Methodius

Footnotes

^[2506] [I think evidence abounds, in the course of this allegory, that it was designed to meet the painful discussions excited in the Church by the fanatical conduct of Origen, vol. iv. pp. 225–226.]

^[2507] Lit. “leaps out.”

^[2508] Ecclesiasticus 6.36.

^[2509] Psa. 38.5.

^[2510] Lev. ii. 13; Mark ix. 40.

^[2511] Matt. v. 13.

^[2512] 1 Cor. vii. 34.

Chapter II.—Virginity a Plant from Heaven, Introduced Late; The Advancement of Mankind to Perfection, How Arranged.

^[2513] Lev. xviii. 19; xx. 17.

^[2514] [Contending with the worse than bestial sensuality of paganism, and inured to the sorrows of martyr-ages, when Christian families could not be reared in peace, let us not wonder at the high conceptions of these heroic believers, based on the words of Christ Himself, and on the promise, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”]

Chapter III.—By the Circumcision of Abraham, Marriage with Sisters Forbidden; In the Times of the Prophets Polygamy Put a Stop To; Conjugal Purity Itself by Degrees Enforced.

^[2515] Ecclesiasticus 18.30.

^[2516] Ecclesiasticus xix. 2

^[2517] Prov. v. 18.

^[2518] Jer. v. 8.

^[2519] Wisd. iv. 3.

^[2520] Ecclesiasticus 23.1,4,6.

^[2521] Wisd. iv. 1, 2.

Chapter IV.—Christ Alone Taught Virginity, Openly Preaching the Kingdom of Heaven; The Likeness of God to Be Attained in the Light of the Divine Virtues.

^[2522] [This seems to me admirable. Our times are too little willing to see all that Scripture teaches in this matter.]

^[2523] A distinction common among the Fathers.

Chapter V.—Christ, by Preserving His Flesh Incorrupt in Virginity, Draws to the Exercise of Virginity; The Small Number of Virgins in Proportion to the Number of Saints.