Early Christian Views on Adultery

Didache, The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles Direct teaching

And the second commandment of the Teaching is this: You shall not commit murder. You shall not commit adultery, Exodus 20:13-14. You shall not commit pederasty. You shall not commit fornication. You shall not steal, Exodus 20:15. You shall not practice magic. You shall not practice witchcraft. You shall not murder a child by abortion, nor kill the child that has been conceived. You shall not covet the things of your neighbor, Exodus 20:17. You shall not forswear yourself, Matthew 5:34. You shall not bear false witness, Exodus 20:16. You shall not speak evil. You shall bear no grudge. You shall not be double-minded or double-tongued, for to be double-tongued is a snare of death. Your speech shall not be false or empty, but fulfilled by deed. You shall not be covetous, nor rapacious, nor a hypocrite, nor evil disposed, nor haughty. You shall not take evil counsel against your neighbor. You shall not hate any man. But some you shall reprove, and concerning some you shall pray, and some you shall love more than your own life.

Hermas, The Shepherd (Pastor) Direct teaching

... about another man's wife, or about fornication, or about similar iniquities. For by doing this you commit a great sin. But if you always remember your own wife, you will never sin. For if this thought enters your heart, then you will sin. And if, in the same way, you think other wicked thoughts, you commit sin. For this thought is a great sin in a servant of God. But if anyone commits this wicked deed, he works death for himself. Attend, therefore, and refrain from this thought. For where purity dwells, iniquity ought not to enter the heart of a righteous man." I said to him, "Sir, permit me to ask you a few questions." "Say on," he said. And I said to him, "Sir, if anyone has a wife who trusts in the Lord, and if he discovers her in adultery, does the man sin if he continues to live with her?" And he said to me, "As long as he remains ignorant of her sin, the husband commits no transgression in living with her. But if the husband knows that his wife has gone astray, and if the woman does not repent, but persists in her fornication, and yet the husband continues to live with her, he also is guilty of her crime, and a sharer in her adultery." And I said to him, "What then, sir,

Hermas, The Shepherd (Pastor) Direct teaching

... sir," I said, "are the evil deeds from which we must restrain ourselves?" "Listen," he says: "from adultery and sexual immorality, from unlawful feasting, from wicked luxury, from indulging in many kinds of food and the extravagance of riches, and from boastfulness, haughtiness, insolence, lies, backbiting, hypocrisy, remembering wrongs, and every kind of slander. These are the deeds that are most wicked in human life. Therefore, the servant of God must restrain himself from all these deeds. For he who does not restrain himself from these cannot live to God. Listen now to the deeds that go along with these." "Are there, sir," I said, "any other evil deeds?" "There are," he says, "and many of them too, from which the servant of God must restrain himself: theft, lying, robbery, false witness, cheating, wicked desire, deceit, vainglory, boastfulness, and all other vices like these. Do you not think these are truly wicked? They are extremely wicked for the servants of God. The servant of God must restrain himself from all of these. Restrain yourself, then, from all these things, so that you may live to God, and you will be counted among those who restrain themselves in these matter

Tertullian, Apology Supporting witness

...an obstinate refusal to offer sacrifices, he found in their religious services nothing but meetings early in the morning for singing hymns to Christ and God, and sealing their way of life by a united pledge to remain faithful to their religion, forbidding murder, adultery, dishonesty, and other crimes. In reply, Trajan wrote back that Christians were by no means to be sought out. But if they were brought before him, they should be punished. O miserable deliverance. Under the necessities of the case, it is a self-contradiction. It forbids them to be sought out, as innocent, and it commands them to be punished, as guilty. It is at once merciful and cruel. It passes by, and it punishes. Why do you play this game of evasion with yourself, O Judgment? If you condemn, why do you not also inquire? If you do not inquire, why do you not also absolve? Military stations are set throughout all the provinces for tracking robbers. Against traitors and public enemies every man is a soldier. Search is made even for their confederates and accessories. The Christian alone must not be sought, though he may be brought and accused before the judge, as if a search had any other end than that! And so

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

61. If there be an accusation against a Christian for fornication, or adultery, or any other forbidden action, and he be convicted, let him not be promoted into the clergy.

Aristides, The Apology Supporting witness

Wherefore they do not commit adultery nor fornication, nor bear false witness, nor embezzle what is held in pledge, nor covet what is not theirs.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Supporting witness

...us will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God." He said these things not to those who are outside but to us, so that we should not be cast out of the kingdom of God by doing such things. He goes on to say, "And such were some of you; but you are washed, but you are sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." Just as those who led wicked lives and led others astray were condemned and cast out then, so even now, the offending eye is removed, and the foot and hand, lest the rest of the body perish likewise. We have the instruction: "If any man called a brother is a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, do not eat with such a person." The apostle also says, "Let no one deceive you with empty words; because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of mistrust. Do not partake with them." Just as then the condemnation of sinners extended to others who approved of the

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book V Supporting witness

... inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be mistaken," he says: "neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor revilers, nor rapacious persons, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And this you indeed were; but you have been washed, you have been sanctified, you have been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God." He clearly shows how a person goes to destruction if they continue to live according to the flesh; and conversely, he points out how they are saved. Now he states that the things which save are the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Spirit of our God.

Exodus 20:14 Background

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

1 Corinthians 6:9 Background

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

Hebrews 13:4 Background

Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

Justin Martyr, The First Apology Direct teaching

Concerning chastity, He expressed these views: “Whoever looks at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart before God.” And, “If your right eye causes you to sin, remove it; for it is better for you to enter the kingdom of heaven with one eye than, having two eyes, to be cast into everlasting fire.” And, “Whoever marries a woman who is divorced from another husband commits adultery.” And, “There are some who have been made eunuchs by others, some who were born eunuchs, and some who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake; but not everyone can accept this saying.” Therefore, all who, by human law, marry twice are deemed sinners in the eyes of our Master, as well as those who look at a woman to lust after her. For He rejects not only those who commit adultery in action but also those who desire to commit adultery: since both our deeds and our thoughts are open before God. Many, both men and women, who have followed Christ from childhood, remain pure even at the age of sixty or seventy; and I boast that I could find such individuals from every race. What shall I say of the countless number of those who have reformed from intem

Tatian, The Diatessaron Direct teaching

Matthew 5:27 You have heard that it was said, Do not commit adultery. Matthew 5:28 But I now say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:29 If your right eye injures you, put it out and throw it away from you. For it is preferable for you that one of your members should perish, and not your whole body go into the fire of hell. Matthew 5:30 And if your right hand injures you, cut it off and throw it away from you. And it is better for you that one of your members should perish, and not your whole body fall into Gehenna. Matthew 5:31 It was said that whoever puts away his wife should give her a certificate of divorce. Matthew 5:32 But I say to you that everyone who puts away his wife, except for the cause of adultery, has made it lawful for her to commit adultery. And whoever takes a woman who is put away commits adultery.

Origen, Commentary on Matthew Supporting witness

...are sometimes convicted and reproved as having little faith. And I think that just as a man commits adultery only in his heart, even if he does not go all the way to the outward act, so he also commits in his heart the rest of the things that are forbidden. So then, just as the one who has committed adultery in his heart will be punished in proportion to that kind of adultery, so also the one who has done in his heart any of the forbidden things—for example, who has stolen only in his heart, or borne false witness only in his heart—will not be punished like the one who has actually stolen, or who has fully carried out the act of false testimony, but only like one who has done such things in his heart. There is also the case of the man who, although he did not reach the evil action, fell short of it against his own will. For if, in addition to willing it, he also attempted it but did not carry it out, he will be punished not as one who sinned only in his heart, but in deed. On questions of this kind, someone might ask whether a person commits adultery in his heart even if he does not do the act of adultery, but lacks self-control only in his heart. And you may say the same about

Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Supporting witness

Proverbs 4:25 And the voice of the Gospel teaches still more urgently concerning chastity, saying: Whosoever looks on a woman who is not his own wife, to lust after her, has committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians Supporting witness

For, says He, he that looks on a woman to lust after her, has committed adultery already in his heart.

Matthew 5:27 Background

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

Origen, Commentary on Matthew Direct teaching

...n a wife could rightly be cast away by her husband. But it must be said to him that, if a woman who committed adultery was to be stoned according to the law, then clearly the "unseemly thing" must not be understood in that sense. For in the case of adultery, or any such great indecency, there is no need to write a bill of divorce and put it into the wife's hands. But perhaps Moses called every sin an unseemly thing. When the husband discovered it in his wife, and she no longer found favor in his eyes, the bill of divorce was written and the wife was sent away from her husband's house. But from the beginning it was not so, as Matthew 19:8 says. After this, our Savior speaks in a way that does not permit the breaking of marriages for any sin except fornication alone, when it is found in the wife: "Whoever puts away his own wife, except for the cause of fornication, makes her an adulteress," Matthew 5:32. But it could be asked whether, for this reason, He forbids a man to put away his wife for any cause other than fornication, even for poisoning, or for killing an infant born to them while her husband is away from home, or for any kind of murder at all. Further, if she were found s

Tertullian, Against Marcion Direct teaching

...fe. For in the Gospel of Matthew He says, "Whoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery." Matthew 5:32 He also is judged equally guilty of adultery who marries a woman put away by her husband. The Creator, however, except on account of adultery, does not put asunder what He Himself joined together. The same Moses also enacts in another passage that he who had married after violence to a damsel should from now on not have it in his power to put away his wife. Deuteronomy 22:28-29 Now if a compulsory marriage contracted after violence is to be permanent, how much more a voluntary one, the result of agreement. This also has the sanction of the prophet: "You shall not forsake the wife of your youth." Malachi 2:15 Thus you find Christ willingly following the tracks of the Creator everywhere, both in permitting divorce and in forbidding it. You find Him also protecting marriage, whichever way you try to escape. He prohibits divorce when He wants marriage to remain inviolable. He permits divorce when the marriage is stained with unfaithfulness. You should blush when you refuse to unite those whom even your Christ has united. And bl

Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Direct teaching

... saying, "Whoever looks at a woman who is not his own wife, in order to lust after her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Matthew 5:28 And, the Gospel says, "He who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery. And whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery." Matthew 5:32 Because Solomon says, "Can a man carry fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Or can someone walk on hot coals and his feet not be burned? So he who goes in to a married woman will not be innocent." Proverbs 6:27-29

Tatian, The Diatessaron Direct teaching

... to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for fornication, and marries another, has exposed her to adultery." When he entered the house, his disciples asked him again about that. And he said to them, "Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another has exposed her to adultery. And any woman who leaves her husband and becomes another man's has committed adultery. And whoever marries her who is divorced has committed adultery." His disciples said to him, "If that is the case between a man and his wife, it is not good for a man to marry." He said to them, "Not every man can accept this saying, except the one to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it."

Tertullian, Against Marcion Supporting witness

to marry, therefore, while matrimony is undissolved, is to commit adultery.

Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians Direct teaching

For whosoever puts away his wife, says He, and marries another, commits adultery;

Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Direct teaching

and whosoever puts away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery.

Athenagoras, Connection to Matthew 19:9 Supporting witness

"For whosoever puts away his wife," says He, "and marries another, commits adultery; "

Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians Supporting witness

for a second marriage is only a specious adultery.

Tertullian, On Modesty Direct teaching

... if you show by what support from heavenly examples and commands you open the gate of repentance to adultery alone, and in that also to fornication, then at that very point our conflict will at once begin. Yet I must first lay down a rule for you: do not reach back for the old things, and do not look backward. For the old things have passed away, according to Isaiah. And a renewing has been renewed, according to Jeremiah. And forgetting the former things, we are pressing forward, according to the apostle. And the law and the prophets were until John, according to the Lord. For even if we are now beginning with the Law to show the nature of adultery, we do so rightly with that part of the law which Christ did not destroy, but fulfilled. For it was the burdens of the law that were until John, not its remedial virtues. It was the yokes of works that were rejected, not the yokes of discipline. Freedom in Christ has done no harm to innocence. The law of piety, holiness, humanity, truth, chastity, justice, mercy, kindness, and modesty remains complete. In this law, blessed is the man who meditates day and night. About that law, David also says again: "The law of the Lord is blameless,

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

... you allow your wife Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to idols; and I gave her time to repent, and she will not repent of her fornication. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds,” Revelation 2:20-22. Certainly the Lord would not urge them to repent unless He promised mercy to those who repent. And in the Gospel He says, “I say to you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repents, more than over ninety-nine just persons that need no repentance,” Luke 15:7. For since it is written, “God did not make death, neither does He have pleasure in the destruction of the living,” Wisdom 1:13, surely He who wills that none should perish desires that sinners should repent, and by repentance should return again to life. So also He cries out through Joel the prophet and says, “And now, thus says the Lord your God, Turn even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning; and tear your heart, and not your garments, and return to the Lord your God; for He i

Cyprian, Epistles Direct teaching

... predecessors, some of the bishops here in our province thought that peace should not be granted to adulterers, and they completely closed the door of repentance against adultery. Still, they did not withdraw from the gathering of their fellow bishops, nor did they break the unity of the Catholic Church by insisting on their severity or judgment. So then, because some granted peace to adulterers, the one who did not grant it was not to be separated from the Church. As long as the bond of harmony remains, and the undivided sacrament of the Catholic Church continues, each bishop orders and directs his own actions, and will have to give an account of his decisions to the Lord.

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

...this, when they say that they do not communicate with idolaters. Although among them there are both adulterers and fraudulent persons, who are held guilty of the crime of idolatry, according to the saying of the apostle: “Know this with understanding, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, whose guilt is that of idolatry, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” Ephesians 5:5. And again: “Therefore mortify your members which are upon the earth, putting off fornication, uncleanness, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which are the service of idols; for which things' sake the wrath of God comes.” Colossians 3:5-6. For since our bodies are members of Christ, and each of us is a temple of God, whoever violates the temple of God by adultery violates God. And he who, in committing sins, does the will of the devil, serves demons and idols. For evil deeds do not come from the Holy Spirit, but from the prompting of the adversary. And lusts born of the unclean spirit constrain men to act against God and to obey the devil. Thus it happens that if they say that one is polluted by another's sin, and if they contend, by their own assertion, that the ido

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

yet with this threatening, that if subsequently they should return to the same men, or if they should dwell together with the same men in one house or under the same roof, they should be ejected with a severer censure, nor should such be afterwards easily received into the Church.

Revelation 2:22 Supporting witness

Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.