I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.
Read Chapter 7
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
We must not understand these words to mean that widows are not unmarried because they once embraced the married state. Widows are unmarried, but not all unmarried are widows. That is why Paul makes a distinction here.
I say, therefore, to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. I am unmarried: let them remain the same. Hence it is most evident that S. Paul has no wife, but was single.
Paul states that continence is better, but he does not attempt to pressure those who cannot attain to it. He recognizes how strong the pull of concupiscence is and says that if it leads to a lot of violence and burning desire, then it is better to put an end to that, rather than be corrupted by immorality.
For, withal, when he has laid down the definitive rule with reference to "the widowed and the unwedded "that they are to "marry if they cannot contain "because "better it is to marry than to burn".
But when things lawful are (only) granted by way of indulgence, who hope for things unlawful? "To the unmarried "also, "and widows "he says, "It is good, by his example, to persevere "(in their present state); "but if they were too weak, to marry; because it is preferable to marry than to bum."
