Marriage and Virginity
the original marriage. So when there is not the justification of the other's adultery, either spouse may choose one of three alternatives: either not to leave the other partner; or to leave and stay as they are; or, if they do not stay as they are, not to look for a second marriage but to go back to the first one.
A Discussion of Pollentius' Opinion
2, 2. What has become of the fact that the same apostle does not want husbands and wives to avoid their marital duty to each other even for a short time, to be free for prayer, unless it is by mutual consent? How will his words be upheld: To avoid adultery, however, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. The husband should do his duty to his wife, and the wife also her duty to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but her husband does; and likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but his wife does (1 Cor 7:2-5)? How can this be true, if it is not wrong for husband or wife to stay celibate without the other's consent? If a woman is allowed to divorce her husband provided she stays unmarried, she does not have a husband, but she herself has command over her own body; and the same applies for the husband too. Moreover in the text, Anyone who divorces his wife, except in the case of adultery, causes her to commit adultery (Mt 5:32), how are we to interpret what is said here except as saying that a man is forbidden to divorce his wife, if there is no adultery to justify it? We are even told why this is so, namely, that it is to avoid causing her to commit adultery; and this surely is because, even if she does not divorce him but is herself the one divorced, she will be guilty of adultery if she remarries.
A Wife May Leave Her Husband Only in the Case of Adultery
3. It is to avoid this great evil that a man is not allowed to divorce his wife unless it is for adultery. In that case he does not cause her to become an adulteress by divorcing her, but he divorces her because she is already an adulteress. What then? If he says, "I am divorcing my wife, although it is not because of adultery, but I am going to stay celibate," will we then say that he is blameless in what he does? Will anyone dare say this who understands what the Lord intended when he made these statements? When he made an exception only for the case