Early Christian Views on Lust

Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Direct teaching

And concerning chastity, the holy word teaches us not only not to sin in act, but not even in thought, not even in the heart to think of any evil, nor look on another man's wife with our eyes to lust after her.

Justin Martyr, The First Apology Direct teaching

Concerning chastity, He uttered such sentiments as these: “Whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart before God.” And, “If thy right eye offend thee, cut it out;

Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians Direct teaching

But we are so far from practising promiscuous intercourse, that it is not lawful among us to indulge even a lustful look.

Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians Direct teaching

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

Didache, Connection to Matthew 5:28 Supporting witness

But now I say unto you myself, Whosoever shall look on his neighbour's wife to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."

Didache, The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles Direct teaching

My child, be not a lustful one; for lust leads the way to fornication;

Matthew 5:28 Background

But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

James 1:15 Background

Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Hermas, The Shepherd (Pastor) Direct teaching

..."They are daughters of each other. One of them is called Simplicity, another Guilelessness, another Chastity, another Intelligence, and another Love. When you do all the works of their mother, you will be able to live." I said, "I would like to know, Lady, what power each one of them has." She said, "Hear what power they have. Their powers are arranged by each other, and they follow each other in the order of their birth. For from Faith comes Self-restraint; from Self-restraint, Simplicity; from Simplicity, Guilelessness; from Guilelessness, Chastity; from Chastity, Intelligence; and from Intelligence, Love. So the deeds of these are pure, chaste, and divine. Whoever gives himself to these, and is able to hold firmly to their works, will have his dwelling in the tower with the saints of God." Then I asked her about the ages, whether the end was now coming. She cried out in a loud voice, "Foolish man! Do you not see that the tower is still being built? When the tower is finished and built, then the end comes. And I assure you, it will be finished soon. Ask me no more questions. Let you and all the saints be content with what I have called to your remembrance, and with my renewing

Hermas, The Shepherd (Pastor) Direct teaching

He says to me, "Put away from yourself all wicked desire, and clothe yourself with good and chaste desire. For when you are clothed with this desire, you will hate wicked desire, and will hold yourself in check just as you wish. For wicked desire is wild, and is tamed only with difficulty. For it is terrible, and by its wildness it consumes men exceedingly. The servant of God is especially consumed by it, if he falls into it and is without understanding. Moreover, it consumes all who do not have on them the garment of good desire, but are entangled and mixed up with this world. These it hands over to death." Then I say, "What then, sir, are the deeds of wicked desire that hand men over to death? Make them known to me, and I will refrain from them." "Listen, then, to the works by which evil desire slays the servants of God."

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Direct teaching

Therefore, human self-control, that is, the kind taught according to the judgment of the Greek philosophers, claims to fight against desire and not to serve it in actions. But the self-control according to our teaching is not to desire at all. It is not merely that a person, while desiring, should act bravely, but that he should hold himself back even from desiring. This self-control cannot be gained in any other way except by the grace of God. And therefore He said, "Ask, and it will be given to you," Matthew 7:7. Moses also received this grace. Though he was clothed with a body that needed food, for forty days he neither hungered nor thirsted. And just as it is better to be healthy than, while sick, to talk about health, so also it is better to be light than to speak about light, and better to have the self-control that comes from truth than the kind taught by philosophers. For where light is, there darkness is not. But where desire alone has settled, even if it rests from bodily action, still in memory it struggles over what is not present. In general, my discussion will proceed about marriage, food, and other matters, so that we may do nothing from desire, but may want only the

Hermas, The Shepherd (Pastor) Direct teaching

First of all is the desire for another person’s wife or husband, and for extravagance, and for many useless delicacies and drinks, and for many other foolish luxuries. For all luxury is foolish and empty in the servants of God. These, then, are the evil desires that kill the servants of God. For this evil desire is the daughter of the devil. You must keep away from evil desires, so that by keeping away from them you may live to God. But all who are ruled by them, and do not resist them, will finally perish, for these desires are deadly. Therefore, put on the desire for righteousness. Arm yourself with the fear of the Lord, and resist them. For the fear of the Lord lives in good desire. But if evil desire sees you armed with the fear of God and resisting it, it will flee far from you. It will no longer appear to you, because it fears your armor. Go then, crowned with the garland you have won by victory over it, to the desire for righteousness. Give to it the prize you have received, and serve it just as it wishes. If you serve good desire and submit to it, you will gain mastery over evil desire, and make it submit to you just as you wish.

Hermas, The Shepherd (Pastor) Supporting witness

Listen to me, my sons. I raised you with great simplicity, innocence, and purity because of the Lord's mercy. He has poured His righteousness down on you so that you may be justified and made holy from all your sin and corruption. But you do not want to stop your wrongdoing. Now, therefore, listen to me. Be at peace with one another. Care for one another. Bear each other's burdens. And do not enjoy God's gifts by yourselves alone, but share them generously with those in need. For some, because they have so much food, bring weakness on their flesh and so ruin their flesh. But the flesh of others, who have no food, is ruined because they do not have enough nourishment. Because of this, their bodies waste away. This lack of self-control in eating is harmful to you who have plenty and do not share with those who are in need. Pay attention to the judgment that is coming. Therefore, you who hold high positions, look for the hungry while the tower is not yet finished. For after the tower is finished, you will want to do good, but you will find no opportunity. So pay attention, you who take pride in your wealth, lest those who are in need groan, and their groaning rise to the Lord, and you

Hermas, The Shepherd (Pastor) Supporting witness

...or and glory with the Lord. But if they marry, they do not sin." Therefore, guard your chastity and purity, and you will live to God. Keep the commandments that I now give you, and that I am going to give you, from now on, yes, from the very day when you were entrusted to me, and I will dwell in your house. And your former sins will be forgiven, if you keep my commandments. And all will be forgiven who keep these commandments of mine and walk in this chastity.

Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians Supporting witness

Matthew 5:28 Those, then, who are forbidden to look at anything more than that for which God formed the eyes, which were intended to be a light to us, and to whom a wanton look is adultery, the eyes being made for other purposes, and who are to be called to account for their very thoughts, how can any one doubt that such persons practice self-control?

Romans 13:14 Background

But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Methodius, From the Discourse on the Resurrection Direct teaching

For the apostle here clearly sets out, as I think, three laws. One agrees with the good planted in us, and he plainly calls this the law of the mind. Another law comes from the attack of evil, and it often draws the soul into lustful thoughts. He says this law wars against the law of the mind, Romans 7:23. The third is in agreement with sin, established in the flesh through lust, and he calls it the law of sin that dwells in our members, Romans 7:23. The Evil One drives it on and often stirs it up against us, pushing us toward unrighteousness and evil deeds. For there seems to be in us one thing that is better and another that is worse. When what is naturally better is about to become stronger than what is worse, the whole mind is carried toward what is good. But when what is worse grows and outweighs the better, a man is instead pushed toward evil thoughts. Because of this, the apostle prays to be delivered from it, seeing it as death and destruction. The prophet does the same when he says, "Cleanse me from my secret faults." The same meaning appears in these words: "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man; but I see another law in my members, warring against the law

Methodius, From the Discourse on the Resurrection Direct teaching

...th disturbances and foreign imaginations, emptied of the divine inspiration and filled with fleshly desire, which the cunning serpent poured into us. Therefore God devised death for our sake, so that He might destroy sin, lest, rising up in us as immortals, as I said, it should become immortal. When the apostle says, "For I know that in me—that is, in my flesh—dwells no good thing," by these words he means to show that sin dwells in us from the transgression, through lust. Out of this, like young shoots, thoughts of pleasure spring up all around us. For there are two kinds of thoughts in us. One arises from the lust that lies in the body, which, as I said, came from the craft of the Evil Spirit. The other comes from the law, which agrees with the commandment, which was planted in us as a natural law, stirring our thoughts toward good, when we delight in the law of God according to our mind, for this is the inner man, but in the law of the devil according to the lust that dwells in the flesh. For the one who fights against and opposes the law of God, that is, the mind's tendency toward good, is the same one who stirs up fleshly and sensual impulses to lawlessness.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching

...nce? There are, then, three affections that drive men headlong into every crime: anger, desire, and lust. For this reason the poets have said that there are three furies that trouble the minds of men: anger longs for revenge, desire for riches, and lust for pleasures. But God has appointed fixed limits for all these. If they go beyond these limits and begin to grow too great, they must necessarily corrupt their nature and be changed into diseases and vices. And it is not very hard to show what these limits are. Cupidity is given to us for getting those things that are necessary for life. Concupiscence is given for the procreation of children. The affection of indignation is given for restraining the faults of those who are under our power; that is, so that tender age may be shaped by stricter discipline toward integrity and justice. For if that time of life is not restrained by fear, license will produce boldness, and this will break out into every shameful and reckless action. Therefore, just as it is both just and necessary to use anger toward the young, so it is both harmful and impious to use it toward those of our own age. It is impious because humanity is injured. It is ha

Polycarp, Epistle to the Philippians Supporting witness

For it is well that they should be cut off from the lusts that are in the world, since “every lust warreth against the spirit;” and “neither fornicators, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, shall inherit the kingdom of God,” nor those who do things inconsistent and unbecoming.

Cyprian, Treatises Direct teaching

...f anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not from the Father, but is from the lust of the world. And the world passes away, and its lust: but he who does the will of God abides forever, just as God also abides forever." 1 John 2:15-17 Therefore eternal and divine things must be pursued, and everything must be done according to the will of God, so that we may follow the divine footsteps and teachings of our Lord, who warned us and said, "I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me." John 6:38 But if the servant is not greater than his lord, and he who has been freed owes obedience to the one who delivered him, then we who desire to be Christians ought to imitate what Christ said and did. It is written, and it is read and heard, and is proclaimed by the mouth of the Church for our example: "He who says he abides in Christ ought himself also to walk just as He walked." 1 John 2:6 Therefore we must walk in equal steps. We must strive to walk eagerly after Him. Then following the truth matches the faith of our name

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

We must be careful, then, not to give vices an opportunity through our own lack of self-control. Instead, let the habits of the two grow accustomed to each other, and let them bear the yoke with equal minds. Let us think of ourselves in the other person. For the highest point of justice almost consists in this: that you do not do to another what you yourself would not want to suffer from another. These are the commands God gives about self-restraint. But so that no one may think he can limit the divine commands, these further instructions are added, so that every false charge and every occasion for deceit may be removed: that the man who marries a woman divorced by her husband is an adulterer, and also that the man who divorces his wife, except for the crime of adultery, in order to marry another, is an adulterer. For God did not want the body to be separated and torn apart. Besides this, not only adultery must be avoided, but even the thought of it. No one should look at another woman and desire her in his mind. For the mind becomes adulterous if it even paints for itself an image of pleasure. For it is truly the mind that sins. When it is uncontrolled, it embraces in thought the

Galatians 5:17 Background

For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Galatians 5:24 Background

And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

1 Thessalonians 4:5 Background

Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:

1 John 2:16 Background

For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching

I have not yet carried out everything required by the duty of chastity. God limits this not only within private walls, but also to the lawful bounds of the marriage bed, so that when a man has a wife, he should not also want to have either a female slave or a free woman besides her, but should keep faith in marriage. For according to human law, only the woman is an adulteress if she has another man, while the husband, even if he has several women, is freed from the charge of adultery. But the divine law joins the two in marriage with equal right, since it is one body, so that whoever has torn apart the union of that body in different directions is judged an adulterer. And for no other reason did God, although He made the other living creatures resist the males after conception, make woman alone among them all receptive to the man. This was clearly so that, if women resisted, lust would force men to desire something else, and by doing so they would not keep the glory of chastity. But neither would a woman gain the virtue of modesty if she were not able to sin. For who would call a dumb animal modest, when after conception it resists the male? It does this because it must come into p

Lactantius, The Epitome of the Divine Institutes Supporting witness

Moreover, the passion of lust is implanted and innate in us for the procreation of children;

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness

...rried, he rightly says that if she marries, he does not sin. But each person, whether he has chosen chastity, or whether he has joined himself in marriage for the begetting of children, must firmly remain in his own purpose and not turn aside to what is worse. For if he is able to increase and intensify the pattern of life he has chosen, he gains greater honor with God because of pure self-control that comes from reason. But if he goes beyond the rule he chose, he will then fall back into a lesser hope of glory. For just as chastity has its own duties and ministries, marriage also has its own duties and ministries that belong to the Lord. I mean the care of children and of a wife. For what properly occupies the man who is complete in marriage is the marriage bond itself, so that he may show care and foresight for everyone in the common household. Therefore, he says, bishops ought to be appointed from those who have first trained themselves in ruling their own house, so that they may also be able to preside over the whole Church. So then, each person, in whatever calling he was called, as 1 Corinthians 7:24 says, must carry out his ministry in deed, so that he may become free in

Ignatius, Epistle to the Philadelphians (Long Version) Background

...ony in Christ. Wives, be subject to your husbands in the fear of God; and you virgins, to Christ in purity, not regarding marriage as an abomination, but desiring that which is better, not for the reproach of wedlock, but for the sake of meditating on the law. Children, obey your parents, and have affection for them, as workers together with God for your birth into the world. Servants, be subject to your masters in God, that you may be the freed-men of Christ. Husbands, love your wives, as fellow-servants of God, as your own body, as the partners of your life, and your co-workers in the procreation of children. Virgins, have Christ alone before your eyes, and His Father in your prayers, being enlightened by the Spirit. May I take pleasure in your purity, as that of Elijah, or as of Joshua the son of Nun, as of Melchizedek, or as of Elisha, as of Jeremiah, or as of John the Baptist, as of the beloved disciple, as of Timothy, as of Titus, as of Evodius, as of Clement, who departed this life in perfect chastity. Not, however, that I blame the other blessed saints because they entered into the married state, of which I have just spoken. For I pray that, being found worthy of God, I

Lactantius, The Epitome of the Divine Institutes Supporting witness

...e marriage bed pure and undefiled. For in God's sight, the man who throws off the yoke and gives himself to forbidden pleasure with another woman, whether free or a slave, is just as much an adulterer and impure. But just as a woman is bound by the bonds of chastity not to desire any other man, so the husband must be bound by the same law, since God has joined the husband and wife together in the union of one body. For this reason, He has commanded that a wife must not be sent away unless she is found guilty of adultery, and that the bond of the marriage covenant must never be broken unless unfaithfulness has broken it. This also is added to complete chastity: there must be an absence not only of the sinful act, but even of the thought of it. For it is clear that the mind is polluted by desire, even when it is not carried out. So a just man ought neither to do, nor to want to do, what is unjust. Therefore the conscience must be cleansed, for God, who cannot be deceived, examines it. The heart must be cleared from every stain, so that it may be a temple of God, lit not by the shine of gold or ivory, but by the brightness of faith and purity.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

For sensual desire, if it does not wander from its lawful object, although it be ardent, yet is without fault.