John Chrysostom, on 1Tim 4:3

“Forbidding to marry, to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving by the faithful, and by them that have known the truth.”

“"Well," someone says, "what do you expect us to do? To live in the mountains and become monks?" This question saddens me for this reason, that some think only monks to be truly concerned with decency and chastity. Yet surely Christ made his laws to apply to everyone.… Indeed, I do not "forbid marriage," nor do I mean to block your access to pleasure, but I want you to have it in a chaste way, not shamefully or in a way deserving reproach and subject to endless misgivings. I do not insist that you live in the mountains and the deserts but that you be good and moderate and chaste, while dwelling in the midst of the city.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.