On Celibacy: General Principles (1 Corinthians 7:25–35)

First the Apostle sets forth a) general principles on this matter (1 Cor. 7:25–35); then b) he writes rules on the application of these principles in practice (1 Cor. 7:36–40).

h) General Principles (1 Cor. 7:25–35)

In the general principles the Apostle says that aa) it is better to be in celibacy, although those who marry do not sin (1 Cor. 7:25–28), establishing bb) as the foundation for this on one hand α) the affliction and brevity of life (1 Cor. 7:29–31), on the other hand – β) the greater convenience for pleasing the Lord in celibacy (1 Cor. 7:32–35).

1 Cor. 7:25. Concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord; but I give my judgment, as one who has received mercy from the Lord to be faithful.

“Concerning virgins” – παρθενος – applies to both male and female, meaning both a virgin man and a virgin woman. And the words that follow address now one, now the other. Therefore, in placing this word, the Apostle probably meant virginity in general. Until now he has been speaking about restraint in the married state; now he moves to virginity. “Continuing his discourse, he gradually arrives finally at virginity; having instructed and enlightened the Corinthians through discussion of restraint, he moves to the higher subject” (Saint Chrysostom).

“I have no commandment of the Lord.” In saying this, the Apostle means either the personal revelations from the Lord that came to him from time to time when needed, or the words of the Lord spoken by Him when He dwelt on earth. And the Lord settled this question when, on account of the law concerning the indissolubility of marriage, the disciples said: if so, then it is better not to marry. The Lord answered them: “Not everyone can accept this word,” and then, pointing to various eunuchs and among them to those who became eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, added: “the one who is able to accept this, let him accept it” (Matt. 19:10–12). This means: not everyone can be a virgin man or woman, but he who is able. The same is established by the Apostle. What then do the words “I have no commandment” mean? – I do not dare to make definite binding pronouncements on this matter. “I do not introduce a law, but propose counsel. For even the Lord, having prescribed what accords with nature, only proposes as counsel what is above nature” (Theodoret). “I do not dare to legislate either, for this is a great matter and is surrounded by great difficulties and dangers” (Theophylact).

“As one who has received mercy from the Lord to be faithful.” – “As one who has received mercy,” ἠλεημένος, as one who has received that mercy from the Lord, or as one deemed worthy of that mercy from Him, to be faithful – faithful to Him, a faithful interpreter of His will, a person entrusted with opening His will to all. The Apostle speaks as if to say: though I only give counsel, yet such counsel is not foreign to the Lord’s intentions. “Since some, probably, might have objected to this counsel as an innovation, the Apostle added these words. With his customary humility he indicated in them the apostolic dignity: I am a worthy counselor, says he, called by the great mercy of the Master and appointed as a preacher” (Theodoret). “Since, by the great mercy of God, I have been deemed worthy of being in God’s possession, worthy that He would entrust me with His mysteries” (Theophylact).

1 Cor. 7:26. I suppose therefore that this is good in view of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is.

“What then do you counsel us? ‘I suppose therefore that this is good… for a man to remain as he is.’ He says “I suppose,” not because he doubts that virginity is good and the best of blessings, but so that the counsel would not turn into law, he expressed a kind of doubt. For law is accompanied by observance, transgression, and punishment of the transgressors: therefore he does not legislate concerning something great, but proposes it in the manner of counsel” (Theodoret).

“In view of the present distress,” or on account of a distress that already exists, presses down, or a distress that is coming, it is not yet here, but it is ready to fall upon our heads. In the first case these would be either distresses from the concourse of constrictive circumstances, or the distresses of the married state itself. In this latter sense Oecumenius and Theophylact understand these words: “It is good, and very good, for a man to refrain from marriage, but not because marriage is unclean, but on account of the difficulties and sorrows of the married state” (Theophylact). What in the course of expounding the epistle Saint Chrysostom said on this passage has not been noted; but one commentator quotes his words from his work on virginity, where he understands by “the present distress” generally the burden of earthly life, weighed down by cares, deprivations, conflicts, miseries and sorrows. In the second case these would be calamities ready to fall upon the heads of the Corinthians on account of the faith. The Church of Corinth was enjoying peace, but the Apostle foresaw that the Corinthians would soon be subjected to trials on account of their faith, which are easier to bear for the unmarried than for the married. For in those days no Church was free from this. Therefore he says: it is better not to marry. Thus the blessed Photius in Oecumenius: “By the ‘present distress,’ I understand here that the Apostle means persecution directed by the unbelievers against the faithful, and all manner of pursuit and malice on their part. In setting down so exalted a rule, the Apostle thought it not superfluous to base it on them also, making it seem that he is setting it down as if compelled by circumstances. He speaks as if to say: virginity, which is good in itself, is also good on account of the impending trials: for the unmarried does not find it so difficult to bear them as one bound by wife and children. The soul is torn as if into pieces in this—both one is confined, and one grieves for them, and a man is laden with unbearable weight of evil; but the unmarried, not afflicted by the sufferings of those so close to him, finds it easier to endure the turmoil of calamities.” How then should we understand these words? At all other times the choice of a celibate life is prompted more by the burdens of the married state itself and the excess of sorrows generally in the present life; but at that time, perhaps the Apostle had in view more the strained situation in which Christians found themselves almost everywhere on account of the hostility toward them of the unbelieving. So then, says he, my counsel is: on account of the present distress it is better for “a man to remain as he is.” – “To remain as he is,” that is, not to enter into marriage, but to remain alone. “Man” in general, whether male or female.

1 Cor. 7:27. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you released from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

“Have you become bound to a wife?” This is understood through marriage, the same as whether you have entered into marriage, whether you are married. “Do not seek a release”—not the temporary one, by mutual agreement, a separation of which was spoken of before (1 Cor. 7:5), but divorce, so as to send away your wife. He again confirms the indissolubility of marriage. Before entering into marriage, seek freedom from a wife; but once you have entered, bear her burden and do not send her away, however difficult it may be. “Have you been freed from a wife?” λελησαι—one can also understand it as: have you been freed from a wife with whom you were joined in marriage, by reason of her death; and one can understand it as: are you released from a wife, that is, have you not entered into marriage at all. In either case, “do not seek a wife,” that is, do not enter into marriage. It is expressed in the form of a decisive command; yet throughout here it is proposed as a counsel, that is, if you are able, if you feel yourself strong enough for it. Therefore either this condition must be understood, or this decisive form must be explained in this way: above he said that for the present need it is better “for a man to be thus,” that is, not to have a wife. Those who are married might think or ask a question: well then? Should we send away our wives? No, the Apostle answered; my thought is this: if you are released, not bound in marriage to a wife, do not seek a wife; and if you are bound, do not seek a release—so as to send her away. Thus Photius in Oecumenius.

1 Cor. 7:28. But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.

He continues to soften that decisive form of expression: “do not seek a wife,” and at the same time more precisely defines the meaning of his counsel, guarding it from all confusion. I have said, he says, “do not seek a wife,” not forbidding you to marry, but offering you counsel. And if you do marry, you will not sin; likewise a virgin, if she marries, will not sin. I propose the counsel of celibacy not because there is anything sinful in marriage: there is no sin at all in entering into marriage. But those who enter into marriage will have the troubles of the flesh, “and I want to spare you this.” “And the Apostle revealed his paternal love and showed the benefit of a celibate life. One must understand that the Apostle said this not of those who have once and for all renounced the world, but of those who have not yet chosen either one or the other, but still stand at the common boundary of married and unmarried life” (Theodoret).

What does “troubles of the flesh” mean? Oecumenius writes: “Those who marry will have troubles,” he says, “because of the sorrows that are bound up with marriage; and I spare you, as my children, and I wish for you to be free from sorrows and undisturbed. Being in marriage, you are as though in bonds; and no one among you has authority over himself.” Theophylact understands by “sorrows of the flesh” the cares and anxieties, inevitable in the married state. “Troubles of the flesh”—τη σαρκι—for the flesh or in the flesh. The Apostle points to the trouble which is closer than external troublous circumstances, to such a sorrow which is in the flesh itself. Why would not he understand first of all the pains of childbirth? Both husband and wife suffer equally at this time: he in soul, she in body. And then further understand here the troublesome cares of maintaining the household, raising children, maintaining external relations, deprivations, failures, reversals, attacks, ruin. All this is inevitable to endure, while the unmarried are free from all this and remain masters both of their body and their occupations and all their external situation. Since in the course of the discourse the words “troubles of the flesh” stand in relation to the words “for the present need,” perhaps the Apostle also had in mind here what blessed Photius saw in “the present need,” that is, the persecutions and afflictions always ready to arise for the sake of faith, which are easier for the unmarried to bear, or from which he is better able to escape.

The Apostle places the troubles of life in the first place. He inserted this thought when speaking generally of the preferability of celibacy to married life, in the words: “for the present need,” and: “those who marry will have troubles;” here “he referred to circumstances, threatening need, the tightness of the times, and sorrow, and pointed out that marriage is bound up with many difficulties” (holy Chrysostom). Now he particularly dwells a) on the brevity of time, life, and the goods of the world (1 Cor. 7:29–31); and then he sets forth β) the greater ease of pleasing God in an unmarried life (1 Cor. 7:32–35).

1 Cor. 7:29. I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none.

“I mean, brothers,” By these words he both demands special attention and at the same time shows that he approaches the explanation of a point not entirely clearly stated, which nevertheless is necessary to understand. He explains what sorrow is and what need. How? By saying that “the appointed time has grown short… the form of this world is passing away.” What then? Let the time grow short, let the form of the world pass away, what is that to us? The answer is: with this there will be such a strike upon all that everyone will forget everything: husbands will forget their wives, wives will forget their husbands, the joyful will forget joy, the sorrowful will forget sorrow, and all those enjoying any goods of the world will forget those goods. As in a time of terror everything is driven out of consciousness and all is seized by one terror, so that those terrified, seeing, do not see, hearing, do not hear: so it will be at that time. And that time is imminent, it is almost at the door now. So when is there time for marriage?! When is there time for pleasures and enjoyments! Is it not better to dispose yourself beforehand and prepare yourself, so that that time might strike you less?

What does “the appointed time has grown short” mean? “This present life is rushing toward its end, the end of the present age is near” (Theophylact). “So that no one should say to the preceding words, ‘those who marry will have troubles,’ but they will also have pleasures, the Apostle cuts off the hope of pleasure by representing the time as grown short. Everything tends toward dissolution, the kingdom of Christ has drawn near, into it we are destined to move, so that even if any pleasure is possible, it is momentary and will only increase sorrow” (Theophylact). “We are already commanded to depart from here and prepare for our exit, but you are striving inward (that is, you are entering deeper into this life). If marriage were not accompanied by any sorrows, even in that case one ought to strive for what is future; if however it is accompanied by sorrows, why should one lay a burden on oneself? What necessity is there to lay on oneself such a burden, which having accepted, one must bear as though not having accepted?” (holy Chrysostom). Thus by the words “the appointed time has grown short,” the Apostle puts people in the same disposition as the Lord does when He says: “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man comes at an hour when you do not expect him” (Matt. 24:42–44). “Be on your guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It is like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping” (Mk. 13:33–36). The memory of this, once rooted and embracing consciousness, and especially falling upon feeling, changes one’s view of all that exists and becomes to its opposite. Whoever truly feels that this is the Lord’s hour will not stop at anything earthly, but will wholly pass into another world, into that in which they neither marry nor are given in marriage, where belly and food will be done away with. What drives this decisive moment out of memory is that we keep waiting and waiting, and it never comes. But still it will come, and it will come as the Lord said—suddenly. Moreover, it does not matter: either it comes, or death will come very soon; and the decision for us is the same in either case. Therefore everything is the same—at every moment something is ready to overtake us by which our fate will be decided for all eternity. “The appointed time has grown short.” You need not stretch it out to years and tens of years. Abbreviate it to a single moment, and with this thought pass from moment to moment, thus to the end of life. Put yourself in such a disposition—then, even having a wife, you will be as not having a wife, that is, you will forget all that is marital, and will not even think of marrying, if you do not have a wife. “What does it mean: ‘as not having a wife’? That is, they will forget about the marital bed and will not heed their wives when they come with demands to fulfill their senseless worldly desires” (Oecumenius). “They will not be attached to them, will not turn all their care only to the marital and to their wives” (Theophylact).

1 Cor. 7:30–31. Those who mourn should be as though they are not mourning; those who are happy should be as though they are not happy; those who buy something should be as those not owning anything; and those who use the things of the world should be as though not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.

To verify in practice that this is truly so and must be so, one need only place oneself mentally in the state of a dying person, ready to leave this world. Do this, and immediately—whatever of the present things you should have wept over, or which you had already wept over—you will cease to weep; whatever you rejoiced in, you will cease to rejoice; if you bought something, you will be so indifferent to it as though you had not acquired anything new; and in general, whatever goods of the world you might use, you will cut off all pleasure in them and all sympathy toward them. But if such a mental representation produces such an effect, what must happen when the thing itself comes to pass? The Apostle wishes for us to be in heart as though we were already departing from here, as though the hour of the Lord were already upon us—he wishes, that is, for us to be completely released from all things, so that not only in heart but in mind we hold nothing of the transient with anxious care. “The present is alien to us,” says the Apostle, “because we depart from here very quickly” (Theodoret). “And not only about wives, but about nothing else should we be overly concerned, whether it be sorrowful or consoling, or whatever profit may come about by reason of favorable transactions. And why,” he says, “should I enumerate this and that? In one word I will say: ‘those who use the world should be as though not using it,’ as though they had nothing. For to be attached to worldly things and to torment oneself with care about them is not the use of the world but the misuse of it” (Theophylact). “Since time is short, everything that anyone has should be considered as though it did not exist. If death is near, why become attached to worldly things? He who gives himself to worldly pleasures, glorifies himself in wealth, is lifted up by honors and praise—he does not use the world as he ought. One must look upon all this as passing by and not concerning us. We do not enter this world for the sake of these things, but for the sake of advancing in good works and being always ready for our departure. Whoever forgets this goal and gives himself to the world as though eternal life were here, does not use the world as he ought, but misuses it” (Oecumenius).

“For this world in its present form is passing away.” Everything in the world is so changeable that it flows like a river. As a lighted candle burns and by burning destroys itself, so the world by its changeability decomposes and hastens toward its end. “By this the Apostle shows the brevity of the present” (Theodoret). It is passing—it is decomposing. Why then become attached to what presents nothing substantial? For by saying “is passing away,” and moreover “in its present form,” the Apostle gave to understand that all the goods of the world are such only in appearance, but in themselves contain nothing enduring and substantial. Or, it is passing away, destined to cease, and it will cease very soon, so that afterward nothing in it will remain in the form that it now has. Why then become attached to all this or be concerned about all this? “There will no longer be farming and seafaring, nor kingdoms and military commands, nor slavery and dominion, nor arts and sciences, nor poverty and wealth, for from all this and the like does the present age consist—but it is passing away. In the future life everything will be arranged otherwise, it will take on a different form” (Theodoret).

1 Cor. 7:32–33. I want you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife.

“I want.” A new teaching begins: I also want you to be free from concern, that is, without care, so that you are not tormented by evil worry. Care, sorrow, excessive anxiety—these are the distinctive marks of life according to the spirit of the world and its driving force. No passion appears as respectable as this one; and none does so much harm to a man in his Christian life as it does. It clouds and darkens the mind, crushes and dries the heart, and gives no opportunity to come to one’s senses, driving from one task to another and never allowing one to see their end. Meanwhile the one who is driven around, crushed, and goaded presents nothing bad to outward appearance, provided he does not use openly bad means for his goals and provided he maintains proper relations with others. Thus his soul is broken, but he thinks of himself as a respectable man, and lives in the phantom deception of himself. He has no time even to think about salvation, about eternity, about pleasing the Lord. He is entirely in worldly and temporal things; and the spiritual side, turned toward God and eternity, is completely closed to him. When the Apostle says, “I want you to be free from concern,” he requires that you not torment yourselves exclusively with worldly and temporal cares and that you change the sorrow of this age into sorrow for the age to come. “How then can we become free from concern?—If we remain unmarried” (Theophylact).

For “an unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs, how he can please the Lord.” An unmarried person too may not have concern about the Lord’s affairs; but a married person, even if he wished to be concerned with this, cannot, even if he desired it, because wife, children, and house stand in the way, all of which require care and attention. “A married man is concerned about the affairs of this world, how he can please his wife.” Where there is a wife, there is a family and a house: and therein lies a field of cares. The wife herself has many necessary needs; and if to this is added vanity and the desire to live up to the demands of the age, then they cannot even be enumerated. Celibacy frees one from all such cares and untangles one’s hands for works that please God—of course, if one wishes it. If you wish, he says, to please the Lord, then the unmarried state is the most fitting for that. To satisfy one’s own needs is easy, and then he can devote all his time to the Lord. But a married man has a large portion of his time taken up by cares, vanity, and the world, even in the best oriented married life. Therefore the married can never reach such a degree of spiritual perfection as the unmarried. “The Apostle himself pointed out the aim of virginity; for a virgin’s soul is free from unnecessary and foolish cares, and he, so far as is possible, imitates the life to come” (Theodoret). “But how is it that holy Paul, wishing to make us free from concern and for that reason counseling celibacy, again says, ‘an unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs’?—Here again is concern! But,” he says, “this concern is quite different from that which is imposed by marriage. Concern about the Lord’s affairs, about how to please the Lord, is salutary and sweetly nourishing, but worldly and temporal cares that come from marriage are destructive and torment the soul” (Theophylact). It is very remarkable that the same, as it were, psychological action produces such opposite consequences. This is due to the difference in the objects. The Lord is our goal. Exclusive self-dedication to Him brings us into communion with Him and, placing us at the goal, provides well-being. Moreover, the Lord is one and unifies those who devote themselves to Him, giving them wholeness and strength, while the world is complex: it decomposes the soul within itself and, disrupting the wholeness of its life, exhausts it, torments it, and dries it up.

1 Cor. 7:34. And his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit; but a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband.

“His interests are divided,” that is, the same distinction applies to the married woman as to the virgin. The latter cares only about how to please the Lord, preserving holiness in both body and spirit, while the former cares only about how to please her husband, with the cares connected to this and other vanities. The Apostle distinguishes what is in the attention, goal, and heart of the one and the other: for one, the Lord and all that is of the Lord; for the other, the husband with other vanities. By as much as heaven is separated from earth and the Creator from the creature, by that much is the spiritual state of the first separated from that of the second. It is evident that the Apostle sets the virgin, who has dedicated herself exclusively to the Lord, in contrast to the woman who has become entangled in vanities. But if the latter also begins to have concern for pleasing the Lord, then to the extent that she labors in this pleasing, she will taste of the well-being characteristic of the former. Yet it is certain that she cannot possibly reach the perfection of the former, because she also spends time on unavoidable tasks and her heart shares in fleshly pleasures, which in their measure always diminish the tasting of spiritual goods. Those in families know how impossible it is to be completely free from carnal considerations. If this is impossible, then perfect spiritual perfection also cannot be attained.

The Apostle noted it well: “Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit.” “It is not enough to be holy in body; one must be holy in spirit as well. For true virginity is the purity of the soul. But there are many virgins who are pure and blameless in body, yet stained in soul. Pay attention also to this: she who is controlled by worldly cares is no longer a virgin. Therefore when you see that a certain virgin who has embraced virginity gives herself over to worldly cares, know that she in no way differs from the married. Paul has precisely defined the features by which they should be distinguished—it is not merely marriage and celibacy, but excessive care and freedom from care, so that one with excessive care is no longer a virgin: for how does she differ from the married woman, who is much concerned with how to please her husband and other vanities?” (Theophylact).

1 Cor. 7:35. I am saying this for your own good—not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.

“I am,” he says, “not drawing you to this wealth by compulsion, as though laying a constraint upon you and catching you by force, but am showing the advantage that flows from it. For there is no other way for us to remain constantly in the service of God than by escaping the bonds of worldly life” (Theodoret).

More than once he has said that he is not giving a commandment but counsel; but by repeating this so often, he gives to understand, as though wishing, that as many people as possible would willingly fulfill his counsel. This is evident from what he states as the purpose of virginity. It is for “propriety,” he says, “and undivided devotion to the Lord.”

“For propriety”—“wishing to call you to the most proper state; and indeed, what is more proper than virginity?” (Oecumenius, Theophylact). In the second letter he even speaks of the whole church at Corinth in this way: that he was jealous for it with a godly jealousy, to present it to the Lord as a pure virgin (2 Cor. 11:2); and here he is jealous to present each soul to the Lord in the most proper form, using as a means to that end a wise and strictly followed virginity. A virgin is more proper before the Lord. Why is this?—Because, of course, the marks of God-likeness can be imprinted more quickly and fully on a virgin soul than on one who has known the pleasures of marriage.

“And undivided devotion to the Lord.” “Devotion”—ευπαρεδρον—constant sitting near the Lord, free, convenient, easy. “Undivided”—απερρισπαστως—undistracted. Therefore, he says, as a second reason, I counsel you so insistently, though without compulsion, to virginity, because it grants the possibility, convenience, and ease—to sit constantly near the Lord without any distraction. No cares, no thoughts distract him; his attention is wholly fixed on the Lord, and nothing tears him away from Him. Thus he is always with the Lord and the Lord with him—he like a bride, the Lord like a bridegroom. Behold a spiritual marriage—inseparable. What follows from this, everyone can see for himself. The Apostle’s word is very decisive.