Saint Augustine — "Married second-class."
Married second-class.
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More from Saint Augustine
"I have decided that there is nothing I should avoid so much as marriage."
"He who thinks he lives without sin puts aside not sin, but pardon."
"Sexual abstinence, to avoid lust, is rare among married partners."
"Woman is subject to man."
"To many, total abstinence is easier than perfect moderation."
Details
Summary of his view that marriage and sex are inferior to celibacy, in contrast to other theologians.
Date: c. 401 AD
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Understanding this quote
What it means
Marriage is legitimate and honorable, but ranks below celibacy on the spiritual ladder. This isn't a condemnation — it's a hierarchy. The quote asserts that those who renounce sexual life entirely occupy a higher Christian calling than even the most faithful spouses. Marriage gets full approval, but virginity gets the top seat. A frank ranking of virtue, not a dismissal of wedded life.
Relevance to Saint Augustine
Augustine lived with a concubine for thirteen years and fathered a son before his conversion. After embracing Christianity and eventually priesthood, he became celibate and never married. That personal arc — from sexual indulgence to ascetic renunciation — directly shaped his theology. His treatises 'On the Good of Marriage' and 'On Holy Virginity' formalize exactly this hierarchy: marriage defended as genuinely good, celibacy declared superior.
The era
In 4th–5th century Roman North Africa, early Christianity was actively constructing its sexual ethics against a backdrop of widespread concubinage, elite polygamy, and nascent monasticism. Ascetic movements were surging, and celibacy was becoming the prestige virtue of serious Christians. Jerome and others were writing similar rankings simultaneously. Augustine's position tried to counter both anti-marriage extremists and those who dismissed virginity's special status — threading a fraught theological needle.
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