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25. Again, it often happens that a man who has attained, or thinks
he has attained, to a higher grade of spiritual life, thinks that the
commands given to those who are still in the lower grades are
figurative; for example, if he has embraced a life of celibacy and
made himself a eunuch for the kingdom of heaven's sake, he contends
that the commands given in Scripture about loving and ruling a wife are
not to be taken literally, but figuratively; and if he has determined
to keep his virgin unmarried, he tries to put a figurative
interpretation on the passage where it is said, "Marry thy daughter,
and so shall thou have performed a weighty matter." Accordingly,
another of our rules for understanding the Scriptures will be as
follows, to recognize that some commands are given to all in common,
others to particular classes of persons, that the medicine may act not
only upon the state of health as a whole, but also upon the special
weakness of each member. For that which cannot be raised to a higher
state must be cared for in its own state.
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