Chapter 137 — That the state of continence is more perfect than the state of marriage

There were also others who, while not condemning perpetual continence, maintained that the married state is equal to it, which is the heresy of Jovinian. The falsity of this error is plain from what we have said, since continence renders man more able to raise his mind to spiritual and divine things, and lifts him, in a sense, above his state by likening him to the angels.

Nor does it matter that men of most perfect virtue have embraced the married state (for instance, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), because the stronger the mind is rendered by virtue, the less is it liable to fall from its height through any cause whatsoever. And again, it does not follow that they loved less the contemplation of truth and divine things because they enjoyed the use of matrimony, but they made use of matrimony according to the needs of the time to increase the number of the faithful.

However, the perfection of a particular individual does not prove the perfection of his state, since a man may apply a more perfect mind in the use of a lesser good than does another in the use of a greater good. Hence, the fact that Abraham or Moses was more perfect than many who are continent does not argue that the married state is more perfect than, or even equal to, the state of continency.