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The First and the Second Marriage According to the Early Church
God has created people and made them equals as regard their duties and rights, yet the early church made difference between people, some got full rights, and others got half rights. The Holy Book was never one hindered percent God's word. The rights of widows to remarry was given according to the class belonged too. For example, If a woman of an ex-priest wished to remarry, she would bring on herself shame because she belittled her first marriage. Pope Shounda, the pope of the Orthodox church, tolerates remarriage but doesn't favour it. The point of view of Christianity doesn't allow it but put it rank lower than the first marriage. Enthusiasm was so intense against remarriage to the extent that the word monogamia was used to refer to one time marriage in the whole life even if one of the spouses died. The early revered saints( Gyroum, Ambrsylous and Augustine) wrote against remarriage. So many writers followed the same way, there was nothing as dignified as monogamia in their works. 2- Remarriage is evidence of one's control over oneself Saint Paul says in this regard: For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. In another place he stressed his point of view : Verses 39-40read,
So he considered remaining unmarried far better than the second remarriage. Many saints commented on the second remarriage; Saint Basylyous says remarriage is a remedy for adultery, saint Augustine says second remarriage is a sign of the absence of self control. And also said the second remarriage is not a sin but it is in a lower rank. He explained that saying that the chastity of remarriage is good but to remain widowhood is far better. Saint Ambrosyous says:
Gyroum says "Adam had just one wife, the second Adam(Jesus) had no wife, so let the supporter of the second remarriage show us a third Adam who remarried." He went on to say
So the early saints showed the reason why they allowed the widows to remarry; it is for avoiding falling a prey to adultery, one of them even went on to say" for the same reason the virgins should marry. The head of the priests in Jerusalem followed the same opinion; he says that this kind of marriage was allowed to prevent people from falling in adultery. The Christian theologian wonder how some animals and birds can reach the optimum chastity as they don't seek to find a spouse when their spouses die while men whom God created in His image cannot.
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