4 Marriage is necessary to prevent fornication; SECT. by any means agreeable to the genius of the 1 Cor. gospel. render unto the wife Let the husband, where this relation is com- 3 Let the husband VII. 3. menced, render all due benevolence to the wife, due benevolence: and and in like manner also the wife to the husband: likewise also the wife let them on all occasions be ready mutually to unto the husband. oblige, and consult the happiness of each other's life. And let them not imagine that there is any perfection in living separate from each 4 other, as if they were in a state of celibacy. For the wife hath not in this respect power over her power of her own boown body, but hath by the marriage-covenant and likewise also the transferred it to the husband; and in like man- husband hath not power 5 own 4 The wife hath not dy, but the husband: wife. ner also, the husband hath not power over his of his own body,but the one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may Withdraw not therefore from the company of 5 Defraud ye not each other, unless [it be] by consent for a time; that ye may be at leisure to devote yourselves more intensly to fasting and prayer, and that give yourselves to fastye may come together again as usual; lest Satan ing and prayer; and tempt you on account of your incontinence, and gain, that Satan tempt take occasion from the irregular sallies of you not for your inanimal nature, to fill you with thoughts and continency. passions, which marriage was in its original in stitution intended to remedy. 6 But you will observe, that I say this by per 7 come together a 6 But I speak this mission from Christ; but not by any express by permission, and not command, which he gave in person in the of cou.mandment. days of his flesh, or gives by the inspiration and suggestion of his Spirit now; by which inspiration, you may conclude I am guided when I lay in no such precautions as these. 7 For I would that But as for the main question we are now upon, I could wish that all men were, in this all men were even as respect, even as myself; that all christians could I myself; but every as easily bear the severities of a single life in present circumstances, and exercise as resolute a command over their natural desires. But a By permission.] I cannot, with Mr. Cradock, think, that the meaning of this clause, is, "I permit marriage, but do not enjoin it," and have elsewhere observed, that this verse, and others in this context, nearly parallel to it, will be so far from affording, on any interpretation, an objection against the general inspiration of every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this And it is better to marry, than to burn. this manner, and ano- every man has his proper gift of God, one in this SECT. kind, or manner, and another in that. So that ther after that. 8 I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. 9 But if they cannot Contain, let them mar ry; for it is better to marry than to burn. 10 And unto the yet not I, but the Lord, depart, let her remain wife. xii though I give the best advice and example I can 1 Cor. say, it is good for them, (if they conveniently can,) to But as to those that are married, [it is] not 10 entirely cease. It shews therefore how unfair and improper it is, in various cases, to strain the apostle's words to the utmost rigour, as if he perpetually used the most critical exactness; but indeed chap. x. 22. is so full an instance to the contrary, that it is not necessary to multiply remarks of this kind. IMPROVE c To those that are married.] The translation, published by the English Jesuits, at Bourdeaux, renders it, to those who are united in the sacrament of marriage; which I mention as one instance, selected from a vast number, of the great dishonesty of that translation. 5 6 Reflections on the Apostle's observations about marriage. Ver. IMPROVEMENT. THE decisions of the holy apostle are here given with such gravity, seriousness and purity, that one would hope, delicate as the subject of them is, they will be received without any of that unbecoming levity which the wantonness of some minds may be ready to excite on such an occasion. It becomes us humbly to adore the Divine wisdom and goodness. manifested in the formation of the first human pair, and in keeping 2 up the different sexes through all succeeding ages, in so just a 4 proportion, that every man might have his own wife, and every woman her own husband: that the instinct of nature might, so far as it is necessary, be gratified without guilt, and an holy seed be sought, which being trained up under proper discipline and instruction, might supply the wastes that death is continually making, and be accounted to the Lord for a generation: that so virtue and religion, for the sake of which alone it is desirable that human creatures should subsist, may be transmitted through every age, and earth become a nursery for heaven. 5 With these views, let marriages be contracted, when it is proper they should be contracted at all. Let none imagine the state itself to be impure; and let it always be preserved undefiled. Let all occasion of irregular desire be prudently guarded against by those who have entered into it. And let all christians, in every relation, remember that the obligations of devotion are common to all; and that Christ and his apostles seem to take it for granted, that we shall be careful to secure proper seasons for fasting, as well as for prayer, so far as may be needful, in order that the superior authority of the mind over the body may be exercised, and maintained, and that our petitions to the throne of grace may be offered with greater intenseness, copiousness and ardour. SECT. xiii. Cor. VII. 12. SECT. XIII. The apostle exhorts Christians not to break marriage on account of difference in religion; and urges, in the general, contentment with the stations in which they were called, and a concern to serve God in their proper condition, whether married, or single, bound or free. 1 Cor. VII. 12-24. I CORINTHIANS VII. 12. IH 1 COR. VII. 12. BUT to the rest speak 1, not the Lord, If any brother hath a to the rest of the persons and cases to, which I wife that believeth not shall address myself, it is to be observed, that I speak and Marriage not dissolved by difference in religion. and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away. 13 And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctifi xiii. 1 Cor. 7 speak, according to what duty or prudence SECT. seems on the whole to require; and it is not to be considered as if it were immediately spoken by the Lord. If any Christian brother hath an VII. 12. unbelieving wife, and she consent to dwell with him, notwithstanding the diversity of their religious persuasions, let him not dismiss her. And 13 on the other hand, if any Christian wife have an unbelieving husband, and he consent to dwell with her, let her not dismiss him, nor separate herself from him, though the legal constitution of the country in which she lives may allow her to do it. For in such a case as this, the un- 14 ed by the wife, and the believing husband is so sanctified by the wife, and unbelieving wife is the unbelieving wife is so sanctified by the hussanctified by the hus- band, that their matrimonial converse is as band: else were your lawful as if they were both of the same faith: otherwise your children, in these mixed cases, were unclean, and must be looked upon as unfit to be admitted to those peculiar ordinances by which the seed of God's people are distinguished; but now they are confessedly holy, and are as readily admitted to baptism in all our churches, as if both the parents were Christians; so that the case you see, is in effect decided by this prevailing practice. However, if the unbe- 15 lieving party, in such circumstances as these, be sister is not under bond- absolutely determined, and will depart, let him, age in such cases: but or her depart, and take the course they think God best; and the consequence is, that a brother, or children unclean; but now are they holy. 15 But if the unbe lieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a a sister, who hath been united to such a wife, a Let her not dismiss him.] I have else. where observed, that in these countries, in the apostle's days the wives had a power of divorce as well as the husbands. b Is sanctified, &c.] Some think the meaning is, "the Christian may convert the infidel;" as appears, in that the children of such marriages are brought up Christians. But this cannot possibly be the sense; for that they were brought up so, was not to be sure always fact, and where it was, there was no need of provng from thence the conversion of the paTent, which would in itself be much more apparent than the education of the child. c Now are they holy.] On the ma turest and most impartial consideration of this text, I must judge it to refer to infantbaptism. Nothing can be more apparent than that the word holy, signifies persons, who might be admitted to partake of the d As 8 SECT. The believing party may convert the unbelieving. future obligation, and is not in bondage in such God hath called us to xiii. [cases.] But let it be always remembered, that peace. 1 Cor. God hath by his gospel called us to peace; and VII. 15. therefore it ought to be our care, to behave in as inoffensive a manner as possible, in all the relations of life; that so, if there must be a breach, the blame may not be chargeable upon the Christian. 16 16 For what knowest thou shalt save thy And as it is worth your while, to be very careful in your behaviour to those who thus make, thou, O wife, whether as it were, a part of yourselves, that you may husband? Or how adorn the gospel you profess, by the most ami- knowest thou, O man, able and engaging conduct; for it is possible, whether thou shalt save the unbeliever may be thereby gained to Chris- thy wife? tianity. Let each therefore reflect on his own concern in this observation. For how knowest thou, O wife, but thou mayest save [thine] husband? Or how knowest thou, O husband, but thou mayest save [thy] wife? And surely the everlasting happiness of the person, now the companion of your life, will be more than an equivalent for all the self-denial to which you may be required at present to submit. But if this should not be the effect, it still becomes you to do your man, as the Lord hath duty; and therefore since the providence of God called every one, so let is concerned in all these relations, and in the him walk and so orsteps by which they were contracted, as God dain I in all churches. hath distributed to every one, and as it were, cast the parts of life, let every one so walk, even as the Lord hath called hima. This is the lesson I would inculcate on you Corinthians, and thus I command in all the churches, and charge it upon the consciences of men, as a lesson of the highest importance. 17 But as God hath distributed to every 18 Is any man called being circumcised? 18 Is any one, for instance, called, being circumcised, let him not become, so far as in him lies, let him not become uncircumcised; nor act, as if he were desirous, uncircumcised; is any as far as possible, to undo what was done by his man called in uncirJewish parents, or masters, in his infancy. Is cumcision? Let him any one called to the fellowship of gospel-bles- cised. ings in uncircumcision let him not be solicitous to be circumcised, as if that rite were necessary to As the Lord hath called him.] This is a very pertinent digression, as it so directly contradicts the notion which prevailed among the Jews, that embracing the true religion dissolved all the relations which had before been contracted. Where-, as the apostle here declares, that the gospel left them in this respect, just as it found them; increasing, instead of lessen his not become circum ing, the obligations they were under to a faithful and affectionate discharge of their correspondent duties. e Become uncircumcised] The word wow, has an evident relation to attempts, like those referred to, 1 Mac. i. 15, which it is not necessary more particularly to illustrate. f You |