Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods, which God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them who believe and know the truth.
All Commentaries on 1 Timothy 4:3 Go To 1 Timothy 4
Clement Of Alexandria
AD 215
It follows that celibacy is not particularly praiseworthy unless it arises through love of God. The blessed Paul says of those who show a distaste for marriage, “In the last days people will abandon the faith, attaching themselves to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demonic powers that they should abstain from food, at the same time forbidding marriage.” Again he says, “Do not let anyone disqualify you in forced piety of selfmortification and severity to the body.” … Well? Did not the righteous of past days share gratefully in God’s creation? Some of them married and produced children without loss of selfcontrol.
