CHAPTER VII

OF THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT

THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY

QUESTION I

Drift of this Precept, and Manner in which it should be treated of by Pastors

As the bond between man and wife is one of the strictest union, and nothing can be more delightful to both than to know that they are objects of a mutual and undivided affection; and as, on the other hand, nothing is more painful than to feel that the legitimate love mutually due by one to the other has been transferred elsewhere, this commandment, touching whoring or adultery, follows with propriety, and in regular order, that which protects human life against the murderer, so that no one may dare to violate or sunder, by the crime of adultery, the holy and honourable union of marriage, which is wont to be a great source of love. In the exposition of this matter, however, the pastor has occasion for extreme caution and prudence, and should treat with great delicacy of language a subject which requires moderation rather than copiousness of speech, for there is reason to apprehend that, by fully and diffusely detailing the variety of ways in which men may depart from the injunction of this law, he may perhaps light upon those topics which often serve rather to inflame than extinguish lust.

QUESTION II

What is commanded in this Precept

As, however, in this precept are contained many things that cannot be passed over, pastors will explain them in their proper place. This commandment, then, has a twofold import; the one expressed, which forbids adultery; the other implied, which bids us cultivate purity of mind and body.

QUESTION III

What is here meant under the Name of Whoredom or Adultery

To begin with the prohibitory part [of the commandment], adultery is the defilement of the lawful bed, be it another’s or one’s own; for if a married man have intercourse with an unmarried woman, he himself violates his own marriage bed; and if an unmarried man have intercourse with a married woman, he defiles the marriage bed of another. But that in this prohibition of adultery are included every licentious act and every violation of chastity, is proved by the concurrent authority of St. Ambrose and St. Augustine; and that such is the spirit of the commandment is an inference drawn from reference to the Old as well as to the New Testament, for in the writings of Moses we find that besides adultery are punished other sins against chastity.

QUESTION IV

Various kinds of Licentious Lusts mentioned in Scripture

The book of Genesis records the judgment of Judah against his daughter-in-law: and there should be no whore of the daughters of Israel, is an admirable law of Moses, found in Deuteronomy. Take heed to keep thyself, my son, from all fornication, is moreover the exhortation of Tobit to his son; and in Ecclesiasticus we read: Be ashamed to look on a harlot. In the Gospel, too, Christ our Lord says, that out of the heart proceed adulteries and fornications, which defile a man; and the apostle Paul expresses his detestation of this vice frequently, and in the severest terms: This, says he, is the will of God, your sanctification; that ye should abstain from, fornication; and: Flee fornication; and: Keep not company with fornicators. Fornication, says he, and all uncleanness. and covetousness, let it not be once named among you; and: Neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

QUESTION V

Why Adultery is chiefly mentioned in this Commandment

Adultery is expressly forbidden, chiefly because—besides the turpitude which is common to it, with other kinds of intemperance—it adds the sin of injustice, not only against our neighbour, but also against civil society. Certain it is, also, that he who abstains not from other sins against chastity, easily falls into the incontinence of adultery. By this prohibition of adultery, therefore, we at once understand that every sort of impurity and immodesty, by which the body is defiled, is prohibited; nay, that by this commandment is forbidden every inward licentious thought, is clear, as well from the very force of the law, which is evidently spiritual, as from these words of Christ our Lord: Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery; but I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. These are the things which we have deemed proper matter for the public instruction of the faithful; provided, however, [the pastor] add the decrees of the holy Synod of Trent against adulterers, and those who keep harlots and concubines; omitting many and various other species of immodesty and lust, of which each individual is to be admonished privately by the pastor, as circumstances of time and person shall require. We now come to explain the positive part of the precept.

QUESTION VI

What besides the Prohibition is here prescribed as necessary to be observed

The faithful, then, are to be taught and earnestly exhorted to cultivate, with all assiduity, continence, and chastity, and cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. In those who holily and religiously lead a life of perpetual virginity, a state of life most beautiful and truly divine, the virtue of chastity, it is true, shines with brighter lustre; yet does the virtue of continence belong also to those who lead a life of celibacy, or who, in the married state, preserve themselves pure and undefiled from unlawful indulgence.

QUESTION VII

What are the Reflections suited to One who desireth to restrain his Lusts

As the Holy Fathers have handed down many lessons, whereby we are taught to subdue our passions, and restrain lustful pleasures, let the pastor study to explain them accurately to the people, and let him use the utmost diligence in the exposition thereof. Of these instructions some relate to thought, some to action. The remedy found in thought consists principally in our rightly understanding the turpitude and destruction of this crime; and this knowledge will lead more easily to the considerations that prompt its detestation. The destructiveness of this crime may be understood from this reflection, that, on account of its commission, the perpetrator is banished and excluded from the kingdom of God; an evil which exceeds all others. This calamity, it is true, is common to every crime; but to this sin it is peculiar, that fornicators are said to sin against their own bodies, according to these words of St. Paul: Flee fornication: every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication, sinneth against his own body. The reason is, that, by violating its sanctity, he doeth injury to his own body; and hence the apostle writing to the Thessalonians says: This is the will of God, your sanctification; that ye should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God. Again, what is still more wicked, by the foul crime of fornication the Christian makes the members of Christ the members of an harlot, according to these words of St. Paul: Know ye not, that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid; what, know you not, that he which is joined to a harlot is one body? Moreover, a Christian, as St. Paul testifies, is the temple of the Holy Ghost; and to violate this temple, what is it but to expel from it the Holy Ghost?

QUESTION VIII

Adultery a Grievous Injustice, and why

But the crime of adultery involves grievous injustice. For if, as the apostle saith, they who are joined in wedlock are so subject one to another, that neither has power over his or her body, but both are bound, as it were, by a mutual bond of subjection, the husband to accommodate himself to the will of the wife, the wife to the will of the husband; most certainly, if either disjoin his or her person, which is the right of the other, from him or her to whom it is bound, the offender is guilty of flagrant injustice, and of a grievous crime. And as dread of infamy strongly stimulates men to the performance of their duty, and deters them from what is forbidden, the pastor will teach that adultery brands men with a notable stigma: Whoso committeth adultery with a woman, says the Scripture, lacketh understanding; he that doeth it shall destroy his own soul; a wound and dishonour shall he get, and his reproach shall not be wiped away. But the grievousness of the sin of adultery may be easily inferred from the severity of its punishment; for, according to the law promulgated by God in the Old Testament, the adulterer was condemned to be stoned to death.

QUESTION IX

Of the Punishments which usually accompany Impure Lusts

Nay, even for the criminal lust of one man, not only the perpetrator of the crime, but also, as we read with regard to the Schechemites, sometimes an entire city has been destroyed. In the sacred Scriptures are recorded many examples of the divine vengeance [on such crimes]; such as the destruction of Sodom and of the neighbouring cities; the punishment of the Israelites, who committed fornication in the wilderness with the daughters of Moab; and the slaughter of the Benjamites; examples which the pastor will adduce to deter men from criminal lust. Even those who escape death do not, however, escape the visitations of the divine wrath, ofttimes in the shape of intolerable pangs and tortures. For, blinded by infatuation, the heaviest of chastisements, they are lost to all regard for God, for reputation, for honour, for family, in fine, for life itself; and they thus become so abandoned and useless, as to be undeserving of confidence in any matter of moment, and incompetent to the discharge of almost any sort of duty. Of this we can find examples in David and Solomon. The former [king] had no sooner fallen into the crime of adultery, than he degenerated into a character the very reverse of what he had been before; from the mildest of men becoming so cruel as to have exposed to death Uriah, a man who had deserved most excellently of him; whilst Solomon, having abandoned himself entirely to the lust of women, forsook the true religion, to follow after strange gods. This sin, therefore, as Hoshea observes, takes away the heart, and often blinds the understanding of man. We now come to the remedies which consist in action.

QUESTION X

In what way Men are excited to Lust, which they ought particularly to avoid

The first is most studiously to avoid idleness; for, according to Ezekiel, it was by yielding themselves up to its enervating influence, that the Sodomites plunged into that most foul crime of abominable lust. In the next place, intemperance is most carefully to be avoided: I fed them to the full, says the prophet, and they committed adultery. Repletion and satiety of stomach beget lust, as our Lord intimates in these words: Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness: Be not drunk with wine, says the apostle, wherein is excess. But the eye, in particular, is the inlet to the incentives of lust, and to this refer these words of Christ our Lord: If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee. The prophets, also, frequently speak to the same effect: I made a covenant with my eyes, says Job, why then should I think upon a maid? Finally, there are on record many and almost innumerable examples of evils, that originated in glances of the eyes: thus fell David; thus the king of Schechem; and thus the elders, the false accusers of Susannah.

QUESTION XI

Elegance of Dress, Obscenity of Language, and other Voluptuous Incitements on the Part of Women are to be avoided

Over-elegance of dress, which very much attracts the eyes, is often no small occasion for sin; and hence the admonition of Ecclesiasticus: Turn away thy eye from a beautiful woman. As then females are too studious of ornament, it will not be unseasonable, if the pastor use some diligence in occasionally admonishing and reproving them; and on this subject the words of the Apostle Peter are most impressive: Whose adorning, says he, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting of the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; so is also the language of St. Paul: Not with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; for many females, adorned with gold and precious stones, have lost the ornaments of mind and body. Next to the excitement of desire, usually provoked by studied elegance in dress, follows another, which is indecent and obscene conversation. For obscene language is as a torch that lighteth up the passions of the young mind: Evil communications, says the apostle, corrupt good manners. Effeminate and lascivious songs and dances are most productive of this same effect, and are, therefore, carefully to be avoided. In the same class, also, are numbered amatory and obscene books, which are to be avoided, as are also images that present any appearance of indecency, possessing, as they do, a fatal influence in exciting to filthy allurements, and in kindling criminal desires in the minds of youth. But the pastor should take especial care, that what was piously and religiously ordained by the holy Council of Trent regarding them, be most sacredly observed. If all these things which have been mentioned be most studiously and carefully avoided, almost every incentive to lust is removed.

QUESTION XII

The Use of Confession, of the Eucharist, and of other Pious Matters, are necessary to attain Chastity

But, to repress its violence, frequent recourse to confession and to the holy Eucharist operates most efficaciously; as do also unceasing and devout prayers to God, accompanied by fasting and almsdeeds; for chastity is a gift of God, which he refuses not to those who ask it aright; nor does he suffer us to be tempted beyond that we are able.

QUESTION XIII

Conclusion

But the body is to be exercised, and the sensual appetites to be repressed not only by fasting, and particularly by the fasts instituted by the holy Church, but also by watchings, pious pilgrimages, and other austerities. By these and other such penitential observances is the virtue of temperance chiefly evinced; and in accordance with this doctrine, St. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says: Every man that striveth for the mastery, is temperate in all things; now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible; and a little after: I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest, that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway; and in another place: Make not provision for tine flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof.