,” said he, “to
guard your chastity, and let no thought enter your heart of another
man’s wife, or of fornication, or of similar iniquities; for by
doing this you commit a great sin. But if you always remember your own
wife, you will never sin. For if this thought165
enter your heart, then you will sin; and if, in
like manner, you think other wicked thoughts, you commit sin. For this
thought is great sin in a servant of God. But if any one commit this
wicked deed, he works death for himself. Attend, therefore, and refrain
from this thought; for where purity dwells, there iniquity ought not to
enter the heart of a righteous man.” I said to him, “Sir,
permit me to ask you a few questions.”166
| 166 Questions. “I charge you,” said he,
“to guard your chastity, and let no thought enter your heart of
another man’s marriage (i.e., wife), or of fornication, for this
produces a great transgression. But be always mindful of the Lord at all
hours, and you will never sin. For if this very wicked thought enter
your heart, you commit a great sin, and they who practice such deeds
follow the way of death. Take heed, therefore, and refrain from this
thought. For where chastity remains in the heart of a righteous man,
never ought there to arise any evil thought.” I said to him,”
Sir, permit me to say a few words to you.” “Say on,”
said he.—Vat. | “Say on,” said he. And
I said to him, “Sir, if any one has a wife who trusts in the Lord,
and if he detect her in adultery, does the man sin if he continue to
live with her?” And he said to me, “As long as he remains
ignorant of her sin, the husband commits no transgression in living
with her. But if the husband know that his wife has gone astray, and
if the woman does not repent, but persists in her fornication, and yet
the husband continues to live with her, he also is guilty of her crime,
and a sharer in her adultery.” And I said to him, “What
then, sir, is the husband to do, if his wife continue in her vicious
practices?” And he said, “The husband should put her away,
and remain by himself. But if he put his wife away and marry another, he
also commits adultery.”167
And I said to him, “What if
the woman put away should repent, and wish to return to her husband:
shall she not be taken back by her husband?” And he said to me,
“Assuredly. If the husband do not take her back, he sins, and brings
a great sin upon himself; for he ought to take back the sinner who has
repented. But not frequently.168
For there is but one repentance to
the servants of God. In case, therefore, that the divorced wife may
repent, the husband ought not to marry another, when his wife has been
put away. In this matter man and woman are to be treated exactly in the
same way. Moreover, adultery is committed not only by those who pollute
their flesh, but by those who imitate the heathen in their actions.169
Wherefore if any one170
persists in such deeds, and repents not,
withdraw from him, and cease to live with him, otherwise you are a sharer
in his sin. Therefore has the injunction been laid on you, that you should
remain by yourselves, both man and woman, for in such persons repentance
can take place. But I do not,” said he, “give opportunity
for the doing of these deeds, but that he who has sinned may sin no
more. But with regard to his previous transgressions, there is One who
is able to provide a cure;171
| 171
There … cure. God, who has power to heal, will provide
a remedy.—Vat. [This whole passage seems to refer to
the separation of penitents under canonical discipline. Tertullian,
Pudicit., capp. 5, 13, and De Penitent., cap. 9. 2
Thess. iii. 14.] | for it is He, indeed, who has power over
all.”
Chap. II.
I asked him again, and said, “Since
the Lord has vouchsafed to dwell always with me, bear
with me while I utter a few words;172
| 172 Bear … words. Give me a few words of
explanation.—Vat. | for I understand nothing,
and my heart has been hardened by my previous mode of life. Give me
understanding, for I am exceedingly dull, and I understand absolutely
nothing.” And he answered and said unto me, “I am set
over repentance, and I give understanding to all who repent. Do
you not think,” he said, “that it is great wisdom to
repent? for repentance is great wisdom.173
| 173 Repentance … wisdom. For he who repents
obtains great intelligence. For he feels that he has sinned and acted
wickedly.—Vat. [“Wisdom and understanding;”
spiritual gifts here instanced as requisite to true penitence and
spiritual life.] | For he who has sinned understands that he
acted wickedly in the sight of the Lord, and remembers the actions he
has done, and he repents, and no longer acts wickedly, but does good
munificently, and humbles and torments his soul because he has sinned.
You see, therefore, that repentance is great wisdom.” And I said to
him, “It is for this reason, sir, that I inquire carefully into all
things, especially because I am a sinner; that I may know what works I
should do, that I may live: for my sins are many and various.” And
he said to me, “You shall live if you keep my commandments,174
and walk in them;
and whosoever shall hear and keep these commandments, shall live to
God.”
Chap. III.
And I said to him, “I should like to continue
my questions.” “Speak on,” said he. And I said,
“I heard, sir, some teachers maintain that there is no other
repentance than that which takes place, when we descended into the
water175
| 175 [Immersion continues
to be the usage, then, even in the West, at this epoch.] | and
received remission of our former sins.” He said to me, “That
was sound doctrine which you heard; for that is really the case. For he
who has received remission of his sins ought not to sin any more, but to
live in purity. Since, however, you inquire diligently into all things,
I will point this also out to you, not as giving occasion for error to
those who are to believe, or have lately believed, in the Lord. For
those who have now believed, and those who are to believe, have not
repentance for their sins; but they have remission of their previous
sins. For to those who have been called before these days, the Lord
has set repentance. For the Lord, knowing the heart, and foreknowing all
things, knew the weakness of men and the manifold wiles of the devil, that
he would inflict some evil on the servants of God, and would act wickedly
towards them.176
| 176 For …
them. Since God knows the thoughts of all hearts, and the weakness
of men, and the manifold wickedness of the devil which he practices in
plotting against the servants of God, and in malignant designs against
them.—Vat. | The Lord, therefore, being merciful,
has had mercy on the work of His hand, and has set repentance for them;
and He has entrusted to me power over this repentance. And therefore I say
to you, that if any one is tempted by the devil, and sins after that great
and holy calling in which the Lord has called His people to everlasting
life,177
| 177 In … life.
These words occur only in Pal. [Can the following words be genuine? They
reflect the very Montanism here so strictly opposed. Wake has followed a
very different text. The Scriptures, it is true, use very awful language
of the same kind: Heb. x. 26, 27; xii. 16, 17; 1 John iii. 9. |
he has opportunity to repent but once. But if he should sin frequently
after this, and then repent, to such a man his repentance will be of no
avail; for with difficulty will he live.”178
| 178 With … live. With difficulty will he live to
God.—Vat. And Pal. | And I said, “Sir,
I feel that life has come back to me in listening attentively to these
commandments; for I know that I shall be saved, if in future I sin no
more.” And he said, “You will be saved, you and all who keep
these commandments.”
Chap. IV.
And again I asked him, saying, “Sir, since
you have been so patient in listening to me, will you show me this
also?” “Speak,” said he. And I said, “If a
wife or husband die, and the widower or widow marry, does he or she
commit sin?” “There is no sin in marrying again,”
said he; “but if they remain unmarried, they gain greater honour
and glory with the Lord; but if they marry, they do not sin.179
Guard, therefore, your chastity and purity,
and you will live to God. What commandments I now give you, and what I
am to give, keep from henceforth, yea, from the very day when you were
entrusted to me, and I will dwell in your house. And your former sins
will be forgiven, if you keep my commandments. And all shall be forgiven
who keep these my commandments, and walk in this chastity.”E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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