Ps. 68:6
Isa. 56:3–4ff
Matt. 19; 22:30
1 Cor. 6–7
Ap. 23:7: This love of one sex for the other is truly a divine ordinance [Gen. 1:28]. Since this ordinance of God cannot be suspended without an extraordinary work of God, it follows that neither regulations nor vows can abolish the right to contract marriage.
Ap. 23:14: Paul says (1 Cor. 7:2), “Because of the temptation to immorality, each man should have his own wife.” This is an express command, directed to anyone not suited for celibacy…It is up to each man’s conscience to decide this matter.
Ap. 23:36–40: Neither by virginity nor by marriage are we justified, but freely for Christ’s sake when we believe that for his sake God is gracious to us… We do not put marriage on the same level with virginity. One gift surpasses another. Thus prophecy surpasses eloquence, military science surpasses agriculture, and eloquence surpasses architecture. So also virginity is a gift that surpasses marriage. But as eloquence does not make an orator more righteous before God than building makes an architect, so the virgin does not merit justification by virginity any more than the married person does by performing the duties of marriage. Each should serve faithfully in what he has been given to do, believing that for Christ’s sake he obtains the forgiveness of sins and that through faith he is accounted righteous before God… Neither Christ nor Paul commends virginity because it justifies but because it gives more time for praying, teaching, and serving and is not so distracted by household chores. This is why Paul says (1 Cor. 7:32), “The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord.” He commends virginity for the sake of mediation and study. Thus Christ does not simply commend those who make themselves eunuchs, but he adds, “for the sake of the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 19:12), that is, to make room for hearing or teaching the Gospel. He does not say that virginity merits salvation or the forgiveness of sins.
AE 45:46–47: In saying this I do not wish to disparage virginity, or entice anyone away from virginity into marriage. Let each one act as he is able, and as he feels it has been given to him by God. I simply wanted to check those scandalmongers who place marriage so far beneath virginity that they dare to say: Even if the children should become holy [1 Cor. 7:14], celibacy would still be better. One should not regard any estate as better in the sight of God than the estate of marriage. In a worldly sense celibacy is probably better, since it has fewer cares and anxieties. This is true, however, not for its own sake but in order that the celibate may better be able to preach and care for God’s word, as St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 7[:32–34]. It is God’s word and the preaching which make celibacy—such as that of Christ and of Paul—better than the estate of marriage. In itself, however, the celibate life is far inferior.
Chemnitz, Examen, 3: 47–48: Anyone who prefers celibacy on account of Epicurean ease, likewise anyone who abstains from marriage only in order to escape the burdens of a household, such a one, Clement rightly says, Stromata, Bk. 3, sins against charity. And anyone who undertakes celibacy and observes it with the opinion and confidence that it is a propitiation for sins and merits eternal life, such a one blasphemes the merit of the blood of the Son of God with celibacy.