Saint Paul — "But I say to the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they remain eve…"
But I say to the unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they remain even as I am.
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More from Saint Paul
"I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."
"For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ."
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"O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?"
"For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more."
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Understanding this quote
What it means
Paul tells single people and widows that staying unmarried, as he is, is a good choice. He's not forbidding marriage, but recommending singleness as preferable for those who can handle it. The advice suggests that remaining free of marital obligations allows a person to focus energy elsewhere, particularly on spiritual commitments, rather than dividing attention between a spouse and deeper pursuits.
Relevance to Saint Paul
Paul wrote this as an unmarried apostle who traveled constantly across the Roman Empire planting churches, enduring shipwrecks, beatings, and imprisonments. His singleness was practical for a missionary life that would have been brutal on a family. Writing to the Corinthians, he framed his own celibate state as freeing him for undistracted ministry, offering his situation as a model rather than a mandate for fellow believers facing a hostile world.
The era
In the first-century Greco-Roman world, marriage was a social and economic expectation, especially for widows who often lacked legal protection or income. Paul wrote around 53-54 AD to Corinth, a wealthy port city saturated with temple prostitution and sexual norms Christians rejected. Early believers also expected Christ's imminent return, making long-term family planning feel less urgent. Paul's counsel pushed against Roman family law while offering widows, often vulnerable, a dignified alternative path.
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