Annotation LXXX

”Moses, because of the hardness of heart, permitted you to dismiss [your] wives.” — Matthew 19:8

On second marriages.

The author of the Opus imperfectum, homily 32, in the exposition of this sentence, is believed to have condemned second marriages in these words: “The Apostles enjoined [men] to enter second marriages on account of the incontinence of men. For to take a second [wife] is, according to the precept of the Apostle, [lawful]; but according to the reckoning of truth, it is truly fornication. Yet since, with God permitting, it is committed publicly and lawfully, it becomes an honorable fornication.”