Saint Augustine — "It is according to the natural order that women serve their husbands."
It is according to the natural order that women serve their husbands.
Get This Quote & Author's Image Illustrated On:
Click any product to generate a realistic preview. Up to 3 at a time.
* Initial load can take up to 90 seconds — revising the preview in another color is nearly instant.
Kitchen
Apparel
Other
More from Saint Augustine
"It is natural for men to rule over women."
"The punishment of every disordered mind is its own disorder."
"He who thinks he lives without sin puts aside not sin, but pardon."
"Married second-class."
"Give me chastity and continence, but not yet."
Verification
Unverifiable
Found in 1 providers: gemini
1 source checked
Understanding this quote
What it means
This quote asserts that a wife's subordination to her husband is not merely cultural custom but reflects an inherent, divinely established order in creation. Augustine frames gender hierarchy as rooted in nature itself — not punishment or convention — making the relationship between husband and wife a structural fact of human existence. It positions male authority as cosmologically legitimate rather than arbitrary social power.
Relevance to Saint Augustine
Augustine drew this from his readings of Paul's epistles and Genesis, interpreting the creation account as establishing hierarchy even before the Fall. Though he revered his mother Monica deeply and maintained a 13-year relationship with a concubine who bore his son Adeodatus, he embraced celibacy after conversion. His theology held women equal in soul but subordinate in the bodily, social order — a tension reflecting his Neoplatonist-Christian synthesis.
The era
Augustine wrote during the late Roman Empire's Christianization in the 4th–5th centuries AD, when the church was institutionalizing doctrine amid political collapse. Roman law already enshrined paterfamilias authority; Christianity layered scriptural justification onto existing patriarchal structures. The 410 sack of Rome by Visigoths shook civilization, prompting his City of God. Defining proper social hierarchies — including gender — was central to constructing a stable Christian moral order amid widespread upheaval.
AI-generated insights based on extensive research and information for context. Factual errors? Email [email protected].