Early Christian Views on Marriage and Procreation

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Direct teaching

Marriage is the first conjunction of man and woman for the procreation of legitimate children. Accordingly Menander the comic poet says:—

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

...hall the man be blessed who fears the Lord." Therefore marriage is honorable and beautiful, and the begetting of children is pure, for there is no evil in what is good. Therefore the natural cleansing is not abominable before God, who ordered it to happen to women within the space of thirty days for their benefit and health, since they move about less and usually stay at home in the house. No, more than that, even in the Gospel, when the woman with the continual flow of blood touched the saving border of the Lord's garment, hoping to be healed, He was not angry with her, nor did He complain about her at all. On the contrary, He healed her, saying, "Your faith has saved you." When the natural flow appears in wives, let their husbands not come near them, out of regard for the children to be begotten. For the law has forbidden it, for it says, "You shall not come near your wife when she is in her separation," Leviticus 18:19; Ezekiel 18:6. Nor should husbands be with their wives when they are pregnant. For they do this not for the begetting of children, but for pleasure. Now one who loves God ought not to love pleasure.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

... to the Scripture, all things were very good, Genesis 1:31. We believe that lawful marriage and the begetting of children are honorable and undefiled, for the difference of the sexes was formed in Adam and Eve for the increase of mankind. We acknowledge that we have a soul that is incorporeal and immortal, not corruptible as bodies are, but immortal because it is rational and free. We hate all unlawful mixtures, and also what is practiced by some against nature, as wicked and impious. We profess that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust, and a retribution. We profess that Christ is not a mere man, but God the Word, and man the Mediator between God and men, the High Priest of the Father. Nor are we circumcised with the Jews, because we know that He has come to whom the inheritance was reserved, Genesis 49:10, and for whose sake the families were kept distinct: the expectation of the Gentiles, Jesus Christ, who sprang from Judah, the Son from the branch, the flower from Jesse, whose government is upon His shoulder.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

Wherefore marriage is honourable and comely, and the begetting of children pure, for there is no evil in that which is good.

Tertullian, Against Marcion Supporting witness

For He bestowed His blessing on matrimony also, as on an honourable estate, for the increase of the human race;

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Direct teaching

...od, and also lawful marriage, as much as is fitting and useful. And it has allowed us to desire the procreation of children. But whoever pursues these things beyond measure falls away even from what is according to nature, harming himself through relations that are against law. Above all, it is right that we should never use sexual intercourse with youths as with women. And so he who was made a philosopher by Moses says that seed must not be sown on rocks and stones, because it will never take root there or receive the generative power of seed. Therefore the Word through Moses most plainly commanded: "And with a male you shall not lie as with a woman. It is an abomination," Leviticus 18:22. In addition, the noble Plato, gathering from the divine Scriptures that one must also abstain from every female field except one's own, gave counsel from a law taken from there: "And you shall not give the intercourse of seed to your neighbor's wife, to be defiled with her," Leviticus 18:20. The seed spent with concubines is barren and adulterous. Do not sow seed where you do not want what is sown to be born for you. And do not touch any woman at all except your own wife, from whom alone it i

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Direct teaching

...oes she want human beings to be occupied with marriage all the time. Marriage is the desire for the procreation of children, not the disorderly emission of seed, which is both against law and contrary to reason. Our whole life would proceed according to nature if from the beginning we restrained our desires, and did not destroy the human race, which is born by divine providence, by wicked and evil arts. For some, in order to hide fornication, use deadly drugs that lead completely to ruin, and along with the unborn child destroy all humanity. Moreover, those who are allowed to marry need the Instructor, so that the mystical rites of nature may not be celebrated in the daytime, and so that no one, for example, returning in the morning from church or from the marketplace, may mate like a rooster, when it is the time for prayer, reading, and the works that ought to be done during the day. But in the evening one should rest after the meal, and after the thanksgiving offered to God for the good things we have received. Nature does not always allow time for marital intercourse to take place. For union is more desirable the longer it is delayed. Nor should people behave immodestly and w

Ignatius, Epistle to the Philadelphians (Long Version) Supporting witness

For they entered into these marriages not for the sake of appetite, but out of regard for the propagation of mankind.

Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians Supporting witness

For as the husbandman throwing the seed into the ground awaits the harvest, not sowing more upon it, so to us the procreation of children is the measure of our indulgence in appetite.

Lactantius, Connection to 1 Corinthians 7:2 Supporting witness

There would be no adulteries, and debaucheries, and prostitution of women, if it were known to all, that whatever is sought beyond the desire of procreation is condemned by God.

Genesis 1:28 Direct teaching

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Malachi 2:15 Supporting witness

Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.

1 Timothy 2:15 Supporting witness

Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

Lactantius, The Epitome of the Divine Institutes Direct teaching

Let lust not go beyond the marriage-bed, but be subservient to the procreation of children.

Tertullian, Against Marcion Supporting witness

...but its excessive use. This agrees with the judgment of its Founder Himself, who not only said, "Be fruitful, and multiply," Genesis 1:28, but also, "You shall not commit adultery," and, "You shall not covet your neighbour's wife." He also threatened with death the impure, sacrilegious, and monstrous abomination of both adultery and unnatural sin with man and beast. Now if some limit is set on marriage, such as the spiritual rule that prescribes only one marriage under Christian obedience, upheld by the authority of the Paraclete, then it belongs to Him who once gave broad permission to set the limit. It belongs to Him who once scattered to gather. It belongs to Him who planted the tree to cut it down. It belongs to Him who sowed the seed to reap the harvest. It belongs to Him to declare, "It remains that they who have wives be as though they had none," 1 Corinthians 7:29, who once said, "Be fruitful, and multiply." The end belongs to Him to whom the beginning belonged. Nevertheless, the tree is not cut down as if it deserved blame, nor is the grain reaped as if it were to be condemned, but simply because their time has come. In the same way, marriage does not need the hook and

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching

...ty 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 pain and danger if it allows him. Therefore there is n

Tertullian, Against Marcion Supporting witness

according to the judgment of its founder Himself, who not only said, Be fruitful, and multiply, Genesis 1:28 but also, You shall not commit adultery, and, You shall not covet your neighbour's wife;

1 Corinthians 7:2 Direct teaching

Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.

Hebrews 13:4 Supporting witness

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

1 Corinthians 7:1 Supporting witness

Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”

1 Corinthians 7:9 Supporting witness

But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.

Ignatius, Epistle to the Philadelphians (Long Version) Direct teaching

... 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 may be found at their feet in the kingdom, as at the feet of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; as of Joseph, and Isaiah, and the rest of the prophets; as of Peter, Paul, and the rest of the apostles, who were married men. For they entered into these marriages not for the sake of desire, but out of regard for the propagation of mankind. Fathers, “bring up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,” and teach them the holy Scriptures, and also trades, so that they may not indulge in i

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Direct teaching

But marriage, when by agreement it gives time to prayer, is a teaching of self-control. For he added the words “by agreement,” so that no one might dissolve a marriage. And he added “for a time,” in 1 Corinthians 7:5, so that a man who has taken a wife, if he practices self-control by necessity, may not slip into sin, and while sparing his own marriage, may desire another’s. For this reason, in the case of the man who thinks he is behaving improperly because he keeps his virgin unmarried, 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 occup

Cyprian, Treatises Supporting witness

The first decree commanded people to increase and multiply. The second commanded continency. While the world was still unformed and empty, we were multiplied through the fruitful begetting of many people, and we increased for the growth of the human race. Now, when the world is filled and the earth supplied, those who can receive continency, living in the manner of eunuchs, make themselves eunuchs for the kingdom. Nor does the Lord command this, but He urges it. Nor does He place the yoke of necessity on anyone, since the free choice of the will is left. But when He says that in His Father's house are many mansions, He shows the dwelling places of the better habitation. You are seeking those better dwelling places. By cutting away the desires of the flesh, you obtain the reward of a greater grace in the heavenly home. Indeed, all who attain the divine gift and inheritance through the sanctification of baptism put off the old man in it by the grace of the saving washing, and, renewed by the Holy Spirit from the filth of the old contagion, are cleansed by a second birth. But the greater holiness and truth of that repeated birth belongs to you, who no longer have any desires of the fl

Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians Supporting witness

... and teaching of actions: that a person should either remain as he was born, or be content with one marriage. For a second marriage is only a specious adultery. For He says, "Whoever puts away his wife and marries another commits adultery," Matthew 19:9. He does not permit a man to send away her whose virginity he has brought to an end, nor to marry again. For he who deprives himself of his first wife, even though she is dead, is a cloaked adulterer. He resists the hand of God, because in the beginning God made one man and one woman, and he dissolves the strictest union of flesh with flesh, formed for the intercourse of the race.

Methodius, Oration Concerning Simeon and Anna Supporting witness

an earthly mother and a heavenly son; a new taking of man's nature, I say, by God, and a child-bearing without marriage;

Origen, Commentary on Matthew Supporting witness

...ad no idea of the impulses of manhood, then that person is converted and has become like the little children. And the more progress he has made toward the condition of little children in regard to such emotions, the greater he is in the kingdom of heaven compared with those who are still in training and have not advanced to such a high degree of self-control. But what has been said about little children with respect to lustful pleasures may also be said about the rest of the soul’s affections, weaknesses, and sicknesses, into which little children do not naturally fall, since they have not yet fully attained the use of reason. For example, if anyone is converted, and though a man becomes like a child with respect to anger; and as a child is with respect to grief, so that sometimes he laughs and plays at the very time when his father or mother or brother is dead, the one who is converted would become like little children. Having received from the Word a disposition not capable of grief, he thus becomes like the little child with respect to grief. You may say the same also about what is called pleasure, in which the wicked are irrationally lifted up, but from which little children

1 Corinthians 7:34 Supporting witness

There is difference also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

...ld be more detestable than these? Others again refuse certain foods, and say that marriage with the procreation of children is evil and an invention of the devil. Since they are ungodly themselves, they are unwilling to rise again from the dead because of their wickedness. Therefore they also mock the resurrection, and say, "We are holy people, unwilling to eat and drink." And they imagine that they will rise again from the dead as demons without flesh, who will be condemned forever in eternal fire. Therefore flee from them, lest you perish with them in their impieties.

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Direct teaching

...ly preach to your pupils, as the good Deity, the Friendship of Empedocles? You forbid marriage, the procreation of children, and foods that God has created for the faithful, and those who know the truth, to partake of, 1 Timothy 4:3. Do you think, then, that you can escape detection while you are enjoining the purificatory rites of Empedocles? For in fact you follow this philosopher in every respect, while you instruct your own disciples to refuse foods, so that they may not eat any body that might be a remnant of a soul that has been punished by the Demiurge. You dissolve marriages that have been joined by the Deity. And here again you conform to the teachings of Empedocles, so that for you the work of Friendship may be kept one and indivisible. For according to Empedocles, marriage separates unity and makes it plurality, as we have proved.

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Direct teaching

...ly Maker, who alone is God Almighty, these points must be set forth. They say that marriage and the procreation of children must not be allowed, that no other people should be brought into the world to become miserable, and that food must not be supplied to death. Against them, first of all, is that saying of John: “And now many antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would surely have remained with us.” 1 John 2:18-19. Next, they must also be overthrown, and the arguments they bring forward must be refuted, in this way. When Salome asked, “How long will death remain strong?” the Lord said, “As long as you women bear children.” He said this, not as though life were evil, and creation evil, but as teaching a natural consequence. For decay always follows birth. Therefore, the Law wants to lead us away from pleasures and every shameful thing and disgrace. And this is its end: that we may be led from injustice to righteousness, by choosing honorable marriages, the procreation of children, and a good way of life. And the Lord did not come to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Direct teaching

And he affirms that marriage and procreation are from Satan.

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Supporting witness

...placed in Eve—an image from Edem—but a spirit from Elohim. And commandments were given to them: "Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth," that is, Edem; for he wants it to have been written that way. For Edem gave her whole power to Elohim as a kind of marriage dowry. From this, he says, in imitation of that first marriage even to this day, women bring a dowry to their husbands, obeying a certain divine and fatherly law that came into being from Edem toward Elohim.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

...teach that men are not to marry, and must abstain from meat and wine. They claim that marriage, the begetting of children, and the eating of certain foods are abominable, so that, as sober persons, they may make their wicked opinions be accepted as worthy of belief. Some of them absolutely forbid the eating of meat, saying that it is not the flesh of brute animals, but of creatures that have a rational soul, as though those who dared to kill them would be charged with the crime of murder. But others of them say that we must abstain only from pork, but may eat those things that are clean by the law; and that we ought to be circumcised according to the law, and to believe in Jesus as in a holy man and a prophet. But others teach that men ought to be shameless in uncleanness, and to abuse the flesh, and to go through all unholy practices, as if this were the only way for the soul to escape the rulers of this world. Now all these are the instruments of the devil, and the children of wrath.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book I Supporting witness

To give an example: Springing from Saturninus and Marcion, those who are called Encratites (self-controlled) preached against marriage, thus setting aside the original creation of God, and indirectly blaming Him who made the male and female for the propagation of the human race.

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Supporting witness

...s offense that leads to the destruction of life, and that they should not cut off the succession of children. For if everyone held this opinion, the whole human race would easily die out. However, they test their betrothed women for a period of three years. And when the women have been purified three times, in order to prove that they are able to bear children, then they marry them. They do not, however, have relations with pregnant women. In this they show that they marry not for sensual pleasure, but for the benefit of having children. The women also undergo washing in the same way as their husbands, and they too are clothed in a linen garment, in the manner in which the men wear their girdles. These, then, are the statements I have to make concerning the Essenes.

Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness

forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them who believe;

Irenaeus, Connection to 1 Timothy 4:3 Supporting witness

They declare also, that marriage and generation are from Satan.

1 Timothy 4:3 Supporting witness

Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.