26. О втором браке

And what about marriage? The Apostle even legalized the second marriage. For he said: “I say to the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they continue as I did; if they do not restrain themselves, they will encroach: it is better to marry than to become limp” (1 Cor. 7:8-9). He called “liquefaction” not the severity of the struggle with lust, but overcoming it. And in a few words he confirms the law, and says this: “a wife is bound by the law, while her husband lives as long as possible: but if her husband dies, she is free to eat, for what she wants, to commit violence, but in the Lord” (1 Cor. 7:39), that is, chastely and lawfully, with a pious and faithful husband. And he gives advice about abstinence: “But she is most blessed, and if this continues, according to my advice” (1 Cor. 7:40). And the certainty of the law is proved through induction; “I imagine,” he said, “that I also have the Spirit of God.” Not driven by human speculation, I legitimize this, but as one who has become an instrument of the Spirit of God. It should be noted that he called the one who abstains not blessed, but most blessed, thereby teaching that the one who loves a second marriage is not completely deprived of bliss, if only she has accepted the yoke of the established law. And writing to the Romans and explaining the difference between law and grace, the Apostle presented the example of a second marriage. For he says: “Or do you not understand, brethren: for to those who know the law I say: For the law has dominion over man, and liveth for a long time? For a married wife is bound to her husband while she lives by the law: if her husband dies, she will be freed from the law of men. Therefore, as I live, I am an adulterer's husband, if she were to be with another husband: if her husband were to die, she is free from the law, so that she would not be an adulterer, having been to another husband” (Rom. 7:1-3). Therefore, here too, intending to prove otherwise, I proved together that the second marriage is not rejected. Also, writing to Blessed Timothy, setting out the laws on church ranks and going into detail about the title of widows, he added: “But deny young widows” (1 Tim. 5, 11); and explaining the reasons, he adds: “I want to encroach upon young widows, to bear children, to build a house, and not to give a single blasphemy to the contrary” (1 Tim. 5:14). But when Paul says: “I want,” Novat dares to say: “I don’t want.” And we follow Pavlov’s laws, and let Novatov’s arrogance cry about us. You might be interested in: