A treatise of the celibacy of the clergy wherein its rise and progress are historically considered. Wharton, Henry, 1664-1695. 1688 Approx. 411 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 88 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2003-05 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A65597 Wing W1570 ESTC R34741 14580697 ocm 14580697 102659 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A65597) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 102659) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1080:8) A treatise of the celibacy of the clergy wherein its rise and progress are historically considered. Wharton, Henry, 1664-1695. [6], 168 p. Printed by H. Clark for James Adamson ..., London : 1688. Attributed by Wing to Wharton. Imperfect: pages stained and with print show-through. Reproduction of original in the Huntington Library. Includes bibliographical references. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Catholic Church -- Clergy. Celibacy. 2003-01 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-01 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2003-02 John Latta Sampled and proofread 2003-02 John Latta Text and markup reviewed and edited 2003-04 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A TREATISE OF THE CELIBACY OF THE CLERGY , WHEREIN ITS Rise and Progress Are Historically Considered . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epiphan . Haeres . XLIII . in init . LONDON : Printed by H. Clark , for James Adamson , at the Angel and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard , 1688. THE PREFACE . AMong the Errours and Corruptions of the Church of Rome , there are such which have neither any foundation nor shew of Antiquity , but are the meer Inventions of latter ignorant and barbarous Ages : Others , which obtained not indeed in the Ancient Church , but arose from the degeneracy of some Belief , or Corruptiin of some Practice received and used by the Ancient Christians . Of the first sort are Transubstantiation , Half-Communion , Supremacy of the Pope , Worship of Images , and the like groundless Opinions and Practices , which the Antient Church never thought of , much less admitted . Of the latter kind are Invocation of Saints , which arose from an extraordinary Veneration paid to the Memory and Reliques of blessed Saints and Martyrs , degenerating in latter Ages into downright Superstition and Impiety . Purgatory , advanced from a Belief generally received in the Ancient Church , that the Souls of the departed are not admitted to the beatisical Vision before the Day of Judgment , into a foolish Opinion of a Fictitious Place of Torment , which might receive them in that interval of time : And Infallibility of Councils , raised from an external Submission of ancient Christians to their Decrees , into an Obligation of yielding an internal Assent to their Definitions . The Beginnings and Rise of the Errours of the sirst sort , are unknown and uncertain , as being founded in dark and ignorant Ages ; whose Actions are now no less obscure , than were then their Notions . But the latter sort admit a more clear and more certain Knowledge : Their several Steps , Progresses and Gradations , may without much difficulty be traced out , and exposed to the view of all Mankind ; as hath been often done by the Divines of the Reformed Churches . But the most eminent Instance of the latter kind , is the Imposition of Celibacy in the Church of Rome , which arose from an immoderate affection and reverence of Virginity in the Ancient Universal Church , and Example of many particular Churches . Upon which account , I may boldly affirm , that the Imposition of Celibacy hath greater advantages to recommend and justifie it to the World , than any other erroneous Practice or Opinion of the Church of Rome whatsoever . Many others indeed proceeded from the Imitation and Advancement of some Ancient Doctrine or Practice : But then that Practice degenerated into Abuse , and that Doctrine was advanced into Errour . Whereas the Imposition of Celibacy can plead not only the Countenance and Resemblance of Antient Times , but produce the Examples and Authorities of Popes , Councils and Doctors , who anciently imposed Celibacy upon the Clergy , and urged the Imposition of it with no less fervour , than it is at this day continued in the Church of Rome . However Celibacy be confirmed by these Great Authorities , and recommended by this peculiar advantage of Undoubted Antiquity , few Divines of our Church have handled this Controversie , or endeavoured to shew the inclusiveness of those Authorities , and weakness of this Antiquity . Some few have produced Authorities of the Antient Writers in Favour of the contrary Practice ; or in treating of other Arguments have briefly touched of it ; and all have passed it over in a few Words , as a Matter of less Moment . At least none , that I know of , have handled this Controversie in a particular Treatise ; nor shewn the Beginnings , Occasions , Advances and Success of the Imposition of Celibacy , in the several Ages of the Church . This Enquiry hath been omitted , not because Truth is wanting to our Side , or the whole Stream of Antiquity runs contrary to us : but because this is one of the less Momentous Controversies ; and our Clergy , whose peculiar Glory it is to be less solicitous of their Interest even in things lawful and indifferent , declined the Controversie ; least in pleading for the lawfulness of Marriage , and they should be thought by a Censorious World to plead for their own Passions and Inclinations , and perhaps Practice too . To supply this . Defect is the Design of this Treatise , to vindicate the injured Cause of Marriage , and shew that the Antient Esteem of Celibacy was neither Rational nor Universal , that both Antient and Modern Imposition of it is unlawful , and that the Antient use of it , is no reasonable nor necessary President of the Modern Practice of it , to shew the Occasions of that Esteem and Beginnings of this Imposition ; and carry the History of the Celibacy , and Marriage of the Clergy through the several Ages of the Church . This I have here undertaken , and as I hope , in some measure performed ; perhaps with so much the better Success , because induced by no Prejudices , nor pleading for any peculiar Interests . For the Reader may be assured , that the Author of this Treatise hath neither experienced the Pleasures of Marriage , nor hath the Honour to be a Priest of the Church of England . It may not be amiss , because our Adversaries commonly object to us falsifying of Citations , and borrowing them from one another ; ( a Crime which the Romish Priests of England are truly guilty of , perhaps therein to be excused , because the badness of their Cause requireth the former , and their own Ignorance necessitates the latter ) 〈◊〉 farther , to advertise the Reader , that of all the Citations which he shall find in this Treatise , no one is taken up at the second hand for the first 1300. years , and after that time no more than three Writers cited upon the Faith of others , viz. Alvarus Pelagius , Panormitan , and Polydor Virgil , whose Writings I had not then by me , nor had any opportunity to consult . A TREATISE OF THE CELIBACY OF THE CLERGY . WHEREIN Its Rise and Progress are Historically Considered . VIrginity is a thing so plausible , and if true so venerable ; so countenanced by Antiquity , and admir'd by the Unthinking Multitude ; so highly subservient to the Secular Interest , and outward Grandeur of the Clergy : That among all the Artifices wherewith the Church of Rome upholds a sinking and decaying Cause , it is no wonder , if She more especially make use of this . It might justly deserve our reverence , and excite our Emulation , if her Clergy made good their glorious Pretences of Virginity by a real and unspotted Chastity : But since when we departed from the Church of Rome , we resumed that ancient priviledge of Mankind , of believing our Senses ; since Reason and Revelation assures us , that so great a part of Mankind cannot , and Experience demonstrates that it doth not enjoy a Perfection so extraordinary ; since an enforced Vertue , and servile Piety , is neither acceptable to God , nor venerable to Men : We slight their Virginity , because impos'd ; and do not believe it , because we do not see it . The Plea indeed of Antiquity is not only specious , but in some measure true . In the Ancient Church , they retained an infinite esteem and veneration for Virginity : Many extolled it as the glory , and some made it even the business of Christianity ; it was an unusual abstinence from lawful and permitted Pleasures , that procured them Admiration from the Heathen , and Honour from their Fellow-Christians . But then they really performed , what they generously undertook : Their Celibacy was no less chast than voluntary ; their Piety was fully adequate to their Zeal , and both perhaps in some things greater than their Knowledge . Yet should we even do violence to our Reason , and force our Nature to imitate the Examples , and receive the Doctrine of those great and holy Persons , if either their Consent or their Practice had been universal . But on the contrary , the Imposition of it hath been condemned by the most Famous Councils , and Greatest Writers , never used in the Eastern Church , not introduced in the Western till almost two hundred years after Christ , enjoyned but in some few Provinces of that , and even in those not universally practis'd ; and all this without doing injury to the sacred Bond of Marriage , and ever leaving open a refuge for incontinent Persons . Not so the Church of Rome , which not only adviseth , but imposeth Celibacy ; in many of the Clergy have dissolved Marriage , in all descrieth it as Heresie , defineth it to be worse than Fornication , and to none allows a remedy for Incontinency . To demonstate the Injustice of the Church of Rome herein , and her departure from the Doctrine and Practice of the Ancient Church , shall be the Subject of this present Treatise . It is no small presumption of Errour , when the Defenders of any Opinion agree not in the merits of the Cause they undertake . In the Church of Rome , there are Four Opinions about the Celibacy of the Clergy : The first , that it is of Divine Right , Instituted and Commanded by God. So (a) Jo. Major , (b) Clichtovaeus , and (c) Turrian teach , that God hath forbidden Bishops , Priests , Deacons , and Sub-deacons ( whom we shall hereafter comprehend under the general Name of the Clergy , unless when we manifestly distinguish them ) to Marry , or use their Wives already married . The second is that of Bellarmine , Valentia , Vasquez , Becanus , Aquinas , and the far greater part of the Roman Divines , that it is not properly of Divine , but of Apostolick Right , as being instituted by the Apostles , and ever since constantly and invariably practised by the Church ; that a Vow of Continence should be annexed to Holy Orders ; and consequently , that Marriage thereby becomes unlawful to the Clergy , without a Dispensation . The third , without any respect to Divine or Apostolical Institution and Practice of the Ancient Church , whether they be here had or not , thinks it sufficient that the Church hath Power to impose a Vow of Continence upon the Clergy , and that such a Vow being once taken , all use of Marriage is become unlawful , and subsequent Contracts invalid . This seems to be the Opinion of many of the Canonists , and the Council of (d) Trent ; which ventured to define no more than this , that Clergy-men or Regulars , after a solemn profession of Continence , cannot Marry , or if they do , that their Marriage is unlawful . Lastly , the more moderate Divines maintain , that it is neither of Divine nor Apostolical Right , but deriveth all its Obligation from Ecclesiastical Institution ; which as well as the Vow annexed to it , will cease to oblige , as soon as the Church shall please ; although in the mean while she hath sufficient reason to continue her Institution . Against these Opinions , I shall prove these Four Propositions . I. Celibacy of the Clergy was not instituted either by Christ or his Apostles . II. It hath nothing excellent in it , and bringeth no real advantage to the Church or to the Christian Religion . III. The Imposition of it upon any Order of Men , is unjust , and contrary to the Law of God. IV. It was never universally imposed or practsed in the Ancient Church . I. First then , that Celibacy was not instituted either by Christ o●… his Apostles . By Celibacy , we mean a perpetual abstinence from the use of the Nuptial Bed in those already Married , and not Contracting of Marriage in single Persons , after taking of Holy Orders , or making a Vow of Chastity . That such Celibacy was not at all enjoyned by Christ , nor by the Apostles , as of Divine Right , is sufficiently proved from the dissent of our Adversaries herein . For it is the received Opinion of the Church of Rome , that nothing can be a matter of Faith , such as this would be , if it had been commanded by Christ ; which is doubted and disputed of among the Doctors of the Church . Now this is denied by the Maintainers of the Second and Fourth Opinions : As for the Third , that according to the usual artifice of the latter Popish Councils , is so obscurely proposed , that it neither directly favours nor opposeth it . Besides , neither Scripture or Tradition can be offered for this claim of Divine Institution . The former is not so much as pretended to , or if it be , we shall examine it afterwards : The latter cannot justly be , since none but an universal Tradition of all past and present Ages is sufficient to convey down a matter of Faith ; whereas here the greatest part even of the present Church deny it . But I will not insist upon disproving this , as well because it is disowned by the greatest part of our Adversaries , as because all the Arguments to be produced against the other Opinions , will with much more force be valid against this . I will only observe , that if this Opinion be either false or uncertain , the Infallibility of the Church of Rome is wholly overthrown ; since many Popes and Councils in the Eleventh Age , determined the Celibacy of the Clergy to be of Divine Institution , and the lawfulness of their Marriage to be downright Heresie . (a) Bellarmine therefore , and with him the more Learned of the Church of Rome , decline this Plea , and assign to this Celibacy a bare Institution of the Apostles , acting herein without any particular or express Commission from our Lord , but by them prescribed and advised as meritorious itself , and convenient to the Church ; punctually herein followed and obeyed by the Church in all Ages . Whether the Church , and more especially the Ancient , did conform its discipline to this pretended Institution of the Apostles , we shall enquire hereafter ; and by proving that it did not , prove also that the Apostles made no such Institution : Since the Primitive Church cannot be supposed to have immediately degenerated from the Instructions and Admonitions of her Founders and great Doctors . But to pass by that , I observe , that whether the Apostles instituted Celibacy , and ordained a Vow of Continency to be annexed to Holy Orders , is a Question of Fact , and consequently cannot be infallibly determined by the Church ; but must be by them clearly proved , either from express Texts of Scripture , or an universal and invariable Tradition . That there is no such Tradition , we shall ●…hew in some measure presently , and more largely hereafter . For Scripture , we desire to know , where those plain Admonitions of Celibacy to the Clergy are to be found . For we are in no ways obliged to prove the Negative ; Marriage being not forbidden to the Clergy by the Moral Law , and therefore to be esteemed Lawful to them , till a manifest Prohibition shall be produced . Bellarmine indeed urgeth that Precept of the Apostie , Tit. 1. 8. that a Bishop be sober and temperate , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . But , not to say that Bellarmine herein forsakes his own Principle , and maketh Ceiibacy to be of Divine Institution , since St. Paul speaketh this , (b) not only as one that had obtained Mercy of the Lord to be Faithful , but also , (c) as an Apostle of Jesus Christ : These words serve not the purpose , as designing neither Continence nor Chastity , but Abstinence from Drunkenness and Coveteousness , and are opposed the first to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and the second to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the former Verse . Or if we should with (a) St. Chrysostom interpret 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this place , of an universal Temperance , we must remember , that such a Temperance is nothing else but a Moderation in the use of all lawful Pleasures . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , saith (b) Clemens Alex. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . He is universally Temperate , not who abstaineth from all things , but who moderately useth those things , which he judgeth lawful . Or Lastly , if we should against all reason interpret 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chast and Continent : Yet the Fathers unanimously teach , that these Vertues are not incompatible with the moderate use of Marriage , as we shall prove hereafter . In the mean while let it be observed , that (c) St. Paul reason'd before Faelix 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , of Righteousness and Temperance ; and yet cannot be supposed to have forbidden him the embraces of his Wife . As for Bellarmine's other Text , 2 Tim. 2. 4. No man that warreth , entangleth himself with the affairs of this life : It is sufficient these words are addressed not only to Clergymen , but to all Christians . Whether a Married state doth necessarily entangle Persons in the Affairs of this Life , more then Celibacy , shall be enquired hereafter . We come now to that great Store-house of the Assertors of Celibacy , the VII Chap. of the 1 Epist. to the Corinthians : And here a few Observations might have prevented many Mistakes ; as first , That the Apostle was so far from imposing Virginity upon any Order of Men , that he seemeth to have foreseen the danger of such Mistakes , and therefore to have inserted these Cautions of them : (d) But I speak this by permission , and not of command . (e) Ye are bought with a price , be not ye the servants of men . (f) And this I speak for your own profit , not that I may cast a snare upon you . Secondly , To those who are already Married , he adviseth not a total , but a temporary Abstinence : (g) Defraud not one the other , except it be with consent for a time , that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer , and come together again , that Sata●… tempt you not for your incontinency . (a) Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called . (b) Art thou bound unto a wife ? seek not to be loosed . Thirdly , That of those who are already Unmarried , he adviseth Virginity to them only who have the Gift of Continence . (c) Nevertheless he that standeth stedfast in his own heart , having no necessity , but hath power over his own will , and hath so decreed in his heart , that he will keep his virgin , he doth well . (d) I say therefore to the unmarried and widows , it is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain , let them marry : for it is better to marry than to burn . Fourthly , That this advice of Virginity was given not for the attainment of any greater merit , but meerly for reasons of Convenience , and the urgent Necessities of those times . (e) I suppose therefore that this is good for the present distress . (f) Such shall have trouble in the flesh , but I spare you . But this I say , brethren , the time is short . (g) But I would have you without carefulness . Fifthly , That this Advice was directed not only to the Clergy , but to all Christians in general . The Apostle no where restrains his discourse to the former , but all along addresseth himself to the whole multitude of Believers . If any one of these Observations be true , as they are all most certainly , then no advantage can be drawn out of this Chapter for the cause of Celibacy , now in Controversie . But our Adversaries are not only destitute of Reason and Revelation in favour of this Opinion , but we have also many strong Arguments against it . For to pass by the greatest of all , the Silence of Scripture , and the contrary Practice of Antiquity ; the first manifested already , the latter to be proved hereafter : Many of the Greatest Divines of the Roman Church do expresly confess , that the Celibacy of the Clergy is neither of Divine nor Apostolical Institution . This all those Popes , Councils and Doctors , hereafter to be produced , who allow the Marriage of Priests in the Greek Church to be lawful , must have held , unless they be supposed to have betrayed the Doctrine and Tradition of the Church . All those Divines likewise who have admitted or allowed a total abrogation of the Laws of Celibacy , could not believe it to have a Divine or Apostolical Original . However I shall produce some few , who expreslly denied it . As first , the Canon Law , which may be looked upon as the sence of the whole Church of Rome for some Ages . So then Gratian , (a) The Marriage of Priests is Forbidden neither by Legal , nor Evangelical , nor Apostolical Authority ; and yet is wholly Forbidden by the Ecclesiastical Law. And , (b) The Church , after the Apostolical Institutions , hath added some counsels of Perfection , as that of the Continence of Ministers . (c) Joannes , a Ludegna , in a Speech made in the Council of Trent , and Printed among the Acts of that Council , determineth and largely proveth , that the Celibacy of the Clergy is neither of Divine Right , nor in any sence commanded by the Apostles , but only advised by them : And that , if there was no Laws of the Church , or Monastick Vows , Priests or Monks might lawfully Marry . Besides , if the Opinion of those Divines be true , who maintain that Christ superadded no Evangelical Counsels to the Moral Law ; Celibacy can be neither of Divine nor Apostolical Institution , unless we suppose that the Apostles immediately adulterated that most pure and simple Religion , which they had received from their Master . And indeed , this seemeth highly rational , most consonant to the Honour of God , and adapted to the Nature of Man. That Religion was most be●…itting the Wisdom of the Deity to prescribe for the last and most perfect Rule of Mankind , which was most pure and simple : And this seems to have been the great End of Christ's coming into the World , to free us from the bondage of the Ceremonial Law , and estate us in that perfect liberty , if not of Will , yet at least as to the objects of Choice , in which we were at first Created : whereas had he prescribed a perpetual Continence to all those who aim an Perfection , as is pretended , without altering their Natures at the same time , and by an extraordinary Miracle , enduing all , who desire it , with the Gift of Continence : This alone would have debased the excellency of his Religion ; and have been an Imposition more grievous and burthensom , more difficult and intolerable , than all the Rites and Ceremonies of the Mosaick Law. And then in respect of us , it became the Wisdom and Goodness of our Supreme Law-giver , to give us a Religion , not as to Angels or Spiritual Beings , but in a way most consentaneous to our Natures , and and agreeing to our Imperfections . That can neither refine , nor perfect our Nature , which is Preternatural ; and if in this Mortal State , while enchained in a Body , surrounded with frailties , and endued with passions , we affect the impassibility of Angels , and the perfection of Spirits , we may be called Ambitious , but I know not whether Pious . But this is not all . The Apostle not only forbids not , but even expresly permitteth Marriage to the Clergy . For laying down the necessary Qualification of a Bishop , the highest and most perfect Degree of the Clergy , he proposeth this as as one , that (a) he be blameless , the husband of one wife . One that ruleth well his own house , having his children in subjection , with all gravity . Of a Priest , that (b) he be blameless , the husband of one wife , having faithful children . Of a Deacon , that (c) he be the husband of one wife , ruling his children , and his own house well : And further , looketh upon it as no small mark and testimony of the ability and worthiness of the Candidates of any of these Sacred Offices , if they have ruled their own Houses well , and by their precepts and examples taught their Wives and Children the practices of all Vertues . And in another place , (d) to avoid Fornication , allows to every Man his own Wife , maketh no exceptions . That is a lamentable refuge of some , who seek to elude the force of the former places , by pretending that the Apostle means here by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , he who hath been the Husband of one Wife , but is not now , being become a Widdower , or at least unable for the exercises of the Bed. For besides that , the (a) Apostle giveth Rules for the vertuous Carriage of Deacons Wives ; besides that , this Interpretation is uncertain , which is sufficient to our purpose , that it is contrary to the sence of all Mankind , and the Vulgar acceptation of the word Husband , that it seemeth repugnant to the following Precept , of ruling their Houses well , and is certainly repugnant to the Explication of the Fathers : The Practice of the Ancient Church do manifestly evince the falseness of it , wherein it cannot be denied many Persons were admitted to Sacred Orders , who had Wives then alive and dwelling with them . And in the Apostolical Constitutions , the Apostles are introduced thus speaking , (b) We have ordered , that a Bishop , Priest and Deacon , be the Husband of one Wife , whether their Wives be alive , or whether they be dead . To pass by therefore this unreasonable Interpretation , there are three other Explications of this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , all of them back'd with great Reasons and Authorities . First , That the Apostle means no more thereby , than that the Persons admitted into Holy Orders , should not have two wives at the same time . Secondly , That he should not have successively two Wives , much less three or four , one after the death of another . Thirdly , That he should not have two Wives living at the same time , one Married after the Divorce of another . The first Interpretation was generally followed by the Greek , the second by the Latine Fathers ; although (c) St. Chrysostom espouseth both , and (d) St. Hierom in so many several places admits all three . Which of them be the truest , is of no great moment to the present business , since each of them destroy the Opinion of our Adversaries , and leave to the Clergy a liberty of Marriage . However , because the second Interpretation , if admitted , may in some measure prejudice that Principle which we shall hereafter lay down , that all cannot contain , and that God and Nature hath provided no other remedy for incontinent Persons , than Marriage , which consequently must be reiterated as often as necessity shall require : I shall say somewhat to it , and oppose first , the contrary Opinion of all the Greek Fathers . Secondly , the Authority of the whole Catholick Church , who admitted Bigamist Bishops and Priests , or those who had married one Wife after the death of another , and that in great numbers , as we shall hereafter occasionally demonstrate ; so that if the Apostle had forbidden all such to be admitted into these Sacred Offices , the Universal Church had erred in a matter of the greatest moment . Thirdly , the third Interpretation seems far more consonant to Reason , the Analogy of the Scripture , and the Circumstances of those Times . For that ought not to exclude any Man from this Sacred Dignity , which is so far from being a Crime , that in many cases it becomes Necessary ; and if Marriage be allowed to all Men , to avoid Fornication , if any Man's Wife dieth , before either his years , or the peculiar favour of God hath reprieved him from the temptations of Incontinence ; that Man , although a Priest or Bishop , may , withouthe least injury to the strictest Rules of Piety or Religion , contract a second Marriage . Bigamy in him , as (a) Theodoret invincibly argues , will become involuntary , and conseqnently not derogate from his character either of Priest or Christian. Besides , it was an abuse very frequent in that Age , both among the Jews and Gentiles , to Divorce their Wives upon the slightest occasions , or the least discontent ; an abuse which argued in all an inconstant and unjust , and in many a lustful Mind ; and therefore although committed before their Conversion , rendred such Persons unworthy of this Sacred Character . This Interpretation therefore is embraced by Theodoret , who , after he had affirmed the same Opinion to be maintained by many Others , and asserted it by many Reasons , concludeth thus , (b) They seem to me to be in the right , who hold , that the Apostle here teacheth him to be worthy of Episcopal Ordination , who liveth chastly with one only Wife . For he hath not herein rejected second Marriages , which he hath in many cases even commanded to be contracted . Considering then these and such like Arguments , I receive the Interpretation of these Writers . St. Chrysostom also in (a) one place explains it the same way . And St. Hierom , when freed from the passion of Disputing against Jovinian , enclined to the same Opinion . For proposing (b) the Examples of two Bishops , whereof the one shall have lost his Wife in his youth , and overcome by the necessity of the flesh shall marry another , bury her after some time , and ever after contain ; the other shall enjoy the company of but one Wife , even till his death : He determineth the former to be the better , more chaste , and more continent . And in another place , (c) resolving Oceanus his Question , Whether Carterius , a Spanish Bishop , who had married one Wife before , and a second after Baptism , had not thereby violated the Apostle's Injunction , of a Bishop's being the Husband of one Wife ? He pronounceth , That he had not . Lastly , The contrary Opinion is built upon a false Foundation . For , not to say that it was first set on foot by Tertullian , after he was become a Montanist , and from him received by the Latin Fathers ; it relyeth wholly upon these Two false Suppositions . First , That according to any other sence , the Precept of the Apostle would have been unnecessary , the Roman Laws never allowing Polygamy . Secondly , That the Apostle maketh use of the same Phrase , when he commands (d) a Widdow to be chosen , the wife of one husband , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , although no Laws or civilized Nations ever permitted Women to have two Husbands at the same time . But both these Reasons vanish , when opposed to our Third Interpretation . For Divorce was permitted by the Roman as well as Jewish Laws , for many other causes besides that of Adultery , which alone was allowed by Christ : So that whosoever had put away his Wife for any other cause , and married another , might truly be said to have two Wives : and any Woman , who had married again after such an unlawful Divorce , had truly two Husbands . Having thus refuted the pretence of Divine or Apostolical Institution , I proceed to the Second Proposition , That the Celibacy of the Clergy hath nothing excellent in itself , and produceth no real Advantage either to the Church or the Christian Religion , beyond Marriage . And here I am not ignorant , what Panegyricks and Encomiums of Virginity have been composed by many of the Antients , and almost all the Writers of the Barbarous Ages . This was a large field for them , wherein to display their Rhetorick , a subject so specious in itself , and glorious in its Title , that 't is no wonder it hath been the Theme of so many luxuriant Wits ; many of which have little less than Deify'd it , and equall'd its Merits to the collection of all other Christian Vertues . I shall not here undertake , nor is it necessary to make an harangue upon the Praises of Marriage , much less to depress the Excellencies of the Virgin state ; it will suffice to shew the weakness and invalidity of the contrary Arguments , and thereby reduce both Marriage and Virginity to that Equilibrium , wherein Nature first placed them , and our Saviour left them . First then , I observe , That this extraordinary affection and reverence of Virginity , was first started and introduced by a Heretick , Tertullian ; who deceived by the Enthusiasms of Montanus , endeavoured to resine the Christian Religion , and advance it into a System of Angelick Perfection . He led the way to the Writers of the Latin Church ; who receiving this prejudice from him , propagated it in some measure among the Greeks , although it never was by them embraced with that zeal , and pursued with that fervour , which always accompanied it in the Western Church . Secondly , it may be observed , That this extravagant veneration of Virginity prevailed proportionably to the decay of Learning , and encrease of Ignorance in all Ages . The Reputation of Celibacy was ever then highest , when Knowledge was at its lowest ebb . Particularly in the Tenth and Eleventh Ages , the most scandalous and barbarous periods of Time , that ever the Church waded through ; when Learning seemed banished out of the whole World , then Celibacy triumphed every where , and was look'd upon as the Consummation of all Vertues ; Marriage of the Clergy decried and abolished , and more Monasteries founded , than in all the Ages either before or since . Thirdly , This Opinion was first produced , and ever after advanced and maintained by a gross Mistake ; that there is somewhat of impurity or sinfulness in the use of Marriage , and that Chastity cannot be retained in a Married state . That the Admirers of Celibacy among the Antients were guilty of this Mistake , we shall have hereafter occasion to observe ; and although the more Learned Writers of the Church of Rome are ashamed of such a Proposition , yet do they constantly fall back and recurr to it , when they assign the Reasons of imposing Celibacy upon the Clergy . So Bellarmine , after he had before disowned it , when his purpose requires it , doubts not to say , (a) It cannot be denied , that some impurity and pollution intervenes in the act of Marriage ; not what is a sin , but what ariseth from sin . If by this Pollution and Impurity , he means a Natural one , we grant it ; but then that affects not the Soul , nor depreciates the worth of Marriage : if a Moral one , that will indeed be truly and properly a Sin ; but this he dares not say . Besides , his Distinction of a Sin , and a Consequence of a Sin , is wholly vain . For , if in all Use of Marriage , the effect of a Sin interveneth , then cannot Marriage be used without some precedent sin : A Proposition so false and erroneous , that the Use of Marriage was intended for our first Parents in the state of Innocence , and would have been practis'd to this very day , had they never fallen . Nay farther , whether fallen or not fallen , it was their Duty to make use of Marriage for the Propagation of Mankind ; and even for some Ages after the Creation , it was so far from being meritorious , that it was Unlawful to continue Virgins . But if by the antecedent sin , which produceth this Pollution in the Act of Marriage ; Bellarmine means , only the Original depravity of our Nature : if it be a Necessary effect of this depravity , then God cannot in Justice , and will not in Mercy impute it to us ; if it be not a Necessary effect of it , then Marriage may be used without it , and his Proposition will fall to the ground . However , because this ever was , and is still the great Engine of the Patrons of Virginity , wherewith they gained Applause in the World , and blinded the eyes of unwary People , it will not be amiss to clear this matter a little further , and demonstrate that a true and proper Chastity and Continence may be observed in Marriage ; which will also overthrow most of the Authorities produced out of the Writings of the more moderate and disinteressed Fathers , as insinuating no more than an Advice of Chastity in the Use of Marriage . If this Proposition seemeth either harsh or like a Paradox , it is only because we are unacquainted with it , and our judgment anticipated by false notions of Chastity , which consists as well in a moderate and well regulated Use of Matrimonial Acts , as in a total Abstinence from them ; nay , the former will always be a Vertue , the latter sometimes a Sin , ( as in the Infancy of the Creation , and if one married Person totally abstaineth without the consent of the other ) and in most cases but a thing indifferent , and then only a Vertue , when it administers occasion and opportunity to a greater good , than is the Propagation of Mankind , and vertuous Education of Children for the future Service of God. Such Cases did often happen in the Beginning of Christianity , and the Times of Persecution ; but in the calm and flourishing estate of the Church , are more rarely to be found . So that in all others , Chastity in the notion of a total Abstinence , is a thing wholly indifferent , even although such Abstinence should be true and perfect . But alas ! the far greater part of Mankind are not capable of such an Abstinence , which consisteth not only in the preserving the Body from actual Pollution and unlawful Pleasures , for that may be a matter of Necessity as well as Choice , and is common to thousands who shall never see the Glories of Heaven ; but also in refraining the Mind from the desires , and even the thoughts of Uncleanness , and preventing the circles of an inward Fire . Such a Man may truly be said to retain a pure and unspotted Virginity ; but then I doubt , that at the same time he will be the Phoenix of his Age. And then after all , if he want either Abilities or a Will to employ himself in Vertue and the Service of God , to greater advantage than he could have done in a Married state , his Celibacy will be devoid of all merit , and become wholly indifferent . On the other side , the conservation of a true Chastity , is both possible and easie in Marriage ; if it be not frequent , that ariseth from the corruption of Mankind , not any desicience or imperfection of Marriage . Now that Chastity and Continence may be here found and practised , the Apostle assureth us , when he saith , (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , Marriage is honourable in all men , and the bed uudefiled , or impolluted , directly contrary to Bellarmine's Proposition . The Apostle is herein followed by almost all the Fathers . I shall producce some of them : and first the Great Paphnutius , who when in the Council of Nice the Celibacy of the Clergy was proposed , under the pretence of advancing Chastity , (b) pronounced the embraces of a lawful Wife to be Chastity , and was therein applauded by the whole Council . So Clemens Alex. (c) Just Men under the Old Law , begat Children , Marrying ( or using Marriage ) incontinently . (d) What , may we not use Marriage continently ? and not go about to dissolve that , which God hath joyned . (e) He also who marrieth for the sake of Procreation of Children , ought to use continence , so as not to lust even after his own Wife , whom he ought to love , begetting Children with an honest and chaste will. Lactantius , (f) As the Woman is bound by the Laws of Chastity , to lust after no other Object ; so is the Husband bound by the same Law ; because God hath joyned the Husband to his Wife , by the union of one Body . St. Ambrose , (a) Virginity hath its rewards , Widdowhood its merits ; there is also place for conjugal Chastity . The (b) Apostle commands a Bishop to be the Husband of one Wife ; not that he excludeth an unmarried Man , for that is not the sence of his Precept , but that by conjugal Chastity he may preserve the grace given him in Baptism . If then Chastity is common both to Marriage and Celibacy , the latter can have no intrinsick Excellence beyond the former : Nor indeed do our more judicious Adversaries pretend to that . Few are guilty of so foul an errour , except some zealous and unlearned Monks . The Excellence therefore of it is wholly accidental , and consists only in affording greater advantages of Piety , Knowledge , and Beneficence , than Marriage . This therefore is next to be examined . Let us then consider any one as a Man , a Christian , and a Priest. If in the first quality , as a Member and Citizen of Mankind , that estate will deserve the preheminence , which is most communicative of good , and beneficial to the whole Universe . The benefits of Celibacy are indirect , accidental , and rare ; those of Marriage , direct , natural , and frequent . If as a Christian , that state will be most eligible , that more immediately procureth the grace and favour of God ; this Celibacy directly affords to none ; Marriage conferrs on all , in the Opinion of the Church of Rome , who make it a Sacrament . If as a Priest , that state is preferrable , which giveth the greater and more diffusive Example to the Laity . A Vertuous Celibacy will be indeed Exemplary to Virgin Laicks , the smallest and most inconsiderable part of the Church : But then a prudent and religious conduct of Marriage will serve as a Rule for other married Persons , the far greater part of the Laick Church . Thus far the Merits of both are at least equal . If we recurr to the Authority of Examples , we may begin at Paradice , and the first state of Mankind . Here we sind a married Couple even in the state of Innocence , and the very first Blessing given by God unto Mankind , to be this , (a) Be fruitful , and multiply . And as it can be no laudable . Ambition , to desire to exceed the Piety and Innocence of Paradice , so neither can it be any great Perfection , to defeat the first Blessing of the Creation . If we descend hence until the Times of Moses , we shall find all the Patriarchs both before and after the Flood , to have pleased . God , and served their Generations at the same time . All this while Celibacy hath no Example , nor any one President . If we look into the Mosaick Law , Marriage was there expresly permitted , and indirectly commanded to the Priest , since none but their own Posterity could be admitted into that Order . I am not ignorant that the Patrons of Celibacy urge mightily the Three days Abstinence (b) from their Wives , imposed upon the People , in preparing themselves to receive the Law of God in Mount Sinai . But this was enjoyned not only to the Priests , but to all the People ; was a short and temporary , not a total and perpetual Abstinence ; served only to typifie that inseparable Purity of Mind and Body , which was to flourish in the Church of Christ ; and was a meer Rite and Ceremony , unworthy of the dignity and simplicity of the Christian Religion . Again , if we consider the Saints and Prophets of the Old Testament , (c) St. Chrysostom will tell us , that all the Prophets had Wives and FaFamilies , as Esaias , Ezekiel , and the Great Moses ; and yet sufferd therby no diminution of their Vertue . Or if we take our measures from the venerable Examples of Christ and his Apostles , we may learn both from their Doctrine and Practice , that the Perfection of a Christian state consists not in an idle and contemplative , but in an active and benefactive state . That most , if not all the Apostles were Married , we shall prove hereafter ; and if our Saviour chose a Single state , wherein to pass his life on Earth , Clemens Alex. shall answer for us , (a) That He had his proper Spouse , the Church ; that He was no ordinary Man , who should either want an help , or be subject to the temptations of Incontinency ; that it was not necessary for him to continue his Species by Procreation , who was himself God , blessed for evermore . And then if we cast our eyes upon the Worship and Opinion of the Gentiles , we shall find Celibacy in no great esteem among them , and Marriage not only allowed to their Priest , but even made necessary to some of them ; insomuch as the Pontifex Maximus among the Romans , could continue no longer in his Office , than his Wife liv'd . (b) St. Herom indeed , and after him all the Champions of Celibacy , alledge the Exmple of the Hierophantae of Athons . But had that good Father in the heat of his Disputation , considered the Character of those Priests , he would not have ventured to produce their Example . For if we may believe the Relations of Lucian , and the more Ancient Christian Writers , those Hierophantae of Greece practised in their secret Rites and Mysteries , the most abominable Lusts and Villanies of the Pagan Superftition . In speaking of this matter , I will further observe , that there was but one great Order of Priests among the Heathens , which professed Virginity , those of Cybele or Isis ( for as for the Vestal Virgins , they were permitted to marry , when their time of Service was expired , ) and but one Sect of Philosophers , that decried and contemned Marriage , the (c) Epicureans , and of these the first were the most Infamous and Incontinent of all Priests , the latter the most Debauched and Voluptuous of all Philosophers . Lastly , If we consult Reason ( for Scripture we have before examieed , and Tradition we shall hereafter , ) neither will that declare in favour of Celibacy . That will only teach us , that state is more Noble , which most advanceth the Happiness of Life , and gives the greatest assistance to the Perfection of our Nature . For neither Marriage nor Celibacy have of themselves any intrinsick Merit , at least not Celibacy , as we before proved : Neither of them doth immediately and directly illuminate the Understanding , refine the Reason , or purge the Will. Now the Happiness of Human Life , and the Perfection of Nature , consists in the tranquility and imperturbation of the Mind , whereby it is sitted for the Contemplation of her Creator , and the Exercise of all more noble and sublime Vertues . This Tranquility , next to Habits of Vice in the Soul , is chiefly interrupted by immoderate and ungoverned Passions in the Body , although even those Habits were produced at first by the intemperance of these Passions . The greatest and most vehement of our Passions , are those of Desire , and among them the propensity to the continuation of our Species obtains thefirst place . A a right Use of Marriage satisfies this propensity , allays its violence , secureth the Mind from all tempests on that side . This Celibacy can do only in those who have the Gift of Continence , who perhaps are not the thousandth part of Mankind ; if those be excepted , to whom not God or Vertue , but some defect of Nature , hath given a reprieve from this Passion . In the rest , Celibacy , especially when enforced , will be only the occasion of perpetual , or at least intermitting tempests , which instead of a sweet Serenity , will introduce into the Mind a turbulent Commotion , dissorder all her Thoughts , and deprive her of all Happiness : Or if we should grant , which is most false , that Celibacy well governed , is in all able to give the Mind the same tranquility , and secure her from all perturbations arising from the passion of Desire ; yet still the Merits and Advantages of Marriage and Celibacy will be equal , even in this Consideration . There remains then only arguments of temporal convenience , and outward decorum of the Church . And here though it might suffice to observe that arguments of convenience are of no validity against a probability of unlawfulness , much less against an express Divine Permission ; yet shall I briefly examine the Reasons of this kind produced by our Adversaries . They may be reduced to three Heads : A greater immunity from secular cares and worldly business , and thereby a better opporunity to attend the Service of God , and execute the Duties of their Office : Secondly , A certain indecency in the use of Marriage , which renders it incompatible or at least inconvenient , to the Sacerdotal Office : Thirdly , The better administration of the goods and revenues of the Church . As for the First that might indeed with some colour have been pleaded in the infancy of the Gospel , when many of the Clergy were designed as itinerant Preachers , for the propagation of the Faith ; although it was then so far from being necessary , that many of the Apostles did in their travels lead about with them , if not their wives , which is most probable , yet at least women . But now when the Faith is planted , and the Clergy have particular limits assigned them wherein to execute their Office ; that reason ceaseth . Another case may happen wherein this argument may take place ; in times of Persecution , when 't is of great advantage and interest to the Church , that her Clergy give examples of patience and constancy to their flock , and is very probable that a man will embrace Martyrdom with a greater resolution and unconcernedness when freed from the solicitude of Wife and Children , whose consideration and perhaps importunities might tempt him to Prevarication ; but then Celibacy is here also so far from being necessary , that it will augment the Merits and the Glory of Martyrdom to break through those Obstacles , and slight those Considerations . However , certain it is , that in the Peaceable and Flourishing Times of the Church : this Reason is of no Validity . Hence appeareth , with how little Reason our Adversaries urge that so much celebrated Text of St. Paul , (a) He that is Unmarried , careth for the things that belong to the Lord , how he may please the Lord. An admonition by the Apostle adapted to those times of Persecution ; as appears by the Preface of it : But I would have you ( speaking to all Christians ) without Carefulness . For otherwise , Marriage does not necessarily involve more Carefulness or Disquiet , than Celebacy . If a greater Anxiety doth ordinarily attend it , that proceeds not from the nature of Marriage , but the abuse of Men. And therefore Clemen , Alex. (a) answers to the Ancient Hereticks urging this very Text against Marriage : What then ? Cannot those who please their Wives in a lawful way , give thanks to God ? May not a Married Man , together with his Marriage , care for the things that belong to the Lord ? Further , these Texts do no more prove the Necessity or Convenience of Priests Celibacy , than it doth of all other Christians . Nor can it be here pretended , that the Clergy are more peculiarly devoted to the Service of God , and therefore more particularly obliged to this Duty . For , first , That would suppose some Excellency in Celibacy , which we have proved cannot be found ; and then the Priests under the Old Law , were no less solemnly Dedicated to God , who yet were not debarred Marriage . Besides , the Church of Rome excludes not those from holy Orders , who have either Buried their Wives , or vow a perpetual Abstinence from them , although they may have many Children then alive : As if an equal Solicitude and Anxiety were not required to provide for Children begotten before as after Ordination . Not to say that the Ancient Hereticks made use of the same Plea , and shunned Marriage , to avoid the trouble of providing Necessaries for a Family ; and that the Apostle was not ignorant of this inconvenience , if it be any , and yet thought it not sufficient to enjoyn Celibacy to the Clergy . But in truth it is a meer Chimaera , a Figment , and a vain Suspicion . For to use St. Chrysostom's words (b) Marriage doth not only not hinder the Practice of Divine Philosophy , if we will be sober , but also administers to us great Assistance in it , by culming the turbulencies of . Nature , and not permitting it to be tossed in tempests , but preparing it a haven , wherein to ride securely . Wherefore God hath herein granted a Priviledge to Mankind . Again , if a Priest or Bishop must therefore be Unmarried , that he may decline the Cares and Troubles of the World ; then certainly with much more reason he ought not to intermeddle in Secular Business , and the Government of whole Provinces . For who can imagine that the government of a single Family involves more care and trouble , than the administration of St. Peter's Patrimony ? Lastly , I appeal to the Experience of the whole World , Whether the Regulars of the Church of Rome , who to their Vow of Continence have added another of Retirement from the World , do not busie themselves in Secular Matters , exercise Merchandise , and heap up Riches , beyond the Clergy of the Church of England ? The Second Reason alledged by our Adversaries , is a certain indecency and impurity in the act of Marriage , which renders it unfitting for a Preist to proceed from the late embraces of his wife to the administration of holy things . So that because the Clergy of the Christian Church do either daily administer the Sacraments , and offer up Scrifices of praise and thansgiving to God , in the name of all the people ; or at least ought to be alwaies ready and prepar'd to do it : They ought therefore perpetually to abstain from conjugal Duties . This was ever the chief Argument and Foundation of Celibacy . Popes and Councils in enjoyning it to the Clergy , seldom make use of any other than this ; and all the enemies of Preists Marriage from the times of Origen to this day , have certainly plac'd it in the front of their Arguments . Yet after all it is a shameful and most foolish Sophism . For , if by this indecency and impurity in the use of Marriage , they mean a moral one ; that is absolutely false , and flat Heresie : The very opinion of the Marcionites , Encratites , and other more absurd Hereticks . But if they mean only a natural impurity , that in no ways renders any man less sit for the Service of God , nor ought to exclude him from the administration of holy things , any more than the other more frequent evacuations of Nature . So gross a conceit is unworthy the simplicity of the Christian Religion , and makes it degenerate into the dregs of Judaism . Besides , if we should suppose a natural impurity somewhat indecent in the Clergy ( which yet is foolish to imagine of a secret and hidden impurity , such as this is ) yet will it be infinitely outweighed by the inevitable danger of a moral tupitude to which Preists are expos'd by enforc'd Celibacy . Lastly , this Argument of the daily celebration of Mass and consecrating of the Eucharist , affects not Deacons nor Subdeacons ; and is entirely overthrown by the practice of the Church in the Apostolick and Primitive times ; when all Baptized Christians daily receiv'd the Eucharist , and yet cannot be suppo'sd either to have been enjoyn'd or have used perpetual abstinence from their wives . The Third Reason is the better Oeconomy of the goods and revenues of the Church ; which our Adversaries would not have expended upon wife and children , but in publick acts of charity . This might indeed with some pretence be urg'd , if all the unmarried Clergy employed the superfluity of their Revenues upon Piety and Charity , or none of the married Clergy did it , or if the well ordering of Families and good Education and decent provision for children were not of advantage to the Publick . But these are equally false . And then in vain are wives and children removed , when nephews and other relations can gain access . The examples of the Court of Rome , especially for the last two hundred years , demonstrates that Popes have employed themselves with greater zeal and fervour to the aggrandizing of their Families , than ever the married Clergy of the Reformed Churches did to the enriching of their Posterity . Thus have we examined the pretended advantages of the Clergies Celibacy , and found them to be null and vain . But suppose them valid , and really as great as they are represented to us by our Adversaries . If after all it hath in other respects no less disadvantages , Celibacy will yet remain indifferent , both in its nature and convenience . To pass by therefore the inconvenience of Celibacy in general , as that it ordinarily produceth Morosness , Pride and Uncharitableness , to say nothing worse , when affected and chosen as a matter of Merit , as (a) Clemens Alex. of old observed : I shall consider only the particular inconveniences arising from the enforced Celibacy of the Clergy , and mention but Two of them ; but those so great and sensible , that each of them infinitely outweigheth all the pretended advantages of it . The First is the inevitable and most certain danger of open Incontinence in many of the Clergy , and thereby introducing a horrible Scandal into the Church of Christ , which may alone more effectually obstruct Piety and Vertue among the Laity , than the Preaching of all together can promote it . For all ignorant Christians , which are the far greater part of the Church , are led more by Examples than Reason , and assent to the Christian Religion meerly for the authority of their Pastors that Propose it . So that the Scandal caused by the Lust of one Incontinent Priest , is more dangerous to the Church , than the Celibacy of an hundred Chaste Priests can be advantageous to it . Now that forced Celibacy betrays the Clergy to open Incontinency , let St. Bernard speak . (b) Take from the Church honourable Marriage , and the Bed undefiled ; Do you not fill it with Fornicators , incestuous Persons , Abusers of themselves , Sodomites , and all kind of uncleanness ? This Experience hath also sadly demonstrated , as we may hereafter shew . The Second inconvenience of forced Celibacy , is that it deprives the Church of the service of many Pious and Learned Men ; who either being already married , will not consent to separate themselves from ther Wives ; or being yet single , will not receive Orders upon the terms of Celibacy , as either finding that they have not the Gift of Continency , or doubting whether they shall always have it . The lamentable Effects of this Truth in England and Germany , in the Eleventh and Twelfth Ages , we shall afterwards have occasion to mention . Lastly , Suppose that Celibacy had all the aforementioned Advantages , and none of the Inconveniences ; yet still if Marriage hath peculiar advantages , which Celibacy wants , both will remain indifferent , and neither to be preferred . That Marriage hath such , cannot be denied . For not to say , that Marriage , in the Opinion of the Church of Rome , actually confers Grace , and was chosen by Christ to be a Type of his Mystical Union with the Church ; not to urge the precedent Arguments , nor produce a-new the Authority of St. Chysostom ; not to say , that the vertuous Marriage of a Priest may be highly exemplary to his People , since the Effects of it are visible and manifest in the prudent Government of his Family , and the pious Education of his Children ; whereas Continence , which is the Perfection of Celibacy , is a Vertue of the Soul , invisible , and hidden from the Eyes of Men , and so cannot be properly Exemplary . To pass by all this , I will I will alledge only the Authority of Clemes Alex. in these words . (a) Marriage , as well as Celibacy , hath its peculiar offices and duties pleasing to God , God , I mean the care of Children and Wife . Whence the Apostle commandeth those to be chosen Bishops , who from the vertuous government of their own Families , have learned to preside over the Church well . (b) And in truth , a Man approveth not himself in chusing a single Life ; but he transcends the ordinary rank of Men , who useth Marriage , and the procreation of Cildren , and the government of a Family , without immoderate affection or anxiety ; and notwithstanding the care of his House , is unalterable from the love of God , and bravely resists all the temptations of Wife and Children , Servants and Possessions . Having thus proved that the Celibacy of the Clergy was neither instituted by Christ nor his Apostles , and hath no excellence in it self , or convenience to the Church : I proceed to the Third Proposition , That the Imposition of it upon any Order of men , is unjust and repugnant to the Law of God. And here because the possibility of Continence in all will intervene as the main Question , I will divide my Discourse , and prove , I. That the Church hath no Authority to Inhibit Marriage to the Clergy , even supposing that all can contain . II. That all cannot contain , and consequently that to impose Celibacy upon any Order of men , made up of all Ages , Constitutions and Humours , is directly contrary to Reason , Justice , and the Law of God. I. First then , the Church hath no Authority to forbid Marriage to the Clergy , even supposing that all men may by due diligence obtain the gift of Continence . This may be evidently deduc'd from what was last proved . For the Church cannot challenge a greater Authority than the Apostles had . But their Authority , as we are assured by (a) St. Paul , was given them only for Edification and not for Destruction . Not that the Imposition of Celibacy tends not to the edification of the Church , we have already proved , that it naturally tends to the destruction of many members of the Church is manifest . For in so numerous a Body as the Clergy is , 't is morally impossible that many of them should not neglect those means whereby the gift of Continence may be acquired , and thereby falling into Inconinency lose their own Souls , and by their Scandal and Example draw many into Perdition with them : Whereas had Marriage been permitted them , both would in all probability have been prevented . Indeed if the edification arising from the imposition or prohibition of any thing indifferent be obvious and evident , and the destruction either none , or dubious and uncertain ; or even if the edification be uncertain , so as there be not the least danger of destruction ; or perhaps even although both edification and destruction were equally dubious ; the decrees of the Church in all these cases ought to take place : For otherwise a door would be left open for the obstinate contradiction of foolish and unreasonable men . But in this case the edification produced by the Celibacy of the Clergy is , as we have proved , none , or at least , infinitely dubious : Whereas the danger of destruction , which may be caused by it , is most certain , manifest , and apparent . Secondly , The Church cannot totally deprive any man of the liberty of enjoying any lawful and natural pleasures ; nor take from him any of those comforts and benefits , which nature and the right of creation first gave him and intended for him . She may restrain and limit the use of them as to time and place , but can by no means totally abollish it . So the Church may forbid flesh to be eaten , or Marriage to be contracted at some certain seasons of the year ; but as she cannot enjoyn to any man a perpetual abstinence from flesh ; so neither can she totally forbid Marriage to any order of men . For this is contrary to the very genius and constitution of the Christian Religion ; whose peculiar glory is the simplicity of it , and the entire conformity in all the Agenda of it to the law of nature . Thirdly , Whatsoever may be pretended for inhibiting Marriage to the unmarried Clergy , the Church most certainly cannot dissolve the Marriage of those , who never made any vow of of continence , and were lawfully married before the prohibition of the Church : Since our Saviour expresly saith (a) What God hath joyned together , let no man put asunder . Yet the Church of Rome did this in the Eleventh and Twelfth Ages , when many Popes and Councils commanded the married Clergy to be separated from their wives upon pain of Excommunication , not permitting them to retain their wives , by relinquishing their Offices , and retiring into Lay Communion : Although the Clergy in their Remonstrance offered to Nicolas II. protested that they had never made any vow of Continence , and could not contain without the use of Marriage . I know it is pretended , that the Clergy in receiving Orders , are supposed to have made a Tacite and Interpretative Vow of Chastity . But the vanity of that pretence , I shall manifest immediately . Other Reasons might be produced , but these are sufficient . II. All Men cannot contain , and therefore to impose Celibacy upon any Order of Men is injust , and contrary to the Divine Law. For all Persons who cannot contain , have a right to Marry by the Law of Nature , that they may not be necessitated to Sin ; and are commanded to Marry by the Law of God. (b) But if they cannot contain , let them Marry : For it is better to Marry , than to Burn. In imposing Celibacy therefore upon the Clergy , the Church of Rome forbids many to Marry , whom God commands to do it . Now that all Men cannot contain , appears from this very place of the Apostle , which Insinuates that in some Persons , there is no Medium between Marriage and Burning ; but it is evident beyond all contradiction from the Reason of this Permission of Marriage assigned in the precedent Verse : (a) For I would that all Men were even as myself : ( that is , Continent . ) But every Man hath his proper Gift of God ; one after this manner , and another after that . Our Saviour expresly Teacheth the same thing , when to the Apostles objecting ; That if the the Case were so , it is not good to Marry . He answered , (b) All Men cannot receive this saying , save they to whom it is given . And , He that is able to receive it , let him receive it . God hath obliged himself indeed by Promise , to Confer upon us all Graces necessary for the performance of our Duty , and attainment of Salvation ; but the gift of Continence is not of this Nature , since God hath provided Marriage for a remedy of Incontinency ; which if we will not make use of , the danger lieth at our own Doors , God is no further obliged . Indeed , if through any Accident , which disables either of the Married Persons , Marriage fails to be a remedy of Incontinency , ( which our Adversaries frequently Object ) God must be them supposed to have obliged himself to bestow the gift of Continence when duly asked , because in that case he hath provided no other Remedy . So that the Argument of the Council of Trent , that , God will not deny this Gift to those that rightly ask it , as having promised , not to suffer us to be tempted above what we are able ; is wholly Impertinent . Since God thereby obliged himself to no more than with the Temptation also to make a way to escape , not that way which we best like , for that is not promised , and is highly unreasonable , but which Himself pleaseth : And that he hath abundantly done , in Assigning the easie and natural way of Marriage . As for Bellarmine's Argument , That whosoever desireth the gift of Continence , thereby to form a Habit of it , and that God will not be wanting to Crown our honest endeavours with a perfect Possession of it : That is many ways false . For , first , A desire of Continence rather supposeth , that we yet want it . Then it is not an Honest Endeavour to covet all kind of Divine Gifts , but only those which are Necessary ; as it would not be laudable now to desire the gift of Tongues , meerly for Ostentation . (d) But as God hath distributed to every Man , so let him Walk . Lastly , God Crowns not all even Honest Desires with with a grant of them . For suppose any Man should out of the abundance of his Charity desire the gift of Miracles , meerly to cure the Diseases , relieve the Necessities , and remove the Errours of Mankind , without any admixture of Interest or Ambition therein ; yet would it be Irrational to expect the performance of it . As for that place ( which is urged by some ) I would that all Men were even as myself . That no more proves the possibility of Continence in all , than that other place : (e) I would that ye all speak with Tongues ; doth , that all can obtain the gift of Tongues . The Ancients thought the same thing . So St. Ambrose , (a) Virginity is rather in our Wish , than in our Power . St. Hirome , even when disputing for Celibacy , freqently grants that all cannot contain ; more especially in these words : (b) Fear not that all will become Virgins . Virginity is a difficult thing , and therefore rare , because difficult . Many are called , but few chosen : Many begin , but few can persevere . If all could be Virgins , our Lord would never have said , He that is able to receive it , let him receive it . And the Apostle would not have doubted in persuading it , nor said , Now concerning Virgins , I have no Commandment from the Lord. St. Bernard , (c) Would to God , they who begin this Tower would sit down , and better compute the Costs , least perhaps they have not sufficient to finish it . Would those who cannot contain , would dread rashly to profess Perfection , or undertake Celibacy . For the Tower is Costly , and the Saying is great , which all cannot receive . It were undoubtedly better for them to Marry , than to Burn. Upon this account they thought Virginity not lawful to be commanded , and even in its nature incapable of Imposition . So the Author of the Commentaries upon of St. Paul's Epistles , extant among St. Ambrose's Works , whom all agree to have been Hilary , Deacon of Rome , under Pope Liberius , delivers his Opinion . (d) For that reason none ought to be obliged to Continence , least being restrained from what is lawful , he commit things unlawful . But let him chuse for himself , what he will follow . St. Hierom , (e) The Apostle in persuading Virginity , lays not a necesity or a snare upon any . For that is beyond the power of Men , and would be as it were impudence to compel against nature , and say in other words ; I would have you be , what Angels are . (f) Wonder not therefore , if amidst the proneness of the flesh , and incentives of Vices , we are not Commanded but Taught the Life of Angels . St. Ambrose , (g) 'T is Virginity alone which can be perswaded , cannot be commanded ; a matter rather of Wish than Precept . Clemens Alex. (a) Of necessity therefore Marriage must not be forbidden . Theodoret upon those words , (b) In the latter days , some shall depart from the faith — Forbidding to marry , saith . (c) The Apostle blames not here Celibacy or Continence , but condemneth those who compel to use them . Pope Gregory I. (d) It seemeth harsh and unfit to me , that he who hath not obtained a habit of Continence , or promis'd Chastity , should be compelled to separate from his Wife , and thereby fall into worse crimes , which God forbid . The Second Council of (e) Toledo , Anno 531. declare , That they have no power to take away from those who desire to marry , the permission granted by the Apostles . Lastly , (f) Panormitan determines , The Pope , even with the greater part of a Council , cannot enjoyn Continence to any Order of Persons after their promotion , if they resist and refuse ; because Continence is a thing which can be perswaded , but cannot be commanded . Upon the same Principle , of the Impossibility of Continence in many , proceeded most of those many Fathers , whom we shall presently produce for the validity of Marriage Contracted after a Vow of Continence . I deny not , that many of the Fathers believed it possible for all to obtain the Gift of Continence ; but that doth not in the least prejudice my Argument . For the Church cannot lawfully impose Celibacy upon any , unless it be a point of Faith , that all can contain ; which the Dissent of those Doctors I have already produced , evidently manifest it is not . If it be objected , that the acquisition of Continence is possible to all , by the use of frequent Watchings , long Fasts , and other great austerities : I answer , first , it may be perhaps justly questioned , whether it be lawful to afflict the body with those austerities , which are in some Persons necessary to the attainment of Chastity . For the Soul ought sweetly to guide and direct , not tyrannize over the Body ; which was given as a Companion , not a Slave to it . Here , as in all other Actions , Reason ought to prescribe limits to the government of the Soul. Now such a Mortification as is necessary to destroy Lust in incontinent Persons , will at the same time destroy their Health , and consequently more hinder the service of God , the practice of Vertue , the exercise of Piety , , than a single Life can promote it , or Marriage would obstruct it . Secondly , If it should be lawful for the Soul voluntarily to exercise this Arbitrary Power upon the Body , yet most certainly it is unlawful for the Church to impose any thing , which will induce a necessity of offering violence to Nature , weakning the energy of the Soul , heaping diseases upon the Body , and dissolving the harmony of Both. Thirdly , All are not able to undergo these Austerities ; and when undergon , they are not always sufficient to prevent Incontinency . The frequent repetition of them , demonstrates this ; which would be useless and foolish , if the disease did not as often recurr . Not Watchings or Fastings , not Whippings or even Emasculation itself , practised of old by Origen , a●…d the Valesian Hereticks , and in the last Age by (a) Ambrosius Morales , can wholly eradicate in some this peccant humour . It must needs have been a very violent passion , the indignation of which could extort so severe a remedy ; which when it was used , did effectually indeed preserve the Body , but not in the least diminish the Lust of Mind . (b) Yet it is the Mind which either sanctifies or pollutes the Body . For what doth it profit to have the Body clean , and the Soul polluted , whenas the Body is either saved or damned by the merits of the Soul. As for all other severities , how ineffectual they are , in some Constitutions , (c) Palladius relates a memorable Story of Moses , a most Famous Abbot in the Desarts of Egypt , afterwards made Bishop of the Arabians ; whom Palladius calls , the Blessed ; Theodoret , (d) the Divine Moses , who from his Youth perpetually vexed with temptations of Incontinency , could not free himself from them by all the austerities which Wit could invent , or Nature endure ; and therefore all his life was forced to abstain from receiving the Sacrament ; till in his Old Age he was by an extraordinary Miracle delivered from them . Upon which Palladius makes this Remark : For in truth Concupiscence is perfectly untameable . But the great Plea of the Writers of the Church of Rome , remains behind , which must be more largely discussed . They pretend that the Church imposeth Celibacy , or a Necessity of Continence , upon no Man : That she hath annexed it indeed to the four Superior Orders of the Clergy , but then forceth none to enter into those Orders : That the Unlawfulness of the Clergies Marriage , is not so much founded in the Prohibition of the Church , or Incompatibility of Marriage with Holy Orders , as in the Vow of Continence , which all either do make , or are supposed to make , when they receive those Orders . To this I shall Oppose , and in order Prove these Three Propositions . I. This Plea cannot justly be used by the Church of Rome , nor will excuse her Practice . II. A Vow of Continence obligeth not in case of insuperable Incontinence , and then may not only lawfully , but must necessarily be violated . III. Whether lawfully or unlawfully , necessarily or unnecessarily violated , if Marriage be Contracted after a Vow of Continence , it is firm and valid , and cannot be rescinded . I. For the First , That this Plea neither belongs to , nor availeth the Church of Rome , it appeareth many ways . As First , Although it should be granted the Church of Rome directly imposeth Celibacy upon none ; yet it cannot be denied that she forbiddeth all who have once made a Vow of Continence , ever after to violate it , although in case of Incontinence ; when the impossibility of observing it any longer without actual sin , maks the violation of it become necessary and commanded by the Law of God. Secondly , She hath actually and often imposed Continence upon those who never vowed it ; as when she first enjoyned Celibacy to the Clergy , and renewed that Injunction when become obsolete . Nor can she at this day be excused from the same Imposition , since a numerous society of Clergymen are necessary to the being and continuance of the Church , and she hath enjoyned Celibacy to all who will be Members of this Society ; although it be uncertain , whether there be so many continent Persons in the Church , as are necessarily required to execute the Ministery of it ; much more , whether among all continent Christians there be so many both worthy and willing to receive Orders , as may serve the necessities of the Church . Thirdly , Whether the Church commands any to make a Vow of Continence , or forbids them to violate it when made ? Both equally defeat all the great Advantages and glorious Merits which are pretended to be in Celibacy . For nothing can be either acceptable or meritorious , which is not purely voluntary , neither commanded nor punished by any human Laws . Otherwise it can never appear , whether the Action proceeds from the Dictates of the Will , or rather from the Awe of that Command , and the Fear of that Punishment . And therefore St. Hierom introduceth Christ thus speaking , (a) Those Eunuchs please me , which Will , not Necessity , hath emasculated . Whereas in the Church of Rome , none can be admitted into the Four Great Orders , nor yet in the Three Lesser Orders enjoy any Ecclesiastical Benifices or Privileges of Clergy-men , unless they Vow perpetual Continence . Nor is it permitted to the former ever to violate their Vow , by Contracting of Marriage , although they should resign their Preferments , and depart from the Execution of their Office. Fourthly , which is chiefly to be respected , It can never appear that any Vow is truly made by those who are ordained , if the Church commandeth all such to make that Vow . For a Vow is the peculiar , voluntary , and free act of him that Voweth , as being a Promise made to God , and consisteth in the internal Action of the Soul , which necessarily supposeth an Intention of Vowing . So that if any Person pronouncing the Form of the Vow , should either not mind what he saith , or at the same time resolve the contrary of what he saith ; the first is guilty of Negligence , the second of a Lye ; but neither can truly be said to have Vowed , and therefore if they afterwards Marry , do violate no Vow . This Scotus , Durandus , Dorbellus , Paludanus , and other Divines of the Church of Rome , do expresly teach ; and for this very reason maintain , that Marriage is unlawful to the Clergy , not upon the account of any Vow annexed to their Orders , but meerly for the authority of the Church's Prohibition . As for a tacit and interpretative Vow , which many recurr to , supposing a Vow of Continence to be inseparably annexed to Orders ; so that these cannot be received but that at the same time a Vow must be supposed to have been made ; that is wholly vain . This refuge was invented as well to avoid the Reason last mentioned , as to solve an Objection drawn from the Practice of the Church of Rome , which even for the last Six Hundred years have not always required an explicit Vow , nor doth at this day , although many Popes have enjoyned it to be openly and expresly made ; but their Decrees meeting with great Opposition , they were forced to let them fall , and recurr to this Expedient of an Interpretative Vow . This Vow must be annexed to Orders , either by Divine Right , or only by the Command of the Church . If the former , that were indeed sufficient , but then it is absolutely false , as we proved in the first Proposition ; and Bellarmine (a) expresly acknowledgeth ; and may be further evinced by this Argument , that then neither the Church nor the Pope could grant a Dispensation of Marriage to any of the Clergy . If it be annexed only by Ecclesiastical Right or Command of the Church , then our former Argument will return with more force . For he who in receiving of Orders shall omit to make that tacit Vow , will not be guilty of so much as a Lye or Dissimulation . He neglected indeed the command of the Church ; but a Vow he neither made , nor pretended to make . So that there remains only a presumptive Vow ; the truth of which resides in every mans breast and conscience : So that none ought to be excluded from Marriage by a Vow , even supposing it valid and inviolable , but those who shall confess they made it . And therefore the Author of the Gloss (b) upon the Decretals of Gregory IX . professeth that himself , and many other Doctors with him , cannot imagine how the Clergy of the Western Church can be said to be obliged by Vow to Continence . This were enough to silence the Plea of a tacit Vow : yet I shall add somewhat more , as first , The II. Council of Toledo Decrees that none be looked upon to have vowed Continence , but those who being asked by the Bishop promise it , Coram tota plebe , before the whole Congregation : And all Councils which command a Vow to be taken by the Clergy at their Ordination , order it to be made openly in the face of the whole Church . Secondly , in the Primitive Church many were Ordained violently and against their wills . So St. Augustine (d) tells Donatus , That many were apprehended to be ordained Bishops , kept in bold against their wills , dragged , shut up , and imprisoned , and suffer all this unwillingly , till they be forced to receive Ordination . So was St. Augustine himself (e) seized npon violently by the people of Hippo , dragged to their Bishop Valerius , and ordained amidst abundance of tears . So Epiphanius ordained Paulinianus Brother of St. Hierom , as himself confesleth . For seeing him present at Divine Service , without the least apprehension of any such violence intended against him , he commanded the Deacons to apprehend him , and hold his mouth with their hands , and in that posture ordained him Deacon ; and immediately after he had with many Intreaties perswaded him to do somewhat at the Altar belonging to the Office of a Deacon , commanded him to be anew apprehended , and in the same manner ordained him Priest. Now shall such Clergy-men as these be thought to have made a tacit Vow of Continence at their Ordinations , or must they forfeit all right of marrying , or if already married , must their marriage be dissolved , and against their will by the violence of others . Thirdly , Almost all the Divines of the Church of Rome agree that Children are capable of receiving Holy Orders . Many Examples of it have been seen in that Church ; and at this day (h) great numbers of Children are ordained Priests and Deacons in the Abyssine Church . Fourthly , (c) Gregory Thaumaturgus was ordained Bishop of Neocaesarea by Phadimus of Amasea , absent , and not so much as dreaming of it . Now shall either he or those Children be presumed to have made a Vow of Continence at their Ordination , when the first were not capable of making a Vow , the second did not know that he was ordained ? Lastly , Supposing this Vow to have been openly and explicitely made , granting it to have been intended , and none of all these many necessary Circumstances wanting , yet will it not oblige , if it be not accepted by God. For that the Vow is made to God , not to the Church , all agree ; so that if it be not accepted by God , it becomes only a simple Resolution of the Mind , which every man hath a right to change as he shall see good . Now we cannot be assured God accepts this Vow , unless it be either for some excellency and holiness in Celebacy , or because himself commanded it , both which we before disproved . Nay , rather seeing it draws many into open Incontinency , and exposeth all to the danger of it , it is prejudicial to the honour of God , to imagine that he accepts , much less delights in such Vows : At least there is no promise of acceptance , and therefore the Obligation of these Vows will ever be uncertain . I pass to the Second Proposition , that a Vow of Continence obligeth not in case of insuperable Incontinence . For no man can be obliged by Vow , or even the greatest Authority upon Earth to commit a sin , which in this case will be inevitable , unless the Vow be violated . And that cases of insuperable Incontinence without the use of Marriage may and do often happen , I proved before , when I demonstrated that all cannot contain . And certainly if in temporal Affairs no Vow , Contract or Promise obligeth in case of a natural impossibility , much more will it not oblige in case of moral impossibility ; by how much the Vertues of the Soul are of more concern than the conveniencies of the Body . But I will not further enlarge upon this Argument , which is in it self so evident ; I choose rather to observe , that it is highly probable that not only in case of impossibility , but even of great and apparent difficulty a Vow of Continence ceaseth to oblige . For first , all the Defenders of the Pope's dispensing power proceed upon this foundation , that Circumstances may alter the Obligation of a Vow ; and that when a greater good is to be attained , it ceaseth to oblige . And indeed this is highly reasonable : For if circumstances can alter the nature of Actions as to Vice and Vertue , which is on all hands granted , then a Vow which in some circumstances may be laudable , or at least lawful , may in others become unlawful , or at least not obligatory . Now in case of violent , although perhaps not insuperable , temptations of Incontinence after a Vow of Chastity , the circumstances of him that Vows are altered ; and by violating the Vow , a greater good may be attained , serenity of Mind , freedom from unruly Passions , and an escape from the danger of Sin. Not in this only , but in many other cases also , the diversity of circumstances may change the Obligation of a Vow . Whence Aquinas determines , That (a) Because in matters belonging to himself , a Man is easily deceiv'd in judging ; it is most fit such Vows should be either observed or omitted , according to the pleasure of his Superiour , yet so , that if any great or manifest inconvenience should arise from the observation of such a Vow , and there were no opportunity of recurring to the Superior , a Man ought not to keep such a Vow . Secondly , It is acknowledged even in the Church of Rome , that a Vow of Continence made by one married Person without the consent of the other , is null and void , and that because of the danger of Incontinency , to which the other party is thereby exposed . Wherefore (b) Gregry I. commanded the Husband of Agathosa , who had entred into a Monastery without her consent , to be taken thence , although Professed , and be forced to live with her . But if the danger of another's Damnation produced by a Vow of Contitinence , can dissolve the Obligation of it , certainly much more will the danger of any one 's own Damnation produce the same effect . Thirdly , If it be true what (c) Salas the Jesuite teacheth , That a Fryar Profess'd of any approved Order , who shall have a probability of Divine Revelation , that God dispenseth with his Vow to enable him to Marry , may Marry , and make use of this probable , though doubtful Dispensation ; certainly he who after Continency Vowed in the taking of Orders , shall find himself assaulted with any grievous temptations of Incontinence , may make use of the same remedy , having more than a probable , even a plain and undoubted Revelation of the Lawfulness of it , in those words , (d) Nevertheless , to avoid fornication , let every man have his own wife ; and it is better to marry than to burn . So that in many cases it is Lawful , in some Necessary , to break this Vow . Thirdly , Whether Lawfully or Unlawfully , Necessarily or Unnecessarily violated , if a Marriage be Contracted after a Vow of Continence , it is firm and valid as any other , and cannot be rescinded . For Marriage is a thing of Natural and Divine Right , whose continuance , when once Contracted , is commanded by the Laws of God , and first Principles of Reason ; whereas Vows of Continence are but of human Instituion , as we have proved ; or at the most , but of Evangelical Counsel , as all our Adversaries confess ; and therefore must in all cases give place to a matter of Natural Right , and Divine Preeept . (a) Bellarmine acknowledgeth this , and affirms it to be the constant Opinion of all Catholicks , that a simple Vow hinders the Contracting of Marriage , but dissolveth it not when Contracted ; altho' a solemn Vow he would perswade us doth . But since the difference between a Solemn and a Simple Vow , consists meerly in an External Act , in pronouncing outwardly with words , what the Mind inwardly resolves . This distinction is wholly vain : For that External Act addeth nothing Essential to the Vow ; and although a Solemn Vow only can subject any Man to the Censures of the Church , and Punishment of the State , yet a Simple Vow doth equally oblige in Conscience ; so that all the use that can be made of such a distinction , is this , that such a Contract is not valid in the present Canon or Civil-Law , although it be a true Marriage in the Eyes of God , which is sufficient for our purpose , and will make the annulling of it to be unlawful in the Sight of God , although lawful in Human Judicatures . However , the contrary of this , was the only thing which the Council of Trent adventured to define in the Cause of Celibacy , most unhappy in their Choice ; for that in all the dependent Questions of Vows , Marriage and Celibacy , there is none more apparently false , nor any one opposed by so constant and uninterrupted a Tradition from the Apostles Times to the Days of Hildebrand , when such Marriages were first declared to be null and void , if we except two or three obscure or inconsiderable Councils about the Year D. CCCC . All the Fathers before that time , who treat of this Matter , not one excepted , allow their validity ; and even after that time , all the more Famous Divines and Canonists till the Council of Trent . Some Provincial Councils indeed , after the Year D. ordered those who had Contracted such Marriages , to be separated from each other ; but that was not for any invalidity , which they supposed to be in those Marriages , but in way of Penance , to expiate the guilt of the Violation of their Vows , and the Scandal given to the Church ; as may appear from all those Canons which (b) Bellarmine alledgeth in Defence of the Decree of Trent . Sometimes also a Separation of such Married Persons was commanded , or rather permitted , only thereby to enable the Man to be re-admitted into the Ministry . As for the Council of (c) Chalcedon , commanding all who Contract Marriage after a Vow of Continence , to be Excommunicated , produced by Bellarmine , who might have added many such like Canons of other Councils . They rather prove the validity of these Marriages , because contented to inflict the Punishment of Excommunication , they proceed not to a Dissolution of them ; especially since the Council of Chalcedon in the close of that Canon , leaveth to every Bishop a Power of Remitting even that Punishment . But that Excommunication doth not suppose the invalidity of these Marriages , evidently appears from the Canons of all those many Councils ( as Aurelianense II. Can. 19. Arvernense Can. 6. Toletanum IV. Can. 63. Nicaenum Can. Arab. 53. Arelatense I. Can. 11. ) which Excommunicated those Christians which Married Jews or Gentiles ; although none will deny those Marriages to have been perfectly valid , and further ordered the Married Persons to be separated ; which also proves , that a Sentence of Separation doth not simply imply the invalidity of any Marriage . To manifest then the constant Tradition of the Church to have been contrary to the Definition of the Council of Trent , I might produce a long Bead-roll of Councils , Popes , and Emperours , who in the their Canons , Decrees , and Laws , have inflicted upon the Clergy , who Married after a Vow of Continence , no other punishment than that of Degradation , and some no more than an Incapacity of rising to higher Dignities in the Church . All these by permitting the use of such Marriages must necessarily be supposed to have owned the validity of them . But because their Authority , however certain , yet is indirect ; I will content myself with those , who if not in terminis , yet at least directly , assert the validity of these Marriages . I begin then with St. Paul , who giveth these Instructions to Timothy concerning the Deaconnesses of the Church : (a) Let not a widdow be taken into the number under threescore years old . But the younger widdows refuse ; for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ , they will marry : Having damnation ( in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which is too severely translated ) because they have cast off their first faith ; I will therefore that these marry . These Deaconnesses were Women , chosen out of the Widdows , to attend the Service of the Church ; who , maintained with the Revenues of the Church , were with some peculiar Ceremonies set apart , and as it were Ordained to that Office ; whom decency and the Custom of the Church permitted not to Marry again , because thereby they must have quitted their Offices , and so defeated the end of their solemn Dedication to the Church ; or as the Apostle termeth , have cast off their first faith . In taking upon them therefore this Office , they obliged themselves not to Marry again , and therefore as to a Vow of Continence , were in the same condition with the Clergy of the Church of Rome . Now at this time in the Church of Ephesus , some young Widdows had imprudently been chosen into the number of Deaconesses , who either not being able or not willing to contain , had some of them Married , and others ( as the Apostle seems to imply ) had given Scandal by their loose carriage . The Apostle therefore ratifies the Marriages of those who were already Married , and giveth free leave to the rest to Marry . But for the future , commands that none be admitted into that Order under Threescore years old , at which age there is no danger of Incontinency . Now that the Apostle treateth here of these Deaconesses , or Widdows who had promised to the Church to observe Continence , appeareth as well from the Context , as from the common Interpretation of the Fathers , many of whom (b) Bellarmine reckons up , and embraceth their Opinion . After the Apostle , succeed the Fathers . St. Clemens Alex. the great Defender of Marriage , and most Learned of all the Writers of the Three first Centuries : (a) Second Marriage , after a Promise of Continence , is unlawful , not in the Contract , but in the breach of Promise . (b) St. Cyprian , speaking of Virgins that had professed Chastity : But if they will not or cannot persevere , it is better they should Marry , than fall into Incontinency by their faults . Epiphanius , although otherwise a great Bigot of Virginity , speaking of those who after a Solemn Vow of Continence , and undertaking a Monastick Life , find themselves tempted with Lusts , gives them this advice : (c) It is better to commit one sin ( by violating the Vow ) than many ( by indulging a wandring Lust , ) it is best for him who cannot perform his undertaking , openly to Marry a Wife according to the Law. St. Basil , blaming some Virgins , who after they had solemnly devoted themselves to God , and vowed perpetual Chastity , behaved themselves unseemly , saith , (d) It were much better for them being married to a Husband , to receive from him directions of life , and recompence the benefits of his government , by assisting him in the care of the Family , and educating a succession of hopeful Children , and so preserve her Chastity , although it were only to avoid the Jealousie of her Husband . There is extant among St. Chrysostom's Works , two Eloquent and Passionate Treatises , written by him whilst young , to his Friend Theodorus , afterwards the Great and Learned Bishop of Mopsuestia , who in his youth having entred into a Monastick Life , had in the twentieth year of his age quitted it for the love of Hermione , a fair Virgin , whom he resolved to Marry . Here Chrysostome employeth all the strength of his Rhetorick to exaggerate the heinousness of his Sin committed , in violating his Vow made to God ; yet no where adventures to declare , that his Marriage would be invalid ; gives it the name of Marriage , and not of Adultery ; and although he equals the Sin of it to that Crime , and by a Metaphor calls it Adultery ; yet he plainly distinguisheth it from formal Adultery , more especially in these words ; (e) Marriage you will say is lawful ; so say I ; Marriage is honourable , saith the Apostle , and the bed undefiled ; but fortnicators and adulerers God will judge . But it is not permitted to you to celebrate the Rites ( or rather use the lawfulness ) of Marriage . For when one is joyned to a heavenly Spouse , to part with him for a Wife , and joyn himself to her , this is Adultery , although you should ten thousand times call it Marriage ; and by so much worse than Adultery , by how much God is greater than Men. Wonder not if Marriage is condemned equally with Adultery , when God is despised . Here the Crime indeed is sufficiently aggravavated , but placed wholly , as may be observed , not in the use of his intended Marriage , but in violating his first Faith pledged to Christ in his Vow of Continence . Calls his intended Contract , Marriage ; grants that when Married , Hermione will be his Wife : And in the close of his Passage , plainly distinguisheth his Crime from Adultery . Wherefore the Latine Translation in Fronto Ducaeus his Edition , renders it thus ; Wonder not if such a Marriage is compared to Adultery . The same Father in another place saying , (a) That some Monks in his time quitting their Profession , Contracted Marriage , passeth the same Censure on them ; always proceeding upon this ground , That they who make a Vow of Chastity , do thereby as it were joyn themselves in Marriage to Christ , and therefore by a subsequent Marriage become as it were guilty of Adultery . Upon which account also many other Fathers in their Rhetorical Flights , give to these Marriages the Title of Adultery . But if we come to close and strict Reasoning , (b) St. Augustine will tell us for them , That as this Marriage with Christ , is not True , but only Spiritual ; so neither is this Adultery True and Real , but only Spiritual and Mystical . This Father professedly handles this Question , refutes all the contrary Objections , and having said , that (c) Such Persons are condemned , not because they afterwards Contracted a Marriage , but because they violated their former Promise of Chastity : Determines in these words ; No small an evil ariseth from this inconsiderate Opinion of the invalidity of Marriage of holy Virgins which quit their Profession . For hereby Wives are separated frrom their Husbands , as if they were Adulteresses , not Wives ; and they who would by separating of them , reduce them to Continence , make their Husbands become true Adulterers , if while these are alive they marry other Wives . Wherefore Gratian contracteth the sence of St. Augustine's Argument , and truly represents it thus : (d) Some affirm those who Marry after a Vow , to be Adulterers ; but I say they grievously sin , who Separate such Persons . I might produce many other places of St. Augustine to the same purpose , especially where , sp●…aking of Professed Virgins , which although Incontinent , adventured not to Marry , partly for Shame , and partly for fear of Punishment : He giveth his Opinion thus ; (e) These who long to Marry , and yet do not Marry , because they cannot do it unpunished ; it is better they should Marry than Burn , that is , than be scorched with the secret flames of Lust , who repent their Profession , and are grieved at their Promise . St. Hierome , writing to a Consecrated Virgin , who leaving her Mother , lived with an unmarried Clergyman , and was suspected to maintain an unlawful familiarity with him , giveth her this advice , either to return to her Mother or Marry her Lover . Why are you afraid to return to her ? (a) If you be still a Virgin , why need you fear a close Consinement ? If Debauched , why do you not publickly Marry ? That will be the next refuge after Shipwrack , to extenuate at least your Crime by this Remedy . A Passage so much the more Memorable , because of this Couple , the one was a Clergyman , the other a Nun ; and yet St. Hirome not only alloweth , but adviseth their Marriage . The Council of Ancyra , in the Year , 314. Decreed , that (b) Those who having vowed Virginity , falsifyed their Promise , should be placed in the rank of Bigamists . But none will say that Bigamy is unlawful , much less that it is Adultery . I might mention many other Councils , which inflicted only a Temporary Penance on those Marriages . Pope Leo I. Decreed , that a (c) Monk , who forsaking the profession of Continence , either became a Soldier , or Married , should expiate his Fault by Publick Penance ; because although Warfare may be Innocent , and Marriage honest , yet it is a Crime to forsake the better Choice . Pelagius the Heretick , who in the matter of Vows and Marriage , was as Orthodox as any , in his Epistle to Demetrias the Virgin , falsly ascribed both to St. Hierome , and St. Augustine , saith , (d) Let the Consecrated Virgins either Marry if they cannot contain , or contain , if they will not Marry . Pope Gelasius , in the end of the Fifth Century , defineth thus : (e) If any Widows shall through Inconstancy , violate their profession of Chastity willingly undertook ; it concerns them to take care with what satisfaction they may appease God. For as if they could not perhaps contain , they were not at all forbidben to Marry ; so when they have once deliberately promised Chastity to God , they ought to have kept it , yet ought not we to lay a Snare ( or impose a Necessity ) upon any such : But proposing to them the merits of Continence , and danger of breaking of a Vow , leave the matter to their own Conscience . In the Seventh Age , Theodorus Archbishop of Canterbury , in his Penitential , which was the Canon Law of the Church of England for some Ages , ordered , that (f) If any Man having a simple Vow of Virginity , married a Wife ; he should not put away his Wife , but only do Penance . In which words , lest Bellarmine's distinction of a Simple and Solemn Vow should be thought to take place , it may be observed , that Naldus , in his Annotations upon Gratian , confesseth the word Simplex is wanting in all the Manuscript Copies . In the end of the Eleventh Age , even after the Decrees of Hildebrand were published , (g) Ivo Bishop of Chartres , the greatest Canonist of his Age , relates how a Canon of the Church of Paris Contracted Marriage ; and maintains , that that Marriage neither can , nor ought to be dissolved . In the next Age , Gratian the Compiler of the Canon Law ( consirmed by Eugenius III. and at this day in use in the Church of Rome ) is express for the validity of these Marriages . (a) If a Deacon ( saith he ) will lay down his Office , he may lawfully use Marriage when once Contracted . For although he made a Vow of Chastity at his Ordination , yet so great is the force of the Sacrament of Marriage , that not even by the violation of the Vow , can the Marriage be dissolved . In the Thirteenth Age , Innocent III. and the whole (b) Lateran Conncil , acknowledged the Marriage of Priests , in some Western Provinces , to be firm and valid , and the Use of it to be lawful . In the Fifteenth Age , (c) AEneas Sylvius , afterwards Pope , by the Name of Pius II. and the most Learned of all that have sat in St. Peter's Chair for these last Thousand years , being , when Cardinal of Siena , desired by a Priest of his Acquaintance , who found he could no longer contain , to obtain for him a Dispensation from the Pope to Marry ; returned him Answer , That the Pope refused it , and at the same aime gave him this advice . (d) I acknowledge you do not act imprudently , if when you cannot contain , you seek to Marry ; although that ought to have been considered , before you entred into Holy Orders . But we are not all Gods , to soresee future Necessities . Seeing the case is so , that you cannot any longer resist the law of the slesh , it is better to Marry than to Burn. Thus we have proved , that the Doctrine of the Invalidity of Marriages Contracted after a Vow of Continence , was unknown in the first Ages of Christianity , opposed in the last , and not universally received in the Church of Rome , until defined with an Anathema by the Council of Trent ; which thereby left the Controversie in a worse condition than they found it . Having thus dispatched the Controversial , I pass to the Historical part of my Design ; and therein will evince , that the Celibacy of the Clergy was looked upon as a thing Indifferent in the Two first Centuries , Proposed in the Third , Magnified in the Fourth , and in some Places Imposed in the Fifth , yet so , as that even that Imposition did infinitely differ from the present Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of Rome ; that however Commanded in some Provinces of the West , it was no where universally Practised ; that in a few Ages this Imposition became obsolete ; this Yoke intolerable , and Marriage universally prevailed , till condemned and forbidden by the Popes of the Eleventh Age ; that even their Decrees and Canons became ineffectual by an universal Opposition of the whole Church ; and the lawfulness of Marriage in the Clergy was aftewards allowed and permitted by many Popes , and one General Council of the Roman Church ; that all this while Celibacy never was imposed or practifed in the Eastern Church from the Apostles time ; but the Imposition of it was rejected by one , and condemned by another Council of the Universal Church ; and obtained not even in the West , till the Ambition and Usurpation of the Popes drawing to themselves the Disposition of all greater Ecclesiastical Preferments , Poverty became necessary to the Married Clergy ; which caused Marriage to be wholly laid aside by them about Two Hundred years before the Reformation . The Proof of these things shall be the Subject of the remaining part of my Discourse . But first I shall premise these few Considerations . I. Although the Ancient Church should have imposed , or universally practised Celibacy , yet the Obligation of that Law , and Authority of that Example , would be no reasonable , much less necessary Motive to the present Church to continue the Imposition ; since the Reasons which might have induced the Antients to enjoyn or use it , are long since ceased . Those Reasons were to make the Clergy more ready and willing to renounce the Pleasures of the World , and suffer Martyrdom in Times of Persecution , and by their brave Example incite the Laity to the same generous Constancy of Mind . In the flourishing and peaceable Times of the Churches , there could be no other reason of enjoyning it , than to procure an extraordinary Veneration to the Clergy , by their Abstinence from permitted Pleasures , and thereby facilitate and promote the common Edificacion of the Church . As for the Reasons of some Admirers of Celibacy , who were led aside with false Prejudices , and pre-conceived Errours ; they vanish together with the detection of their falsity , and do no longer oblige than those Errours are maintained . But as for the other more solid Reasons , Providence has annulled the first , by giving rest unto the Church ; and an universal decay of Piety , as well in Clergy as Laity , hath defeated the second : Since what perhaps was before Exemplary , is now become a Scandal to the whole Christian World. This Cassander ingenuously confesseth in these words ; (a) For those Reasons wherewith the Antients were induced to make this Constitution , are not only now ceased , but are even become opposite . For first , we see that by this Decree Chastity and Continence is so far from being promoted in the Clergy , that thereby a door is rather opened to all kind of Lust and Villany : and Coveteousness in the Clergy so far from being restrained by it , that it seems hence to have received no small encrease . II. To Confute our Adversaries pretence of Antiquity , and establish my Design , it is sufficient to produce the Authority of some Fathers , who thought the Imposition of Celibacy unlawful or inconvenient to the Church ; to alledge the Testimony of some Historians , assuring us that Marriage was in their Time used indifferently by the Clergy ; and propose the Examples of some Married Clergy : Althogh some Fathers and Writers were of a contrary Opinion , or the greater part of the Clergy perhaps practised Celibacy . For this will undeniably prove , that both Marriage and Celibacy were left indifferent to all ; that neither was a Point of Faith , an Institution of Christ or his Apostles . or a matter of Universal Practice . Whereas our Adversaries pretending herein to an uninterrupted Tradition , and constant Practice of the whole Church in all Ages , must to that end produce a perfect consent of all Doctors , Historians and Writers ; and an universal Practice of all Times . If any one Writer occur , not condemned ; or any one Example not censured by the Church ; the Plea of Tradition must fall . Some indeed of the Roman Church , as Erasmus and Cassander , pretended not to so Universal a Tradition and Practice ; but then they were so far from Defending the present Constitutions of the Church of Rome , by the Authority of the Antients , that they were open Enemies to the Imposinion of Celibacy . However , the Dissent of ancient Doctors and Councils , and the diverse Practices of private Clergymen , will manifestly demonstrate , that Celibacy was neither universally imposed nor practised in the Ancient Church , as it is at this day in the Church of Rome ; but that , as well as Marriage , left indifferent both to Clergy and Laity , if not in some particular Provinces , yet at least in the Universal Church . III. The numbers of the Married Clergy in the Ancient Church , ought not to be estimated only from the accounts of them which we find in Ecclesiastical History of Monuments of Antiquity . For the Relation of Wives or Children , add neither Ornament nor Use to History , nor have any part in it , unless upon extraordinary occasions , which rarely happen . It concerns not Posterity to know , whether Aristotle or Plato were Married ; since neither Marriage nor Celibacy will inhaunce their Vertue , or diminish their Worth. And if mention of Wives be rarely found in Civil , much less will it in Ecclesiastical History . For Women sometimes bear a share in Civil Matters ; but in publick Acts of Religion , and Affairs of the Church , it is even unlawful for them to intermeddle . So that if but a few Examples of Marriage in the Clergy of the Ancient Church can be produced ; we may thence reasonably conclude , that the Married Clergy were then very numerous . IV. The Reader may observe , that almost all those places , which we shall produce out of the Ancient Doctors for the lawfulness of Marriage in the Clergy , and against the Imposition of it , are taken either from their dogmatical Treatises , which were written deliberately , and in a sedate temper of Mind ; or from their Harangues of Virginity , where the very force of Truth extorted from them those Confessions . Whereas the Testimonies made use of by our Adversaries , for the Necessity or Convenience of Celibacy in the Clergy , are for the most part drawn either from these Encomiastick Discourses of Virginity , where they employed all the force of their Eloquence to magnisie the Merits of that State , and recommend it to the World ; or from their Polemick Writings against the Adversaries of Celibacy , wherein they were more intent to Destroy Errour , than Establish Truth . And no wonder , if in both these Occasions , corrupted with Prejudice , or transported with Passion , they bent the Bow to much , and receded from that Exactness of Truth , which is seated in the middle way . To these Observations , I may add the Confession of many Great Men in the Church of Rome ; who allow Celibacy , neither to have been imposed , nor universally practised in the Antient Church . To pass by then Cassander , Erasmus , and the more moderate Divines of that Church , I will produce only Gratian and Mendosa ; the last (a) of which acknowledgeth that Marriage was always allowed to the Clergy , and every where thought indifferent , till forbidden by the Council of Illiberis in the Fourth Age : the first goeth further in these words : (b) From this Authority ( an Epistle of Pope Pelagius in the Sixth Age ) it appeareth , that the Clergy of the aforementioned Order , Priests , Deacons , and Sub-deacons , might then lawfully use Marriage . And in the time of the Council of Ancyra ( in the Fourth Age ) the Continence of the Ministers of the Altar was not yet introduced . Although perhaps by this last Passage only Deacons and Subdeacons are understood . However , in another place he speaks more generally : (c) When therefore we read that the Sons of the Clergy are promoted to be Popes or Bishops ; they are not to be thought to have been born of Fornication , but of lawful Marriage , which was every where permitted to the Clergy before the prohibition , and is to this day permitted to them in the Eastern Church . Having premised these few preliminary Observations , I proceed to Matter of Fact ; and begin with the Apostles : than whom none better knew the intention of their Master , or the convenience of the Church , and were the best Pattern of the Clergy for all future Ages . St. Basil seems to have believed that all the Apostles were married , where speaking of the excellency of of Marriage (d) he brings in the Example of Peter and the rest of the Apostles . The Interpolater of Ignatius his Epistles ( who lived in the beginning of the Sixth Age ) in like manner produceth the Examples of Peter , Paul , and (e) the other Apostles , or as the Latin Translator ( antienter than Ado Viennensis , who flourished in the year 875. ) renders it , (f) the rest of the Apostles . The Author of the Commentary upon the Epistles of St. Paul in St. Ambrose's Works ( who was Hilary a Deacon of Rome ) excepts (g) St. Paul and St. John , and affirms all the rest to have been married . That St. Peter was married we are assured by the Authority of the Holy Scripture : (h) That he had a Daughter by her the antient Book of his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Travels , (i) writ before the times of Origen , manifest ; to whom the latter Legendary Writers give the name of Petronilla . St. Peter is kniwn to have had a Wife ; and the begitting of Children hindred him not from obtaining precedency among the Apostles , saith the abovementioned (k) Hilary in his Questions upon both Testaments , falsly ascribed to St. Austin : For that he was the Author of them is abundantly demonstrated by the learned Garnerius , (l) That he led about his Wife with him in his Travels and Preaching . St. Paul plainly intimates in these words : (m) Have we not power to lead about a sister , a wife , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , as well as other Apostles ( or rather , as the rest of the Apostles , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ) and as the brethren of the Lord , and Cephas ? Our Adversaries indeed pretend , that by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in this place is to be understood not a Wife , but an assistant Woman , commonly of the richer and more aged sort , carried about by the Apostles to minister to their necessities , provide them maintenance , and serve them in the quality of Deaconesses : And thus it must be acknowledged the greatest part of the Antients did interpret it . However , I will oppose to that Opinion some considerable , and perhaps convictive Arguments . As first , the ordinary acception of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 both in the Septuagint and the New Testament , where the name Wife is never designed by any other word . Secondly , this Interpretation was by the Antients received from Tertullian , who first proposed it in his Book of Monogamy , which he writ after he was become a Montanist . Thirdly , the contrary Opinion of all the Catholicks in Tertullian's time , For in his Exhortations to Chastity , writ likewise after his fall , decrying the excellency of Marriage , he introduceth the Catholicks thus objecting to him , (n) It was lawful even for the Apostles to marry , and to lead about their wives with them . And indeed Clemens Alexandrinus , the most Learned and Orthodox of all the Writers of the three sirst Centuries ; expresly interprets (o) this place of Wives ; and further adds , That St. Peter had several Children by his Wife . Not to mention Cardinal Humbert in latter Ages , who , (p) although a bitter Enemy of Priests Marriage , allows and followeth this Interpretation . That is more considerable , which Eusebius (q) relates from the same Clemens , that St. Peter saw his Wife suffer Martyrdom , and standing by her exhorted her generously to undergo it ; which alone might demonstrate , that she accompanied him in all his Travels : Since , excepting St. Stephen , and St. James the Great , none suffered Death for the Christian Faith , till the latter end of Nero's Reign , when St. Peter was wholly employed in the West . The Marriage of St. Paul , however , commonly denied by the Antients , and universally by the Moderns , is attested by great Authorities . Clemens Alexandrinus , the Disciple of Pantaenus , who ( by the Testimony of Photius ) (r) had those for his Masters , who had seen and conversed with the Apostles , and who himself writ within 125 years after the death of St. Paul , and had travelled into Palaestine ; expresly affirms (s) it . From him Euse●…ius (t) receiving this Tradition , transcribeth and approveth it . These two Authorities are sufficient alone to create a probability . However , I will observe that many still retained the same Opinion in the end of the Fourth Age. So St. Hierom (u) assureth us some believed in his time . St. Chrysostom (a) acknowledgeth the same thing , and adds that many in his time maintained , St. Paul directed those words to his Wife ( Philipp . 4. 3. ) I intreat thee also , true yoke-fellow , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . For those words in the Attick dialect , the most elegant of the Greek Tongue , may be translated , my faithful Wife . Nay , in the Sixth Age the Interpolator of Ignatius's Epistles hath these words : (b) In praising Virginity , I do not blame all other holy Men , because they used Marriage . For I desire only to be thought worthy of God to be placed at their feet in the kingdom of heaven ; as of Abraham , Isaac ; Jacob , Joseph , and the other Prophets , as of Peter and Paul , and the other Apostles , who used Marriage . This place the Ancient Latin Interpreter , who lived about the Eighth Age , hath retained and translated with advantage : It is a foolish , as well as impudent Pretence , which the Writers of the Church of Rome alledge to defeat the Authority of this Testimony : They maintain that the name of St. Paul was foisted in by the fraud of some latter Greeks , at least Reformed Printers : and therefore the Index Expurgatorius commands his name to be wiped out of all Editions , yet have they no other Foundation for this consident Calumny , than the Authority of two Manuscript Copies , which they pretend to be very antient , the one of Matthias Corvinus , King of Hungary ; the other of Magdalen Colledge in Oxford , taken up upon the Credit of an Irish ●…ugitive . Whereas the first was never seen since the days of Ambrosius Camaldulensis , who lived 250 , years since ; the other Bishop Usher (c) saw , and found to be no older than the year 1490. That the Reformed Printers corrupted not this place , appears from all the Editions before the Reformation , particularly those of Fabor Stapulensis Paris 1498. Strasbourg 1502. and Jod . Clichtovaus Paris 1515. and many Editions set forth by Papists since the Reformation ; wherein the name of St. Paul is found . The Greeks are no less cleared from all fraud herein by the consent of the Latin Copies , particularly of one 800. years old in Baliol Colledge in Oxford , mentioned by Dr. James , (a) wherein although some zealous Romanist had blotted out the name of St. Paul , and the other Apostles , yet they had done it so slightly , that the words were still easily legible . Now whether St. Peter led about his Wife with him , or St. Paul was married , is not of so great moment to our case , as is the Conclusion , which may be evidently drawn from the belief , entertained by some of the Antients , both of the one and of the other . For even if we should grant their Opinion to have been erroneous ; yet it manifestly demonstrates , that in their time , the Celibacy of the Clergy was neither believed to have been instituted by the Apostles , nor universally practised by the preceding Ages , nor the use of Marriage inconvenient , much less incompatible to the Priesthood . Had any of these Opinions been generally received in their time ; it is impossible they should have been so stupid , as to believe the Apostles had done a thing contrary to their own Institution , or the laudable practise of succeeding Ages , or the Dignity of their Office. Of the other Apostles , St. Philip had Three Daughters , whom by the Testimony of (c) Clemens Alex. he Married to so many Husbands . Of the Four Virgin Daughters of Philip the Deacon , we read in the (d) Acts of the Apostles . The Marriage of Nicholas the Deacon , is Famous in Ecclesiastical History ; which because the Mis-representation of it gave occasion to many Errours , and the Imposers of Celibacy in the Eleventh Age , constantly traduced the Marriage of Priests with the Title of Nicolaite , Heresie , it will not be amiss here to rectifie . Clemens Alex. the most Ancient of all who mention it ( for (e) St. Irenaeus saith only , That the Nicolaites came from Nicolas the Deacon ) relateth it it thus : (f) Nicolas having a very beautiful Wife , became unreasonably Jealous of her : for which being rebuked by the Apostles , that he might purge himself of all Suspicion of Jealousie , he brought his Wife into the midst of the Company , and giving up his Right to her , gave free leave to any one to marry her ; not that he intended any such thing , but only to shew by that Bravado , how far he was from Jealousie . This indeed was a rash and imprudent Act , which gave neither Example nor just Occasion to those execrable things which afterwards the Nicolaites practised , and some credulous Persons believed to have been committed by Nicolas ; whom (a) Clemens affirms to have been truly Chaste , and have used the company of none but his own Wife ; by whom he had one Son , and several Daughters , all Persons of Exemplary Vertue and Modesty . (b) Eusebius , (c) St. Augustine , and (d) Theodoret , relate the Story the same way . Only (e) Epiphanius relates in a different manner ; That Nicolas having vowed perpetual Abstinence from his Wife , was allured by the Charms of her Beauty to return to her Embraces , and violate his Vow ; and afterwards not only became unreasonably Jealous , but fell into all kind of Uncleanness , and founded the Heresie of the Nicolaites . This Relation Epiphanius seems to have received from the impure Gnosticks , with whom he conversed in his Youth ; and as he was a Person infinitely credulous , and of weak judgment , blindly to have followed it . However , his Authority in a matter of this nature , is of no moment , when opposed to Clemens and Eusebius , judicious and more ancient Writers . From the Apostolick Times , I proceed to the Doctrine and Practice of succeeding Ages , till the Council of Nice . Of the two first Ages , few Monuments of the Church are now extant ; and in them not the least foot-step of Celibacy imposed or generally used by the Clergy , to be sound . Rather Clemens Alex. assures us , that (f) Every Christian in his time , might as himself pleased , either chose or omit Marriage . That all , none excepted , had power to make use of that Marriage which the Gospel permitted them , first Marriage ; where he plainly speaks of the Clergy : for second Marriage was never forbidden to the Laity . But the following words are more remarkable : The Apostle very well approveth the Husband of one Wife , although he be a Priest , or a Deacon , or a Lay-man , if he useth his Marriage unblameably : for he shall be saved by Procreation of Children . And what will the Condemners of Marriage say to these Precepts , since the Apostle commandeth him to preside over the Church in quality of Bishop , who governeth his own House well , and the Marriage of one Wife representeth the Church of Christ. Indeed , about the Year 170. Pinytus , Bishop of Gnossus , in Creete , had , under pretence of a greater Perfection and Purity , endeavoured to impose Celibacy upon his Clergy : Which when Dionysius the Famous Bishop of Corinth heard , he writ an Epistle to him , representing the injustice of his attempt , and persuading him , (a) not to impose so heavy a burthen , as Necessity of Continence , upon the Brethren ; but to have regard to the infirmity of many . That by the Brethren in this place , only the Clergy are meant , appears evidently from the Character which Eusebius gives of Pinytus , That he was a Pious and Orthodox Person : Whereas had he imposed Celibacy upon all the Faithful , he had been guilty of a gross and most erroneous Heresie . To this I might add the Confession of the most Learned (b) Mendoza , and many others , if so clear a Matter wanted any further Illustration . That Pinytus yielded to the Admonition of Dionysius , and quitted his attempt , we are assured by (c) Russinus , who saith , That Pinytus writing back to him , embraced the Opinion of his better counsel . In the Third Age , Origen plainly insinuates , That First Marriage was in his Time indifferently permitted to the Clergy ; (d) Not only Fornication ( saith he ) but also ( Second ) Marriage , excludeth from Ecclesiastical Dignities . For neither a Bishop , nor Priest , nor Deacon , nor Deaconness , can be Digamists . Himself indeed was agreat Admirer of Celibacy ; but that we shall speak to hereafter . Of the Practice of the Church in these Three first Ages , not a few Examples may be produced . For , to pass by the Apostles and Deacons already mentioned , (e) St. Polycarp professeth himself to be very sorry for Valens Presbyter , of Philippi , and his Wife . That Tertullian Presbyter , of Carthage , was married , all ackowledge ; that he abstained from his Wife , after his entrance into Holy Orders , is a meer Fiction of the Papists ; which however contemned by some Reformed Divines , may be refuted by Tertullian's own words . For in his Two Books directed to her , to perswade her to continue a Widow after his death ; or if through the infirmity of the Flesh we cannot do that , yet at least to marry none but a Christian , he hath these words : (f) Why should we not love the Perfection of Continence , as much as we are able ? As soon as it offers itself , let us embrace it , that what we are not now able to do whilest Married , we may perform in Widowhood . That occasion ought to be laid hold of , which depriveth us of those Pleasures , that Necessity before commanded . A little before Tertullian's time , (g) Irenaeus relates how Marcus the Haeresiarch being entertained by a Catholick Deacon in Asia , who had a handsom Wife , debauched her both in Body and Mind , and ran away with her . In the Decian Persecution , Chaeremon , Bishop of Nile , in Egypt , fled into the Mountains of Arabia , ( a ) together with the Companion of his life , or as Valesius truly translates it , (b) With his Wife . Among the Articles of Misdemeanour , whereof (c) St. Cyprian accuseth Novatus Presbyter , of Carthage , and Author of the Novatian Schism in Africk , one is , that he kick'd his Wife great with Child , and caused her to Miscarry . That St. Cyprian himself was married , and lived with his Wife after the the receiving of Holy Orders , we may learn from (d) Pontius his Deacon , who speaking of his eminent Vertues , and extraordinary Piety , whilst yet Presbyter , saith , That neither Want nor Sorrow could discourage him ; neither the Persuasions of his Wife , nor the Sufferings of his own Body , could divert him from neglecting the care of his estate , to attend the Exercises of his Religion . Caecilius , Presbyter of Carthage , who had converted St. Cyprian to the Christian Faith , at his death , (e) recommended his Wife and Children to his Care and Protection . (f) Caldonius , in an Epistle to St. Cyprian , reckons Faelix , a Presbyter , and Victorin his Wife , among the Confessors of Africa . In the Dioclesian Persecution , Phileas , the most Holy Bishop of Thmuis , in Egypt , and Philoromus , being brought (g) before the Heathen Judge , to receive Sentence of Martyrdom , were desired by him to take Pity , if not of themselves , yet at least of their Wives and Children , and prevent the Ruin of their Families , by sacrisicing to Idols ; although those brave Martyrs slighted his Admonitions , and scorned such ignoble Considerations . However , Celibacy and the Merits of Virginity , began to be highly extolled , and gained great Reputation in the Third Age. Many Causes concurred to advance this Reputation , as the Convenience of the Church at that time , the Mistakes of Catholick , and Artifices of Hereticks , I shall begin with the last , and observe , that in all the numerous train of Heresies , from the Apostles time to the Council of Nice , scarce was there any one which did not condemn Marriage , or at least decry the Dignity of it , and cry up Celibacy as the most Perfect and most Vertuous state , and the nearest way to Heaven . Which alone is no small Prejudice to the Doctrine and Practice of the present Church of Rome , that the imaginary Excellencies of Celibacy were unknown to the World , till discovered by the grossest and most foolish Hereticks that ever infected the Christian Church . I do not hereby accuse the Church of Rome of their Heresie , yet cannot but take notice , that in urging Celibacy to her Clergy , she proceeds upon the same Principles with them , a greater Perfection , and more refined Piety , an unusal abstinence from all Pollutions of the Flesh , and Pleasures of the World : That some of them enjoyned not Celibacy to all their Followers , but only persuaded it to those who aimed at Perfection ; and that the Heresie of Eustathius , condemned by the Council of Gangra , was in terminis revived by the Popes and Councils of the Eleventh Age. Saturnilus , Disciple of Menander , led the dance ; (a) He first called Marriage the Doctrine of the Devil : and was herein followed by an infinite rabble of Hereticks , Nicolaites , Cerinthians , the Sects of Marcus , Basildes , Carpocrates , Isidorus , Marcion , Cassian , Tatian , and many others , who absolutely rejected Marriage , as unlawful and impure , and beneath the dignity of a spiritual and more perfect Christian . To this end , they pretend no less specious Reasons , than are at this day alledged by the Patrons of Celibacy , as , (b) that being freed from the Cares of a Family , they might attend the better to Acts of Devotion and Piety : That (c) it was a noble Attempt , and worthy the ambition of a Christian to surmount all the inclinations of the Flesh , and by afflicting of it intirely subject it to the Soul : not to yeild to the unruly Passions of the Body , but rather by such a Mortification increase the perfections of the Soul with Faith and Knowledge . Nor were these their only Reasons : They also pretend to Tradition , and although immediately after the Apostles deaths , intitled their horrid Doctrines to those Sacred Names ; and to confirm their Plea forged Gospels , Acts , and Histories under the Apostles names , injurious to Marriage , and consonant to their own Opinions . But so gross a Heresie , however , backed with great and specious pretences , survived not the middle of the Third Age. When that declined , other more subtil and refined Hereticks arose in their stead , who indirectly and obliquely oppose Marriage , yet upon the same topick of greater Purity and Perfection . Thus the Montanists condemned all second Marriages ; and reviled the Catholicks , who defended them , with the opprobious Title of Pry●…hici or Carnal Men. Thus the Novatians revolted from the Church , and accused her of licentionsness , because she admitted to Communion those Digamists , who after a Divorce of one Wife , for whatsoever cause , even for that of Adultery , had married another . Lastly , thus the Manichees , although enjoyning Celibacy to none , nor forbidding Marriage to any , through a mistaken Impurity in the use of it , excluded all married Persons from the rank of their Elect , or more perfect Christians , and permitted it only to their Hearers , or inferiour order of their Sect. And when all these Heresies were every where exploded by the Catholick Church ; the Reputation of Celibacy still found entertainment in the World , as being more speciously and cunningly proposed , especially by the Eustathian Hereticks , who aflixed it only to the Clergy , and refused to communicate with married Priests , imagining the Sacraments by them administred to be wholly ineffectual . Thus did the Celibacy of the Clergy gradually advance from a gross and foolish Heresie to a regular and well formed errour : And however , these antient Hereticks committed the most abominable Villanies , and unnatural Lusts under pretence of absolute Purity and Continence , so that what Pope Leo (a) said of the Priscillianists , might justly be applied to them all : They detested Marriage , because there is no liberty for uncleanness , where the Chastity of the Nuptial Bed , and the hope of Posterity is preserved ; notwithstanding their promiscuous Fornications , and brutish Lusts , which gave scandal to the very Heathens : The glorious pretence of Chastity and Perfection gained infinite applause in the World , and drew multitudes of Sectators after them . The very name of Encratites or continent Persons , common to all these Hereticks , commanded Veneration from 〈◊〉 people ; and all were apt to admire an imaginary Perfection , which they found themselves so much wanted . It seems ever to have been the unhappiness of Mankind to be deluded with excesses of Vertue ; although all such naturally degenerate into Vices , or at least into things indifferent . Thus a rash and precipitate boldness is admired beyond a moderate aud well-governed valour ; and Enthusiasm ever gains greater esteem than a sober and rational Devotion . Thus among the Speculative Sects of Heathen Philosophy Platonists , among the Moral Sects , Stoicks and Cynicks , obtained the greatest applause ; meerly because the first pretended to an extraordinary , and perhaps , impossible abstraction of the Mind from corporeal and sensitive Objects ; and the latter boasted of a perfect Immunity from all Passions , and the exercise of a tyrannical command over the Body : And both seemed to trample under foot the considerations of Flesh and Blood , and surmount the ordinary Capacity of Mankind . Such prejudices as these recommended Celiba●…y to the World , and advanced the pretentions of these antient Hereticks : Who although they corrupted not the whole Church with the Poison of their Errour , yet they almost every where introduced false Notions of Marriage into the Minds of Men ; and although they could not cause it to be universally condemned , yet at least procured it to be generally despised . And indeed never did any Heresie prevail in the Church , which did not leave some tincture of it self , even in the Minds of Catholicks . Thus it may be observed , that there is not one Writer in the Fifth Age , wherein some touch either of Pelagianism , or Predestinatism may not be discovered . How far the Heresie of these Encratites prevailed , and secretly corrupted the Judgment of Catholicks , I shall next enquire . First then , The Relicks of the Eustathian Heresie so far prevailed among the Catholicks , that many of them believed it highly indecent for him to meddle with the Administration of Sacred Things , who indulged himself the liberty of Marriage , as if he had contracted some Impurity thereby , and made himself unworthy of the holy Office : an Errour common to all the Patrons of Celibacy , which proceeded so far in the time of Gregory Nazianzen , that many would not willingly receive Baptism , or the Eucharist from married Priests ; but much farther in the time of Hildebrand , and once again advanced into the formal Heresie of the Eustathians . From the Montanists the Catholicks received their dislike of second Marriages , one of the most palpable Errours of Antiquity ; since what the Apostle expresly alloweth , and in some Cases adviseth , most of the Ancients decry as scandalous and inconvenient , oft-times as a tolerable Evil , and sometimes even as a grievous sin . Tertullian hath written whole Books against it . Athenagoras ▪ (a) calls it a decent Adultery . Origen (b) maintains that a Digamist , however otherwise a person of good conversation , and adorned with all other Vertues not to belong to the Church . I might add many other Fathers and Councils , who imposed a tedious Penance upon Digamists : but the thing is sufficiently notorious . This prejudice against Digamy was first taken up in the end of the Second Age. Before that time second Marriage was thought indifferent , and wholly innocent . Hermes (a) in ●…he First Age had determined the lawfulness of it ; and Clemens Alexandrinus (b) in the next pleads largely for it . From the Gnosticks the Catholicks received an erroneous Opinion of some Impurity and Sinfulness , or at least Imperfection in the use of Marriage . They scrupled not to use the Authority of Books forged by those Hereticks in prejudice of Marriage , such as the Gospel of the Egyptians , the Acts of Paul and Tecla , and the like ; and in some measure adopted their Errours . Thus Origen , and one of the most early Favourers of Celibacy , writeth thus of Marriage , (c) Although I will not positively pronounce , yet I suppose these are some ordinary actions of Men , which however they be free from sin , are not worthy to be honoured with tbe presence of the Holy Gospel : for instance , lawful Marriage is not indeed sinful ; yet while conjugal Acts are performed , the Holy Ghost will not be present ; although he seems to be a Prophet , who performs them . St. Hierom , the great Patron of Celibacy , in the next Age , goeth farther , and disputing against Jovinian , doth in some places make Marriage not only sinful , but even damnable . If it be good , saith he , (d) for a Man not to touch a Woman , then it is evil to touch her : For nothing is contrary to Good , but Evil. While I perform the Duty of a Husband , I do not the Duty of a Christian . For the Apostle commandeth we should always pray . If so , we must never serve the ends of Marriage . For as often as I do that , I cannot pray . I suppose that the end of Marriage is eternal Death . The Earth indeed is filled by Marriage , but Paradise by Virginity . And as the Apostle permits not those who are already married to put away their Wives ; so he forbideth Virgins to marry . Marriage is permitted only as a remedy of Lust ; it being more tolerable to be prostituted to one man than many . Nor did this Errour expire with those Heresies , from whence they rose . About the year 600. when Augustin , Archbishop of Canterbury , desired of Pope Gregory some Instructions for his new Converts in England , and Rules of Ecclesiastical Discipline , he gave him this for one . (a) A Man after he hath laid with his own Wife , ought not to enter into the Church , till he hath washed himself with water , nor must then immediately enter . Whereas Clemens Alexandrinus (b) praising the Simplicity of the Christian Religion , instanceth in this very Ceremony ; which although used of old by the Jews , he saith was no where practised in his time by the Christians . Many other erroneons Opinions obtained in the antient Church , which proceeded from no other cause but this . I will observe but one more : their Opinion of the lawfulness of Self-murder to prevent the loss of Virginity , imagining somewhat of Sinfulness and Impurity was inseparably annexed even to the natural act of Generation . So Eusebius (c) bestows large Encomiums upon some Virgins and Matrons , who had laid violent hands upon themselves to prevent the Lust of Heathens : And Aldhelmus (d) citeth a Sentence of some Father more antient than himself : Self-murder is unlawful , unless when Chastity is endangered : which he consirms , and illustrates with many Reasons and Examples . Such weaknesses of the Antients had deserved indeed to be buried in Oblivion ; if they had not influenced their Practice , and laid the Foundations of an Errour , which continueth even to this day , that Marriage is a state Unbefitting , and Celibacy therefore Necessary to the Clergy : An Opinion first taken up upon those Prejudices which we have just now mentioned , and maintained upon the Authority of those who are led away with these Mistakes . So that to take away the Plea of Antiquity from the Church of Rome , in the case of Celibacy , it were sufficient to shew , that the Antients received and embraced it meerly for the sake of these Prejudices and Mistakes : Which we have already done . For these were the great and only Arguments of Celibacy , for the first Thousand years ; while none were yet so foolish as to imagin it to be of Divine or Apostolical Institution . The pre-conceived Opinions of the impurity of Marriage in all , and great indecency of it in those who administred Holy things , tended directly to introduce the Celibacy of the Clergy . For these Reasons , (e) Origen and (f) Eusebius , who were the only Orthodox Writers before the Council of Nice , who openly prefer the Celibacy of the Clergy to their Marriage , desired it might be introduced . For they rather faintly wished the thing , than dogmatically used it ; and by their Wishes manifest , that it was not yet introduced . As for their unreasonable prejudice against Digamy , that contributed no less to the cause of Celibacy , than the other Mistakes , For the unlawfulness of Digamy once supposed , the force of the Apostles Precept of Marriage to all who could not contain , became wholly enervate ; since a Man is no less subject to Incontinence after enjoyment of a Wife for some few years , perhaps days , than he was before he ever married . Besides , all the Patrons of Celibacy failed not to make use of this Argument : That if Second Marriage be unlawful or indecent to the Laity , even First Marriage will be so to the Clergy ; it being usual for them who disallowed Second Marriage in all , to think First Marriage only a tolerable evil , and permitted in some ; as Divorce was formerly to the Jews . And then it was a natural order of Superstition , first to forbid Second , and then all Marriage to the Clergy . Therefore we may observe , that in the beginning of the Third Age , (a) Tertullian affirms Digamy to have been forbidden to the Clergy both by Apostolical Tradition , aud the Discipline of the Church , and to be generally discussed by them in his time , as a scandalous Imperfection , if not a Crime . But we no where find Marriage forbidden to the Clergy , till the time of the Apostolick Canons , first published in the end of this , or beginning of the next Age. These Mistakes and Prejudices , and Reasons of Celibacy founded upon them , were common to both Churches ; but there was one Reason peculiar to the Western Church , which however it may seem light , was of great efficacy : and that was the unhappy Fall of Tertullian into Montanism . That Great and Learned Person , naturally endowed with an ardent Genius , of a severe and inflexible temper of Mind , infinitely zealous for all outward appearances of religious Mortification , and after his Fall prompted with that Enthusiastick Spirit , which was the peculiar Character of the Montanists , set himself to advance the Opinion of his Sect with all imaginable vigour . The unlawfulness of Digamy , was the chief Tenet of that Sect , and that founded upon an erroneous Supposition of some Imperfection in the Use even of First Marriage . In maintaining and recommending these Errours to the World , Tertullian employed all the force of his Wit and Eloquence to debase the dignity of Marriage , and extoll the merits of a Single-life , whether Widowhood or Virginity . The extraordinary reverence and esteem which his great Learning and apparent Zeal procured to him in succeeding Ages , mightily propagated his Errours , and corrupted his Readers with false Prejudices and Notions of Marriage and Virginity . For altho' it had been reasonable and sufficient to say of him , what St. (b) Hierome once said , when pressed hard with his Authority , He was a Schismatick , no Writer of the Church : Yet few considered that ; the persuasive force of his Eloquence was more sensible than the remembrance of his Schism ; and then few enquired which Books he writ before , and which after his Fall ; or rather it was a common Errour , that he writ very few after , and almost all before his Fall. Whereas in truth he writ before his Fall only the Three little Treatises of Baptism , Repentance , and Prayer ; not the Twentieth part of his Works now extant . To this Reputation of Tertullian , and the ill Effects of it , contributed not a little the infinite esteem and veneration which St. Cyprian had for his Writings ; while unwary Persons imagined , that the deference , which that blessed Martyr paid to his Learning and Zeal , was an effect of the soundness and orthodoxy of his Doctrine . However , certain it is , that the Fall of Tertullian advanc'd and encreas'd the former Prejudices ; and this I take to be the only reason , why Celibacy ever prevailed more in the Western than in the Eastern Church . All these Prejudices were in themselves unlawful . But there were other Reasons of preferring Celibacy in the Ancient Church ; which might have been allowed , if not attended with such fatal Consequences . And first , many Catholicks openly espoused the cause of Celibacy , and others winked at their Policy , meerly to prevent the Delusion of more simple Catholicks , by the no less glorious than fraudulent Pretences of the Encratites : (a) Who ( to use St. Hierome's words ) because they knew the name of Virginity was venerable , covered the Wolves under Sheeps-cloathing . Antichrist pretended to act the part of Christ , and veiled the uncleanness of their Lives , with the false honour of that usurped Name . They esteemed it a laudable Policy to prevent the Mischief , by proposing to the Practice of Men that very Perfection , which the Hereticks so much boasted of , and the Multitude were apt to admire , as being always casier led with great Pretences , than sober Truth . A not unlike Policy with this , was afterwards used by (b) St. Chrysostome against the Arians ; when fearing the People would be seduced by their Enthusiastical singing of Hymns , he set up the same way of singing of Hymns among the Catholicks , and thereby prevented the design of the Arians ; a Stratagem , as the (c) Historian observeth , and may be applied to our case ; which however specious , was the Occasion of very ill Consequences . While Celibacy thus gained ground by the Artisice of Hereticks , and Connivance of Catholicks , few interposed themselves to undeceive Mankind , and stop the torrent of these vulgar Prejudices ; as well because the immoderate esteem of Celibacy seem'd a Matter of no great moment , while it was forcibly imposed upon none , nor made necessary to any ; as because the dis-favour and unjust suspicions of the Multitude would probably have attended such an undertaking : While unreasonable Men would have esteemed such a Person as a Libertine , an Enemy of refined and more severe Religion , and thought him to have therein pleaded only for his own Passions and Inclinations . And when Celibacy became once universally esteemed , and great numbers of Lay-men vowing Virginity , voluntarily abstained from Marriage , who by their supposed Sanctity and specious Abstinence , drew to themselves the eyes and admiration of all Men ; the Clergy also were necessitated to make some advances in the Use of Celibacy , that they might not suffer loss of Reputation , and seem less Vertuous and Spiritual than Lay-men . Hence St. Hierome frequently urgeth the Celibacy of the Clergy , by the Example of Lay-Virgins , affirming it to be highly indecent that the Laity should exceed the Clergy even in voluntary Acts of Piety and Mortification . This Reason afterwards received great advantage from the wonderful encrease of Monkery , and Vows of Continence , in the Fourth and Fifth Ages ; insomuch that (a) Faustus the Manichee objected to St. Austin , that the immoderate Commendation of Virginity had among the Catholicks produced this Effect , that in all their Churches there seem'd to be a greater number of professed Virgins , than married Women . No wonder then , if Reverence attending the unmarried , and Contempt the married Clegry , Celibacy prevailed in the Church , and Marriage by being dis-esteeemed became also dis-used ; especially since Ambition contributed not a little to it . For from the end of the Fourth Age , the Bishops and greater Clergy were generally chosen out of the Monks , and thereby Celibacy became the nearest way to Preferment . But to return to the Third Age ; the frequent Persecutions of that time , did not a little advance the Cause of Celibacy ; it being highly convenient to the Church , that the Clergy should shew an Example of Constancy and Resolution to all other Christians , which it was believed they would more readily perform , when freed from the encumbrances of a married state , and not with-holden with the temptations of Wife and Children . For the fury of the Heathen Persecutors generally fell most heavy upon the Clergy , and sometimes was directed against them only : So that to be promoted to any eminent Place in the Church , was to be exposed to certain Martyrdom . For this reason , as Eusebius somewhere relates , in the Choice of Bishops , single Persons were commonly preferred before married Men , in Times of Persecution . And then Celibacy was no grievous and intolerable burthen , when attended with a continual Expectation of Death , and being hurried away to Execution . To which may be added , that few were then received into the Priesthood , but aged Men , who by a long course of Vertue , had given sufficient proof of their Continence and unspotted Chastity . Whereas in the Church of Rome , Boys were admitted to Profess or make a Vow of Continence at Fourteen , Girls at Twelve years of age , till the Council of Trent , which reduced it to Sixteen . All these Reasons concurred in the First Ages , to encrease the esteem of Celibacy , and prejudice the Marriage of the Clergy . The way was opened , by forbidding Second Marriage to the Clergy , and receiving none into Holy Orders , who had married twice after Baptism . For if a Man married once before , and again after Baptism , he was commonly reputed no Digamist . This Prejudice against Second Marriage encreased so far , that all were made uncapable of Holy Orders , who had married Widows ; lest they should seem to countenance thereby the supposed scandal of Digamy . I mean not hereby , that Second Marriage was forbidden to the Clergy by any Council , or Orders denied to all Digamists , none excepted ; for neither the one nor the other of those Suppositions is true , but only that it became the general and ordinary practice of the Church , not to permit Second Marriage to those already ordained , nor Orders to those already twice married . In the same manner a Custom was introduced , and by the end of the Third Age established in the Church , that the Clergy might indeed freely retain their Wives married before the reception of Orders , but not marry after Orders once received . Not that this was yet forbidden by any Canon , nor practised without Exception , ( for the contrary of that we shall immediately demonstrate , ) but only was the usual and more ordinary Discipline of the Church : Whence both the Prohibition of Digamy , and Marriage after Orders to the Clergy , were inserted among the Apostolical Canons , wherein that is the Sixteenth , this the Twenty fifth (a) Canon . These Apostolical Canons were not the Constitutions of any Council , much less Precepts and Institutions of the Apostles , but only the Customs and Usages of the Eastern Church , in the end of the Third and beginning of the Fourth Age ; which seem to have been collected about that time by some private Hand , however then authorized by the Use , and afterwards confirmed by the Decree of the Church . This Custom of the Ancient Church , however it may seem almost equivalent to an Imposition of Celibacy , was yet far from it . For first it was not so strict and universal , as to admit no Exception . Marriage was permitted to many , even after the reception of Orders , as we shall shew by and by from the Canon of Ancyra ; and allowed indifferently to all , if they receded from the Execution of their Office , and returned to Lay-Communion in order to it ; as we shall also hereafter prove . Secondly , If any Person to be ordained were not yet married , and did in the least suspect he should not be able afterwards to contain without Marriage ; he was not only permitted , but even advised by the Church , first to Marry , and then to receive Orders : So that they frequently married , whilest Candidates of the Priesthood , and already designed to that Holy Office , perhaps but some few days before their admittance into it . So the Sixth General Council renewing this very Apostolick Canon , forbid any to marry after Orders once received ; and adds , (b) But if any one who comes to be ordained , hath a mind to joyn himself unto a Wife with the bond of Marriage , let him do it before he be ordained Deacon , or Sub-deacon , or Priest , and then - receive Orders . Thirdly , By allowing to the Clergy the free Use of Marriage contracted before their Ordination , they acknowledged both the lawfulness and decency of their Marriage , whether contracted before or after Ordination . For if there be any indecency in Marriage , which makes it unbecoming the dignity and holiness of the Priesthood , it must be in the Use of it , as all confess ; and if so , the Use of Marriage , contracted before as well as after Ordination , will become indecent . For the Contract itself is a thing most honest and decorous , so far from carrying any impurity and indecency along with it , that the Churh of Rome believeth it to be a Sacrament . What were the particular Reasons why the Antient Church permitted to the Clergy the Use of the one Marriage , and disallowed the other , may be probably reduced from what we have already said . For those Men who were led away by the Mistakes and Prejudices produced in the Church by the Heresie of the Encratites , endeavoured at least to introduce this Custom ; when they despaired of a total Abrogation of the Clergies Marriage , and perhaps thought that intolerable in itself , or inconvenient to the Church . And then those who otherwise clearly perceived the falshood of these Prejudices , contented themselves with silence , and connived at the Introduction of this Custom , as well for fear of a Popular Odium and Dis-esteem , as because they were convinced by the Reasons last mentioned , that such a Custom , if it proceeded no farther , was little less than equivalent to a total Permission of Marriage . To which may be added , that the Rites of Marriage being anciently , especially among the Greeks , always celebrated with great Riot and Luxury , continued for many days together ; it was thought unbefitting the gravity of a Clergyman to be present at , much more to be chief Actor in such licentious Solemnities . Upon which account , the Councils of (a) Laodicea , and (b) Agatha , forbid the Clergy to be present at Nuptial Feasts ; although the (c) Quinisext Council restrained that Prohibition only to the Iudicrous and more trifling part of the Solemnity . In some of the Clergy , these Prejudices of the Excellency of Celibacy , and the Inconvenience of Marriage to the dignity of their Order , prevailed so far , that upon pretence of Continence and greater Purity , they sequestred their Wifes , although unwilling , from their bed , and sometimes from their society . The superstitious and scandalous conduct of these Men was universally condemned and censured by the Church : Whence among the Apostolick Canons , this is one ; (d) Let no Bishop , Priest or Deacon put away his Wife upon pretence of Religion . If he doth , let him be excomunicated ; and if he continue obstinate , be degraded . Our Adversaries indeed pretend , that this Canon was not opposed to a denial of Nuptial Duties by the Clergy to their Wives , but to a denial of Maintainance , and turning them out of doors to beg their Living . But the vanity of this Plea is evident . For not to say that the constant acceptance of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imports no more than a sequestration from the Bed , the Canon in the sense of our Adversaries would be useless and trifling . For we do not find , nor can imagin , that so great an abuse ever obtained in the Church , as that the Clergy should eject their innocent Wives , and expose them to want and poverty . Whereas that many removed them from their Bed , and believed their embraces unlawful after Orders received , is already clearly proved , and on all sides confessed . The Errour of the Impurity of Marriage had so far obtained in the Minds of many , that it was necessary for the Church to interpose her Judgment , and vindicate the Cause of injured Marriage . For as Aristenus (a) truly paraphrases this Canon , A Clergyman by sequestring his Wife from his Bed seem to accuse Marriage , as if he thought the lawful pleasures of it to be impious . The same saith Zonaras (b) upon this Canon . This was also the occasion of the like Precept in the Apostolick Constitutions ( a Work of the same Age and Authority with the Canons ) where the Apostles are introduced thus speaking : (c) He which maketh a Vow of Virginity , ( which we leave to every ones choice , only advise that it be not done rashly and lightly ) let him demonstrate his profession to be sincere , and undertaken for a better opportunity of Piety , not for dislike of Marriage . The same Precept may be found in the interpolated Epistle of St. Ignatius to the Philadelphinas . But what clears the Matter beyond all doubt , is , that when the Council of Nice rejected the motion of those who proposed a total Celibacy of the Clergy , and upon the persuasions of Paphnutius permitted to them the use of Wives married before Ordination , they formed a Decree to that purpose in the very words of this Apostolick Canon (d) That the Clergy ought not every one to put away his Wife . In the beginning of the Fourth Age , Celibacy received great Advances from the increase of Errours and Prejudices taken up in the former Age , and the length and a sharpness of the last Prosecution begun by Dioclesian , and continued by Maximus and Licinius , which infused melancholy thoughts into all Christians , and an unusual reverence for all shews of Austerity and Mortification . Then was Marriage first forbidden to Priests and Bishops after Ordination by a judiciary Act of the Church , but that formed in a Provincial and inconsiderable Council , whose Canons were never taken notice of , or ratified by any subsequent Councils , or even Popes , till the midst of the Ninth Age : I mean the Council of Neocasarea , which in the year 314. made this Canon , (e) If a Presbyter marry , let him be deposed from his Order ; but if he commit Fornication or Adultery , let him be cast out of the Church , and put to Penance . Where it may be observed . 1. That this Canon forbids not the use of Wives married before Ordination . 2. That it forbids not to Deacons and Subdeacons to contract Marriage even after Ordination . 3. That it manifestly distinguisheth between Fornication and Marriage after Ordination . 4. That it doth not command a Separation from Wives so Married , but only a dimission of the holy Office. However , the pretentions of Celibacy received no small check from the Council of Ancyra , held the same year : A Council of far greater Esteem and Authority , which was ratified and confirmed by many subsequent Councils and Popes , particularly by Leo the First , (a) and whose Canons were received into the antient Code of Canons in the Primitive Church . The Fathers of this Council considering the inconveniencies of forced Celibacy and right , which all men have to Marriage , Decreed , (b) That if Deacons yet unmarried protested of the time of their Ordination , their intentions and necessity of Marrying , as not being able to continue Unmarried ; they might Marry after their Ordination , and continue in their Office. But if they made no such Protestation of their Ordination , and afterwards Married , they should relinquish their Office. The pretentions of Baronius and Binius , that in both Cases Deacons Marrying after their Ordination , were obliged to lay down their Office , deserveth not to be considered , since nothing could be invented more directly contrary to the plain words of the Canon . It is more considerable that Aristenus (c) extends this Canon also to Presbyters , reading it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and affirms that by vertue of it , both Presbyters and Deacons were always allowed Marriage in the Greek Church after Ordination , if they had not neglected to make their Ptotestation ; till this Permission was repealed by the Quinisext Council in the year 692. That this Canon took place in the Western Church appears not particularly , except from the universal approbation of the Acts of this Ancyran Council ; although somewhat like it was enacted in the Eleventh Council of Toledo (d) in the year 531. To which we may add what Sir H. Spelman relates in the British Councils , (e) that Restitutus Bishop of London , returning from the Council of Arles , in the year 314. brought with him into England the Canons of that Council , amongst which one was this very Canon of the Council of Ancyra . Indeed , no such Canon is now found in the Acts of the Council of Arles published by Sirmond : but then we are to remember that these Acts are not intire , and perhaps not genuin . The Decree of Ancyra was indeed favourable to the Marriage of the Clergy , but the restless Importunities and scandalous Practices of the Sectatours of Celibacy obliged the Church to proceed yet farther , and declare it self more openly in favour of their Marriage . For Eustathius , Bishop of Sebastea in Armenia , and first Founder of a Monastick Life in Armenia and Cappadocia , had formed a new , but then plausible Heresie , that Holy Things , and the Sacraments of the Church , ought not to be Administred by the married Clergy , and that the People ought not to communicate from their hands . With this Doctrine he had drawn great numbers into Schism , and created no small disturbance in the Church . Upon which account the Council of Gangra met about the year 324. who condemning this Hercsie , and deposing the Author of it , published this following Canon : (a) If any one separates from a married Priest , as if it were unlawful to communicate , when he officiates ; let him be Anathema . A Canon the more considerable for the Authority of the Council which made it . For this was ever most reputed of all particular Councils in the antient Church , confirmed by many general Councils and Popes , and recieved into the antient Code of Canons . This was the Progress and Condition of Celibacy in the Eastern Church before the Council of Nice . In the West , if we except perhaps that of Arles ( for the Roman Synods under Pope Sylvester are confessedly spurious ) no Councils had determined any thing in it , but that of Eliberis in the year 305. which ordained (b) that Bishops , Priests and Deacons , and all the Clergy placed in the Ministry ( or while they Minister ) should abstain from their Wiues , and not attend to procreation . If any doth , let him be deposed from the Order of the Clergy . Here to pass by the Opinion of those mentioned by Albas Pinae●…s , (c) who expounded the words of this Canon in their Grammatical Sense , for the Latin runs thus : We absolutely forbid the Clergy to abstain from their Wives ; in which case it will be coincident with the Fifth Apostolick Canon : our Adversaries maintain that it is to be understood of a total abstinence of the Clergy from their Wives . If we should grant this , it would not much prejudice our Cause , since this was that foolish Council , which forbids (d) Candles to be lighted in Church-yards in the day time , least the Souls of the dead Saints should be disquieted : a Council of so little Reputation , that it never was confirmed by any Pope or Council to this day . But I doubt not to evince , that this Canon is to be thus understood only of a temporary abstinence of the Clergy , while they performed their Office in their turns . For the Clergy had not then as now each one his Parish assigned him wherein to officiate ; but all of one City , at least in the lesser Cities , belonging to one Church , supplied the necessities of the Church in Order , and relieved one the other by turns . That this Canon is to be thus understood , appeareth . 1. From the plain words of it , where Positis in ministerio must either signifie this , or be wholly impertinent ; since all the Clergy , by the very nature of their Office , are placed in the Ministry of the Church . 2. Otherwise total Abstinence will be enjoyned to Subdeacons , Readers , Exorcists and Acolythi , as well as to Bishops , Priests and Deacons ; and so Albaspinaeus (e) explains the words in totum prohiberi , it is forbidden , saith he , to all Clergy-men whatsoever . Whereas Subdeacons were never forbidden the use of Marriage , till the middle of the Fifth Age ; and the three inferiour Orders are not at this day forbidden it in the Church of Rome . 3. When a total Abstinence of Bishops , Priests and Deacons was proposed in the Council of Nice , all the Historians of that Council express it by saying , some endeavoured to introduce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a new and unheard of Law : and Paphnutius opposing it , pleaded that the Church ought not to be burdened with new Impositions , but that the universal Tradition and practice of it was to be preserved . Now if this total Abstinence had twenty years before been imposed by the Council of Eliberis , all those Historians had mistaken ; and Hosius , Bishop of Corduba , who had been present in the Council of Eliberis , and presided in that of Nice , would not have suffered the Fathers to be led away with the false representations of Paphnutius . Celibacy was not yet arrived at its Crisis , universally indeed applauded , but no where imposed ; yet had the unreasonable affection of it in many Clergy-men , and an immoderate Ambition of the honour of Virginity in many Lay Persons , already introduced two of the most enormous Scandals , that ever the Church laboured under from the Apostles to this day , I mean Emasculation , and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . These 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were unmarried Women , commonly those who had vowed perpetual Virginity , taken into the house as Domestick Assistants by Clergy-men , who had either never married , or buried their Wives ; or unmarried Men , commonly of the Clergy taken into the House , in the same Quality , by Women or Virgins , who had vowed Continence . We want a proper English word to express them , and therefore must be content to call them House-keepers : they were called by the Greeks , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , but most commonly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which name was first given (a) by the people of Antioch to the House-keepers of Paulus Samosatenus , their Bishop and his Clergy ; by the Latins they were termed Subintroductae , Adscititiae , Extraneae , Alienae , Dilectae , Sorores , Commanentes , and Focariae . They were taken in by most under pretence of Piety to encourage and assist one another by Spiritual Conference and Exhortations , but by all upon pretence of Domestick Assistance , that the Men might defend the Women from all injuries , to which otherwise that weak Sex is exposed ; and the Women might provide Necessaries for the Men , and take care of their Families . Some perhaps made good their Pretences by a sober and prudent Conversation : but the greatest part indulged to themselves the most inward Familiarities of Man and Wife , and made them even the Companions of their sleep , where they used all the Embraces , Caresses , and Allurements of the Nuptial Bed , save only Carnal Knowledge . And all this they openly maintained to be lawful ; and thought it not injurious to their Profession of Virginity , and the integrity of their Chastity . But some proceeded farther , and by visible effects discovered the Approaches of a nearer Familiarity , and more ●…lose Embraces , to their own Shame , and the great Scandal of the Church . Others finding or fearing , they should not be able to contain in the midst of so great Temptations . ( For can a Man take Fire into his Bosom , and not be burnt ; as the Fathers frequently applied to this Case ) emasculated themselves , that they might at least prevent all visible Scandal , when they could not extinguish the Fire of their Minds . Thus did (a) Leontius the Arian , Bishop of Antioch , for the love of Eustolium his Paramour : and that the abuse was frequent even among the Catholicks , appears from all the Writers of those times , especially , the Author of the Book , De singularitate Clericorum , and St. Basil's Treatise of true Virginity , where he eloquently describes and bewails the scandalous familiarity of these Eunuchs and House-keepers . See two egregious Scandals , the immediate effects even of a voluntary Celibacy in the antient Church , greater than any which the Church now suffers in the dregs of time . We needed not say any more of them ; if the unreasonable wills of our Adversaries did not necessitate us to clear the Matter a little farther . They maintain that by these , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were meant also the Wives of the Clergy ; a pretence , which however shameless and foolish , was the main Engine of advancing Celibacy in the latter Age ; when the Authority of all those Councils , which had forbidden House-keepers to the Clergy was produced against their Marriage ; and the ignorance of those Ages had sitted them for a miserable Delusion by such Impostures . To pass by then the Confession of some learned Writers of the Church of Rome , and the constant practice of the Eastern Church , which always forbids House-keepers , but never Wives to the Clergy . I will only oppose a few Passages of the Antient Writers . St. Cyprian lamenting the folly of many consecrated Virgins , who had entred into the Families , and even into the Beds of unmarried Clergy-men , saith , (b) Lastly , how grievous falls of many do we see hereby produced ; and with extreme grief behold the corruption of many Virgins , by these unlawful and dangerous familiarities . Wherefore , if they desire the reward of Virginity , let them be Virgins in good earnest ; but if they will not , or cannot contain , let them Marry . The Author of the Book , De Singularitate Clericorum hath these words : (c) Why hath he taken a House-keeper , who scorned to marry a Wife ; So he who despised the Bond of Marriage , and yet retains the familiarity of Women , although he be not actually polluted , yet enjoy them by Imagination , Sight , Conversation and Society . St. Gregory Nazianzen professeth (d) he knows not whether to call them married or unmarried Persons ; since in an unmarried State they performed the Duties of Marriage . St. Chrysostom in like manner saith , They are neither Wives nor Concubines , but a middle kind unknown to former Ages ; and thus bespeaks them : (e) If you desire to have Men dwell with you , you ought not to have chosen Virginity , but to have married . For it had been much better so to have married , than thus to profess Virginity . For such a marrige neither God condemns , nor Man blames ; for 't is an honourable State , injurious to none , scandalous to none . But this Virginity , performed in the company of Men , is accused by all Men as worse than open Fornication , Lastly , thus St. Hierom describes them , (f) I am ashamed to speak it ; it is sad but true . Whence did this plague of House-keepers enter into the Church ? Whence without Marriage another name for Wives ? yea , whence this new kind of Concubines ? I will say more ; whence these Whores tied to the oompany of one Man ? They lodge in the same House , in one Chamber , and oft-times in one Bed , and yet they call us unreasonably suspicious , if we think any thing amiss . Such then were these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 first introduced in the middle of the Third Age , and notwithstanding the frequent Prohibitions of Councils , and Declimations of Fathers , continued in the Church , but with greatest Scandal about the Year 400. till at last they degenerated into open Concubines in the Church of Rome ; in which state the Reformation found them generally then thought Lawful , or at least a venial Sin ; although none since hath dared to defend them . They were forbidden in the Ancient Church by the Councils of (b) Eliberis , (c) Ancyra , (d) Nice , the (e) First , and (f) Third of Carthage , the (g) Third of Constantinople , the (h) Second of Nice , (i) Aquisgran , and many others ; and by the Emperor Justinian in his (k) Novels . As for Emasculation , that was severely forbidden by the Apostolick (l) Canons , and the Council of (m) Nice , and seems to have been dis-used before the Year 500. Upon occasion of these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , it will not be here inconvenient to speak somewhat of the Book de Singularitate Clericorum , which we just now cited . This Book , however in its Title it may seem to oppose the Marriage of the Clergy , is one of the most pregnant Evidences of the Use of it in the Ancient Church , that is now extant . It is by some ascribed to Origen , by others to St. Augustin , but by most to St. Cyprian . However , all Learned Men now agree , that it belongs to none of them . The late Learned Editors of St. Cyprian's Works , at Oxford , conjecture it to have been written about the time of Bede . Rather it was most certainly written before the middle of the Fifth Age , because the Author of it makes use of the old Italick Version , which was in use in the Latin Church before St. Hierom's Translation . Most probably therefore it was writ in the Fourth Age. The scope of it is to decry and reform the abuse of House-keepers , which ( as the Author saith ) (n) was then become so scandalous in the Church , that the unmarried Clergy could not endure to sleep without the company of a Woman . If in the heat of Disputation he lets fall any thing injurious to Marriage , it is such as opposeth no less the Marriage of the Laity than of the Clergy ; and indeed the former part of the Treatise is nothing else but a Satyr against Women . But the design of the Author , and the lawfulness and use of the Clergies Marriage in his time , may be evidently collected from many places . I will produce one or two of them , premising this Observation , that the Author ranks those Women also among the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , who lived in the House with married Clergymen , if they had no Relation of Kindred or Marriage to them : That the company of near Relations was never denied to the Clergy , since proximity of Blood , and the dictates of Nature , sufficiently secured their Honour ; and that all other Women but Relations and Wives are by this Author termed Alienae and Extraneae , Strange Women . (a) If then ( saith he ) the Clergy instead of putting away their Wives so fondly adhere to Strange Women ; What would they do , if they were commanded to put away their Wives and Children ? Or how will they be able to renounce their Kindred for Christ , who preferr to the Commands of Christ , Women endeared to them by no other Obligations ? And in another place , (b) I affectionately entreat you , O Clergymen , if any of you hath a Mother , a Daughter , a Sister , a Wife , or a Kinswoman living with you ; ye so save her , that no Waiting-maid live with them , nor any other Strange Woman have access ; lest you be suspected to retain your Relations with you for this only reason , that ye may under that Pretence take Strange Women into your houses . If they cannot want the service or assistance of Maids , or the company of Friends of their own Sex ; it is better that they should remove into another house , than that ye should entertain Strange Women for their sakes : For as it would be unfit that a Clergyman should deprive them of the necessary assistance of their Sex ; so it is indecent that they should injure his Reputation , by bringing suspicious Women into his company . To which may be added the Testimony before cited ; wherein the Author upbraids to those Clergymen who could not live without House-keepers , the●… 〈◊〉 to marry Wives . We are now come to the great and Famous Council of Nice , wherein the Cause of Celibacy was debated and decided . I will represent the whole matter , in the words of Socrates the Historian ; ( c ) It seemed good to some Bishops to introduce a new Law into the Church , That the Clergy , I mean Bishops , Priests and Deacons , should not lay with their Wives , which they had married being yet Lay-men . And when the thing was proposed to he consulted of , Paphnutius standing up in the midst of the Assembly of the Bishops , contended vehemently that so heavy a Yoke ought not to be imposed upon the Clergy , saying , that even Marriage was undefiled ( or chaste ) and the Use of it honourable ; that they should take heed of rather injuring the Church by this excess of Severity : For that all could not contain , neither perhaps could the chastity of every one's Wife be preserved , ( or as Sozomen expresseth it , For that it was a thing very hard to be borne , and would perhaps be the cause of Incontinence both to themselves and to their Wives . ) But he asserted the company of a lawful Wife to be Chastity ; that it was sufficient that he who was first Ordained , should not Marry after it , according to the Ancient Discipline of the Church ; but that none ought to be separated from that Wife which he had before married , while he was yet a Lay-man . And this he said , being himself unmarried , and brought up from his Youth in a Monastick and Ascetick Life . The whole Council yielded to the Arguments of Paphnutius , and therefore ceased any farther Debate , leaving it to the will of every one , whether they would abstain from the company of their Wives or not . (a) Sozomen and (b) Nicephorus relate it almost in the same words , (c) Suidas in the very same , (d) Cassidiorus in the like words ; and so do (e) Ivo Carnotensis , (f) Gratian , and (g) Blastares , and who is ancienter than them all , except the two first , (h) Gelasius Cyzicenus , who transcribed the Acts of that Council out of a Copy which had belonged to Dalmatius , Bishop of Cycicum , who was present in the Ephesine Council , in the Year 431. So that they who doubt of the Truth of this History , may with equal reason deny the Existence of the Nicene Council , since both are attested with the same Authorities . Yet is this done by many Writers of the Church of Rome , particularly Barronius , Bellarmine , and especially Turrian , whose trifling Arguments the Learned (i) M●…ndosa relates and confutes . More general and notorious hath been the fraud of the Church of Rome , in pretending that the Third Canon of this Council , made against the House-Keepers , was directed against their Marriage . Of this Imposture , the Popes and Councils of the Eleventh Age made great use , never failing to back their Decrees with the Authority of the Council of Nice . The Canon is conceived in these words : (k) The Great Synod hath wholly forbidden to all Bishops , Priests , Deacons , and all the Clergy , to have a House-keeper , unless she be a Mother , or a Sister , or an Aunt , or those Persons only who are liable to no Suspicion . That wives are not hereby forbidden to the Clergy , would be impertinent to demonstrate , if the unreasonableness of our Adversaries did not require it . First then , The Authority of all the Historians last mentioned , prove this . For if the Council had by this Canon forbid Wives to the Clergy , the Advice of Paphnutius would not have been followed , but rejected . Secondly , We before proved that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were a sort of Women far different from Wives , who were never ranked in the number of them . Thirdly , The constant Practice of the Greek Church demonstrates it , which ever allowed to the Clergy the society of their Wives , from the Council of Nice to this day . Fourthly , Otherwise Marriage would have been forbidden to the Inferiour Orders also , contrary to the Practice of the Universal Church in all Ages . For the Canon after mention of Bishops , Priests and Deacons , subjoyns 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , a Prohibition to every one of the Clergy . Fifthly , The Emperor Theodosius Junior , repeating and re-inforcing this very Canon , after a Permission of the Cohabitation of Mothers , Sisters , or Aunts with the Clergy , in the very words of the Canons , subjoyns ; (a) Those also , chase love , requireth not to be forsaken which were lawfully married before the Ordination of their Husbands : For they are not unfittingly joyned to Clergymen , who by their discreet Conversation made their Husbands worthy of the Priesthood . And Balsamon thus Comments upon this Canon ; ( d ) Read the Canon of the Nicene Synod , which forbid House-keepers to be retained . By House-keepers , the Canon , which is the Third of that Synod , meaneth Women taken into the houses of unmarried Clergymen , and dwelling with them . Lastly , to omit the Confession of other Learned Romanists , (d) Mendoza not only granteth , but proveth , that in this Canon , House-keepers were forbidden only to those Clergymen , who never had married Wives , or had lost them by death . The Determination of the Council of Nice settled the Matter , and put an end to the Controversie about Celibacy in the Eastern Church . Thence forward is a profound Silence in the Acts of the Eastern Synods , concerning the Marriage or Celibacy of the Clergy , till the Quiniext Council in the Year 692. where Bishops were forbidden the Use of Marriage , which till then was permitted to them as well as to the inferiour Clergy . Of that Council we shall speak more largely hereafter . In the mean while , the general Custom which obtained in the Eastern Church , of permitting to the Clergy the Use of Marriage contracted before , but not after Ordination , received some little variation . Three several ways , which deserve to be next observed . First then , A total abstinence of the Clergy from their Wives , was introduced into the Province of Thessaly by Heliodorus , Bishop of Trica , under the Reign of Arcadius , in the end of the Fourth , or beginning of the Fifth Age. So that the Clergy accompanying with their Wives after Ordination , were deposed . The same Custom obtained in the Provinces of Thessalonica , Achaia , and Macedonia , in the time of Socrates , in the middle of the Fifth Age , but in no other Part of the Eastern Church , as he obesrveth . How long this Custom continued in any of these Provinces , is uncertain . Secondly , Towards the end of the Fourth Age , it became very usual for Bishops both in the Eastern and Western Church , when they were assumed to that Dignity , publickly to Vow perpetual Abstinence from their Wives . This they did voluntarily , not necessitated to it by any Law , as (a) Socrates observeth ; that they might raise to themselves the greater Reputation of Holiness among the People , and equal the supposed Continence of unmarried Bishops . In this case , it was not permitted to them to return to the embraces of their Wives . If they did , the Fact was esteemed Scandalous , and sometimes punished with the Censures of the Church . Thus among the Seven Heads of Accusation , for which Antoninus , Bishop of Ephesus , was deposed by St. Chrysostome in a Synod in the Year 400. one was , (b) That after he had vowed Abstinence from his Wife , he accompanied with her again , and had Children by her . Thus Urbicus , Bishop of Clermont , in France , about the same time , vowing Continence at his Consecration , and afterwards begetting a Daughter of his Wife , did (c) voluntary Penance for it . For this reason also Macliau , Bishop of Vannes , was Excomunicated (d) by the Bishops of Bretagne , for that having , when persecuted by his Brother Chanao , Prince of Bretagne , fled to Vannes , and there disguising himself , professed Chastity , and afterwards made Bishop , he had upon the Death of his Brother , resumed his Wife , together with the Principality . Thirdly , which is most considerable , A Custom was afterwards introduced in the Eastern Church , whereby It was lawful ( to use the words of (e) Blastares ) for Priests any time within Ten years , to be reckoned from their Ordination , to marry lawful Wives . This Custom continued till the end of the Ninth Age , when it was repealed by (f) Leo the Emperor , from whose Constitution it appears that this Custom was then become Universal , although that instead of Ten years , reads Two years . In the Western Church , the cause of Celibacy lay dormant till the end of the Fifth Age , neither countenanced nor opposed by any publick Constitutions of the Church . However , in the mean while it gained infinite Veneration in the minds of Men , and thereby made way for a publick Imposition of it . This was attempted by Pope Siricius , in the Year 385. a simple Pope , as (g) St. Hierome , A Man of inconsiderate Zeal , as (h) Sacchinus the Jesuite calls him . He in an Epistle to Himerius , Bishop of Tarragon , in Spain , dated this Year , after a long Harrangue against the Clergies Use of Marriage , drawn from the old Mistake of an unworthiness to administer things contracted by the supposed impurity of Marriage , commandeth (i) Priests and Deacons thence forward to abstain from the company of their Wives , upon pain of Deposition from their Offices . From the Preface of this Constitution it appears , that the Use of Marriage was then indifferently used by the Clergy , and defended as Lawful against the Oppugners of it . I understand ( saith (a) Siricius ) that many Priests and Deacons have a long time after their Ordination , had Children , as well by their own Wives as by Fornication , and defend this their Doing by Prescription , because in the Old Testament Marriage was permitted to the Priests . It seems to have been by this time become a general Custom in the particular Church of Rome , and all the greater Churches of Italy , for Bishops , Priests and Deacons to abstain from the company of their Wives . This they did voluntarily , there being yet no Ecclesiastical Constitution to enforce it ; and in that case removed their Wives out of their Families , and lived separately from them . That this was voluntarily , is manifest as well because no Command of any such Abstinence as yet made by the Church can be produced , as from several Examples of the Italian Clergy of this time , who enjoyed the company of their Wives after Ordination , as we shall hereafter prove . That this Custom extended not into the remoter Provinces , is manifest from the words of St. Ambrose , who writ about this time , and persuading this total Abstinence to his Clergy of Milan , saith , (b) In many remoter places , the Clergy beget Children in the time of their Deaconship , or even Priesthood , and this they defend by Ancient Custom ; where the last words are very remarkable . Siricius therefore seduced with the common Prejudices of that Age , and imagining it to be no small Crime in the Clergy of Spain , not to canform to the Customs of Rome , interposed his Authority , and commanded them to do that , which he saw they would never perform of their own accord . The embracing of the Vulgar Prejudices about Celibacy , are not the only argument of Siricius his simplicity . This very Epistle carrieth other evident tokens of it along with it . For to omit the many Superstitious Cautions about the Marriage of the Inferior Clergy , he forbids Marriage to all Persons whatsoever , who had ever done publick Penance for Fornication . A Command which wholly evacuates the Apostles Precept of Marriage , making Fornication an impediment of Marriage , which by the Apostle was assigned as a remedy of it . The next year , Siricius writing to the Bishops of Africa , pursueth the same design ; but here remembring that he acted out of his own Patriarchate , he presumeth not to command , but only adviseth Celibacy . (b) I persuade , advize , admonish , intreat , that Priests and Deacons would not accompany with their Wives : And all upon the same topick of the Incongruity of conjugal Embraces with the Priestly Office. Let us now see what effect this Command of Siricius had in Spain , or his Admonition in Africk . In Spain , the first Council of Toledo was held in the Year 400. which decreed , (c) That those Deacons who had not abstained from their Wives after Ordination , should continue in their Office , but be made incapable of ever rising to the Priesthood ; and in like manner Priests who had not abstained , should be incapable of the Episcopal Dignity ; inflicting on them no further Punishment . The same Command had it seems been sent by Siricius to the Bishops of Piemont , who meeting in a Council at Turin . An. Dom. 397. made a (a) Canon of the same nature with that of Toledo , only debarring the Clergy , who would not submit to a total Abstinence , from ascending to higher Dignities in the Church . In Africa the Pope received a Repulse . The Eleventh Council of Carthage was in the year 390. wherein a motion was made by Faustianus the Popes Legat , that Bishops , Priests and Deacons should be enjoyned (b) to total Abstinence . The Synod would not yeild to that , but only decreed , (c) That Bishops , Priests and Deacons , or those , who administred the Sacraments , should always preserve Chastity , and when they ministred at the Altar , even abstain from their Wives . For that the Antients believed Chastity not to be inconsistent with the use of Marriage , we before proved . And this partial Abstinence of the Clergy in the time of their waiting at the Altar , fully satisfied Siricius his Argument , which proceeded upon the indecency of performing the Duties of Marriage and the Administration of Holy Things , at the same time . That this is the trne sense of the Canon , we shall demonstrate by proving that the Canon , which we shall next relate , meant no more . For that both are to be understood in the same sense , all agree . In the year therefore 398. was held the Fifth Council of Carthage , which made this following Canon (d) Be it enacted , That Bishops , Priests and Deacons abstain even from their Wives in their own courses . Which if they do not , let them be deposed . But that the rest of the Clergy be not compelled to do this , but the customs of every particular Church are to be observed . Bellarmin , Binius , and other Writers of the Church of Rome maintain that a total Abstinence is here enjoyned to the Clergy , contrary to the plain sense of the Canon . For this they alledge only the Authority of St. Austin , (e) and tht Decree of Gratian , which instead of Secundum propria statuta ( wherein the stress of the Canon lieth ) reads Secundnm priora Statuta , according to former Constitutions . As for the Authority of (f) Gratian , that is of no Moment , when opposed to the constant Agreement of all the Latin Copies of the Acts of this Council . Nor even can we be assured that Gratian's Copy read it Secundum priora Statuta , since it is very usual with him to represent the Antient Monuments of the Church , not exactly in their own Words , but accommodated to the Sentiments and Practice of his own time . As for St. Austin , his Authority indeed would be sufficient ; for he was present in the Council : but he saith nothing of it in the place alledged , only proposeth to the Laity , who hardly endured to be restrained to the Embraces of one Woman , the Example of the Clergy , who practised a total Astinence . For this infers no more than that some or many of the Clergy did totally abstain ; which none denieth , and we readily grant . The confutation of our Adversaries Reasons were sufficient in this case . However , I will produce some further Reasons in confirmation of that sense of the Canon , which we follow , and the words do naturally import . First then , The Antient Greek Code (a) of the Canons of the African Church compsosed before the time of the Sixth Council , followeth this sense , translating the Words into Question , by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in their proper courses , or times of waiting . Secondly , the Fathers of the Quinisext Council commanding Priests and Deacons wholly to contain (b) in the time of the Administration of Holy Things , profess they herein follow and ratifie this Canon of the Council of Cartharge . And that they did not mistake or misrepresent the sense of it , appears from the Subscriptions of Peter , Patriarch of Alexandria , and his African Bishops , to the Acts of the Quinisext Council ; which they would never have done , had they been conscious , that the Canons of their own Church were therein falsified and misrepresented . Lastly , Balsamon (c) , Zonaras (c) , Aristenus (c) , and Blastares do thus unanimously explain it only of a partial Abstinence of the Clergy from their Wives , when they celebrate the greatest Festivals and Solemnities of the Church . I will produce only the words of Blastares (d) . When the time calls them to the Administration of Holy Things , and participation of the Sacraments ; then ought they to abstain even from the company of their own Wives , manifesting their continence by their Works . But the fourth Canon of this Code ( which is the second of the Eleventh Council of Carthage beforementioned ) and others like it being obscurely worded , and Commanding the Clergy , administring Holy Things , to abstain from their Wives , gave occasion to the Latins to require those , who are to be ordained , to put away their Wives . Or if we should grant that this is the sense or these Canons ; themselves would be more worthy to be put out of the number of Sacred Canons , than the Apostolick Canons of those of other Councils , which decreed the direct contrary to them , if they be taken in the sense of the Latins . In the end of this Age , Helvidius and Jovinian , in the beginning of the next Vigilantius appeared in defence of Marriage , against the exorbitant pretention of Celibacy . What their particular Opinions were , is not well known ; nor may we safely believe St. Hierom , their professed Adversary , in representing of them ; since all the World knows how much he hath misrepresented Ruffinus . However , certain it is all of them were guilty of some Errours . Hilvidius thought the V. Mary to have had several Children by her Husband Joseph , after the Birth of Jesus ; Jovinian (e) maintained the equality of all sins , & impeccability of regenerate persons . Vigilantius believed it convenient for the present State of the Church , which received great prejudice from the incontinence of the unmarried Clergy , that none should be admitted into Orders which were not married ; that so all danger of future scandal might be prevented . All these we willingly grant to have been Errours , but not Heresies . The first might be owing to a mistake of History , the last of Policy ; and the second indeed was notoriously false , but far from the Contagion of Heresie . As for their common Opinion about Marriage , it seems to have been no more than this , that the intrinsick merits of Marriage and Celibacy were both equal ; which however branded with the name of Heresie by St. Hierom , is a most certain Truth . If they believed the accidental Merits of both to be equal , which it can be never proved that they did ; this indeed was a mistake ( for Persons , who have the gift of Continence , may do greater service to God and the Church , in an unmarried , than in a married State ) but a mistake that neither injured Faith , nor was repugnant to Revelation . Indeed Jovinian had a peculiar Errour of a grosser nature , that the violation of a Vow of Continence was a thing indifferent , even in those who could contain . For we willingly allow , that when a Vow of Continence can without any great difficulty or danger be preserved , it ought in no case to be violated . However , that any of them were formal Hereticks , can by no means be proved . Rather it is most certain , that Vigilantius , not only drew several Catholick Bishops into the same Opinion with himself , who thereupon conferred Orders to none but married Men , but that he lived and died in the Communion of the Catholick Church . St. Hierom indeed loadeth them all with the most opprobious names , and termeth them the worst of Hereticks : but his Prejudice and Passion is too well known to be herein trusted . In opposition to these Men , St. Hierom writ several Tracts ; which in truth are so many Panegyricks of Celicy , and invectives against Marriage : Here he adopts and reinforceth all the prejudices and mistakes of the former and present Age : particularly so far urged the supposed Impurity of Marriage , that he asserts it to be a Sin , and excludes married Persons from all hopes of Salvation ; as we before proved by producing several places , to which might be added many more . This was an Errour far greater than any of those which he opposed ; and which , if dogmatically proposed , and pertinaciously maintained , would be downright Heresie . But we charitably suppose , those harsh expressions were rather the effects of his Passion , than the products of his Judgment . And if he hath exceeded all bounds and limits of Reason in depressing Marriage , no less hath he in exalting Celibacy . This himself acknowledgeth , when upon a review of his Book against Helvidius , he confesseth (a) he plaid the Oratour too much , and extended his Rhetorick beyond the bounds of severe Truth . This his Errours about Marriage , and proceeding upon false prejudices , may justly invalidate St. Hieroms Authority in the case of Celibacy , which yet he no where saith is necessary for the Clergy , but only highly eonvenient and decorous to the dignity and holiness of their Order . It may be some further Diminution to his Authority in this case , that all these extravagant Encomiums of Virginity seem to have proceeded only from an immoderate desire of repairing thereby his injured Reputation , and the honour of his Name suffering under unjust suspicions of too great familiarity with the Lady Paula ; which had proceeded so far , and taken such deep root in the Minds of the Romans , that he was forced to leave Rome in disgrace ; when he was designed by all men to succeed Damasus in the Popedom . Upon Occasion of St. Hierom , I will here say somewhat of Epiphanius , who alone , besides him , of all the Writers of this time , seems fond of the Celibacy of the Clergy : Although he not only alloweth , but even adviseth Marriage to them in case of insuperable Incontinence . His great Affection and Veneration of St. Hierom made him ready to receive whatsoever was proposed by him : And then his weak Judgment enabled him not to discover the Sophistry and Mistakes of his Reasoning . Of the Imbecillity of his Judgment Photius (a) long since observed , That in his great Work against Heresies , he had done Injury to Truth , by a weak Defence of it . In the beginning of the Fifth Age Pope Innocent I. renewed and confirmed the Constitutions of his Predecessour Siricius , in Two Epistles , one (a) to Victricius , Bishop of Roan , written in the Year 404. the other (b) to Exuperius , Bishop of Tholouse , in the Year following . In both he alledgeth and enforceth only the old Argument of the Impurity of Marriage , which made it incompatible with the daily Administration of Holy Things performed by the Clergy . He commandeth Priests and Deacons ( for Subdeacons he mentions not ) who abstained not from their Wives in Obedience to the Constitution of Siricius , to be deposed ; except perhaps they had been ignorant of the Constitution . For in that case he would only have them obliged to Continence for the future . That these , and indeed all the first Twenty Six Epistles of this Pope are spurious , many learned Men have endeavoured to prove with many Arguments . But I will not insist on that . It is not improbable that he made such a Decree . Celibacy was then fitted to the Genius of the Age , and particularly of the See of Rome . After Innocent , Pope Leo I. carried on the Design yet further , and in an Epistle (c) to Anastasius Bishop of Thessalonica , forbid the use of Marriage to Subdeacons also , thereby perfecting the System of Celibacy at this Day used in the Church of Rome . The same Constitution he re-inforced in an Epistle (d) to Rusticus Bishop of Narbon , prescribing the same Law of Continence to the Ministers of the Altar ( viz. Deacons and Subdeacons ) as to Bishops and Priests . These were the Decrees of the Popes of R●…me , which were o●…t-times renewed , and sometimes relaxed by the following Popes . As for the Western Councils of this , and the following Ages , they were all Provincial , and pretended to no Authority out of their own Provinces . The Council of Orange was the first , which ever imposed total Abstinence upon the Clergy . It was a Convention of no more than Seventeen Bishops , in the Year 441. who then made this Canon . (a) If any one after he hath received Deacons Orders , be found incontinent with his Wife ; Let him be deposed from his Office. Providing in the following Canon , that this Punishment extend not to those , who had retained the use of their Wives before this Canon was made . Whence it may be gathered , that total Abstinence was not yet enjoyned to the Clergy of the Gallican Church by any Publick Authority , and that the Decrees of Pope Innocent , directed to the Bishops of Roan and Tholouse , as acting out of his own Patriarchat , had not been received . The Second Council of Arles , in the Year 452. comes next , which in the Second Canon forbids any married Man to be ordained Priest , who doth not vow Continence ; in the Forty Third Canon extends the same to Deacons ; in the Forty Fourth Canon forbids to Deacons the use of Marriage in the Words of the Council of Orange ; in the Third Canon , forbids Bishops , Priests and Deacons to keep their VVives with them in the same House , unless they also have vowed Continence , upon pain of Excommunication . This Punishment was thought too great , and was therefore moderated by the First Council of Tours , A. D. 461. who enjoyning (b) total Abstinence from their VVives to Priests and Deacons , enact (c) withal , That if any Priest or Deacon use the Company of his VVife , he be not excommunicated , but only reduced to Lay-Communion . In the year 506. the Council of Agatha received (d) and confirmed the Constitutions of Siricius and Innocent about the Continence of Priests and Deacons ; and further enjoyn (e) that their VVives be not permitted to dwell with them , although they also promise Continence . * In the year 531. the Second Council of Toledo decreed (f) That those who from their Childhood were by their Parents dedicated to the Holy Office , and were to that end brought up at the Charge of the Church , should , when they came to the Age of Eighteen , be asked publickly by the Bishop in the face of the Church , VVhether they were willing to oblige themselves never to marry . If they were , then they might be ordained Subdeacons , and gradually arise to the higher Offices of the Church . If not , then they might have leave to marry ; and whensoever both married Parties should promise Continence , the Husband should be received into Orders . Here is the first mention of a Vow of Continence exacted of those that were to be ordained , that can be found in Ecclesiastical History . And here also it was first forbidden to Subdeacons to marry VVives after their Ordination , ( for this concerned not those Subdeacons who married before Ordination ) whereas in all the precedent Councils it was left free to Subdeacons , as well as to the other inferiour Orders , to enjoy their Wives married either before or after their Ordination to that Office. The Council of Clermont , Anno 535. complaining (g) that many Priests and Deacons , notwithstanding the Prohibition of the Church , had used the Company of their Wives , and begotten Children of them , commands all such to be degraded from their Office. The Fourth Council of Orleans , in the year 541. ordered (a) That Priests and Deacons should not be permitted to dwell with their Wives , upon pain of Deposition , thereby to take away ever all suspicion of forbidden Commerce . The Third Council of Orleans had before , in the year 538. forbid (b) the use of Marriage not only to Priests and Deacons , but also to Subdeacons . The Fifth Council of Orleans * commands (c) all Clergy-men , of whatsoever Dignity or Order , who return to the Embraces of their Wives after Ordination , to be for ever degraded , and reduced to Lay-Communion . The Council of Auxerre , in the year 578. enjoyn (d) Priests , Deacons , and Subdeacons , upon pain of Deprivation , not to accompany with their Wives , calling that a carnal Sin. The First Council of Mascon , in the year 581. repeat (e) and renew the Canon of the Council of Clermont . The Third Council of Lyons , in the year 583. forbids (f) the use of Marriage to Bishops , Priests , Deacons and Subdeacons , and the cohabitation of their Wives , to the three first Orders . In a French Council , about the year 620. all Marriage and cohabitation of Women was forbidden (g) to Priests and Deacons . In the Fourth Council of Toledo , Anno 633. it was ordered (h) That Priests and Deacons should promise Continence before their Bishop , when they were inducted into their Livings and Preferments . The Eighth Council of Toledo , in the year 653. laments (i) the Obstinacy of many Priests and Deacons , retaining their Wives , and even marrying after Ordination , against the Canons of the Church ; and severely forbids it for the future . In the year 868. the Council of Worms commanded (k) Bishops , Priests , Deacons , and Subdeacons , to abstain from their Wives , upon pain of Deprivation . Many other Councils between the year 600 , and a 1000. forbid the Cohabitation of all Women , and consequently also of VVives , to the Clergy : And many others permit only Mothers , Sisters , and Aunts to dwell with the Clergy , rejecting all other VVomen under the Name of Extraneae ; wherein they seem to have mistaken the meaning of the Third Canon of the Council of Nice . Lastly , some Councils proceeded so far , as to inhibit to the Clergy the Cohabitation of all VVomen whatsoever , even Mothers , Sisters , Aunts , and the nearest Relations , permitted by the Council of Nice . Thus did the Council of Mentz (l) in the year 888. observing that some Priests had committed Incest with their own Sisters , ( see the effects of enforced Celibacy : ) And the Council of Metz , (m) in the same year , upon the same Account . The next year Riculfus Bishop of Soissons published his Constitutions , (n) wherein (o) he not only renewed the Canon of these Two last Councils , but also forbid the Clergy to talk with VVomen in private , or even speak to them without some VVitness standing by . These were the Progresses and Gradations of Celibacy in the VVestern Church from the Council of Nice to the times of Hildebrand . Proposed it was by some Doctors of great Authority , enforced by Popes , and enjoyned by Councils ; yet could not all these Authorities effectually recommend to the Practice of the Clergy a Doctrine so contrary to the first Notions of Reason , and common Inclinations of Mankind . The frequent and continual Repetition and renewing of Decrees and Canons to the establishment of it , argue the universal Opposition which it met with in the World , every later Decree manifesting that the former was unsuccessful . And indeed most of these Constitutions are ushered in with a Preface of the Obstinacy of the Clergy in retaining their VVives , against the express Prohibitions of the Church . All the aforementioned Councils were Provincial ; and Popes had not yet claimed the Government of the whole Church . So that all these Decrees affected not the Eastern Church at all ; nor those Parts even of the VVestern Church , which were neither subject to the Roman Patriarchat , nor the Jurisdiction of the particular Councils . And even in those Churches which were then subject to either of them , the Laws of Celibacy were never universally receiv'd and obeyed ; and at last so far neglected and grown obsolete , that in the beginning of the Eleventh Age , Marriage of the Clergy was as freely used , and as generally practised in most parts of the VVestern Church , as it is at this day in the Reformed Churches . This I come next to prove ; where I might justly have omitted to speak of the Eastern Church , if our Adversaries did not pretend an universal Practice of Celibacy in the Eastern as well as Western Church , till the time of the Quinisext Council . The Refutation of this Pretence will necessitate us to speak in general of the Practice and Discipline of the antient universal Church in the ●…ase of Celibacy . And first to take away all Prejudice , which may possess the Reader , that it is impossible , at least improbable , that a Custom , persuaded by many Doctors , commanded by Popes and Councils successively in several Ages , and which divers of the Fathers affirm to have been universally practised in their time , should never be generally used by the Clergy . I will produce an Example of a matter of Discipline of far less moment , which was urged and enjoyned with greater Advantages and Authorities , and the universal Practice of it attested by more VVriters ; which yet after all never generally obtained in the Church , and was indeed disused in all Ages . I mean the case of Bigamists , who by an early custom of the Church , begun before the end of the Second Century , were excluded from the Clergy . This Exclusion is commanded by the Apostolick Canons , (a) by the Apostolick Constitutions , (b) by St. Basil's Canonical Epistle (c) to Amphilochius , by the Councils of Valence , (d) Agatha , (e) Fourth of Arles , (f) Third of Constantinople , (g) of Rome (h) under Pope Hilarus , of Aquisgran , (i) and infinite others ; by the Popes Siricius , (k) Innocent , (l) Leo , (m) Gelasius , (n) , and Gregory , (o) Tertullian , (p) saith , The Ordination of Bigamists is forbidden by Apostolical Tradition , and the Discipline of the Church . Origen (q) affirmeth , that in his time Bishops , Priests , and Deacons , could not be Bigamists . St. Ambrose asserts (r) this Prohibition to have been confirmed by the Council of Nice . Pope Innocent (s) saith , No question ought to be made of it , it being manifestly of Divine Institution . Pope Leo , (t) That this Precept was ever held sacred , and (u) that n●…ither Law nor Gospel will permit such to be admitted into the Clergy . Epiphanius , (x) In truth , the holy Command of God , after the coming of Christ , receives not into the Clergy those , who after the death of their first Wife , contract a second Marriage . St. Hierom , (y) A Bigamist cannot be chosen into the Clergy , and (z) A Layman is not chosen into the Clergy , if he be a Bigamist . St. Augustin , (a) It is not lawful to ordain any but the Husbands of one Wife . Hilary the Deacon , (b) No Bigamist is ordained . And by all the same Authorities , he who hath kept a Concubine , is made uncapable of the Clergy . After so many and so great Authorities , the common Tradition of both Churches , Command of General Councils , and Belief of Divine Institution ( all which Advantages the Celibacy of the Clergy wanted ) who can imagin any otherwise , than that this point of Discipline was ●…niversally received and practised without exception or limitation ? yet nothing less . Textullian objects this to the Catholicks , as a main argument of his Separation and Departure to the Montanists , that they admitted Bigamists even to the Episcopal Dignity . Among you , saith he , (c) how many Bigamists preside ? And when Theodoret ordained Count Irenaeus , a Bigamist , then in Disfavour at Court , Bishop of Tyre , and his Enemies , laid hold of that pretence to accuse him of the Violation of the Canons ; he defends (d) himself by the Authority of all the Bishops of Phoenicia , who gave their Suffrage to the Ordination ; by the Example and Tradition of his Predecessours ; by the Examples of Alexander Patriarch of Antioch , and Praylius of Hierusalem , who had ordained Bishops ; Diogenes and Domninus , both Digamists ; that he followed herein custom and famous Men , celebrated for their Knowledge and Piety ; and that Proclus , Patriarch of Constantinople , the Metropolitans of Pontus , and all the Bishops of Palestine , had not only allowed , but also commended this Ordination ; and not the least doubt made of the lawfulness of it . Lastly , St. Augustin was ordained Bishop of Hippo by the common Consent of all the Bishops of Africa , who had far exceeded (a) the supposed Scandal of Digamy , by an open Cohabitation of two Concubines successively . And , which deserved the first place , St. Hierom answering the doubt of Oceanus , whether Carterius , a Digamist , were Canonically ordained Bishop , saith , (b) I wonder you produced the example of no more than one , whenas the whole World is full of these Ordinations . I speak not of Priests , nor of the inferiour Orders , I come to Bishops , whom , if I should name singly , so great a number would arise , that the multitude of the Synod of Ariminum ( the most numerous Council which had been then held ) would be exceeded . That the Laws of Celibacy were no less disobeyed , and all the antient Testimonies of the universal Practice of it , are no less wide mistakes , I come next to prove ; and will begin with the Eastern Church . St. Athanasius , not long after the Council of Nice , writing to Dracontius , a Holy Monk , rebukes him for declining the Episcopal Office , and refutes the Reasons of his Refusal , the chief of which was , That in the Episcopal Dignity he could not live so retiredly , as he desired , but must be forced to lead a secular kind of Life . In answer to this , Athanasius shews him , that as to that , nothing can be performed in the one State , which may not in the other ; and that when a Bishop , he may as well use the retiredness of a Monk , as many Monks do the usual Freedom of a Bishop ; and produceth this Instance , (c) For many Bishops have not marri●…d at all , and many Monks have been Fathers of Children . As we have known Bishops Fathers of Children , and Monks having no Posterity . For both are alike lawful to each Order , neither the one nor the other is forbidden to them . A more express Passage than this cannot be conceived , where he affirms many Bishops to have gotten Children after their Consecration , and by the Instance insinuates , That this was very usual with the Bishops of that time . That this Procreation of Children was performed by them while Bishops , not before , is most evident ; since otherwise the Instance of Athanasius would have been highly impertinent . For Dracontius , in declining the Episcopal Dignity , did not dread the Life of Bishops , before they were made Bishops , that being the State wherein himself then was , and desired to continue , but the supposed incumbrances of a Bishop's Life , after he was made Bishop . In the year 357. the Emperor Constantius made a Law , (a) That all Clergymen should enjoy this Priviledge , that their Wives and Children , and Servants of both Sexes , and their Children also , ( that is , the whole Family of Clergymen ) should be always exempt Tribute , and all publick Burdens . There are three or four other Laws in the Theodosian Code , made in favour of the Wives and Children of the Clergy , which it is not here necessary to repeat . About the year 375. some Superstitious Christians had conceived so great a Veneration of Celibacy , that they despised the Married Clergy , and would rather defer Baptism for many years together , than be baptized by Bishops and Priests who abstained not from their Wives . These St. Gregory Nazianzen sharply rebukes , Say not , saith he , (b) a Bishop shall baptize me , or if a Presbyter , at least one of those who are unmarried , and one of those that profess Continence , and thereby imitate the Life of Angels . Hence it is manifest , that many Presbyters abstained not from their Wives ; for this was the occasion of those foolish Christians Scrupilosity , supposing some impurity to be in the use of Marriage . Had the married Priests renounced the company of their Wives , they had been no less continent than the unmarried ones . And therefore it was not simply their Marriage , but their use of it , which those Persons disliked . About the same time Epiphanius writ his Panarium , wherein opposing the Chastity and Continence of the Catholick Clergy to the Heretick , call'd Apostolici , saith , that Continence even from their own Wives was universally observed by them ; but then is forced to qualifie his Boast with this Clause , (c) This is done chiefly where the Ecclesiastical Canons ( or rather Customs , for no such Canons were yet made ) are accurate . But you will certainly say to me , that in some places Priests , Deacons and Subdeacons do yet beget Children . This is done not according to the Canon ( or Rule of ut most Perfection ) but by the negligence of Men increasing with time , and by reason of the multitude of the Clergy , there being not found a sufficient number of continent Persons . Here it may be observed that this Custom of voluntary Continence was not introduced in some places ; that where it was introduced , it obtained not universally , which may be gathered from the word chiefly ; and lastly , that even there it was a Novel Introduction . For speaking of those Clergy , who did not abstain , he saith , they yet beget Children : But after all , we are not to rely much upon his Testimony even in a matter of Fact. The good Man , who was far from an accurate Writer , seemeth to have taken his Measures wholly from his Native Country of Palestine , wherein he was very much conversant , even after he was Bishop , which Province was at that time ●…illed with Monks and Monkish Clergy , who flocked thither out of reverence to the Holy Places . The Author indeed of the Homilies upon Job , amongst St. Chrysostom's Works , testifies (a) that in his time the use of Marriage was forbidden to Bishops ; and therefore Bellarmin fails not to make use of his Authority . But first this concerns not the inferiour Clergy , and then these Homilies belong not to St. Chrysostom in the Judgment both of Fronto Ducaeus , and Sir H. Savil ; but seem to have been written after the Quinisext Council ; when Continence was first imposed upon the Bishops in the Greek Church . In the middle of the Fifth Age , Socrates the Historian writ , who observeth it as a peculiar Custom of Thessalia , Macedonia , and Achaia , that the Clergy there abstained from their Wives , therein dissenting from the Custom of the rest of the Eastern Church , saith indeed , that many abstained from the use of Marriage in other parts of the East , but that (b) All who did this , did it of their own accord , even Bishops doing it only voluntarily , not necessitated to it by any Canon . For many of them in the time of their Bishoprick have begotten Children of their lawful Wives . So plain a passage needs no Comment . In a few Ages this voluntary Abstinence of Bishops became universal in most Provinces of the East : although the Bishops of Africk , Libia , and some other places retained , as formerly , the use of Marriage . Therefore in the end of the Seventh Age the Quinisext Council took advantage from this voluntary Abstinence to impose a necessary Abstinence upon all Bishops ; and obliged the Bishops of Africa herein to conform themselves to the general Custom . They inflicted no Censure upon the African Bishops for retaining the Company of their Wives , nor so much as blame them ; but rather term them (d) most religious Bishops , and profess they impose Abstinence upon them only (e) for the better Edification of the People . Till that Council the Bishops of the East freely enjoyed the use of Marriag . This we have prov'd by the preceeding Testimonies , and may be further evinced by the Authority of Balsamon , the greatest Canonist of the Eastern Church , whose words are these , (f) Before the Sixth Synod held in Trullo , it was lawful for Bishops to have Wives , even after their Consecration , as well as Priests and Deacons , who are ordained after Marriage . So that Eutychius , (g) Patriarch of Alexandria , is grosly mistaken , when he terminates the Marriage of Bishops at the times of ●…he Council of Nice , if he doth not rather mean that till then they all retained their Wives ; but after that time they began a voluntary Abstinence ; which sense indeed his words do more naturally import . As for the Marriage of the inferiour Clergy , that was so commonly used at that time in the Eastern Church , that in Armenia they had taken up a custom of admitting none into the Clergy , but the Sons of the Clergy . This was indeed a great Abuse , and worthy of redress ; which was therefore abolished by the Quinisext Council , (a) as coming too near to Jewish Superstition . From general Testimonies I pass to particular Instances and Examples of the Marriage of the Eastern Clergy after the Council of Nice . In that Council was present Spyridon , Bishop of Trymithus in Cyprus , celebrated by all the Writers of those times , for his Holiness , Miracles , and Gift of Prophecy . Of him Sozomen saith , (b) He had Wife and Children , and yet was not thereby in the least hindred or rendred less fit and successful in the Administration of holy things . This Note plainly intimates , that he used the company of his Wife , while Bishop : Otherwise the Observation would have been trifling , since a married Bishop not using his Marriage , is in the same condition with an unmarried one . Presently after the Council of Nice , Gregory was made Bishop of Nazianzum . He had married a Wife a little before , by whose means he was converted to the Catholick Faith , and who lived with him to an extream old Age ; for they were both present at the Funeral of their Son Caesarius , when Gregory had been now Bishop Forty Years . He had by her , after he was made Bishop , Two Sons , Gregory Nazianzen , and Caesarius , and most probably one Daughter , for Nazianzen seems to have been older than his Sister , but most certainly was many years older than his Brother Caesarius ; yet that himself was born after his Father was made Bishop , he assures us in his Life , where he introduceth his Father thus speaking to him , (c) You have not yet run through so many years of your Life , as I have years of my Pastoral Charge . Baronius (d) affirms this to have been spoken hyperbolically , that the use of Marriage was then forbidden to Bishops by the Canons and Constitutions of the Universal Church , and these Canons most religiously observed both in the East and West ; that it may be demonstrated from Arguments of Chronology , Nazianzen was born before the Council of Nice , when his Father was not yet Baptized . The first Argument is already confuted by the precedent Testimonies ; the second ariseth to no more than this , that Nazianzen was Thirty Years old when St. Basil parted from Athens , that Basil studied at Athens with Julian , who by the Testimony of Ammianus Marcellinus , (e) was come thither in the year 354. and that consequently Nazianzen was born in the year 324. the year before the Council of Nice . This Chronology of Baronius , Jac. Capellus (a) saith he hath refuted in his History of the Church . I have not that Book now by me , and therefore not knowing whether he hath made good his Promise , must offer some considerations to the Reader in opposition to Baronius his Argument . First then , uncertain Arguments of Chronology , formed at this distance of time , ought not to invalidate the clear Testimony of Nazianzen , who best knew when himself was born . Secondly Nazianzen saith not he was thirty years old , when Julian came to Athens , but when Basil parted thence . Now Basil not only might , but most probably did stay several years at Athens , not only after the Arrival , but even after the Departure of Julian : At least most certainly he departed not before Julian , who left Athens in the end of the year 355. For St. Basil tells (b) Julian , that they had learned together at Athens , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , Theology , and all the better sorts of Literature , and throughly searched the Holy Scriptures . This was a Labour of more than a few Months , and therefore Basil cannot be supposed to have left Athens before Julian , who stayed there but little more than a year . Thirdly , Nazianzen saith not he was thirty years old , when Basil left Athens , but almost thirty ; and that in a Poetick Work , where being not able to express the just time of his Age , he was forced to make use of a round number , which may admit a Latitude of two or three years . And it is most certain that his Father was made Bishop presently after the Council , as himself assures (c) us . So that even Arguments of Chronology make it probable Nazianzen was born after his Fathers Ordination ; to which his own Testimony being added , make it most certain . And then his Brother Caesarius was so much younger than himself , that in his Funeral Oration upon him , he frequently calls him a young Man , and often laments his untimely Death , although his Father had been then Bishop above Forty Years . In the year 362. Basilius , Presbyter of Ancyra , and Eupsychius of Caesaria in Cappadocia , (d) Who had newly married a Wife , and was yet as it were a Bridegroom , suffered Martyrdom . It appears not directly from the words of the Historian , whether the later was of the Clergy : But the words of Athanasius will put it past all doubt , who numbring (e) the Writers of this time which opposed Arianism , mentions Eupsychius Bishop of Cappadocia , of which Caesaria was the Metropolis ; if he means the same Eupsychius , which is not improbable . However if this be uncertain , most certain it is , that St. Gregory , Bishop of Nyssa , was married , and lived with his Wife Theosebia till her Death . This Nicephorus (a) testifieth , saying , that when he was Bishop , he retained the Society of his Wife , and ( whose Authority is far greater than Nicephorus's ) Nyssen's intimate Friend , Nazianzen , who writing to Nyssen a consolatory Letter (b) upon the Death of his Wife , saith , She had always lived with him , a●…d mutually shared with him all the comforts of Life ; and calls her truly holy , the worthy Wife and Companion of a Bishop . I will produce but one example more , but that so pregnant and express , that it might alone teach us what was the Discipline of the Eastern Church in that Age. About the year 410. Synesius was , for the repute of his great Learning , chosen Bishop of Ptolemais in Egypt . He was then married , and had a Wife , whom he professed to love passionately . It seems the voluntary Abstinence from the use of Marriage , which some Bishops of the East had undergone , was become an universal Custom among the Bishops of Egypt , so that the People expected that a married Man promoted to the Episcopal Dignity , should renounce the Pleasures of Marriage . And there was a particular Reason , why this Custom should generally obtain in Egypt , rather than in any other Provinces of the East . Egypt was then the great School and Nursery of Monastick Discipline , which had probably at that time more Monks residing in it , than the whole VVorld besides . The Bishops of Egypt were almost all taken out of these Monks , and consequently so great a Veneration for Celibacy possessed the Egyptians , that those few married Bishops which were among them , could by no other means conserve the Reverence and esteem , which was due to their Character , than by a voluntary renunciation of their Marriage : Synesius therefore , that he might not deceive the expectation of the People , and willing to decline the burden , professed ▪ (c) openly , and declared to all , That he would neither totally separate himself from the Company of his Wife , nor yet ( separating himself only in appearance ) enjoy her Company by stealth , like an Adulterer . For this would be unlawful , and that unjust . But that he both intended and desired to have many and handsom Children . Notwithstanding this Profession , he was ordained by Theophilus , Patriarch of Alexandria , than whom none better knew the Canons of the Church , and who hath left some learned Monuments of his Skill in that kind . I proceed next to the Practice of the VVestern Church , where St. Hierom writing against Jovinian , acknowledgeth that Celibacy was not then generally entertained by the Clergy , many of whom retained the use of Marriage . If Samuel , saith he , (a) ( whose Example you object ) being brought up in the Temple , married a Wife ; what doth this prejudiceVirginity ? As if at this day also many Priests used not Marriage . And afterwards , Married Men are chosen into the Priesthood , I do not deny it : but then the reason is , because there are not so mayn Virgins ( or continent Persons ) as are necessary to supply the Office of the Priesthood . For all cannot contain . Where it is evident these married Priests renounced not the enjoyment of their Marriage after Ordination . For then they must have been supposed to be continent Persons . A little before his time , Hilary , Deacon of Rome , writ his Questions upon both Testaments , wherein he hath these words , (b) Hence the Apostle sheweth , that a married man , if in all other things he keeps the Commandments , both may and ought to be ordained Priest. This was written few years before Siricius his Decree , and proves that the Imposition of Celibacy was then so little thought of in the Church , that it was believed unlawful , and repugnant to Apostolical Institution . That this Priest abstained not after Ordination , is manifest : For then he would therein also have observed the Commands , whether of God or of the Church . VVhen St. Augustin writ against Faustus the Manichee , in the beginning of the Fifth Age ; no Imposition of Celibacy was yet introduced , or so much as taken notice of in the Church of Africa . For Faustus thus defends the Manichees immoderate Veneration of Virginity , and dis-esteem of Marriage . (c) In the first place I would gladly be answered in this , whether in any case to cause persons to continue Virgins , be the Doctrine of Devils , or only if it be done by a prohibition of Marriage . If the later , it concern s us not . For we also think it as foolish to forbid those who are willing , so unlawful and impious to compel those who are unwilling : VVe persuade , but force none . Here two things may be observed . First , that in the Controversie between the Catholicks and Manichees about Marriage , it was granted on both sides , that a prohibition of Marriage to any Persons was unlawful , impious , and a Doctrine of Devils : And then that no such Prohibition was in use among the Catholicks , which Faustus confesseth , and pretendeth that his Party is no less innocent from any such unlawful Imposition . Siricius , in imposing Celibacy upon the Clergy , pleads neither any Divine Institution , nor precedent custom of the Church ; but only the indecency of Marriage in them . Rather Innocent renewing the Imposition , confesseth it was no part of Ecclesiastical Discipline before Siricius his Decree . For commanding those who had disobeyed Siricius his Constitution , to be deposed , he subjoins , (a) But if it shall be proved that the form of Ecclesiastical Life , which the Bishop Siricius sent into the Provinces , came not to the knowledge of any ; their Ignorance shall be pardoned , provided they abstain for the future . If Celibacy had been now long since setled in the Church by Ecclesiastical Canons , and become a matter of constant Discipline , none could have pleaded , none would have deserved Pardon for their Ignorance . In Africa the repulse given to Pope Siricius , and afterwards the constancy of those Bishops in defending their Liberty against the Usurpations of Innocent , had so far discouraged the Popes of Rome , that despairing of being able to introduce Celibacy into that Church , they thought it sufficient , if they could only hinder the Ordinations of Bigamists , and those who had married VVidows , which were frequent in Africa . Therefore Leo , in his Epistle to the African Bishops , complaining of this Abuse , saith , The Apostolick Precept of the Monogamy of a Bishop was ever held so sacred , (b) that the same condition is to be observed concerning the Wife of a Bishop to be chosen ; lest she perhaps before she was married to him should have had a former Husband . Of total Abstinence from their Wives he maketh not the least mention . And indeed all the Cautions and necessary qualifications , which the antient Church required to be found in the Wives of the Clergy , would have been wholly unnecessary , if upon the Ordination of their Husbands they must immediately have ceased to be Wives . But , which is further to be observed in this Passage of Leo , the antient Editions of his Decretal Epistles , and particularly those in Crabbe's Collection of the Councils , Colon. 1538. and 1551. instead of eligendi read eligendâ ; and then the Sense will be , that the same condition is to be observed in the choice of a Bishop's or Priest's Wife ; and consequently in the Church of Africk it was permitted , and by Leo thought not unlawful for the Clergy to contract Marriage even after Ordination . That they used Marriage after Ordination , we are assured by the Fathers of the Quinisext Council (c) And indeed the more sober and moderate Popes seem never to have intended their Constitutions about Celibacy should be urged upon the Clergy out of the Roman Patriarchat ; nor did they calculate them for the universal Church . It was Innocent alone , of all the antient Popes , who equalled the Ambition of his later Successors , and endeavour'd to make the Roman Patriarchat as extensive as the Roman Empire . This Patriarchat tookin but a small part of the Western Church , and even that was sometimes contracted into narrower Bounds by the Invasions of the Barbarians , who by their Success of Arms alienating many Provinces from the Government of the Roman Prefect , withdrew them at the same time from the Jurisdiction of the Roman Patriarch . Hence it was that Sicily , being in possession of the barbarous Nations , when P. Leo made his Decree about the Celibacy of Subdeacons , the Clergy of Sicily thought not themselves obliged by it , nor took any notice of it . At least it met with no Obedience in that Church , till the Island was in the next Age recovered to the Roman Empire . And then it obtained not in Vertue of Leo's Constitution , but because enforced by a Decree of Pope Pelagius II. about the year 588. Till then the Subdeacons of Sicily neither obeyed the Constitution , nor were obliged to do it , as Pope Gregory confesseth in his Repeal of Pelagius his Decree . Three years since , saith he , (a) the Subdeacons of all the Churches of Sicily were commanded to abstain from their Wives in conformity to the custom of the Church of Rome . Which seemeth hard and unmeet to me , that he , who is not used to such Continency , and never before promised Chastity , should be compelled to be separated from his Wife . He makes no mention of Leo's Decree , rather owns that Celibacy was not commanded to the Subdeacons of Sicily before Pelagius his Constitution , but expresly asserts that Celibacy was not before then used by them , and that then they first began to abstain from their Wives . The Isle of Corsica was never subject to the Roman Patriarchat , as appears from an antient Notitia of the several Patriarchats of the Church , published by the learned Dr. Beverege , (b) and from Nilus Doxopatrius , (c) and therefore neither received nor were obliged by either the Constitutions of Popes about Celibacy , or the Canons of those Provincial Councils before mentioned , wherein none of their Bishops were present . Upon this account Pope Gregory I. expresly allows to the Clergy of Corsica the use of Marriage . We will , (c) saith he , that the Priests , ( Sacerdotes , by which word Bishops as well as Presbyters are designed ) which dwell in Corsica , be forbidden to converse with Women , except only a Mother , Sister , or Wife , who ought to be chastly govern'd . That the Church of Milan was not subject to the Roman Patriarchat is fully proved by a Learned Divine (d) of our Church . And this was the reason why , when once the voluntary Zeal of Celibacy , which had possessed the Clergy of Milan in the time of St. Ambrose , grew cold and expired , Marriage was publickly used by the Clerg●… of that Church without any Interruption , till the times of Hildebrand ; as we shall hereafter occasionally shew . The same was the Case of the Church of England , which owing no Obedience to the antient Papal Constitutions , and not intermedling in the Councils , which decreed Celibacy , retained to her Clergy the free use of Marriage , till by the Procurement and Artifices of Anselm , she forbid it in a National Synod in the Twelfth Century ; as we shall hereafter more largely prove . This was the Case of Celibacy in those Provinces , which were not influenced by the Authority of the Roman Patriarch , nor had obliged themselves by any Synodical Act. Let us now view the State of those Provinces , which were the Stage of those several Councils we before numbred , viz. Spain , France , and Germany in the Ninth Age. That the so often repeated Canons of the Spanish Councils were unsuccessful , appears from St. Isidore , Bishop of Sevil , about the year 600. who in his Book of Ecclesiastical Offices , describing the several Duties of the Clergy , saith , (a) Let Clergymen endeavour perpetually to preserve the Chastity of their Bodies inviolable ; or at least be joyned with the Bond of one Marriage . And indeed how hardly the inferiour Clergy of Spain brooked the necessity of Celibacy imposed on them by their Bishops in several Synods , is evident from the Policy of Veitiza , King of Spain , in the year 702. who , conscious of his own Wickedness and Tyranny , and fearing the Clergy , in revenge of it , might excite the Populacy to take up Arms and dethrone him , resolved to oblige the Clergy , and gain their affections by some extraordinary Favour , which might be received by them with universal Applause ; and therefore by publick Edict gave them Liberty to marry Wives , or retain them already married . In the Churches of France and Germany , Celibacy most certainly was not universally practised by the Clergy in the end of the Eighth Age , when Pope Adrian offered to Charles the Great his Collection of Canons fitted for the Government of the Churches in his Kingdoms . The Sixth Canon of that Collection is taken out of the Apostolick Canons , and is conceived in these words , (b) Let not a Presbyter put his Wife out of his Eamily , but chastly govern her . As for France , Boniface , Archbishop of Mentz , and Pope Zachary's Legat there , had complained (c) not many years before , That the Episcopal Sees were for the most part bestowed upon Adulterate Clergymen . For so he calls the married Clergy . The universal freedom of Marriage , which the German Clergy pressed in the times of Hildebrand , argue the Canons of the Council of Worms , Mentz , and Metz , in the Ninth Age , to have been unsuccessful , and never fully received in that Church . Nay , at the same time a Famous Bishop of Germany , who lived and died with the reputation of a Saint , did strongly oppose all imposition of Celibacy . This was Huldericus or Udalricus , Bishop of Augspurg , who in his Epistle to Pope Nicholas I. demonstrates to him the Injustice of his Decree against the Marriage of the Clergy , and persuades him to revoke it . No such Decree indeed of Nicholas is now extant ; however Gratian (a) citeth a Decretal Epistle of his to Odo , Archbishop of Vien , wherein he forbids Marriage to the Four Superiour Orders of the Clergy . As for the Decree against hearing the Masses of married Priests , which Gratian produceth in the next Chapter , that most certainly belongeth to Nicholas II. although the last Collectors of the Councils have ranked it among the Decrees of Nicholas I. Most probably then Nicholas had directed into Germany a Decretal of the same nature with that , to Odo , and sollicited the reception of it by his Emissaries , whose Diligence and Artifices at last gained the Point in the Council of Worms , the year after Nicholas his Death . This Decree therefore Huldericus opposeth in a learned and passionate Epistle , (b) wherein he represents to the Pope , that the Marriage of the Clergy is not only lawful in it self , but ought necessarily to be permitted . For that all cannot contain , and that none ought to be necessitated to Incontinence . That Marriage of the Cle●…gy was used in the Old Law , left indifferent by Christ , permitted by the Apostles , countenanced by the ancient Canons of the Church , and continued by the Council of Nice . That the Imposition of Celibacy had produced in the Clergy the most enormous sorts of Lusts , Incest , Sodomy , and the most exeerable Villanies . That these Lusts were openly acted by those very Men , who detested the chaste Marriage of the Clergy ; who when they could not contain themselves , imposed it violently upon their Fellow-servants , and were not ashamed to maintain , that it is more honest to accompany with many Women in private , than to be tied to one in the Face and View of Men. That nothing can be more unjust , than when Christ saith , He that is able to receive it , let him receive it ; to oppose , He that cannot receive it , let him be Anathema . That this is the Heresie which the Apostle of old foretold would arise in the later times , speaking Lies in Hypocrisie , and forbidding to marry . That the Chastity which these Men so much pleaded for , might no less be obtained in a married , than in a single State , and with less danger be preserved . Here we may observe that the Champions of Celibacy in this Age had so far improved the antient Mistakes of the Impurity of Marriage , that they maintained the open use of it to be a greater Sin than Fornication . And then Huldericus plainly intimates , that Celibacy was never yet introduced into the Church of Germany . For he alloweth that those , who have made a Vow of Continence , ought in no case to violate it , but may be even forced to perform it , but pleads that the Clergy had made no such Vow . Bellarmine , to avoid the Authority of this Epistle , maintains (c) it is spurious , and endeavours to confirm his pretence from Chronology , and to prove there was no Huldericus Bishop of Augspurg contemporary with Pope Nicholas . That there was but one of that Name Bishop of that See , who was created Bishop in the year 924. or 903. and died in the Eighty Third year of his Age , and Fiftieth of his Episcopacy ; and that there were two Hulderici , Bishops of Augspurg , is a meer Invention of the Magdeburg Centuriators . To this may be answered , that Bellarmin doth no less gratis deny , than the Centuriators do affirm the existence of two Hulderici ; and in that case the Authority of the Manuscript Copies is sufficient to satisfie us . Besides , this is no obscure Writing found out and obtruded on the VVorld since the Reformation . It was famous , and noted more than Six Hundred years since . For Bertoldus of Constance , in his Continuation of Hermannus Contractus , relates , (a) That Gregory VII . in a Synod held at Rome , in the year 1079. condemned the Epistle of St. Udalricus to Pope Nicholas about the Marriage of the Clergy . And AEneas Sylvius (b) owns the truth of the whole matter , when relating his Journey through Germany , We passed through Augspurg , saith he ; St. Udalricus was Bishop of this City , who opposed the Pope in case of the Clergies Concubines . For so they called the VVives of the Clergy after the days of Hildebrand . Lastly , that there was an Huldericus , Bishop of Augspurg , contemporary to Pope Nicholas , may be proved from the Authority of Jacobus de Voragine , who saith , (c) St. Udalricus died after many Miracles in the year 900. the Eighty Third of his Age , and Fiftieth of his Consecration , by which Computation Huldericus both preceded and survived the Popedom of Nicholas . Thus we have proved that the Laws of Celibacy were never universally received in the antient Western Church , in some Provinces even not imposed , and in none practised . The matter will be farther cleared by particular examples of married Clergymen . The marriage of Restitutus , Bishop of London , in the beginning of the Fourth Age , is attested by three accurate and learned VVriters of our British Antiquities , Bale , (d) Bishop Godwin , (e) and Sir H. Spelman (f) In the middle of that Age St. Hilary , Bishop of Poictiers , is known to have been married . For to omit the Epistle to his Daughter Abra , which I deny not to be spurious ; this is evinced by the Authority of Venantius Fortunatus , his Successor , who writ his Life , (g) and therein relates , that Hilary had a Wife and a Daughter living , when he was promoted to the Episcopal Order , which both continued to cohabit with him . That when he was banished by Constantius into Asia , he left his Daughter Abra , together with her Mother , at Poictiers . That returning from Banishment , he persuaded her to devote her self to God , and profess perpetual Virginity . Which when the Mother saw , she never ceased to sollicit her Husband , till he gave her leave also to dedicate her self to God , and make a Vow of Continence . A Passage which most evidently demonstrates , that she had hitherto enjoyed the Company of her Husband , and all the Pleasures of a chaste Marriage , and had not vowed Continence at his Assumption to the Episcopal Order . S. Paulinus Bishop of Nola , comes next ; whose Example is most remarkable , as well because he was one of the sincerely pious men of all Antiquity , whom St. Martin (h) was wont to propose as the Pattern of all Perfection ; as because he was made Bishop in the Roman Patriarchate , not long after the Promulgation of Siricius his Constitution , and seems to have been persecuted by that Pope , meerly for retaining the company of his Wife , in opposition to his Decrees . He was descended from the greatest Family of Rome , had born the Consulship , and was in all respect the second Person of the Empire ; when quitting all secular Honours in the year 393. he was ordained Priest at Barcetona in Spain . His Wife Therasia then lived with him , the inseparable Companion of all his Travels , and his whole Life . Paulinus was then in the 40th year of his Age , and she somewhat younger ; yet did they continue to live together in the same House , and in the same Cell , till separated by Death . After some stay there , Paulinus returned with his Wife to Rome ; where he was received with infinite Applause by the Common People , but with great Rudeness by Pope Siricius , whose Pride and Churlishness Paulinus (a) himself complains of . The occasion of this Deportment of Siricius , seems to have been the prejudice which he feared his Constitution of the Continence of Priests and Deacons might suffer from the cohabitation of Paulinus with his Wife ; the Example of a Person so illustrious , and so highly reputed for Sanctity , being alone sufficient to restore Marriage to its due esteem . Retiring thence to Nola in Campania , he was not long after made Bishop of that place . That his Wife lived with him in the same little Cell , even after his Consecration , Sacchinus (b) confesseth : and indeed is most evident . St. Ambrose (c) speaking of Paulinus's Retirement at Nola , saith , His Wife accompanied him , and contented there with the voluntary poverty of her Husband , comforted her self with the riches of Piety and Charity . Many of his Epistles written from Nola , are directed in both their names , having this Inscription , (d) Paulinus & Therasia Peccatores : and almost all are dictated in the plural number . St. Augustin and St. Hierom , in their Epistles to Paulinus ( written after his assumption to the Episcopal Office , for their acquaintance began late ) never fail to salute his Wife Therasia ; and St. Augustin (e) invited them both together into Africa . And Gregory Turonensis (f) relates a memorable Passage of them , That when dwelling together in their little Cottage at Nola , Therasia once hindring the prodigal Charity of her Husband , by overmuch Frugality , diminished the Blessings of Heaven to them both : That he made any Vow of Continence from his Wife at his Ordination , can never be proved . Rather St. Hierom plainly intimates the contrary , that he denied not himself the Pleasures of Marriage , at least was not reputed to do it ; when in his Epistle to him , he doubteth whether , although equalling the Perfections and Piety of a Monastick life , he may properly call him a Monk , (g) because he was yoaked with the Bonds of Marriage , and thereby was hindred from practising the utmost Perfections of a Monastick Profession . Among Paulinus his Epistles there are two (a) directed to Aper a Presbyter , and Amanda his Wife ; who in the same manner renouncing the Honours and Riches of the World , lived together in a common Retirement , so far from forsaking the Duties of Marriage , that in that state they gave Education to a numerous Off-spring of Children . That Prosper , commonly reputed Bishop of Rhegium , was married , is manifest from his Poem dedicated to his Wife . Sidonius Apollinaris Bishop of Clermont , had married , while a Lay-man , Papianilla Daughter of Avitus the Emperour : and that she lived with him after his Ordination , appears from an Epistle (b) written to her , when absent , about the common affairs of their Family , under the Reign of Nepos , who was made Emperour in the year 474. two years after Sidonius his Consecration : and from the authority of Gregory Turonensis , (c) who relates that Sidonius , when Bishop , used to take his Plate out of the house by stealth and give it to the Poor , which his Wife was wont to redeem with Money . His Predecessour in that See , Namatius , built (d) the Cathedral Church of Clermont ; and at the same time his Wife built the Church of St. Stephen in the Suburbs . But a more eminent Example of the Practice of the Gallican Church at that time , is the Election of Simplicius Bishop of Bourges . The Bishops of the Province not agreeing in the choice of a Bishop , committed the disposition of the whole matter to Sidonius , giving him a power of Nomination . Sidonius then going to Bourges , nominated Simplicius a married man , whom in a Speech he thus recommended to the People : (e) His Wife is descended from the Family of the Palladii , who have possessed the Chairs either of Professours or Bishops , with great Commendation of their Order . In truth , because the person of a Matron requires a modest and brief mention , I dare constantly ●…verr , that woman is not unworthy of her Relation to the Clergy of both Families ( he had before said , that Simplicius also descended of the Race of Priests ) either that wherein she was born and brought up , or that whither she was removed by Marriage . They both educate their Children prudently and vertuously . In the name therefore of th●… Father , Son , and Holy Ghost , Simplicius is he , whom I pronounce shall be your Bishop . To what purpose was all this Commendation of Simplicius his Wife , or what did it concern the People what manner of woman she was , if immediately upon his Ordination she must have retired from his Family , and cease to be his Wife ? And then , which is most observable , Sidonius pronounced him Bishop , without giving him any previous notice of it , when neither his nor his Wifes resolutions of a total future abs●…inence from the use of their Marriage , could be supposed to be known , and therefore must be supposed not to have been required of them . As for his willingness to accept the Bishoprick , they enquired not after that ; since in that Age they thought it lawful to force men to take upon them the Pastoral charge ; but never thought it lawful to force them to put away their Wives , and abjure the Duties of Marriage . In the next Age Venantius Fortunatus mentions (a) the Posterity of Emelius Bishop of Burdeaux , and in one almost whole Book (b) celebrates the Praises of Leontius his Successour , and Placidina his Wife , descended from Si●…onius of Clermont , who adorned with Hangings the Churches which her Husband built . Some few years before , Sidonius Apollinaris , Son of the same Sidonius , had (c) obtained his Fathers Bishoprick by the Intrigues of his Wife Placidina . In the same Age , or towards the end of the former , Gerhardus or Genebaldus the first Bishop of Laon , having at his Ordination separated himself from his Wife , the Niece of St. Remigius , afterwards changed (d) his Resolutions ; and resuming her society , begat St. Latro of her , who succeeded him in his Bishoprick . Many other married Bishops of these and the succeeding Ages might be reckoned , but these are sufficient to shew , that neither the Constitutions of Popes , nor Canons of Councils , ever gained universal Reception in any part of the Western Church , the use of Marriage being still retained by many Bishops , eminent both for Piety and Learning . So true is it , what Polydore Virgil (e) confesseth , that notwithstanding the frequent repetition of the Law of Celibacy , Marriage could never be wrested from the Western Clergy , before the Popedom of Gregory VII . Many other Arguments might be produced to demonstrate , that the use of Marriage was retained by the Clergy of the antient Church ; which however they be less direct than those already mentioned , yet are they no less conclusive . Of this kind is the Practice of all those Hereticks and Schismaticks , who departing from the Western Church before Celibacy was introduced , retained the use of Marriage to their Clergy . It being the custom of all Hereticks , whose Errours were meerly speculative , to preserve that Ecclesiastical Discipline , which the Church then used when they departed from her , but not think themselves obliged by any subsequent Decrees of it . Thus the Goths and Vandals being infected with A●…ianism , under the Reign of Valens , before any imposition of Celibacy was attempted in the Church ; and afterwards seating themselves in Spain , took no notice of the Decrees of the Catholick Councils against the Marriage of the Clergy . Hence it was , that when towards the end of the sixth Age they began to be converted apace to the Orthodox Faith , most of their Clergy were found to be married ; which forced the third Council of Toledo , in the year 589. in a manner to dispense with them in this Canon , (a) It is observed by the H. Synod , that the Bishops , Priests , and Deacons , returning to the Church from Heresie , do yet retain the use of their Wives . That it may not therefore be done for the future , it is ordered , that they be separated from their Wives . But if any will not condescend to that , let him be reduced to the Order of Readers ( the fifth Order of the Clergy ) . As for those who have all along been subject to the Canons of the Church , if any of them accompany with their Wives , let them be more severely punished . Here the Council teacheth us , what was the general Practice of the Arian Clergy at that time ; and acknowledgeth , that they were not obliged by any precedent Ecclesiastical Canons about Celibacy : whereas the Arians always confessed , they were obliged by all Constitutions of the Catholick Church made before their departure from it . The second Council of Caesarangusta or Caragosa , in the year 592. made a not-unlike Canon , (b) although somewhat more severe . For they commanded the converted Arian Clergy , who would not part with their Wives , to be reduced to Lay-Communion . The Rules prescribed by many Councils to the Clergy , for the government of their Wives , are a no less certain Argument of their cohabitation with them . The Council of Eliberis , (c) Neocaesarea , (d) and some others , commands , that if any Clergy-mans Wife commits Adultery , after (e) the Ordination of her Husband , and he knows of it , he shall be bound to put her away . But (f) if he will continue to cohabit with her , he shall be incapable of executing his Office , saith the Canon of Ancyra ; he shall (g) be excommunicated , saith that of Eliberis . This Canon doth not only prove , beyond all contradiction , the cohabitation of the Clergy with their Wives after Ordination , but also it is most manifest , that they abstain not from the company of their Wives , by that proviso , if her Husband knows that she commit Adultery , which otherwise would have been impertinent . For it cannot well be imagined that the Adultery of any mans Wife , with whom he accompanieth not himself , should escape his knowledge . A Synod held in Ireland by St. Patrick , in the year 450. or 456. decreed , (h) That if any Clergy-man , from a Sexton to a Priest , should be seen without his Coat , or if his Wife walked abroad without a Veil upon her head ; they should be both of them contemned by the Laity , and separated from the Church . Where it would have been highly unjust to punish the Clergy for the light carriage of their Wives , if at their Ordination they renounced the company of their Wives , and thenceforth ceased to have any power over them . The first Council of Toledo , in the year 400. ordered , (i) That if the Wives of any Clergy-men were scandalous in their carriage ( or rather were false to their Beds ) their Husbands should have power to keep and imprison them in their houses , and in●…lict any arbitrary punishment upon them , which extended not to death . But themselves should not so much as eat with them , unless they first did penance . Whence it appears , that before the fault committed , they might have eaten with their Wives , and even after the fault , may again receive them to the usual familiarity of a Wife , if they will ●…irst do penance ; which was in conformity to the antient Canons of the Church , which enjoyned , that if the Adultery of even any Lay-mans Wife was notorious ; he should either be bound to put her away , or if he will retain her , first to do penance , lest he should otherwise seem to have consented to and connived at her Adultery . An evident Argument of the use of Marriage permitted to the Clergy , may be also drawn from the violent and forcible Ordinations of Bishops , Priests , and Deacons , which were frequent in the antient Church . For many of these persons , thus violently and against their wills ordained , were married , whose resolutions to abstain from their Wives , could not then be known , and as all acknowledge , could not be forced . Or if they should condescend to such a renunciation of the pleasures of Marriage , yet was it uncertain , whether their Wives would con●…ent to it . Who if they should dissent , they ought not to be defrauded of their Husbands Embraces , as all will grant : and therefore total abstinence was not universally used by the Clergy , while such violent Ordinations were in use . I will produce but two Examples of them . Paulinus , as himself (a) relates , being present in the Church of Barcelona upon Christmas-day , was suddenly laid hold on by the people , dragged to their Bishop Lampius , then officiating at the Altar , and ordained by him : his Wife Therasia not knowing of it till it was done . In Africa , about the same time , Pinianus an illustrious Nobleman of Rome , but more famous for his Piety , going with his Wife Melania to visit St. Augustin , was beset in the Church of Hippo by the people , and forced to divert their present intentions , by promising them under Hand and Seal , before many Witnesses , that if they would now dismiss him , he would in due time enter into Priests Orders among them . This he did , his Wife Melania being not only unwilling , but even weeping and protesting against it , as loath to descend from the pomp of a Roman Lady , to the humility of a Priests Wife . The Titles which were antiently bestowed upon the Wives of the Clergy , are no mean Argument of their cohabitation and continued use of Marriage . The Wives of Bishops , Priests , Deacons , and Subdeacons , are frequently in the Councils called Bishopesses , Priestesses , Deaconesses , and Subdeaconesses ; Titles which argue they did not immediately cease to be Wives , upon the promotion of their Husbands to those several Orders , nor lose all relation to them . Rather the first of these Canons enjoyn , That a Bishop having no Bishopess ( no Wife ) shall not keep any number of women in his Family ; which plainly intimates , that he might admit women into his Family , if he had a Wife to preside over them , and by her prudent government secure their sobriety . Lastly , Children are the visible Effects of Marriage ; and those many Sons of the Clergy , which were eminent in the ancient Church , manifest there were many more , who neither deserved nor obtained any place in History , and that the Marriage of the Clergy was then both frequent and honourable . I will produce the chief of them . In the First Age we have Petronilla , Daughter of St. Peter , four Virgin-Prophetesses , Daughters of Philip the Evangelist , and three Daughters of St. Philip the Apostle . In the Second Age Marcion the degenerate Son of a Pious and Orthodox Bishop . In the Third Age Domnus Son of Dometrianus , Bishop of Antioch , was made Bishop of that See , upon the deprivation of Paulus Samosatenus . In the Fourth Age Probus and Metrophanes were the Sons , and in order Successours of Dometius Bishop of Bizantium . Eustathus Bishop of Sebastea was Son of Eulalius Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia . St. Gregory Nazianzen Bishop of Constantinople , and Caesarius Count of the Empire and Questor of Bithynia , both Sons of Gregory Bishop of Nazianzen . Sozomen (a) mentions a great Officer in the Court of Theodosius the Emperour , son of Helladius Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia . Flavius Dexter , Praefectus-Praetorio of the East , was the son of Pacianus Bishop of Barcelona . Abra , daughter of St. Hilary . Eulampia , daughter of Anicius , a Presbyter and Mother of Philostorgius the Historian . Apollinaris , the learned Bishop of Laodicia , son of the no less learned Apollinaris , Presbyter of Laodicia . Evagrius Ponticus , Arch-deacon of Constantinople , son of a Presbyter of Iberia . Pope Anastatius , Son (b) of Maximus a Presbyter . In the Fifth Age there was Julianus Bishop of Ecla in Campania , son of Memor Bishop of Capua , and his Wife Ia daughter of AEmilius Bishop of Beneventum . St. Patrick , son of Calphurnius a Deacon . Leporius , Presbyter of Marseilles , son of Sulpicius Severus Presbyter of France , ( as some think . ) That Sulpicius was married , is evident from his Epistle to Bassula his Mother-in-law . Pope Boniface I. son (c) of Secundus , Presbyter of Rome . Theodulus , son of St. Nilus , Presbyter of Elusa . Auspiciola , daughter of Salvian , Presbyter of Marseilles . Photina , an holy virgin daughter of Theoctistus , Presbyter of L●…odicea . Salonius and Verarius , sons of Eucherius , Archbishop of Lyons , and both Bishops in their Father's life-time . Gelasius Cyzicenus , Archbishop of Caesarea in Palastine , son of a Presbyter in Cyzicum . Alcimus Avitus , Archbishop of Vien , and Apollinaris , Bishop of Valence , sons of Isicius , Archbishop of Vien . Superventor , a Clergy-man of France , son (a) of Claudius , a Bishop . Pope Foelix III. son of Foelix , Presbyter of Rome , ( so the Liber Pontificalis ) or of Valerius , a Bishop of Africa ( so Gratian (b) ) Radulphus de Diceto , saith (c) Pope Gelasius I. was son of Valerius , a Bishop . In the end of this Age , Leontia , daughter (d) of St. Germanus , a Bishop in Africa , suffered Martyrdom at Carthage . In the Sixth Age Pope Silverius was son of Pope Hormisda . Pope Agapetus , son of Gordianus , Presbyter of Rome . Epiphanius , Patriarch of Constantinople , praised by Justinian (e) the Emperour for his descent from a Priestly Family . Chronopius , Bishop of Perigord , descended from (f) Bishops both by Father and Mother's side . Nonnosus , the Historian , son of Abraamius , a Presbyter . Sidonius Apollinaris , Bishop of Clermont , son of Sidonius , Bishop of that place . Archadius , Senator of Clermont , son of Sidonius , junior . Latro , Bishop of Laon , son of Ger●…ardus , Bishop of the same place . Syagrius , son of Desideratus , Bishop of Verdun . Pope Gregory I. great Grandchild of Pope Foelix IV. In the Seventh Age we find Pope Deusdedit , son of Stephen , Subdeacon of Rome . Pope Theodorus , son of Theodorus , suffragan Bishop of Hierusalem . Samuel , the British Historian , son (g) of Beulanus , Presbyter of Britain . In the Eighth Age we have Anchises , son of Arnulphus , Bishop of Mets , Progenitor of the Caroline Family . St. Florebert , son and successour of St. Hubert , Bishop of Leige . Gerbilo , son and successour of Geroldus , Archbishop of Worms . In the Ninth Age , Pope Hadrian II. son of Talarus , an Italian Bishop . Pope Marinus , son of Palumbus , a Presbyter . Pope Stephen VI. son of John , Presbyter of Rome . In the Tenth Age , Pope John XIII . son of John , an Italian Bishop . Pope John XV. son of Leo , Presbyter of Rome . Joannes Cameniata , the Historian , son of a Presbyter of Thessalonica : As for John XI . base fon of Sergius III. in this , and Hadrian IV. Bastard of Robert Parson of Langley in Hartfordshire , in the Twelfth Age , they peculiarly belong to the Church of Rome , to whose Celibacy they owed their being , and to whose shame they possess'd their Thrones . In the end of the Seventh Age , that undisturbed freedom of Marriage , which the Eastern Clergy had hitherto enjoyed , suffered some little diminution in the Quinisext Council . This was a Council assembled at Constantinople , in the Year 692. to supply the defects of the Fifth and Sixth General Councils , of which the last was held but eleven years before , and neither of them had made Canons for the better government of the Church , being wholly taken up with the determination of Matters of Faith. To remedy this defect the Quinisext Council was called , which in truth was nothing else but a continuation of the Sixth Council , almost the same Bishops being present in both ; and therefore the Canons of it are commonly cited under the name of the Sixth Council . A voluntary abstinence from the use of Marriage , was now become common to all the Bishops of the East ; which is not at all to be wondred at , for that custom was already taken up , which at this day continueth in the Eastern Church , of chusing the Bishops , not out of the Secular Clergy , but out of Monasteries . This voluntary Abstinence therefore being now become universal , was in this Council formed into a Law , upon occasion of the Bishops of Africa and Libya , who still retained the use of Marriage . This the Council inhibited (a) to them and all other Bishops for the future , professing they did it not (b) in derogation of the ancient Apostolical Discipline , but for the greater edification of the Church : whereby they acknowledge , that the use of Marriage was permitted even to Bishops by the Apostles , and that permission continued down in the Church till their times . As for the Marriage of Priests , and all the other inferiour Clergy , the Council only commanded an abstinence from the use of it in the time of the celebration of the more sacred Mysteries of Religion , at which times it had been forbidden also to Laymen by the Canons of many Councils . Thus only renewing the Third Canon of the Fifth Council of Carthage , in all other things they left to the Clergy the free use and enjoyment of their Marriage . And not only so , but condemned also the practice of the Church of Rome in these words : (c) Whereas in the Church of Rome , we understand it is prescribed in form of a Canon , that those who are to be invested with the Order of Priest or Deacon , should promise perpetual abstinence from their Wives : we following the ancient Canon of Apostolical Truth and Discipline , enact , that the lawful cohabitation of the Clergy with their Wives cease not to be accounted valid , not daring to dissolve the union between them and their Wives , nor depriving either of the convenient Society ( or Embraces ) of the other . Lest we should thereby be unavoidably injurious to Marriage , which God ordained , and blessed with his own presence ; the Holy Gospel pronouncing this Sentence , What God hath joyned together , let no man put asunder ; and the Apostle teaching us , that Marriage is honourable , and the bed undefiled ; and again , Art thou bound unto a Wife ? seek not to be loosed . If any one therefore shall presume against the Apostolical Canons , to deprive the Clergy of the lawful company of their Wives , let him be deposed . This Council was ever held sacred , and the Constitutions of it about the Marriage of the Clergy continued down in the Greek Church without variation to this very day . That it was an Oecumenical Council the Greeks always believed , and the Latins have sometimes confessed . For the Church of Rome acknowledgeth the Third Constantinopolitan Council to have been General , of which the Quinisext was no more than an Appendix , and therefore always accounted part of it . The interval of eleven years doth no more prejudice the identity of the two Councils , than almost twice that number of years between the first and last Session of the Council of Trent can hinder them from being esteemed parts of the same Council . Besides , the Church of Rome doth at this day receive the Definitions of the Second Council of Nice , and accounts it Oecumenical . But this Council expresly confirmed the Sixth General Council , and therein also the Quinisext Council . For that they accounted the latter to be a part of the former , and consequently confirmed both together , is manifest ; because citing the Eighty second Canon of the Quinisext Council , they call it (a) the definition of the Holy and Oecumenical Sixth Council . Or , lastly , If the express approbation of a Pope be required to make a Council General , neither is that here wanting . For Pope Hadrian I. in his Epistle to Tarasius , Patriarch of Constantinople , citing the same Canon , calls it , (b) one of the divine and lawfully enacted Canons of the Sixth Synod . The Greek Translation is more express , which runs thus : (c) I receive all the Decrees of this holy Sixth Council , with all the Constitutions and Canons divinely enacted by it . However , that the Church of Rome hath approved this very Custom of the Eastern Church , of permitting to the Clergy the use of Marriage , appeareth from the Decretal of Pope Stephen , cited by Gratian in these words : (d) The Tradition of the Eastern Churches is different from that of the holy Church of Rome . For in them Priests , Deacons and Subdeacons are joyned in Marriage , ( Matrimonio copulantur , i. e. enjoy the use of Marriage , as Mendoza (e) hath learnedly proved the meaning of those words to be ) But in this or the Western Churches , none of the Clergy , from a Subdeacon to a Bishop , hath liberty to use Marriage . Here the Pope expresly confesseth the use of Marriage by the Clergy , to have been always the Tradition and Practice of the Eastern Church . And if so , it must have been also sometimes of the Western . For being never practised in the East , it could not be of Apostolical institution ; and therefore must have been introduced in the West by some subsequent Decree of the Church . This was the state of Celibacy in the Christian Church for the first thousand years . No-where imposed in the better and purer Ages of Christianity , introduced into the Roman Patriarchate by a rash Pope , commanded by many Provincial Councils of the West , but in no place universally observed ; the imposition of it always disused , and at last condemned in the Eastern Church ; and the practice of it in these latter Ages , become obsolete in the West . It will not now be amiss to look back a little , and make some Observations upon the Authors , and advance of Celibacy ; whereby we may the better judge , how far the Authority and Example of those times ought herein to influence and direct the practice of the present Age. First then , the Celibacy of the Clergy was hitherto esteemed by all , a matter of meer Discipline , first introduced for reasons of Decency , Convenience , and supposed Edification ; which have not only long since ceased , but Celibacy is now become a Snare to the Clergy , and a Scandal to the whole Church . So that the obligation of the Laws of Celibacy , even in those particular Churches where it was antiently introduced and commanded , have long since ceased . The pretence of Divine or Apostolical Institution , was not heard of , till the days of Hildebrand , and is but faintly maintained in these times . That the antient Imposers of Celibacy never thought of this pretence , is evident , because they never made that plea. This we before observed , particularly of the Decrees of Siricius and Innocent , and may be affirmed of all Popes and Councils , which favoured or commanded Celibacy in those times . Not to say that some Councils , as the Quinisext II. of Toledo , and others , expresly acknowledge the permission of Marriage to the Clergy to be of Apostolical Institution . II. The Example of the antient Church in this case , is not only not conclusive , but even of no authority ; it neither necessitates nor recommends Celibacy to the present Church . For all the deference which we ow to the Authority and Example of these times , proceeds from a probable supposition , that the antient Church had greater and better opportunities of knowing the mind of Christ , the intentions of the Apostles , and the exigences of the Church , than the present Age can pretend to , as being more removed from the Fountains head , and animated with a less vigorous and impartial zeal for the knowledge of Truth , and increase of Piety . But when this supposition becomes not only improbable , but is evidently false ; when we are assured the practice of the antient Church was occasioned and introduced by prejudices and mistakes , false notions of Piety , and gross errours about the nature of things ; imitation would not only be not laudable , but even foolish , and perhaps unlawful ; lest the continuance of such a practice should uphold the errours which first produced it . At least , when these mistakes are discovered , these prejudices removed , the authority of this example will vanish with them . That this was the case of Celibacy in the antient Church , we have all along observed and proved ; and need not here repeat our Arguments . III. If we should allow the usage of the antient Church ●…o be in all cases a Rule and Pattern to the present Age , yet will Celibacy receive no advantage from it . The Marriage of the Clergy may put in a larger and much better Plea of antiquity , as being able to produce the practice of the Universal Church in the four first Ages of Christianity , of the whole Eastern , and many parts of the Western Church to this day , and alledge the Suffrage of two General Councils , the first and fourth , which confirmed and allowed it . Whereas the imposition of Celibacy was unknown to the first and better Ages , not universally practised in the latter , rejected by one , and condemned by another General Council , and never confirmed by other than Provincial Synods , whose Acts may be annulled ; and Decrees abolished by the single authority of any particular Church . And certainly if , what most of our Adversaries pretend , the tradition and practice of the present Universal Church be the only certain method of knowing the Opinion and Doctrine of all precedent Ages , the lawfulness and convenience of the Clergies Marriage must have been the belief of the antient Church : since all the Eastern Churches , the greatest part of the Universal Church , not to speak of the Reformed Churches in the West , do at this day permit the use of Marriage to the Clergy , and maintain the impositio●… of Celibacy to be unlawful . Which also is no small prejudice to the cause of the Church of Rome , if there be any truth or solidity in that grand Argument of our Adversaries , that in the case of two dissenting Churches , when the one openly condemneth the practice of the other , and receiveth not the same severe Sentence from her Adversary , Truth and Justice must necessarily ly on that side . For however the Greek Church hath always condemned , as impious and unjust , the imposition of Celibacy in the Latin Church , the Latines never dared to return the same Sentence upon the permission of Marriage to the Clergy in the Greek Church . Rather the practice of the Eastern Church hath been allowed and ratified by the publick Authority of the Church of Rome . For to omit the great Later an Council under Pope Innocent the Third , wherein our Adversaries confess that permission of Marriage was continued to the Greek Priests , thus Pope Nicolas the First answered to the Inquiry of the Bulgarians : (a) You ask whether you ought to maintain and honour a Priest , having a Wife , or to remove him from you . To which we answer , That although they be very blameable , you ought not to cast them off . And Bellarmine (b) acknowledgeth , that although the Roman Church approves not herein the practice of the Greek Church , and judgeth it to be an abuse , yet she permits it to the Greeks ; so that if they had no other errours , a Peace might easily be accorded between the two Churches . IV. The practice of the ancient Church in the imposition of Celibacy , was various and divers ; and consequently neither Celibacy it self can be of Apostolical Institution , nor the antient practice of it be a fixed Rule to succeeding Ages . The great variation of the Canons of those several Councils , which enjoyned Celibacy , we before observed ; and might add the alterations introduced into the practice of the Greek Church by the Quinisext Council , and Novels of Leo the Emperour . But I will here insist only upon the case of Subdeacons , who in the present Church of Rome are no less forbidden the use of Marriage , than the superiour Clergy . Not to the antient Church . Siricius and Innocent left Marriage free to them . Pope Leo the First endeavoured to impose Celibacy upon them ; but his Decree gained no acceptance . Many Councils after that time , permitted Marriage to them . Palagius the Second forbid it to the Subdeacons of Sicily : but his Successour Gregory repealed that prohibition . That Continence was not yet commanded to Subdeacons , neither in Spain nor Sicily , at the time of the third Council of Toledo , Anno 589. Baronius (a) and Binius (b) affirm , may be evidently deduced from the fifth Canon of that Council . In England , Augustin Archbishop of Canterbury had consulted Pope Gregory , whether Clergy-men not being able to contain , might marry ; and whether when married , they ought to resume a secular Life . Gregory returned answer , that (c) Clergy-men who were not in Holy Orders , if they could not contain , might marry , and ought still to be maintained from the Revenues of the Church , and be employed in sacred Functions . By Clergy-men not in Holy Orders , an antient Saxon Homily produced by Mr. Whelock , (d) understands all besides Deacons , Priests , and Bishops . And even after the time of Hildebrand , Pope Urban the Second , in the Council of Beneventum , prescribed Continence to Bishops , Priests , and Deacons , but not to Subdeacons ; to whom the Fathers of the Council asfirm , (e) Celibacy was neither imposed by the Primitive Church , nor commanded by the Apostles . Lastly , Gratian contends , (f) that neither Deacons nor Subdeacons ought to be restrained from contracting and using Marriage . V. Whatsoever Popes and Councils in the antient Church forbid Marriage to the Clergy , did at the same time forbid to them the company of Concubines , with much greater and severer penalties . Which doth not only demonstrate , that they believed not the use of Marriage by the Clergy , to be equal to the crime of Fornication ; but also takes away from the Church of Rome all just title to any plea of antiquity in the imposition of Celibacy ; since she hath sometimes openly permitted the use of Concubines to the Clergy , and always in these latter Ages affixed greater punishments to the Marriage , than to the Concubinacy of the Clergy . And therefore the Gloss upon the Canon-Law (a) observeth , that Fornication is less disadvantageous to the Clergy , than Marriage ; because in many cases Marriage would exclude a man from Orders , or deprive him when ordained ; when a Fornicator might be admitted into and continued in the sacred Office. VI. The antient Church , in imposing Celibacy upon the Clergy , ever left open a Refuge for incontinent persons , and thereby prevented the danger of their incontinence and scandal of the Church . And not only those who could no longer contain , but even all who desired Marriage , were permitted to contract it , by quitting the sacred Office , and retiring to Lay-Communion ; maintained still by the Revenues of the Church , and sometimes allowed to rank themselves among the three inferiour Orders . Thus the Councils of Orleans I. of Tours , and many others in the Western Church . In the East , no other punishment than deprivation , was ever inflicted upon the superiour Clergy contracting Marriage . So the Council of Neocaesarea , and the Novels (b) of Justinian the Emperour . And even this punishment of total Deprivation , Leo (c) the Emperour thought too severe , and therefore moderated it , decreeing , That Priests , Deacons , and Subdeacons , contracting Marriage after Ordination , should only be deposed from that degree wherein they were before their Marriage , and be reduced to a lower Station among the Clergy , using in the mean while the Habit of the Clergy , and attending to the administration of holy things , although acting in a lower Sphere . And this Balsamon (d) proposeth , as the constant practice of the Greek Church in his time . In the West however , many Popes and Councils of the fifth , sixth , and seventh Ages , commanded the Clergy contracting Marriage , to be excommunicated and separated from their Wives : these furious Decrees vanished and grew obsolete in the next Ages : and Deprivation was thought a sufficient punishment of Marriage , when Isidore Mercator forged the Decretals about the beginning of the ninth Age ; as appeareth from a spurious Decree of Pope Lucius , cited by Gratian , (e) and from the Canons of the Councils of Worms and Mentz , towards the end of this Age. I may add , that no more than a temporary Deprivation seems then to have been sometimes used . For the spurious Acts of the second Roman Council , under Pope Silvester , forged by the same Mercator , decrees , (f) That no Presbyter shall contract Marriage from the day of his Ordination , if he doth , let him be deprived of his dignity for ten years . Thus did the antient Church allow a Remedy to the Incontinence of the unmarried Clergy ; and perhaps cannot properly be said to have forbidden Marriage to any , since none was by her Constitutions rendered incapable of Marriage , nor totally debarred from it . Not so the present Church of Rome , which maintaineth Marriage contracted after Ordination , to be in it self unlawful , and no other than the sin of Fornication and Adultery ; nay , much worse than both , in the judgment of Cardinal Campegius , who to the Embassadours of Strasbourg complaining of the open Concubinacy of their Clergy , and desiring Marriage might be permitted to them as a Remedy of it , answered , That the Marriage of Priests was a much greater sin , than if they kept many Concubines in their house . For that these were perswaded they did well , but the others both knew and confessed their sin . And lest we should imagine this to be only the product of a rash and precipitate judgment , Costerus (a) the Jesuit proposeth and defendeth the same Proposition . VII . The scandalous and bad effects , which too great an affectation , much more the imposition of Celibacy , produced in the antient Church , might justly deter the present Age from imitating that Example , and thereby continuing and augmenting the same scandals . The horrible and sad abuses of Eunuchs and House-keepers , we have before described ; whose ill examples have done greater injury , and given deeper wounds to the honour and reputation of the antient Church , than ever the affected or imposed Celibacy of the Clergy brought lustre or advantage to it . And if in those times when the first zeal of Christianity was not yet expired , when Piety and Vertue were excited by Miracles , and fomented by Persecutions ; when a generous renunciation of the World , and contempt of all Sublunary Pleasures , was the common practice , and seem'd to be the very genius of Christianity : if under all these advantages Celibacy could not make good its glorious pretences , nor promote that , for which it was at first intended , true Virginity : if then the voluntary practice of it betrayed the Church to open scandals and manifest inconveniencies , in vain do we hope in this degenerate state of Christianity , to attain a perfection which former and latter Ages wanted , and introduce among the unmarried Clergy such an uniform exemplariness of Continence and Chastity , as may promote among the Laity the great ends of Holiness and Purity , and advance the true interests of the Church . It may be a laudable ambition , to surpass the Vertue of former times ; but little less than madness , to attempt that which the Experience of so many Ages hath demonstrated to be impossible . VIII . If it be imprudent to imitate a practice , from which naturally floweth so many Scandals and Abuses , no less unsafe is it to place this imitation upon a matter , which seems to have been the great Stumbling block of Antiquity , and chief Fountain of her grossest Errours . I mean Marriage , about which the many false Opinions that obtained in the Church , evince that most Christians had false notions of the nature and institution of it . And here , not to repeat what I before observed of the generally-supposed impurity , and by some believed sinfulness of Marriage ; to omit the annulling and separation of Marriages contracted betwixt Christians and Infidels , and the perpetual prohibition of Marriage to those who had done penance for Fornication ; to pass by the Decree of Pope Gregory the First , of admitting no married man into the Church , after he hath accompanied with his Wife , till he hath washed himself with water ; and the permission (a) given by Pope Gregory the Third , to all of marrying a second Wife , when the first , although alive , is disabled by sickness , age , or any accident , from performing the Duties of Marriage ; and many other Decrees , Practices , and Opinions of the antient Church about Marriage , which all sober Casuists will allow to be gross and pernicious Errours : I will mention only a few extravagant Canons relating to the Marriage of the Clergy . The 17th Apostolick Canon , and third of the Quinisext Council , command , that none be admitted into the Clergy , or if admitted , that he be deposed , who hath married two Wives after Baptism , or one which hath been a Widow , or a divorced woman , or a Whore , or a Servant , or a Stage-player . The Council of Auxerre , in the year 578. forbid (b) the Widows of a Priest , Deacon , or Subdeacon , to marry after the death of their Husbands . The second Council of Mascon , in the year 585. extended (c) the same prohibition to the Widows of Exorcists and Acolythi . The Council of Bourges , in the year 1031. decreed , (d) That the Sons of Priests , Deacons , and Subdeacons , born after their Ordination , should by no means be admitted into the Clergy : Because (e) such , and all others who are not born of lawful Marriage , are called a cursed Seed in holy Scripture . The same Council farther commanded , (f) That none should give his Daughter in Marriage to a Priest , Deacon , or Subdeacon , or to their Sons : and in the next Canon forbid all to marry the Daughter of a Priest , Deacon or Sub-Deacon , or their Widows ; because (g) that would be detestable . Here Celibacy or a perpetual abstinence is enjoyned , not only to the Clergy themselves , but also to their Wives , Sons , and Daughters : as if either all these must be supposed to have the gift of continence ; or it concerned the interest of the Church , they should be necessitated to a single life . Such unnecessary cautions about the Marriage of the Clergy , and unlawful prohibition of it to their posterity , could be no other than the effects of some gross mistakes or foolish superstition . IX . It is no small prejudice to the cause of Celibacy , that all the great Patrons and Defenders of it could not themselves preserve that Virginity , which they either admired or imposed . They had not only suffered under , but even yielded to , the temptations of Incontinence , and could never themselves obtain that perfection , which they recommended to the practice of mankind . In these men I will not say a satiety and glut of unlawful pleasures procured a contempt of lawful enjoyments ; but certainly an injudicious repentance and abhorrence of the former was prejudicial to a right esteem of the latter . For when these persons , many of whom afterwards were eminent for holiness , reflected upon the greatness of their crime , and their violation of the divine laws of chastity , no wonder if in exaggerating the one , and seeking to compensate the other , they misplaced the guilt of their crime , by removing it from the unlawful use of those pleasures to the very nature of them ; and then imagining no sacrifice too great to appease the divine anger , endeavoured to promote and preserve that chastity in others , which they had prostituted themselves , and by restraining many from lawful pleasures , expiate the guilt of their own unlawful enjoyments . This is manifest from the example of all those , who were the main Authors of urging and imposing Celibacy for the first 1100 years , I mean Tertullian , Eustathius , Heliodorus , Epiphanius , St. Hierom , Dunstan , Hildebrand , Lanfranc , and Anselm ; to whom we may add the Founders of the four great Monastick Orders in the Church of Rome . I begin with Tertullian , who acknowledgeth , (a) that in his youth he had been guilty of all the debaucheries of the age , and laboured under a total corruption of manners . Eustathius was (b) six times deposed by so many several Synods , for his scandalous and enormous Vices . Heliodorus was (c) deprived of his Bishoprick by a Synod of Thessalia , for writing a lascivious Romance . Epiphanius inveighled in his youth by the artifices and Iusts of the Gnostick Women , as himself (d) confesseth . St. Hierom acknowledgeth he had lost his Virginity ( although it was for many ages celebrated by the Roman Church in her publick Offices ) For thus he writes : (e) I extoll Virginity to the skies , not because I possess it , but because I the more admire that , which I want . It is an ingenuous and modest confession to commend that in others , which your self want . And in another place , speaking of the danger of Incontinence , to which youth is subject , You know , saith he , the slippery path of youth ; in which I also fell . Dunstan was by many vehemently suspected of Incontinency ; and the Adulter●…es of Hildebrand , with the Countess Mathildis , are insinuated by the Historians of that time . Paul the 14th , Abbot of St. Albans was (f) generally supposed to be the base Son of Lanfran●… . Anselm , however celebrated by the Monkish Historians as an undoubted Virgin , himself confesseth and deplores the loss of his Virginity . For in an ancient Manuscript , in the King's Library at St. James's , are extant Twenty three Prayers of Anselm : of which the Twelfth ( not to be found in the printed Collection of his Prayers among his Works ) is entitled , A Lamentation of the Loss of his Virginity . Therein at large he bewails his fault , and confesseth his crime , but more especially in these words : (a) O fornication , the defiler of my mind , the destroyer of my soul , whence hast thou stol●… upon me , miserable man ! For thou my soul , perfidious to God , and adulteress against Christ , voluntarily falling down from the sublimity of virginity , art plunged into the sink of fornication . Of the Founders of the four great Orders , Francis , by the confession of Walsingha●… , was in his youth unchast , and indulged to himself the most licentious pleasures ; as did Ignatius Loyola also by the acknowledgement of Ribadeneira (b) . As for Benedict and Dominick , if they escaped the unlawful embraces of Women , yet could they not avoid the violent temptations and desires of them . For remedy of which the first was forced frequently to rowl his naked body upon thorns , and the latter (c) to whip himself thrice every night with an iron chain . Thus have we brought down the History of ●…elibacy to the times of Hildebrand , or the middle of the Eleventh Age : when although the Marriage of the ●…lergy was once again become frequent , and connived at over all the West , yet the fatal ignorance and stupidity of the precedent age had prepared the way to a renewed imposition of Celibacy , by anticipating the judgments of men with false prejudices and notions of the nature of Marriage and Celibacy . All the mistakes of ancient times were then resumed and with advantage improved : and the supposition of some hidden impurity in the use of Marriage , had so far prevailed , that it gained belief and reception even among the married Clergy . For this I take to have been the only reason of that abuse , frequent in the Ninth Age , ( which Elfric complaineth of in his Epistles to Wulfin and Wulfstan ) whereby the Priests administring the Eucharist , communicated not themselves . Besides all these errours and mistakes , and the miserable ignorance and barbarity of those times , which prepared the minds of men : there concurred another great reason , which induced the Popes to impose Celibacy upon the Clergy . The Popes of the Eleventh Age , especially Hildebrand , or Gregory the Seventh , had formed a design of subjecting the whole Christian World to the obedience of the See of Rome , as well in Temporals as in Spirituals . To this end nothing could be more subservient than to withdraw the Clergy from the Allegiance due to their Princes and Affection to their Countries , and tye them up wholly to the interest of the Court of Rome . This could not be accomplisht while Marriage was permitted to the Clergy , since the consideration of Wives and Children endeared their Countrey to them , and were so many Pledges of Fidelity to their Natural Princes . This Obstacle therefore was to be removed , and the Clergy to be invested with a perfect liberty of blindly pursuing the dictates of the See of Rome . This observation may be hence confirmed , that the same Hildebrand endeavoured to subject Temporal Princes to the Papal power , and to deprive the Clergy of the use of Marriage . For altho some Popes of this Age attempted the imposition of Celibacy before Hildebrand , yet was the whole attempt designed and managed by him , who is known to have exercised an absolute Tyranny in Rome more than twenty years before he was made Pope . Pope Leo the Ninth led the way : who although he made no formal Decree , at least not any now extent , against the Marriage of the Clergy in the West , sent Legates to Constantinople , in the year 1054. Cardinal Humbert , who fiercely contending there with the Greeks , both by Writings and Disputations , among other heads of accusation , charged them with the Heresie of the Nicolaites , for permitting Marriage to the Clergy , and pronounced an Anathama against them . How foolish and false this accusation was , is evident from what we before said touching the History of Nicolas the Deacon . The cause of the Greek Church was defended by Nicetas Pectoratus , a Regular Priest , who , besides the common right of mankind , the divine permission , and the necessity of it , alledgeth the constant Practice and Tradition of the Greek Church in all precedent Ages in favour of the Clergies Marriage . In the year 1056. the Council of Tholouse was held by the command and by the Legates of Pope Victor the Second , which commanded (a) Priests , Deacons , and all other Clergymen possessing Ecclesiastical Dignities , to abstain from their Wives , upon pain of Deprivation and Excommunication . The next year Pope Stephen the Ninth held (b) several Synods at Rome against the Marriage of the Clergy ; whose Acts are lost . The Clergy generally despised these Censures and Canons , and retained their Wives in opposition to them . This obliged the Popes to invent and make use of new stratagems . None could be more effectual than to forbid the Laity to hear Mass and receive the Sacraments from the hands of the married Clergy . This was indeed the very formal Heresie of the Eustathians condemned of old by the Council of Gangra ; but the advantage which it might bring to the See of Rome , did abundantly in their esteem compensate the danger and contagion of its errour . Pope Nicolas the Second , therefore in a Synod held at Rome , in the year 1059. decreed , (a) that none should hear the Mass of a Priest , whom he undoubtedly knew to have a Concubine , ( for such the imposers of Celebacy in this Age would have the Wives of the Clergy to be esteemed ) or a House-keeper . And that whatsoever Priests , Deacons or Subdeacons after the Constitution of Leo the Ninth , concerning the chastity of the Clergy , had openly married a Concubine , or put her not away when married , should be deposed from his Office and lose his Revenues . In this Canon it may be observed , that a general and uninterrupted use of Marriage by the Clergy is acknowledged to have obtained in the West immediately before the Constitution of Leo the Ninth , and that the universal opposition of the Clergy to the imposition of Celibacy had forced the imposers of it to mitigate the Penalties of Marriage , and inflict only deprivation upon the married Clergy . This Canon was renewed and confirmed by the Council of Tours (b) in the year 1060. by the Roman Synod (c) under Alexander the Second in the year 1063. and the latter part of it by the Council Roan of (d) in the year 1072. But all these Decrees were only the rash efforts of a furious zeal for Celibacy , and met with no success or obedience , till reinforced by Hildibrand , now become Pope Gregory the Seventh , whose violent genius left neither any force nor fraud unattempted to compleat his designs . He in a Synod held at Rome in the year 1074. commanded , (e) that the Clergy should either put away their Wives , or be deposed : and that none for the future should be ordained , who vowed not perpetual continence and a single life . But when the Clergy chose rather to lye under the sentence of Anathema ( as Simeon Dunelmensis (f) and Hoveden (g) relate ) or ( as Bromton (h) hath it ) when they contemned his censures , he renewed the next year the Decrees of his predecessours , that none should hear Mass from nor communicate with a married Priest. These Constitutions he vigorously endeavoured to put in exec●…tion by force of Arms , Threats , and Flattery , thundering out Excommunications against those Bishops who blindly employed not their whole power and interest to execute his commands . By these violent methods he obtained the confirmation of his Decrees from the Council of Poictou (i) in the year 1078. of Islebonne (k) the same year of Quintilineburg (l) in the year 1085. and many other Provincial Councils . Most of the succeeding Popes pursued the same Design , and many Councils seconded them in it , as that of Melphi (m) in the year 1089. Clermont (n) 1095. and others not worthy a particular relation . The force and violence which these Popes and Bishops used to separate the Clergy from their Wives , is known to all who have conversed in the Histories of those times . But their frauds and impostures , gross ignorance and trifling prejudices deserve a more particular consideration . The mistakes and errors of precedent Ages , which they adopted and improved , need no repetition . I will insist upon those only which were peculiar to this and the former Age. An universal ignorance had fitted the minds of men to be abused and deceived ; and the Patrons of Celibacy failed not to make use of this advantage . They pretended the Marriage of the Clergy to be in it self null and void ; and therefore in their Decrees and Canons gave to the Wives of the Clergy no other name than that of Concubines ; and ever termed their Marriage , Adultery , Concubinacy , and (a) the inveterate Disease of Fornication of the Clergy . Many had before forbid Marriage to the Clergy ; but none had yet dared to call the use of it Fornication , which Clemens Alex. (b) affirms to be an opposition of the Law and Gospel , and no other than downright Blasphemy . Then was the Third Canon of the Council of Nice alledged in against the Marriage of the Clergy ; and all the spurious Decretals of ancient Popes , the late Forgeries of Isidore Mercator , produced in favour of the imposition of Celibacy : which fraud is at this day continued by the Writers of the Church of Rome , who are not ashamed to cite the Epistles of Pope Calixtus the First , the Roman Council under Pope Silvester , the Acts of Paul and Tecla , the History of Abdias , and many other spurious Writings , the product of latter Ages or foolish Impostors . Another artifice was then set on foot , which nothing but the highest impudence could devise or maintain , and that was to accuse the Greek Church of imposing Marriage upon the Clergy , pretending the 13th Canon of Quinisext Council had decreed none should be admitted into Priests Orders , who had not first married a Wife . This calumny also is espoused by the present Writers of the Church of Rome , and particularly Bellarmin (c) who could not but know the falseness of it , and that Marriage is no where made necessary to the Clergy , but in the Church of Russia . The imputation of Heresie to the defenders of the Clergies Marriage was started in this Age , and the opprobrious titles of Nicolaites fastned on them . This new Heresie is thus described by Petrus Damiani , the great Agent of the Popes in the cause of Celibacy . (d) The Nicolaites are those Clergy-men , who against the rule of ecclesiastical chastity accompany with Women : who then truly become fornicators ▪ when they adde Marriage to this unlawful Society ; and are then deservedly called Nicolaites , when they defend , as lawful , this mortal Heresie . Lastly , to crown these Impostures , Miracles were forged , as the most proper artifice to impose upon mankind in a superstitious Age , when that cause was triumphant , not which was most rational , but whose followers could by a pretence of Miracles delude the World with greater art and impudence . Hence the admired Fable of the 1100 Virgin Martyrs , the imposture (a) of the Crucifix in the Synod of Canterbury , openly giving its Vote for Dunstan , against the married Clergy ; and (b) the whole Colledge of married Priests of Elingen turned into Eels , when by the favour of the Emperour they retained their Wives against the threats and curses of the Pope , with a thousand other ridiculous tales which might terrifie the married Clergy , amuse the credulous multitude , and advance the interest of the greedy Monks ; who then built their fortunes apace upon the ruins of the secular Clergy . But to give an evident testimony of the Frauds and Impostures which promoted Celibacy in this Age , I will instance in an Anonymous Author of this time , whom the Collectors of the Councils thought worthy to insert into their Edition ; and who , if I be not mistaken , was the first that ever dared affirm the Celibacy of the Clergy to be of Divine or Apostolical Institution . This Writer in an Apology for the Decrees of Hildebrand , published in the Roman Synod , Anno 1074. pleads the cause of the Imposition of Celibacy . In his Plea he alledgeth the Third Canon of Nice , the First of Neocaesarea , and the Decretals of Silvester . Whatsoever is said by St. Hierom , or other ancient Fathers , against the Housekeepers , he applies to the Wives of the Clergy . Affirms , Nicolas the Heresiarch to have been the first Author and Introducer of the Clergies Marriage . Reckons Paulus Samosatenus ( condemned and deposed by the Synod of Antioch for his scandalous use of Housekeepers ) among the defenders of their Marriage . Urgeth all the spurious Decretals of ancient Popes , Alexander the First , Clement , and others , and doubts not to affirm from Clemens . Alex. that Nicolas the Deacon prostituted his Wife to the lust of all persons ; whenas that learned Father relates the direct contrary , as we before shewed . No wonder then , if amidst so gross ignorance and shameless impostures , when the interest of the See of Rome required , and the ambition of the whole Monastick Order promoted it ; when forged Decretals were received , and foolish Miracles believed ; when antient Canons were securely falsified , and the practice of other Churches mis-represented ; when the Bishops and ruling part of the Clergy were either taken out of Monasteries , or otherwise at the devotion of the Court of Rome ; Celibacy triumphed , and the Marriage of the Clergy was decried and run down . The lamentable and scandalous effects of these proceedings , are at large related by the Historians of those times ; which I will here only briefly touch . Matthew Paris (c) and Radulphus de Diceto (d) having related Pope Gregory the Seventh's prohibition of Marriage to the Clergy , use these words : Hence arose so great a scandal , that not even in the time of any Heresie had the Church ever been divided with a more grievous Schism ; one Party contending for Justice , the othe●…●…gainst it . Besides , few of the Clergy preserving Continence , some dissembling their Lust either for Gain or Vain-glory ; but many aggravating their Incontinence with Perjury and continual Adultery : The Laity refused to receive the Sacraments from married Priests , burnt the Tythes due to them , and oftentimes trod under foot the Body of our Lord consecrated by them , and oft-times voluntarily spilt the consecrated Bloud upon the ground . In Germany , as Nauclerus (a) relateth , upon the prohibition of hearing the Masses of married Priests , the Laity were forced to administer the Sacraments themselves , and baptize their own Children . This scandal arose much higher in England , where when the same prohibition was by the procurement of Anselm enacted in a National Synod , all Divine Service was , for want of unmarried Priests , generally discontinued in Parochial Churches , and the Church-doors overgrown with Thorns . As for the scandalous incontinence and uncleanness of the Clergy , that is not much to be admired , being the natural effect of imposed Celibacy . But it may be justly wondred , that while the Pope engaged with so much violence against the Marriage of the Clergy , they willingly overlook'd and conniv'd at their Fornications and prodigious Impurities of Life . This Petrus Damiani (b) himself assures us , and affirms it to be the custom of the Church of Rome , in his time , severely to exact other points of Ecclesiastical Discipline , but to connive at and dispense with the Lust of the Clergy : which was then become so brutal and notorious , that he writ a Book , entituled Gomorrhaeus , particularly upon that subject . This alone might justifie what we before observed , that the Church of Rome imposed Celibacy upon the Clergy , not for increase of Piety , or advancemen●… of Purity , but only for temporal ends , and secular advantages . However , the Marriage of the Clergy wanted not Defende●…s in this Age to maintain its right against the calumnies and tyranny of its Adversaries . The Decrees of the Popes were condemned by some Councils , universally opposed by the Clergy of all Nations , and gained not success till a long and sharp contention . In the year 1061. the Bishops of Lombardy , by the instigation of Guibert Bishop of Parma , met in a Council at Basil , wherein they annulled the Decrees of Pope Nicolas , and decre●…d , That no Pope should be obeyed , who would not 〈◊〉 and yield to their Infirmities . About the same time the Clergy of Laon being urged by Petrus Damiani to put away their Wives , produced in their defence a Decree of the Council of Tribur , which permitted the use of Marriage to the Clergy . Several Councils were he●…l at T●…ibur in this Age ; of whose Acts we have little or no account left , and therefore cannot 〈◊〉 the time of this Council . The Synod of 〈◊〉 we shall mention afterwards , when we come to the Affairs of England . In the year 1080. Gregory the Seventh was condemned and deposed in the Council of Brixia , as well for other crimes , as because h●… had ●… Divor●…es between married persons , ( to use the words of the Historian (a) or had violently separated the married Clergy from their Wives . To these we may add the Council of Beneventum , held eleven years after by Urban the Second , which permitted Marriage to Subdeacons , as we before observed : and the great Lateran Council under Inno●…ent the Third , of which more hereafter . If many Bishops disliked , annulled , and mi●…igated the Papal Decrees of Celibacy ; with much mor●… violence , although with less authority , did the inferiour Cle●…gy oppose this unjust Imposition . Particularly 〈◊〉 Hildebrand published his Decrees , the Historian saith , (b) The Cl●…rgy were in a rage , crying out , the 〈◊〉 was plainly a Heretick , and maintainer of mad Opinions ; who forgetting those words of Christ , All 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 t●…is , and ●…e that cannot contain , let him marry , would by a violent exaction compel men to live the life of Angels ; and while he stopped the wonted course of Nature , let loose the Reins to a promis●…uous Lust. 〈◊〉 the learned Monk of Gemblac●… , writ to Henry Archdeacon of Leige , a peculiar T●…eatise or Apology against those who s●…andered or condemned the Masses of married Priests , ( as himself (c) tells us ) which is now lost . The same Author in another place give●…h (d) this judgment of the Decree of Pope Gregory , That it was made by an unheard-of Example , and inconsiderate prejudice against the Doctrine of the Holy Fathers . Matthew Paris (e) useth the same words . In Germany the Clergy opposed the Papal Decrees with great courage and animosity , rejected the perswasion of their Bishops , wanted little of tearing in pieces the Popes Legate who proposed to them the imposition of Celibacy ; and when at last by the violence of their Adversaries forced to submit , chused rather to quit their Office than their Wives . In France the Clergy of Laon rejected the Sollicitations of Petru●… Damia●…i . Of England we shall speak more largely afterwards . In Italy , Damia●…us being sent to Milan by Nicolas the Second , in the year 1059. to subject that See to the Obedience of the Church of Rome , and the Clergy to the Yoak of Celibacy , could effect neither , without great commotions . For as himself writ back to the Pope , the people and Clergy contended with great heat , that the Ambrosian See owed no Obedience to the Bishop of Rome , and that the Law of Celibacy was unjust and intolerable . Mr. Fox in his English Martyrology (f) hath published two antient Latin Apologies for the Marriage of the Clergy , under the name of Volusianus Bishop of Carthage , both directed to Pope Nicolas . The first , which is short , is nothing else but the Epistle of Huldericus , before mentioned , which hath been often published . The second , is far longer , was never elsewhere published ; and seems to have been the Remonstrance or Apology of all the married Clergy of the Western Church , offered to Pope Nicolas the Second , and the other Bishops of the Church , who endeavoured to impose Celibacy , presently after the Roman Synod , in the year 1059. which forbid the Laity to hear Mass from the married Clergy . The Author of it writes far more elegantly , and argues more strongly than Huldericus : and indeed , abating some allegorical interpretations of Scripture , the peculiar Genius of those Ages , it may be accounted a rational and exact Treatise . The sum of it is this : That Continence is the peculiar Gift of God , not bestowed upon all ; which therefore cannot be commanded . That no Vow or Gift is grateful to God , but what is voluntary , not compelled . That it savoured of Judaism , to impose such burdens upon men under the Gospel . That the Governours of the Church were not invested with an arbitrary power , nor could lay such grievous impositions on the Clergy , against their will. That this Yoak was imposed for vain ostentation , and worldly ends . That although many of the inferiour Clergy were awed by Force , Authority , Threats , or Anathema's , to submit to this Imposition , yet they unwillingly underwent the burden of Celibacy , and hated the cross laid upon them , because they bore it rather to their destruction than salvation . That from the imposition of Celibacy , greater inconveniencies arose ; Sodomy , Adultery , Fornication , Incest , and other horrid Lusts. That Marriage is the only Remedy assigned by God to incontinent persons ; which they who contemn and affect a greater shew of perfection , commonly fall into precipices . That the Apostle commandeth , that to avoid Fornication , every man should have his own Wife ; and expresly teacheth , all have not the Gift of Continence . That the Apostles advice of Virginity , was temporary , himself professing that he cast no snare upon us . That as for themselves , they professed they could not contain without the use of Marriage , and therefore by the Precept of the Apostle had a right to marry . That it was a vain and false pretence , that this Indulgence was given by the Apostle only to the Laity , and not to the clergy . That the Yoak of Celibacy was unlawful and intolerable , condemned of old by Dionysius Corinthius , and Paphnutius . Lay not therefore , we beseech you , this heavy burden upon us , which we are not able to bear ; nor violate the Reverence due to Holy Orders and the sacred Mysteries , for our sakes . Certainly , you render both contemptible in the sight of men , whilst you forbid the Sacraments to be received from our hands . A Prohibition directly contrary to the antient Canons ; which define , that the Sacraments lose not their efficacy by the unworthiness of him that administers them . By these Authorities and Reasons you ought to be perswaded , and neither remove us from the sacred Office , nor deprive the Laity of the benefit of the Sacraments . Concluding with a protestation , that they could not contain without Marriage , nor obtain Continence any otherwise than by the peculiar Gift of God. Thus the married Clergy wanted neither learning nor courage to defend the justice of their Cause , and however they were overborn by the violence of the Court of Rome , and prevailing interest of the Monastick Order , yet many of them retained their Wives for some Ages after the times of Hildebrand ; although from his Popedom the marriage of the Clergy gradually decreased , and at last was born down by an universal Celibacy . For some time after that , the Priests of Germany publickly cohabited with their Wives , saith Aventinus , (a) as other Christians did , and begat Children ; as appears from the Records of Grants made by them to Churches , Priests , or Monks ; wherein their Wives by name subscribe as Witnesses together with their Husbands , and are called by the honest name of Priestesses . This constancy of the Clergy in retaining their Wives , was the only reason of the frequent renovations of the Laws of Celibacy by the Popes and Councils of the 12th and 13th Ages . These Laws seem not to have been introduced into Dalmatia , till the year 1199. when a Council being held there by the Popes Legates , this Canon (b) was made : Whereas the Priests of God ought to live continently , they are said to hold both their Wives and Churches in the parts of Dalmatia and Dioclia . Wherefore we enact , That Clergy-men having Wives married before Ordination , live with them and resign their Benefices ; but that those who have Wives married after Ordination , dismiss their Wives , and retain their Benefices . To pass by other Councils , I will produce only the great Lateran Council under Innocent the Third , in the year 1215. which not only allowed the Marriage of the Clergy , when contracted , to be valid , but also permitted Marriage to the Clergy of some Provinces , wherein the Laws of Celibacy had not yet been received . The first appeareth from the 31 Canon , conceived in these words : To abolish a great Corruption , which hath been introduced in divers Churches , we straightly forbid , that the Sons of Prebendaries , especially their Bastard Sons , be made Prebendaries in the secular Churches , wherein their Fathers were instituted . Where by excluding especially the Bastard Sons of the Clergy , it is acknowledged that their Children born in Marriage are not Bastards . The latter is no less evident from the 14th Canon , which enjoyning Continence to the Clergy , adds this Proviso : But whereas many of the Clergy , according to the custom of their Countries , have not renounced their Wives , if any of these commit Fornication or Adultery , let them be more severely punished , because they can make use of lawful Marriage . The latter Writers of the Church of Rome , to ●…lude the Authority of a Council , so much reverenced by them , declaring in favour of the Clergies Marriage , would have this clause understood of the Greek Clergy ; but produce not the least shew of Reason for their pretence . No mention is made of the Greek Clergy either before or after : nor did the Fathers of the Council , in forming this Canon , any more dream of them than of the Clergy of the Abyssine Church . Lastly , almost the whole 17th Title of the first Book of Decretals of Gregory the Ninth , is made up of Epistles written by Alexander the Second , to the Bishops of England , about admitting or not admitting the Sons of Priests into the Benefices of their Fathers , without any intermediate Successour . In these Epistles Bastardy is no-where objected to the Sons of the Clergy , but only the danger which may accrew to the Church , if Ecclesiastical Benefices should descend like a Lay Inheritance from Father to Son. And this danger the Pope sometimes dispensed with . For it is manifest from the 9th Chapter , that he had given a Faculty to the Archbishop of York , of inducting the Sons of the Clergy into the Benefices of their Fathers , immediately after the death or cession of the latter . The 12th Chapter hath these words : Clement III. to the Archbishop of Cassels . Whereas your Brotherhood inquired of us , the Sons of Priests ( or Bishops ) may be promoted to Holy Orders , if they be adorned with knowledge and sobriety ; know that if they be born of lawful Marriage , and there be no other Canonical Impediment , they may lawfully ascend to Holy Orders . Where it is manifest , that the Sons of which Pope Clement speaks , were born after the Ordination of their Fathers ; for none was ever so mad as to doubt whether the Sons of Clergy-men born before their Ordination , were capable of Holy Orders . But if any scruple remains , the 14th Chapter will remove it , which is this : We understand that N. begotten in Priesthood , born and conceived of a lawful Wife , desires to be admitted into Holy Orders . Wherefore let it be done Thus did Popes , General Councils , and the practice of the Church , after the times of Hildebrand , acknowledge the lawfulness of the Clergies Marriage , and connive at it ; till the Papal ambition drawing the disposition of all Ecclesiastical Preferments to themselves , and allowing the use of Concubines to the Clergy , Marriage was at last forced to yield to the more advantageous and easie way of Fornication . It remains that we speak somewhat more particularly of the state of Celibacy in the Church of England , which more peculiarly concerns us , and probably the last of all the Churches in the West , submitted to the imposition of it . The Church of England being no part of the Roman Patriarchate , nor intervening by her Bishops in those Western Councils which enjoyned Celibacy , took no notice of , nor gave any obedience to the Decrees of Popes , or Constitutions of Councils in that matter ; but allowed an uninterrupted freedom of Marriage to the whole body of her Clergy , till the end of the tenth Age , and to the far greater part of them till the beginning of the twelfth Age. Elfric (a) indeed , a great Zealot of the Monastick Order , in which he was brought up , disliked and opposed the Marriage of the Clergy , yet so that from his words it is manifest the Marriage of the Clergy generally obtained in England , and himself rather wished than hoped for an abolition of it . In opposing it he joyned the prejudices of Antiquity to the impostures of latter Ages . From hence he received the poor pretence of the prohibition of Marriage to the Clergy by the Council of Nice , in the third Canon : from thence his detestation of second Marriages , against which he had conceived such unreasonable prejudice , that he forbid (a) Priests to be present at the solemnities of those Marriages , or even to bestow a blessing on them . Nay , the Clergy of the Church of England enjoyed at that time so great a liberty of Marriage , that even the Monks enjoyed the same freedom : and , as the old Manuscript Chronicle of Winchester relateth , (b) all the Monasteries of England , except Glastenbary and Abendon , were nothing else but Colledges of married Priests , till King Edgar drove them thence , and planted Monks in them . This was done by King Edgar about the year 974 at the instigation , and by the artifices of Dunstan , who held divers Synods for that purpose , and had sharp disputes with the married Clergy possessing the Monasteries : where his frequent recurring to tricks and impostures , related by the Monkish Historians under the name of Miracles , manifest that Reason and Justice failed him , and that in both he was overpowered by the married Clergy . But the favour of the Prince gave to Dunstan the advantage of obtaining his design , who , as Malmsbury relateth , (c) when he gave the Clergy their choice , either to quit their Wives , or their Monasteries , forsook their Places , and left them empty to the Monks . Alferus indeed , Prince of Mercia , drove out the Monks again , and replaced the married Clergy ; but they soon lost their recovered possession with the fall of that Prince . However , this Violence of Edgar and Constitutions of Dunstan touched not the Secular Clergy , whether Parochial Priests , or Prebendaries of Cathedral and Collegiate Churches . They yet enjoyed the use of Marriage with no less perfect freedom than before . And therefore among King Edgar's Canons one is , (d) that if a Mass-Priest commits Fornication , or violate his Marriage , he fast 10 years , and always bewail his crime ; if a Deacon , 7 years ; if an inferiour Clergyman , 6 years ; if a Layman , 5 years . Not only the Secular Clergy , but even many Regulars , who lived separately out of Monasteries , enjoyed then the benefit of Marriage ; ( as many Nuns do (e) at this day in the Abyssine Church ) whence Sir Henry Spelman (f) observeth , that their Wives are frequently called Monachae and Moniales , Nuns . Afterwards Pope Gregory the Seventh imposing Celibacy upon the whole Clergy , and seconding his imposition with reiterat●…d commands to all Bishops to execute his Decrees , Lanfranc Archbishop of Canterbury endeavoured to introduce Celibacy into the Church of England . But perceiving the attempt to be impossible , by reason of the constant and unanimous opposition of the Clergy , he was contented in the Council of Winchester , in the year 1076. to make this Decree only . (g) Let no Prebendary have a Wife . But of the Priests , who live in Towns and Villages , those who have Wives shall not be compelled to put them away , those who have not , shall be forbidden to marry any . Thus Lanfranc prepared the way for the more resolute undertakings of his successour Anselm : who , not contented with a partial Celibacy , attempted to debar the whole body of the Clergy from the use of Marriage , which they had hitherto enjoyed . So common and general was the Marriage of the Clergy in the Church of England at that time , that Pope Paschal the Second , in an Epistle (a) to Anselm , giving him a Dispensation to admit the Sons of the Clergy into Holy Orders , assigns this reason of it ; because there is so great a number of this kind in the Kingdom of England , that they make up the greater and better part of the Clergy . And indeed many great and illustrious Members of the Clergy , the sons of Priests , who lived at this time in England , may be produced out of History . Herebertus Losinga , Bishop of Norwich , was (b) the son of Robert Losinga a Clergyman , afterwards Abbot of Winchester . Rithmarch was (c) son and successour of Sulgheim , Bishop of St. Davids . Thomas , Archbishop of York , was (d) the son of a Norman Priest , as also (d) his brother , Samson , Bishop of Worcester , whose son , Thomas , succeeded (d) his Uncle in the Archbishoprick of York . Henry , Archdeacon of Huntington , the Historian , was the son of Nicolas , Priest of Lincoln , who for his great Piety and Learning was called , (e) The Star of the Clergy . Richard , Archdeacon of Coventry , was the son and successour of Robert , Bishop of Chester , ( or of Coventry and Lichfield , which See was then placed at Chester ) upon which Radulphus de Diceto maketh this observation : (f) Not therefore either from Sacred Orders , or from Parochial Cures , or from Bishopricks , or from the Popedom it self , are the Sons of the Clergy to be debarred if they be of an honest life . It cannot be here imagined , that all these persons were born before the ordination of their Fathers . For first Clergymen were then ordained young ; and then the contrary can be plainly demonstrated of many of them . For Eadmerus (g) relates , that Lanfranc going to Rome in the year 1071. impleaded Thomas Archbishop of York , and Remigius Bishop of Lincoln , before the Pope , that neither of them were canonically promoted to their Bishopricks ; because they were the sons of Priests , and consequently made incapable of Holy Orders by the Canons . Which incapacity was never extended to the sons of the Clergy , born before their ordination . Besides the learned Selden (h) observes , there was no such express Canon then made , nor ever heard of , before the Council of Clermont in the year 1095. and therefore the incapacity of the sons of the Clergy to Holy Orders could arise only from their supposed bastardy , being the fruits of the use of Marriage after ordination , which the Hildebrandine Popes and Councils had defined to be fornication . This was the state of the Clergies Marriage in the Church of England , till the times of Anselm , who being educated in a Monastery , and a dependant of the Court of Rome , endeavoured to introduce the Papal Laws of Celibacy into England . His attempts of this kind I will represent in the words of our Historians . Henry de Knyghton (i) saith , Anselm forbid Wives to the Clergy at Leicester in the year 1102. which before were not forbidden to them . Simon Dunelmensis , (a) In the year 1102. Concubines ( or Wives ) were forbidden to Priests in the Synod of London . Whence many of them shut up the doors of their Churches , omitting all Divine Service . Henry Huntindon (b) , In the year 1102. Anselm forbid Wives to the Priests . Which seemed most chast to some , to others dangerous , lest while they affected a purity beyond their power , they should fall into horrible uncleanness , to the great scandal of the Christian Religion . Matthe●… Paris (c) repeateth very near the same words . The same prohibition was (d) renewed by Anselm in a Synod in the year 1108. In the year 1125. John , Cardinal of Crema , was sent into England by the Pope upon the same design , who , holding a Synod at London , perswaded the Clergy , in a set speech , to dismiss their Wives , and live continently ; but he being caught (e) that very night in the act of fornication , was dismissed with shame . In the year 1129. a great Council was held at London , ( to use Matthew Paris , (f) and Bromton's (g) words ) wherein Concubines ( or Wives ) were forbidden to the Clergy , and the exe●…ution of the wh●…le matter left to King Henry . Which thing ended afterwards with great disgrace . For the King took an infinite Sum of Money of the Priests , to redeem their Wives . Then the Bishops repented of the power granted by them to the King , when it was too late . Thus the King , by selling Licences to the married Clergy , defeated all the Decrees of these Synods . The same had (h) William Rufus before done in respect of the married Prebenda●…ies , after the prohibition of Lanfranc . Which made the Author of the Saxon History of Peterborough (i) say of these Councils of Anselm and others against the Marriage of the Clergy , All these Councils availed nothing 〈◊〉 the Clergy , by the favour of the King , enjoy yet their Wives , as they did before . This may be further confirmed from the frequent repetion of this prohition in subsequent Synods , which would have been unne●…essary , if the Decre●…s of former Councils had been receiv'd ●…nd observ'd . In the year 1138. the Decree of Pope Gregory was (k) renewed in the Synod of London . In the year 1175. it was ●…nacted (l) in the Council of Westminster , that whosoever in the degree of Subdeacon , and upwards , contracted Marriage , should leave their Wives , although unwilling and refusing . And indeed Anselm himself in an Epistle (m) to Ernulphus , complains , that notwithstanding his frequent proh●…bitions the King still suffered the Clergy to enjoy their Wives as freely as they did in his Father and Lanfranc's times . The Clergy yet retained the use of Marriage for some Ages in the Church of England , although not with so much freedom , nor in so great number , as before the times of Anselm . In the Appendix (n) to the Third Council of Lateran , in the year 1179. may be found many Epistles of Alexander the Third to the Bishops of England ; from which it appeareth , that an infinite number of the Clergy then in England had Wives , and even married them after ordination . And the Pope himself doth in some measure allow their Marriage , by decreeing (o) , that if 〈◊〉 contract Marriage , if they were before such persons , as it might be feared , lest instead of one they should abuse many women , their Marriage should be dissembled , and their Co●…abitation with their Wives connived at : because a less evil is to be tolerated , that a greater may be avoided . Which reason will equally agree to all Orders of the Clergy . In the beginning of the Thirteenth Age Innocent the Third writ (a) to the Bishop of Norwich , that he understood many Clegymen of his Diocess contracted Marriage and retained their Benefices . The Synod of London , in the year 1237. complains (b) that many Clergymen privately contracted Marriage , and retained their Wives . Three years after the Synod of Worcester commands (c) the Archdeacons to inquire after married Priests . Towards the end of the Age , John Peacham , Archbishop of Canterbury , published a Constitution (d) , that the sons of the Clergy should not succeed immediately to their Fathers in their Benefices ; which must be understood of the legi●…imate sons of the Clergy . For Bastards were ever forbidden to succeed either mediately or immediately , and indeed to be received into Holy Orders . In a word , Mr. Fox undeniably demonstrates (e) from ancient Deeds , Evidences , and Records , wherein Estates are given , setled , or int●…iled upon Clergymen and their Wives , and Heirs lawfully begotten of their Wives ; or wherein they together with their Wives sell Estats ●… that the use of Marriage was yet retained by the Clergy of England in the middle of th●… 14th Age. We might perhaps carry yet much farther the continuance of the Marriage of the Clergy in the Western Church , and that not only to the Reformation , but even to this day . For many of the more sober Clergy of the Church of Rome finding they could not cont●…in without the use of Marriage , and the Church permitting to them , or conniving at the use of Concubines , have , under colour of keeping Concubines , secretly married wives , and thereby both satisfied their own consciences , and avoided the censures of the Church . Or if they either could not or dared not ●…se the Ceremonies of the Church in their contract of Marriage ; yet at least they obliged themselves and pledged their faith to their Con●…ubincs never to forsake them , and always to be true to their Bed , receiving the same assurance from them . By this reciprocal Promise a true and perfect Marriage is formed in the sight of God , although the publick Ceremonies of the Church do not intervene . So St. Augustin (f) , Ifidote (g) and Gratian (h) plainly determine : and therefore such Concubines are expresly allowed by the first Council of Toledo (i) in the year 400. and Justinian (k) , and were permitted to Christians , till forbidden by Eeo the Philosopher (l) . Now that both these cases of Marriage were continued down in the Church of Rome , we are assured by Alvarus Pelagius (m) , who complained to Pope John XXII . that many Priests , and other persons in holy Orders , especially in Spain , Asturia , Gallieia , and other places , publickly , and sometimes by publick Writing , promised and swore to Women , chiefly those who were well descended , that they would never put them away ; and gave them Joynt●…res of the Goods and Possessions of the Church ; and sometimes publickly married them , in presence of their Kindred and Friends , with a solemn Banquet , as if they were their lawful Wives . About the year 1240. Otho , the Pope's Legate , coming into England , published his Constitutions for the Government of this Church . Among them one (a) is particularly directed against the 〈◊〉 Marriage of the Clergy . After the Reformation Cassander (b) relateth , that all the best and most religious Priests , perceiving their infirmity , and ●…etesting the fou●…ess of Formeation , If they dare not publickly , at least privately , enter into Marriage . Thus we find Marriage yet retained by the better and more religious part of the Roman Clergy . But then what shall we say of that Church , which so far alloweth Concubinacy , that , for the sake of it , she connives at the violation of her so much admired Celibacy ; and to whom a cha●…e Marriage of the Clergy can recommend it self under no other name , than that of Fornication . Thus have we brought down the History of the Imposition of Celibacy , to its Final Period , I mean the Universal Reception of it in the Western Church , towards the end of the Fourteenth Age : when the Marriage of the Clergy fell from a general into a total disuse , and was thenceforth compelled to take refuge in the name and disgrace of Fornication . What a deluge of Lusts and Impurities overflowed the Christian World , when Celibacy became triumphant , and Marriage was exploded , may easily be imagined . Such deplorable Scandals of the Church I should willingly pass under silence and not provoke the anger of our Adversaries , by the rehearsal of so sad a truth , if the nature of my design did not require me to say somewhat of it , which yet I will propose with all modesty and brevity . I will not here upbraid to our Adversaries the noted Tragedy of Pope Gregory's Fish-ponds , although related by Haldericus (c) more than 800 years since : nor the more famous story of Pope Joan , although attested by more than twenty eight Historians (d) before the Reformation : I will not object to them the Incredible Bestialities and Horrible Lusts of the Popes of the Tenth Age , nor insist upon the Infamous Impurities of private Churchmen , I will produce only a few General Testimonies of the Writers of latter times . Alvarus Pelagius , Bishop of Silva in Portugal , in the beginning of the Fourteenth Age , wisheth (e) , that the Glergy had never vowed Chastity , especially the Clergy of Spain , wherein the Sons of the Laity were not much more numerous than the Sons of the Clergy . About the same time Durandus , junior (f) Bishop of Mimatum in France , proposing means for the reformation of the Church , adviseth , among other things , that it were ordered , that Publick Stews might not be kept near great Churches , nor in the Court of Rome next to the Palace of the Pope , nor in other Places near the Houses of Bishops . In the next Age Gerson (g) affirms , that either incontinent Priests must be tolerated , or none can be had ; and therefore that it were more convenient for the Church , that Concubines should be publickly permitted to the Clergy , than that the L●…ity should be forbidden to hear the Masses of incontinent Priests . ( Glemangis (a) relates , that in many Diocesses , the Priests , giving a set and determinate price to their Bishops , publickly and openly kept Concubines . This scandal of selling Licenses of Concubinacy to the Clergy proceeded so far , that in Germany the Bishops and their Officers not only granted those Licences for a certain sum of money , to all who asked them ; but also forced those Clergy-men to take them , who neither desired no●… intended to make use of them . In Switzerland it was the custom in many Cantons in the times of Popery , that whensoever they received a new Pastour , they obliged him to take a Concubine , that he might not attempt the chastity of Virgins and Matrons . The same reason induced the Senate of Rome , when Pius V. intended to put down the publick Stews , to intercede and petition for the continuation of them , as well to gratifie the Clergy who incited them , as to prevent greater scandals ; justly fearing the honour of their Wives and Daughters , if the Lust of the unmarried Clergy were diverted from the wonted channel . To say no more , the Adulteries , Fornications , Sodomies , and Bestialities , discovered in our Monasteries at their dissolution , are an evident demonstration of this sad truth . The Author of Onus Ecclesi●… , who was John Suffragan Bishop of Saltzburg , and writ just before the Reformation , saith , (b) There were very few Gurates in Germany , who did not wallow in the filth of Conoubinacy ; and that (c) The Nunneries in his time were as publickly prostituted as the common Stews . And lest we should imagin the Romish Clergy to have observed a greater Purity since the Reformation , than before , the Fornications and Incest of Paul III. the So●…omies of Julius III. and incestuous Commerce of Innocent X. with his Brothers Wife Olimpia , are yet fresh in the memory of all men ; of the latter of which , Abbot Gualdi (d) confesfeth , that the Histories of former Ages cannot produce a scandal so enormous , or an unlawful love so immoderate ; which made him for her sake to forfeit both the Reputation of his Person , and the Honour of the Church . I will produce but one Example more , but that related by the Doctors of the Sorbon , (e) and consequently undeniable to our Adversaries . In a Visitation made in the year 1619. by the Bishop of Serzane , at the command of Pope Paul V. it was found that among the Ecclesiasticks of three large Provinces , Stiria , Carinthia , and Carniola , ( who had all been bred up under the severe Discipline of the Jesuits ) there were found only six Priests , who kept not Concubines . Nor did the imposition of Celibacy infect only the Morals of the Roman Clergy , but also corrupted their judgment ; and by that means introduced far greater scandals into the Church : when Concubinacy and other unnatural Lusts being become universal , they employed their Wits to prevent their own shame , by proving those Villanies not to be unlawful . For to pass by an Encomium or Apology of Sodomy , published by John Casa Archbishop of Beneventum , and Legate of the Pope ; to omit the Complaint of Gualter Mapes , (a) That the Priests insinuated into silly women a fear of damnation , if they denied their Embraces to them : it cannot be denied that many latter Casuists of the Church of Rome have asserted , That Fornication committed only for the sake of Health , or evacuation of an extimulant Humour , is not unlawful : and that most of them teach , that simple Fornication is no deadly sin . I will alledge only one instance of these scandalous Maxims , but that proceeding from the Head of the Romish Church , and related by Wesselus (b) of Groningen a learned and pious Divine of that Church . Pope Sixtus IV. out of the fulness of Apostolick power , gave a License to the whole Family of the Cardinal of St. Lucia , to commit Sodomy in the three hotter months of the year , with this clause : Let it be done , as it is desired . The sense and scandal of so many Lusts , Impurities , and Bestialities , daily committed by the unmarried Clergy , induced many great and learned men of the Church of Rome , to advise the abrogation of the Laws of Celibacy , and permission of Marriage to the Clergy . Panormitan (c) giveth his opinion in these words : It is enquired whether the present Church can enact , that a Clergy-man may contract Marriage , as the Greeks do . I answer , It may . And I do not only believe that the Church hath a power of decreeing this ; but I also believe , that this would be a wholsom Constitution for the good and salvation of Souls . Pope Pius II. confessed , (d) That there were indeed former causes why Marriage should be taken from the Clergy , but now much greater causes why it ought to be restored . Polydor Vergil delivers his Judgment thus : (e) This I will affirm , That this enforced Chastity is so far from surpassing conjugal Chastity , that even the guilt of no crime ever brought greater disgrace to the Holy Order , greater damage to Religion , or greater grief to all good men , than the stain of the Clergies Lust. Wherefore it would perhaps be the interest as well of Christianity as of the Holy Order , that at last the Right of publick Marriage were restored to the Clergy ; which they might rather chastly pursue without Infamy , than defile themselves by such brutal Lusts. Erasmus hath the like words : (f) If any consider the state of these times , how great a part of Mankind the multitudes of Monks take up , how great a part the Colledges of Priests and Clergy-men ; and then consider how few , out of so great a number , truly preserve Chastity of Life , with how great scandal most of them are openly incestuous and incontinent , into what kinds of Lusts innumerable of them degenerate : he will perhaps conclude it to be more convenient , that those who do not contain , may have the freedom of publick Marriage , which they may purely and chastly , without infamy , maintain , rather than that they should commit unhappy and shameful Lusts. The World hath now many unmarried men , but few chast ; although neither is he chast , who useth not the company of a woman , because it is forbidden . But I very much fear , that the Revenues of the Church makes more Clergy-men at this day Eunuchs , than Piety doth : while we are afraid lest our Possessions should be intercepted by Wife and Children , or at least nothing added to them by married Clergy . Cassander (a) saith , That if ever there was a time to change any old Custom , certainly these times seem to require some alteration of this , however antient , Custom . Lastly , all Princes and States before the Council of Trent , in their Petitions and Remonstrances for Reformation of the Church , never omitted to require the permission of Marriage to be restored to the Clergy . In the time of the Council , and after the conclusion of it , Ferdiand II. and Maximilian II. the Emperours , Sigismund Augustus King of Poland , Albertus Duke of Bavaria , and other Princes , earnestly desired the same thing by their Embassadours . But that Council too well knew the interests of the Church of Rome , to grant a Petition of that nature . Rather by defining that Marriage contracted after a Vow of Continence , is neither lawful nor valid , they have perhaps put the case beyond all remedy , and taken from the Church all possibility of ever restoring Marriage to the Clergy . For if Marriage after a Vow be in it self unlawful , the greatest Authority upon Earth cannot dispense with it , nor permit Marriage to the Clergy , who have already vowed Continence . If in the precedent Discourse I have said any thing injurious to the honour of true Virginity , I here retract it , and profess that a great veneration is due to that state of life , when a matter of choice , not of force , and that both in the entrance into it , and continuance of it ; when undertaken for the increase of Piety , and advancement of divine Glory , not for any secular ends and advantages ; when taken up by those who have the Gift of Continence , not affected by such as cannot contain . We believe there is somewhat in those words of our Saviour , He that is able to receive it , let him receive it . And with Clemens Alexandrinus , (b) We reverence the happiness of the Gift of Continence in those to whom it is bestowed by God ; we admire Monogamy , and the decency of one Marriage : yet assert , that we ought to indulge with , and bear the burdens of others , lest he who thinks he standeth firmly , should fall . We dislike not the Virginity of the Romish Clergy , but slight the pretence , and condemn the imposition of it . Experience demonstrates the one to be false , and Reason the other to be unlawful . We affect not the name , but the purity of Virginity ; and while we impose Celibacy upon none , nor deny Marriage to any , we promote a voluntary Continence in many , and secure a real Chastity in all , of the Clergy . FINIS . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A65597-e300 (a) In 4. Disp. 2●… . Qu. 2. (b) de contin . sacerd . c. 4. (c) de dogmatic . charact . l. 2. (d) Sess. 24. Can. 9. (a) Controv. Tmo . Il. l. 1. 18 , 19. (b) 1 Cor. 7. 25. (c) Tit. 1. 1. (a) In Ioc. (b) Strom. l. 3. (c) Act. 24. 25. (d) Ver. 6. (e) Ver. 23. (f) Ver. 35. (g) Ver. 5. (a) Ver. 20. (b) Ver. 27. (c) Ver. 37. (d) Ver. 8 , 9. (e) Ver. 26. (f) Ver. 28 , 29. (g) Ver. 32. (a) Copula sacerdotalis nec legali , nec e●…angelica vel apostolica auihoritate prohibe●…ur , ecclesiastica ●…amen lege peni●…us interdicitur , Caus. 26. qu. 2. c. 1. (b) Ecclesia post apos●…olica cons●…ituta quaedam consilia perfectionis addidit , utpote de continentia ministrorum , Caus. 35. qu. 1. in fin . (c) Constituo sacerdotum caelibatum non esse juris divini , aut quoquam modo ab Apostolis pr●…ceptum , sed tantum cons●…ltum . — Si nulla lex , aut nulla essent vota monastica , liceret sacerdotibus aut monachis nube●…e , Concil . Tom. XIV . p. 1551. (a) 1 Tim. 3. 2 , 4. (b) Tit. 1. 6. (c) 1 Tim. 3. 12. (d) 1 Cor. 2. 2. (a) Tim. 3. 2. (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . lib. 6. cap. 17. (c) Hom. X. in 1 Ep. ad Tim. & Hom. II. in Ep. ad Tit. (d) Ep. 83. ad Oceanum , comm . in Ioc. l. 1. adv . Jovin . (a) Comm. in 1 Ep. ad Tim. cap. 3. (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Loc. c. 14. (a) Hom. 2. in Ep. ad Tit. (b) Comm. in Ep. ad Tit. c. 1. Tom. IX p. 245 (c) Ep. 83. ad Oceanum . in init . (d) 1 Tim. 5. 9. (a) In actu vero conjugii negari non potest , quin admixta sit quaedam impuritas & pollutio , non quae peccatum sit : sed quae ex peccato tamen nata sit . Controv. Tom. II. lib. 1. cap. 19. (a) Heb. 13. 4. (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Socrat . l. 1. c. 11. (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Strom. l. 3. (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Ibid. (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. (f) Sed sicut faeraina castitatis vinculis obligata est , ne aliud concupiscat , ita vir eadem legetenetur , quo ( quia ) Deus & viro uxorem unius corporis compage solidavit . Epitome , cap. 8. (a) Sunt ergo virginitatis praemia , sunt merita viduitatis , est etiam conjugali pudicitiae locus . Epist 82. ad Vercell . (b) Qui unius uxoris virum 〈◊〉 esse , non quo exortem excludat conjugii , nam hoc supra legem praecepti est : sed ut conjugali castimonia servet ablutionis suae gratiam . Ibid. ante Med. (a) Gen. 1. 28. (b) Exod ▪ 19. 15. (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Mat. Hom. 56. in fine . (a) Strom. l. 3. p. 446. (b) Adv. Jovin . l. 1. in sin . (c) Vid. Cl●…m . Alex. Str●…m . l. 2. p. 421. (a) 1 Cor. 7. 32. (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Strom. l. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Clem. Alex. Stom . l. 3. in init . (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. Hom. XXI in Genes . (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Strom. l. 3. (b) Tolle de ecclesiae honorabile connubium & torum immaculatum , nonne reples eam concubinariis , incestuosis , seministuis , mollibus , masculorum conoubito●… ibus , & omni denique genere immundorum ? Serm. 66. in Cantica post . init . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Clem. Alex. Snrom . l. 3. (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. Strom. l. 3. (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 &c. Strom. l. 7. (a) 2 Cor. 10. 8. (a) Mat. 19. 6. (b) Cor. 8. 9. (a) Ver. 7. (b) Mat. 19. 11 , 12. ( c ) Sess. 24. Can. 9. (d) 1 Cor. 7. 17. (e) 1 Cor. 14. 5. (a) Virginitas in voto magis est quam in magisterie . De Virginib . l. 1 (b) Noli metuere ne omnes virgines siant : difficilis res est Virginitas , & ideo quia rara , difficilis . Multi vocati , pauci electi , Incipere plurimorum est , perseverare paucorum . Si omnes Virgines esse ▪ possent , nunquam & Dominus diceret . Qui potest capere , capiat ; & Apostolus in suadendo non trepidaret . De Virginibus autem praceptum Domini non habeo . Adv. Jovin . l. 1. c. 21. (c) Utinam magis turrim inchoaturi fedentes computarent , ne forte sumptus non habeant ad perficiendnm . Utinam qui concinere non valent , perfectionem temerariè prositeri , aut coelibatui dare nomina vererentur . Sumptuosa siquidem turris est , & verbum grande , quod non omnes capere possunt . Esset autem sine dubio melius nubere quam uri . De Convers. ad Cleric . cap. 29. (d) Ideo non delet quis constringi , ne ab licito prohibitus , illicita admittat : Sed ipse sibi eligat quid sequatur . Comm. in 1. Ep. ad Cor. cap. 7. (e) Neque tamen alicui necessitatem imponit aut laqueum . — Quia ultra homines est , & quodammodo impudentis erat adversum naturam cogere , alioque modo dicere , Volo vos esse , quod angeli sunt . Adv. Helvid . cap. 10. (f) Noli igitur admirari , si inter titillationem carnis , & incentiva vitiorum , angelorum vitam non exigimur sed docemur . Adv. Jovin . l. 1. (g) Sola est enim Virginitas , qu●… suaderi potest , imperari non potest , res magis voti quam praecepti . Exhort . ad Virgines post init . (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Strom. l. 3. (b) Tim. 4. 13. (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Comm. in loc . (d) Mihi durum atque incompetens videtur , ut qui usum continentiae non invenit , neque castitatem ante promisit , compellatur à sua uxore separari , atque per hoc , quod absit , in deterius cadat . l. 1. ep . 42. (e) His autem quibus voluntas propria desiderium nubendi persuaserit , concessam ab Apostolis licentiam auferre non possumus . Can. 2. (f) Papa etiam cum majore parte concilii non poterit indicere continentiam certo generi personarum post promotionem eis resistentibus & reluctantibus : quia co●…tinentia est res , quae potest persuaderi , imperari autem non . Caus. 32. qu. 1. cap. Integritas . (a) Thuan. Hist. l. 99. in sin . (b) Animus est enim qui aut S●…nctificat aut pol●…uit Corpus . Quid enim prodest Corpus mund●…m habere , & animam pollutam ? Cum merito animae aut honoratur Corpus aut damnatur . Hilarius Diac. Comm. in 1 Epist. ad Cor. c. 7. (c) Hist. Lausiac . c. 22. (d) Hist. Eccl. l. 4. c. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . (a) Mihi illi Eunuchi placent , quos castravit non necessitas sed voluntas . l. 1. adv . Jovin . (a) Decretam , quo votum annexum est ordinibus , non quidem proprie divinum est . Controy . Tom II. l. c. 18. (b) Decret . Greg. l. 3. tit . 3. cap. Cum olim . ( c ) Cau. 1. (d) Multi u●… Episcopatum suscipiant , tenentur inviti , perducuntur , includuntur , custodiuntur , patiuntur tanta quae nolunt , donec cis adsit voluntas suscipiendi operi●… boni . Ep. 204. in init . (e) Possid . inVit . Aug. ca. 4. ( a ) Epist. ad Jo. Hier inter Hieronym Opp. Tom. II. P. 156. (h) Alvarez . Hist. AEthiop . (c) Greg. Nyssen . in vita ejus P. 976. (a) Quia in his quae ad seipsum pertinent de facili fallitur homo in judicanda , talia vota congruentius secundum arbitrium superioris sunt vel servanda vel prae●…ermittenda , ita tamen quod si ex observatione tali●… voti magnum & manifestum gravamen sentiret , & non esset facultas ad superiorem recurrendi , non deberet homo tale votum servare . Aquin. 2. 2. qu. 88. art . 2. in sin . (b) Lib. 9. Ep. 44. (c) Lib. 2. Tract . 8. Disp. unica , sect . 5. numb . 51. (d) 1 Cor. 7. 2 , 9. (a) Apu●… Catholicos nunqu●…m dubium fuit , quin votum continentiae simpl●…x sit impedimentum impediens contrahendu●… , non tamen dirimens contractum . De Matrim , cap. 21. (b) Loc. cit . (c) Can. 16. (a) 1 Tim. 5. 9 , 11 , 12 , 14. (b) De Monah . l. 2. c. 24. (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Strom. lib. 1. (b) Si autem pers●…verare nolunt , vel non possunt , melius est nubi in t , quam in ignem delictis suis cadant . Epist. 62. ad Pomponium . (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Haeres . 41. in fine . (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. lib. de verâ Virginit . P. 728. (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Paraen . 2. ad Theodor. laps . cap. 2. (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 adv . vitup . vit . Monast. l. 3. c. 13. (b) De bono viduit . c. 10. (c) Damnantur tales , non quia conjugalem fidem posterius inierunt , sed quia continentiae primam fidem irritam fecerunt — Fit autem per hanc minus inconsideratam opinionem , qua putant lapsarum à sancto proposito faeminarum , si nupserint , non esse conjugia , non parvum malum , ut à maritis separentur axores quasi adulterae sint , non uxores ; & cum volunt eas separatas reddere continentiae , faciunt maritos earum adulteros veros , cum suis uxoribus vivis alteras duxerint . Ibid. (d) Quidam nubentes post votum asserunt adulteros esse . Ego autem dico , quod gravitur peccent , qui tales dividunt . Dist. 27. cap. 2. (e) Hae igitur , quae nubere volunt , & ideo non nubunt , quia impune non possunt , quae melius nuberent quam urerentur , id est quam occulta flamma concupiscentiae vastarentur , quas paenitet professionis , & piget confessionis . l. de sanct . virginit . c. 24. (a) Si virgo es , quid times diligentem custodiam ? Si corrupta , cur non palam nubis ? Secunda post , naufragium tabula est , quod male caeperis , saltem hoc remedio temperare . Epist. 47. de vitando suspecto contubernio . (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Can. 19. (c) Unde qui ( ex Monachis ) reli●… singularitatis professione , ad militiam , vel ad nuptias devoluius est , public●… paenitentae satisfactione purgandus est ; quia etsi innocens militia , & 〈◊〉 potest esse conjugium , electionem tamen m●…liorum deseruisse transgressio est . Epist. 92. a●… Rusticum Narbon . cap. 12. (d) Aut nubant si se non possunt continere , aut con●…ineant si nolunt nubere , inter Opp. Heronymi & Aug. (e) Si quae ( viduae ) propria voluntate professam castitatem mutabili mente ●…alcaverint , periculi earum intererit , quali Deum debeant satisfactione placare . Sicut enim si se forsitan continere non poterant , nullatenus nubere vetabantur , sic habita secum deliberatione promissam Deo pudiciti●… sidem debuerunt custodire . Nos autem talibus nullum laqueum debemus injicere , sed solum , &c. Epist. ad Lucania Episc. cap. 21. (f) Si vir simplex votum virginitatis habens adjungitur uxori , non dimittat uxorem , sed tribus annis p●…niteat . apud Gratian . Dist. 27. c. 3. (g) Epist. 218. (a) Si vero Diaconus à ministerio cessare voluerit , contracto man imonio licite potest uti . Nam etsi in ordinatione sua castitatis votum ob●…ulerit ; tamen tanta est vis in Sacramento conjugii quod nec violatione voti potest dissolvi ipsum conjugium . Dist. 27. cap. 1. (b) Can. 14. Concil . Tom. Xl. p. 168. (c) Epist. 307. (d) Credimus te uti non insulso consilio , si quum nequeas continere , conjugium quaeris , quamvis id prius cogitandum fuerat , antequam initiareris sacris ordinibus . Sed non sumus dii omnes qui futura prospicere voleamus . Quan●…o huc ventum est , ut Iegi carnis resistere nequeas , melius est nubere quam uri . Ibid. (a) Nam causae ille , quibus Majores ad constitutionem hanc faciendam inductos esse diximus , non solum hodie cessarunt , sed etiam in contrarium sunt conversae . Nam primo videmus hoc decreto usque adeo castitatem & continentiam in clero non consirmari , 〈◊〉 per illud ad omne libidinis & slagi●…ii genus fenest●…a aperta esse videatur : item usque adeo non refraenatam in Clero avaritiam , ut etiam fraena magis 〈◊〉 esse videantur . Consult . Art. 23. (a) De consirm . Cont Illiber ▪ l. 2. c. 66. (b) Sive ergo Presbyter , sive Diaconus , sive Subd . fuerit , Ex hac authoritate apparet , quod in praefatis ordinibus constituti ●…icite matrimonio uti possunt . — Tempore Ancy●…anae Synodi nondum erat introducta continentia ministrorum altaris . Dist. 28. cap. 13. (c) Cum ergo ex sacerdotibus nati in summos pontifices supra leguntur esse promoti ; non sunt intelligendi de fornicatione , sed ex legitimis conjugiis nati ; quae sacer dotibus ante prohibitionem ubique licita erant , & in Orientali Ecclesia usque ●…odie eis licere probatur . Dist. 56. cap. 13. (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Serm. de abdicat . rerum post init . (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Epist. ad Philadelph . (f) Reliqui Apostoli . Ibid. (g) Omnes Apostoli , exceptis Joanne & Paulo , uxores habuerunt . Comm. in Epist. ad Cor. cap. 11. (h) Matth. 8. 14. (i) Quamquam legatur in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 & uxor ejus ( Petri ) & filia . apud Hieron . adv . Jovin . lib. 1. (k) S. Petrus uxorem habuisse cognoscitur , & primatum ut acciperet in●…er Apostolos , non ei obstitit gencratio filiorum , inter August . Opp. Tom. IV. prope fin . (l) Appendix ad par . 1. Opp. Marii Merc. Dissert . 1. cap. 8. (m) Cor. 9. 5. (n) Licebat & Apestolis ●…ubere , & uxores ci●…cumducere , cap. 8. (o) Strom. l. 3. (p) Respons . ad Nicet . Pectorat . apud Baron . Annal. Tom. XI . p. 720. (q) Lib. 3. c●…p . 30. (r) Cod. 118. (s) Strom. l. 3. (t) Hist. Eccl. l. 3. c. 30. (u) Epist. de custod . virgin . ad Eustoc●…ium . (a) Hom. 13. in Philipp . (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Epist. ad Philadelph . (c) Not. in ●…gnat . Epist. cap. 17. (a) Corrupt . of the Fathers , par . 2. p. 57. (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Strom. l. 3. (d) Act. 21. 9. (e) Lib. 1. cap. 27. (f) Strom. l. 3. (a) Loc. cit . (b) Hist. Eccl. l. 3. c. 29. (c) De Haeres . cap. 5. (d) Haeret. Fab. l. 3. c. 1. (e) Haeres . 25. in init . (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Strom. l. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Ibid. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ( Apostolus ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Ibid. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ibid. (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Eusebius Hist. Eccl. lib. 4. cap. 23. (b) De confirm . Concil . Illib . l. 2. c. 66. (c) Rescribent , sententiam quidem consilii melioris , amplectitur . Hist. Eccl. lib. 4. cap. 23. (d) Sicut ab Ecclesiasticis dignitatibus , non solum fornicatio , sed & nuptiae repelunt . Nequeenim Episcepus , nec Presbiter , nec Diaconus , nec vidua possunt esse Digami . Hom. 17. in Luc. prope sine . (e) Epist ad Philipp . prope sine . (f) Quare facultatem continentiae , quantum p●…ssumus , non deligamus ? Qu●…m primum obvenerit , imbibamus ; ut quod in matrimonio non valemus , in viduitate sectemur . Amplectenda occasio est quae , ademit , quod necessit as imperabat . Ad Uxor . l. 1. prope sin . edit . Basil. 1528. per B. Rhenanum . (g) Adv. Haeres . l. 1. c. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Euseb. lib. 6. cap. 42. (b) Cum conj●…ge fugiens . (c) Epist. 49. ad Cornelium . (d) In vit . Cypriani . post init . (e) Id Ibid. (f) Inter Cypriani Epist. num . 18. (g) Euseb. l. 8. c. 9. (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Theod. Haeret. Fab. l. 1. c. 3. (b) Vid. Clem. Alex. Strom. l. 3. in init . (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , i. e. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Id. Strom. l. 3. (a) Conjugalem copulam detestantur , quia non est illic libertus turpitudinis , ubi & pud●…r matrimonii servatur , & spes sobolis , Epist. 93. ad Turrib . cap. 7. (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , Legat , ●…hrist . prope fin . (b) Puto digamum , licet bonam habeat conversationem , & caeteris virtutibus polleat , non esse tamen de Ecclesia . Hom. 17. in Luc. in sin . (a) Et dixi , si vir vel mulier alicujus decesserit , & nupserit aliquis eorum ; nunquid peccat : Qui nubit , non peccat , inquit . Pastor , lib. 2. Mandat . 4. Sect. 4. (b) Storm . lib. 3. (c) Ego autem licet non usquequaque pronunciem , puto tamen quod sunt nonnulla etiam communium hominum gesta , quae quamvis peccato careant , non tan●… digna videantur , quibus interesse putemus Spiritum Sanctum ut verbi gratia dixerim , connubia legitima carent quidem peccato , nec tamen tempore illo , quo conjugales actus geruntur , praesentia Spiritus Sancti dabitur ; etiamsi Propheta esse videatur , qui officio generationis obsequitur . Hom. 6. in Num. (d) Si b●…num est mulierem non tangere , malum est ergo tangere ; nihil enim bono contrarium est , nisi malum . Adv. Jovian . l. 1. Quamdiu impleo mariti officium , non impleo Christiani . Jubet enim Apostolus , ut semper oremus ; si semper orandum est , nunquam ergo conjugio serviendum : quoniam quotiescunque uxori debitum reddo orare possum . Ibid. Puto quod & 〈◊〉 sinis mors . Ibid. Nuptiae terras replent virgini●…as Paradisum . Ibid. Et sicut baben●…ibus uxores tollit licentiam dimicendi eas , sic virginibus nubendi amputat facultem . Ibid. Tolerabllius est uni homini prosti●…tam esse quam multis . Ibid. (a) Vir autem cum propria conjuge dormiens , nisi lotus aqua intrare Ecclesiam non debet sed neque lotus statim intrare debet . apud Bedam . Hist. Eccl. l. 1. c. 27. (b) Strom. lib. 3. (c) Hist. Eccl. l. 8. c. 44. & alibi . (d) Propria manuperire non licet , absque eo ubi castitas periclitatur lib. de Virginit . in Orthodoxogr , p. 1694. (e) Unde mihi videtur quod illius solius est sacrificium offerre indesinens , qui indesinenti & perpetuae se devoverit castitiati . Hom. 28. in Num. (f) Demonstr . Evang. l1 . c. 9. in fine . (a) Ad Uxorem . l. 1. c. 7. (b) De Ter●…ulliano nihil aliud dico , quam Ecclesiae hominem non fuisse . Adv. Helvid . (a) Quia sciunt virginale vocabulum gloriosum , sub ovium pellibus lupos tegunt . Christum mentitur Antichristus , & turpitudinem vitae falso uominis honore convestiunt . Epist. ad Eustoch . de custod . Virgin. (b) Socrat. l. 6. c. 8. (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . (a) Ut penè jam major in Eccles●…is omnibus virginum apud vos quam mulierum numerositas habeatur . Apud Augustin . lib. 30. (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Can. 6. (a) Can. 54. (b) Can. 39. (c) Can. 24. (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Can. 5 (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Syntagm . Alphabet . lit . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . cap. 16. (b) Comm. in Can. (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . lib. 4. c. 13. (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Gelasius Cyzic . Hist. Concil . Nicaen . l. 2. c. 32. (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Can. 1. (a) Apud 〈◊〉 , Dist. 20. cap. 1. (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. Can. 10. (c) Comm. in Can. 6. Concili VI. (d) Can. 1. (e) Tom. 1. p. 43. Sozom. l. 3. c. 14. l. 4. c. 24. (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Can. 4. (b) Placuit in totum prohiberi Episcopis , Presbyteris , & Diaconibus , vel omnibus , Clericis positis in ministerio , abstinere se à conjugibus suis & non generate silios . Quicunque vero feceret , ab honore Clericatus exterminetur . Can. 33. (c) Not. in Can. (d) Can. 34. (e) Loc. cit . omnibus omnino Clericis . (a) Euseb. l. 7. c. 30. Prov. 6. 27. (a) Socrat. l. 2. c. 26. A. tha●…as . Ap●… . de fuga . (b) Denique quam graves multorum ruinas hinc fieri videmus , & per hujusmo . li illicitas & periculosas conjunctiones corrumpi plurimas virgineis cum summo animi nostri dolore conpiscimus . Epist. 62. ad Pomponium . (c) Ut quid sibi adhibuit mulierem , qui ducere contemsit uxorem . — Ita is qui despexit vinculum nuptiarum , & ali●…er vinculis faemineis obligatur ; quamvi●… , &c. ante med . (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Carm. de Virginit . (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. Hom. ▪ 1. contra 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . (f) Pudet dicere , proh nefas ! Triste , sed verum est . Unde in Ecclesiam Agapetarum pestis introiit ? unde sine nuptiis aliud nomen uxorem ? immo unde novum concubinarum genus . Plus inferam , unde meretrices univirae ? Eadem domo , uno cubiculo , saepe u●…o tenentur & lectulo : & suspiciosos nos vocant , si aliquid exis●…imamus . Epist. ad Eustoch●…de custod . Virgin. (b) Can. 27. (c) Can. 19. (d) Can. 3. (e) Can. 3. (f) Can. 17. (g) Can. 5. (h) Can. 18. (i) Can. 39. (k) Novel 123. (l) Can. 21. (m) Can. 1. (n) Non durant sine faemi . nae sodalitate dormtre . (a) ●…ui nunc pro dimittendis faeminis , alienis adhaerent ; quid facerent , si liberos & uxores projicere jubeantur ? Aut quando valebunt pro Christo renunciare cogna●…is , qui mulierculas non suas praeponunt Christi preceptis ? Post Med. (b) Rogo vos , Clerici , quantum valeo , — Si quis habet matrem , vel filiam , vel sororem , vel conjugem , vel cognatam ; sic ●…abeat , ut nulla ancilla intersit , neque alia ingrediatur extranca , &c. prope fine . ( n ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. Hi●… . Eccl. l. 1. c. 11. (a) L. 1. c. 23. (b) L. 8. c. 19. (c) In voce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . (d) Hist. Tripart . l. 2. c. 14. (e) Panorm . l. 3. c. 88. (f) Dist. 31. cap. 12. (g) Syntagm . Alphab . lit . γ. cap. 2. (h) Hist. Con●… . Nic. l. 2. c. 32. (i) De confirm . Concil Illiber . l. 2. c ▪ 66. (k) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Can. 3. (a) Illas etiam non relinqui castitatis hortatur affectio , qu●… ante sacerdotium maritorum legitimum meruere conjugium . Nec enim Clericis incompetentur adjunctae sunt , qu●… dignos sacerdotio vi●…os sui conversatione fecerunt . Cod. Theodos. l. 16. tit . 2. lez . 44. ( c ) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Comm. in S. Basilii Epist. ad Gregor . (d) De consirm . Concil . Illib . l. 2. c. 66. Socrat. l. 5. c. 22 (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . loc . cit . (b) Quod cum Uxori propriae abre●…unciasset , rursus cum illa congressus est , filiosque suscepit . Pallad . in vit . Chrysost. c. 13. ex versione Ambrosii Camald . (c) Greg. Turon . Hist. Franc. l. 1. c. 44. (d) Id. l. 4. c. 4. (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Syntagm . Alphab . lit . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . cap. 2. (f) Novel 3. (g) Ep●…st . 16. (h) Vir parum considerati zeli . Vid Paulini , par . 2. ad calcem Opp. Paul. Anverp . 1632 p. 680. (i) Epist. 1. cap. 7. (a) Plurimos enim sacerdotes Christi atque Levitas , post longa consecrationis suae tempora , tam de conjugibus propriis , quam etiam de turpi coitu ●…obolem didicimus procreasse , & crimen s●…um hac praescriptione defendere , quia , &c. ibid. (b) In pleri●…que abditioribus locis cum ministe●…ium gererem , vel etiam sacerdotium ●…ilios susceperum , & id tanquam usu veteri desendunt . De Ossic. l. 2. c. 50. Chap. 5. (b) Suademus ut sacerdotes & levitae cum uxoribus suis non codant . hortor , moneo , rogo . Epist. 4. (c) Can. 1. (a) Can. 6. (b) Continentes esse in omnibus , Can. 2. (c) Ut Episcopi , Presby . & Diac. vel qui Sacramenta contrectant , pudicitiae custodes , etiam ab uxoribus se abstineant , ut in omnibus & ab omnibus pudicitia custodiatur , qui altari deserviunt . Can. 2. ex edit . Holsten . (d) Placuit Episcopos Presb. & Diac. secundum propriastatuta etiam ab uxoribus continere . Quod nisi fecerint , ab Ecclesiastico removerantur officio . Cateros autem Clericos ad hoc non cogi , sed secundum unius cujusque Ecclesiae consuetudinem observari debere . Can. 3. (e) De Adult . conjug . l. 2. c. 20. (f) Dist. 32. cap. 13. (a) Can. 70. (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Can. 13. (c) Annot. in Can. (c) Annot. in Can. (c) Annot. in Can. (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. Syntagm . Alphab . lit . γ. cap. 18. (e) August . de Haeres cap. 82. Hierom. adv . Vigil in init . Non ordinant Diaconos , nissi prius uxores duxerint nulli caelibi credentes pudicitiam . (a) Rhetoricati sumus , & in morem declamatorum Paululum lusimus . Adv. Hilvid . in fine . (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Cod. 122. (a) Epist. 2. cap. 9. (b) Epist. 3. cap. 1. (c) Epist. 84. cap. 4. (d) Epist. 92. cap. 3. Lex continentiae eadem est Ministris Altaris , quae Episcopis atque Presbyteris . (a) Si quis post acceptam benedictionem leviticam cum uxore sua incontinens invenitur , ab officio abjiciatur , Can. 23. (b) Can. 1. (c) Can. 2. (d) Can. 9. (e) Can. 10. 16 * The like did the Council of Girona ordain in the year 517. (f) Can. 1. (g) Can. 13. (a) Can. 17. (b) Can. 2. * A. D. 549. (c) Can. 4. Cujuslibet loci vel ordinis . (d) Can. 20. 21 (e) Can. 11. (f) Can. 1. (g) Can. 8. 12. Concil . Tom. V. p. 1656. (h) Can. 27. (i) Can. 5 , 6. (k) Can. 9. (l) Can. 10. (m) Can. 5. (n) Concil Tom. IX . p. 416. (o) Cap. 14. (a) Can. 16. (b) l. 6. c. 17. (c) Can. 12. (d) Can. 1. (e) Can. 1. (f) Can. 3. (g) Can. 3. (h) Can. 2. (i) Can. 9. (k) Epist. 1. (l) Ep. 2. c. 5. (m) Ep. 87. c. 1 (n) Ep. 9. c. 22. (o) l. 2. Ep. 25. (p) ad uxor . l. 1. c. 7. (q) Hom. 17. in Luc. (r) Epist. 82. ad Vercell . (s) Ep. 4. c. 2. (t) Ep. 84. c. 4. (u) Ep. 87. c. 1. (x) Haeres . 59. c. 4. (y) Adv. Jovin . l. 1. (z) Epist. ad Geront . de Monog . (a) De bono conjug . ca. 18. (b) Com. in 1 Tim. 3. 12. (c) Quot enim & Bigami praesident apud vos ? De Monog . ca. 12. (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Epist. 110. ad Domnum . (a) Confess . l. 6. c. 15. (b) Miror autem te unum protraxisse in medium cumom●…is mundus his ordinationibus plenus sit , non dico de Presbyteris , non de inferiori gradu . Ad Episcopos venio , quos si sigillatim voluero nominare , tantus numerus congregabitu●… , ut Arimine●…sis Synod●… multitudo superetur . Epist. ad Ocean . (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Prope fin . (a) Omnibus Clericis hujusmodi praerogativa succurrat , ut conjugia clericorum , ac liberi , &c. Cod. Theodos. lib. 16. tit . 2. l. 14. (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Orat. XL. in Baptisma cap. 25. (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Haeres . 59. cap. 4. (a) Hom. 11. prope fin . (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Hist. Eccl. l. 5. c. 22. ( c ) Can. 12. (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Comm. in Can. 5. Apost . (g) Annal. Alex. 1. 1. (a) Can. 33. (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . l. 1. c. 11. (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Carm. de Vit. suâ post init . (d) Annal. ad An. 371. (e) Lib. 15. (a) Annot. in 1 Tim. 3. (b) Ad. Jul. Epist. 208. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Orat. fun . in Patrem . (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Sozom. l. 5. c. 11. (e) Adv. Arian . Orat. 1. p. 121. (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Hist. Eccl. l. 1. c. 19. (b) Epist. 95. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Epist. 105. ad Evopium fratrem . (a) Si Samuel nutritus in tabernaculo duxit uxorem quid hoc ad prejudicium Virginitatis , quasi non hodie quoque plurimi Sacerdotes habeant matrimonia ? — Eliguntur mariti in Sacerdotium , non nego , quia non sunt tanti Virgines , quanti necessarii sunt Sacerdotes . Adv. Jovin . l. 1. c. 13. (b) Hinc Apostolus eum , qui uxorem habeat , si in caeteris servet mandata , Sacerdotem fieri posse ac debere ostendit . Inter Augustini Opp. prope fin . (c) Et tamen hoc nobis primo respondeatis velim , utrum omnino Virgines facere Doctrina sit Daemoniorum , an solum prohibitionem facere nubendi ? Si per prohibitionem nihil ad no●… . Nam & ipsi tam stultum indicamus inhibere volentem , quam nefas est & impium nolentem cogere . August . advers . Faust. lib. 30. (a) Nam si ad aliquos forma illa ecclesiasticae vitae quae ab Episcopo Siricio ad Provincias commeavit , non probabitur pervenisse , his ignorationis venia permittetur , ita ut de caetero penitus incipiant abstinere . Epist. 3. cap. 1. (b) Ut etiam de muliere Sacerdotis eligendi eadem intelligatu●… servanda condi●…io , ne forte illa , &c. Epist. 87. ca. 1. (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Can. 12. (a) Ante triennium Subdiac●…ni omnium ecclesiarum Siciliae prohibiti fuerant , ut more Romanae e●…cl . nullatenus suis uxoribus miscerentur . Quod mihi durum atque incompetens videtur , ut qui usum ejusdem continentiae non invenit , neque castitatem ante promisit , compellatur a sua uxore separari . Lib. 1. Epist. 42. (b) Pandect . Can. Tom. 2. in Not. p. 135. (c) Notit . Patr. inter Moynii Var. Sacra . p. 217. (c) Praeterea volumus , ut Sacerdotes , qui in Corsica commorantur , prohiberi debeant , ne cum mulieribus conversentur , excepta duntaxat matre , sorore , ve●…uxore , quae caste regenda est . Lib. 1. Ep. 50. (d) Dr. Cave's Discourse of Antient Church ▪ Government , cap. 5. § 2. (a) Clerici castimoniam invi●…lati corporis perpetuo conservare studeant , aut certe unius matrimonii vinculo foederentur . Lib 2. c. 2. Jo. Vasaus Chron. Hispan . (b) Presbyter uxorem suam a guberna●…ione sua non abjiciat , sed caste regat . Concil . Tom. 4. p. 1801. (c) Modo autem maxima ex parte per civitates ( Galliae ) Episcopales sedes traditae sunt adul●…eratis Clericis . Epist. ad Zachar. Pont Concil . Tom. 6p . 149●… . (a) Dist. 32. cap. 4. (b) Inter Orthodoxogr . Basil. 1569. p. 481. Honestius esse pluribus occulte implicari , quam aperte in hominum vultu & conscientja cum una ligari . (c) DeCleric . l. 1. c. 22. (a) Ad. An. 1079. p. 349. Edit . Francofurt . 1670. (b) Transivimus Augustam S. Udalricus huic praesedit , qui Papam arguit de Concubiuis . Lib. de Morib . Ger●… . p. 1053. (c) Legend . Aur. cap. 202. Edit . Argentin . 1496. (d) De Script . Angl. Cent. 10. cap. 5. (e) De Praesul . Ang. p. 227. (f) Concil . Angl. Tom. 1. p. 43. (g) Apud Sur. Jan. . 13 (h) Sup. Sev●…r . de vit . Martin . cap. 26. (a) Epist. 1. ad Sever. p. 10. (b) Vit. Paulin. in init . (c) Virum sequitur & exiguo illic conjugis contenta cespite solatus se religionis & charitatis divitiis . Epist. 36. ad Sabin . (d) Vid Epist. 2 ▪ 26. 30. 31. 35. 41. 42. 44. 45. 46. (e) Epist. 34. (f) De glor . Confess . cap. 107. (g) Quoniam sanctae sororis tuae ligatus & vinculo , & non penitus expedito pergis gradu . Epist. 13. ad Paulinum . (a) Epist. 30. 31. (b) Lib. 5. Ep. 16. (c) Hist. Franc. l. 2. c. 22. (d) Id. l. 2. c. 17. (e) Vxor illi de Palladiorum stirpe descendit , qui aut literarum aut altarium Cathedras cum sui ordinis laude tenu●…vunt . Sane , &c. Oratio post Epist. 9. lib. 7. (a) Carm. l. 1. c. 11. (b) Carm. l. 1. (c) Greg. Tur. Hist. Franc. l. 3. c. 2. (d) Fascic . Temp. ad an . 494. (e) Aliis super aliis promulgatis legibus , non ante Po●…tificatum Gregorii VII . conjugium adimi occidentalibus Sacerdotibus potuit . De invent . rer . l. 4. c. 4. (a) Compertum à S. Concilio Episcopos , Presb. & Diac. venientes ex haeresi , carnali adhuc desiderio ●…xoribus copulari . Ne ergo de caetero fiat hic praecipitur , ut , &c. Can. 5. (b) Can. 1. (c) Can. 65. (d) Can. 8. (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . (g) Et scierit eam maritus su●…s maechari . (h) Can. 6. Et uxor ejus si non vetato capite ambulaverit . Spelman . Concil . Anglic. Tom. 1. p. 52. (i) Si quorumcunque Clericorum uxores peccaverint . Can. 7. (a) Epist. 6. ad Sever. p. 101. August . Epist. 225. Vid. Can. 13. 19. Concilii Turon . 2. anno 567. Can. 21. Concilii Antissiodorensis anno 578. Can. 1 , & 2. Concilii Romani an . 721. can . 5. Concilii Rom. an . 743. Euseb. l. 7. c. 30. (a) L. 8. c. 6. (b) Liber Pontif . (c) Pallad . Hist. Lausiac . cap. 130. (a) Concil . tom . 3. p. 1492. (b) Dist. 56. c. 2. (c) Imag. Histor . ad Ann. 1161. (d) Victor . Vit. de persecut . Vandal . lib 5. (e) Novell . 3. in fine . (f) Ordo Sacerdotum cui fluxit utroque parente . Venit ad haeredem Pontificalis apex . Venant . Fort●…n . in Epitaph . Chronopii carm . 1. 4. (g) 〈◊〉 apud Baleum . Cent. 1. c. 77. (a) Can. 12. (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. Can. 13. (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Act. 4. p. 234. (b) In sextae Synodi divinè & legaliter praedicatis Canonibus . (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Concil . Tom. VII . p. 122. (d) Aliter se Ori●…ntalium habet traditio Ecclesiarum , aliter hujus S. Rom. ecclesiae nam , &c. Dist. 31. c. 14. (e) De confirm . Conc. Illib . l. 2. c. 66. (a) Consulendum decernitis , utrùm Presbyterum habentem uxorem debeatis sustentare , & honorare , an d vobis projicere : quo respondemus , licet ipsi valde reprehensibiles sint . d●…jicere ●…um à vobis non debetis . Cap. 70. Concil . Tom. 8. p. 540. (b) De Cl●…r . lib. 1. cap. 21. (a) Annal. ad an . 589. (b) Not. in Concil . (c) Clerici extra sacros ordines constituti . Respons ad Interrogat . 2. August . apud Bedam Hist. Eccl. l. 1. c. 27. (d) Not. in B●…d . in loc . (e) Can. 1. (f) Dist. 28. ca●… . 13. (a) Dist. 34. cap. 7. (b) Novel . 6. cap. 5. (c) Novel . 79. (d) Comm. in Can. 5. Conc. 6. (e) Dist. 81. cap. 19. (f) Nemo Presbyter à die suscepti Sacerdotii conjugium in●…at : sin faciat , honore per decennium privetur . Can. 19. Q●…od Sac●…rdotes fiant mariti , multò esse gravius peccatum , quàm fi plurimas domi mer●…trices alant . Sleidan . Com. lib. 4. (a) Enchrid . Controv. c. 19. (a) Apud Gra●… . Cuus . 32. qu. 7. cap. 18. (b) Can. 22. (c) Can. 16. (d) Can. 8. (e) Quia tales & omnes alii qui de non legitimo conjugio sunt nati , semen maledictum in divinis Scripturis appellantur . (f) Can. 19. (g) Quia detestabile est . (a) De spectac . c. 19. de Resurrect . c. 59. (b) Sozom. l. 4. c. 24. (c) Neceph . l. 12. c. 34. (d) Haeres . 26. p. 99. (e) Virginitatem in coelum fero , non quia habeam , sed quia magis mirer , quod non habeo . Ingenua & verec●…nda confessio est , quo ipse careas , id in aliis praedicare . Apolog. ad Pammach . Ep. 50. in fine . Scitis lubricum adolescentiae iter , in quo & ego lapsus sum . Ad Chromat . Epist. 43. (f) Matth. Paris , Hist. Abbat . Alban . p. 49. (a) O sornicatio sordidatrix 〈◊〉 meae , perditrix anim●… meae , unde mis●…ro subrepfisti ! — Tu namque anima mea , perfida Deo , adultera Christi , libenter de sublimitate virginitatis es demersa in barathrum sorni●…ationis . (b) In vitejus . (c) Theodoric . de Apold . in vit . ejus . (a) Can. 7. (b) Leo Ost●…ens . Chron. Cas●… . l. 2. c. 98. (a) Can. 3. (b) Can. 6. (c) Can. 3. (d) Can. 15. (e) Can. 3 , 4. Lambert . Schaf●…ab . ad A●…n . 1074. (f) D●… gift ▪ Reg. Angl. (g) A●…nal . par . 1. p. 262. (h) C●…ron ▪ ad Ann. 1074. (i) Can. 9. (k) Can. 3. (l) Can. 3. (m) Can. 2. (n) Can. 9. (a) Invtteratum morbum fornicationis Clericorum . Gregor . VII . l. 2. Epist. 30. (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . 〈◊〉 . l. ●… . (c) De Cleric . l. 1. c. 19. (d) Nicolaitae autem dicuntur Clerici , qui contra castitatis ecclesiast . regulam faeminis admiscentur . Qui planè tunc fornicatores sunt , quùm foedi commercii copulas ineunt : tunc Nicolaitae jure vocantur , quùm hanc letiferam pestem velut ex authoritate defendunt . Epist. ad Hildebrand . & Joannem in vitâ Opp. praefixâ . (a) Polydor. Virgil. Hist. Angl l. 6. in fin . (b) Capgrave . Concil . Tom. X. p. 315. (c) Hist. Major ad an . 1074. (d) Abbreviat . Chron. ad an . 1074. (a) Chronograph . vol. 3. generat . 37. (b) Epist. ad Nicolaum II. Damian . de Legat. ad Henric. Ad. Epist. ad Cunipertum . (a) Conradus Ursperg . Chron. (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , bominem planè haer●…ticum & vesani dogmatis esse clamitantes , qui ob●…itus 〈◊〉 Chri●…ti , &c. Lambertus 〈◊〉 . ad 〈◊〉 1074. (c) Catal. Script . Eccl. in fine . (d) Novo exemplo & inconsiderato praej●…dico contra SS . Patr●…m sententiam . Chron. ad an●… 1074. (e) Hist. ad●… an . 1074. (f) Tom. 2. p. 466. (a) Annal. Boior●…m lib 5. p. 564. edit . Ingolstad . 1554. Presbyt●…rissae . (b) Can. 2. N●… Canonicorum filii , maximè spurti . Can. 31. Gravius puniantur , cùm legitimo matrimonio uti possint . Can. 14. An à potificibus generati valeant ad sacros ordines promoveri — Si ex legitimo matrimonio sunt procreati , licitè possunt . In Sacerdotio genitus , de uxore legitimâ natus & conceptus . (a) Epist. ad Wulfin . Episc. Concil . Tom. 9. p. 1003. (a) Ibid. Can. 9. (b) Apud Spelman . Concil . Anglic. Tom. 1. p. 434. (c) De Gest. Pontif. Angl. l. 1. (d) Can. 30. apud Lamb●…rdum . (e) Alarviz . (f) Concil . A●…glic . Tom. I. p. 530. (g) Nullus Canonicus uxorem habeat . Sacerdotum verò in castellis vel in vicis habitantium hab●…ntes uxores non cogantur ut dimittant , non ●…abentes interdicantur ut habeant . Concil . Tom. X. p. 351. (a) Quia in anglorumregno tanta hujusmodi plenitudo est , ut major & melior Clericorum pars in hâc specie censeatur , apud Eadmer . Hist. Nov. l. 4. p. 91. (b) Malmsbur . de gest . Pontif. Angl. l. 2. (c) Godvinus de Praesul . Angl. p. 605. (d) Id. par . 2. p. 23. (d) Id. par . 2. p. 23. (d) Id. par . 2. p. 23. (e) Stella Cleri . Hen. Huntind . Hist. l. 7. (f) Non igitur vel à sacris ordinibus , vel à parochialibus curis , vel ab ●…cclestis cathedralibus , vel etiam ab ipso papatu filii sacerdotum , si probabilis vitae fuerint , sunt arcendi . Imag. Histor. ad Ann. 1161. (g) Hist. Nov. l. 1. p. 7. (h) Spicileg . ad Eadmer . p. 195. (i) Prius no●… prohibita●… . De Ev●…nt . Angl. l. 2. c. 8. (a) Hist. ●…e g●…st . Reg. Angl. ad Ann. 1102. (b) Histor. l. 7. (c) Hist. ad Ann. 1102. (d) Simeon , Dunelm . ad Ann. 1108. (e) Huntindon , l. 7. Hov●…den , Annal. par . 1. p. 274. (f) Hist. ad Ann. 1129. (g) Chron. ad Ann. 1129. (h) Henr. Knyghton , l. 2. c. 7. (i) Apud Spelman . Concil . Angl. Tom. II. p. 36. (k) Ricard●…s Hagustad . de gest . Steph. Regis . Gervas . Tilber . Chron. (l) Gerv●…s . Tilber . Chron. ad . Ann. 1175. (m) Lib. 3. Ep. 110. (n) Concil . Tom. X. p. 1633. (o) Can. 4. (a) 〈◊〉 . Greg. l. 3. tit . 3. cap. 5. (b) Can. 15. (c) Ca●… . 34. (d) Ly●…vodi Provinciale , lib. 1. fol. 23. (e) 〈◊〉 . Angliae , Tom. II. p. 484. (f) De bono conjug . (g) Apud Gratian . Dist 34. c. 5. (h) Dist. 34. c. 5. (i) Con. 17. (k) Novell . 18. (l) Novell 89. (m) De Planct●… Eccl. l. 2. art . 53. (a) Constit. 5. (b) Optimi quique ac religiofissimi sacerdotes , Consult . art . 23. (c) Epist. ad Nicol. Pont. (d) Vid. Godvinum Catal. Cardinal . Angl. (e) De Planctu Eccl. l. 2. art . 27. (f) De modo celebr . Conc. Gen. par . 2. rubr . 10. (g) De Vitâ spirit . anim●…e . Lect. 4. Cor. 14. Prop. 3. (a) De corrupt . Ecll. statu . p. 15. §. ●… . Sleidan . Comment . lib. 3. Thuanus Hist. lib. 39. (b) Cap. 21. (c) Sunt proptala , ut ipsa loca Veheris . cap. 22. (d) Life of Donna Olimpia . (e) Moral Practice of the Jesuits . (a) Hanc mulieribus proponit maximam ; Quòd nulla salvabitur ad horam ultima●… , C●…lorum nec i●…gredi poterit januam , Ni de corpore d●…t suo decimam . Apocalypsis Gollae Pontif. (b) Apud Wolfium Lect. Memorab . Cent. 1●… . p. 836. Fiat , ut petitur . (c) Credo pr●… bono & falute animarum quòd esset hoc salubre statutum . In cap. cum olim de Cler. coning . (d) Platina in Vitâ ejus . (e) Illud dix●rim tantum ab suisse , &c. — proinde forsitan tam è republicâ Christianâ quàm ex ordinis usu esset ; ut tandem à liquando jus publici Matrimonii Sacerdotibus restitueretur , &c. De Invent. rer . lib. 5. cap 4. (f) Si quis perpendat horum temporum statum , quotam hominum portionem Monachorum greges occupent , &c. Annotat. in Ep. 1. ad Tim. cap. 3. (a) Quare si unquam tempus fuit antique al●●uj●s consuetudinis immutandae ; cortè haec tempora hujus , quamvis prisci , moris immutationem aliquam essiagitare videntur . Consult . art . 23. (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Strom. l. 3. in initio .