Controlled Burn: The Romantic Note in I Corinthians 7

J. Edward Ellis
Baylor University, Waco TX 76798

Introduction
About twelve years ago a dear friend wrote me a letter devoted in large part to explaining why he did not share my view of Christianity and the New Testament. It was a sincere letter and grew out of a genuine search for truth. I remember only a little, and that imprecisely. But I will never forget the gist. "And what about this guy Paul?" my friend wrote. "'You really shouldn't get married, but if that's what you have to do to keep from sinning, go ahead.' And this is the guy who's supposed to have the inside track on love?" I did not know what to say to my friend then; I think I do now. It may seem ridiculous to speak of a romantic note in a passage containing such phrases as, "It is good for a man not to touch a woman" (1 Corinthians 7:1b), and, "It is better to marry than to burn" (7:9b).1 But, along with Loveday Alexander, I submit that Paul strikes such a note in 1 Corinthians 7:l-9. 2 This passage seems at first glance to take a rather dim view of sex and marriage, seeing them as, at best, necessary evils for those unable to control themselves. In this paper, I shall argue that Paul's words in this passage are best understood in light of a group of ancient texts that celebrate sex and marriage, the ancient Greek romantic novels. After first stating some important exegetical choices, I shall show that Paul's view shows a marked affinity with that of the novels, especially Longus's Daphnis and Chloe, and that Paul's Corinthian readers need not have seen in his words a disdain for marriage or sex.

Exegetical Choices
From the days of the early church, some commentators have seen in 1 Corinthians 7 a negative view of sex and marriage. This understanding seems to spring largely from six elements of the passage: verses lb and 7a, in which Paul is understood to advocate celibacy for all; verse 6, in which the "concession" of which Paul speaks is understood to be sex within marriage; verses 2 and 9b, where the apostle is understood to speak of marriage merely as the least of three evils, preferable to immorality or burning, but perhaps not to much else; and verses 25-40, where Paul speaks of marriage as a distraction from "the affairs of

*A11 biblical quotes arefromthe New Revised Standard Version, HarperCollins Study Bible (ed. Wayne A. Meeks; San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1933). 2 Actually, Alexander speaks of a "romantic tinge," rather than a romantic note. Loveday Alexander, "Better to Marry than to Burn," in Ancient Fiction and Early Christian Narrative (ed. Ronald F. Hock, J. Bradley Chance, and Judith Perkins; Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1998), 238-9.

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the Lord" (vv. 32-34) and states that those with wives should live as though they had none and those who are unmarried will do well to remain so. One of the best examples of this negative understanding of Paul is found in the work of Tertullian. Writing in the early third century, Tertullian says,
It is good, he says, for a man not to touch a woman [sic]. Therefore, it is bad to touch one. For nothing is opposed to the "good" except the "bad." Accordingly, he says that it remaineth that they who also have wives be as if they had none. How much more then does it follow that they who do not have them, must not have them!... I might also argue that what is merely permitted is not an absolute good. . . . So, in this instance, the one who gives permission to marry does not really wish it. His wish is something quite different, for he says, / wish you were all even as myself Again, when he says, It is better to marry than to burn, what sort of 'good' are we to understand mat to be which is better than the pain of punishment?3

Since Tertullian, other commentators have offered similar interpretations of Paul. Gnther Bornkamm writes, "In the detailed discussions of 1 Corinthians 7 one looks in vain for a positive appreciation of love between the sexes or of the richness of human experience in marriage and the family."4 For Johannes Weiss, Paul sees "sexual intercourse as something which draws man from God and is degrading to him" and allows marriage only as a means of avoiding sexual immorality.5 Michael Grant sees in Paul's "unmistakably pejorative attitude" a "deep disdain for sex," and suggests that Paul's mysterious thorn in the flesh may be "suppressed and frustrated sexual desire."6 On the other hand, some have offered other exegetical options. Charles Talbert7 and Gordon Fee8 see verse lb as a quote of a Corinthian claim. Ben Witherington notes that the statement therein "may have been a slogan of Corinthian ascetics."9 Alexander suggests that 7:1b might legitimately be read as a question ("Is it good for a man not to touch a woman?") and thus understood as an inquiry about the wisdom of voluntary abstinence from sex within marriage.10 In 7:7a, Talbert sees another Corinthian claim. Paul, Talbert points out, has, in other contexts, urged the Corinthians to imitate him. Now the Corinthians have taken Paul's earlier words out of context to claim that he wants them to imitate his celibacy: "Paul, they say, exhorts us to imitate him,
3 Tertullian, Treatises on Marriage and Remarriage (trans. William P. LeSaint; Westminster, Maryland: Newman Press, 1951), 73. 4 Gnther Bornkamm, Paul (trans. D. M. G. Stalker; New York: Harper & Row, 1971), 208. 5 Johannes Weiss. The History of Primitive Christianity (ed. Frederick C. Grant; trans, four friends; New York: Wilson-Erickson, 1937), 2:582. 6 Michael Grant, Saint Paul (New York: Scribner's Sons, 1976), 25. 7 Charles Talbert, Reading Corinthians: A Literary and Theological Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians (New York: Crossroad, 1987), 37. 8 G. D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), 270, 273. 9 Ben Witherington, III, Women in the Earliest Churches (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), 40. 10 Alexander, "Better to Marry," 238.

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and he lives in a single state." Talbert further observes that Paul responds to the 11 Corinthians with a brief statement about the existence of individual gifts. Hans Conzelmann makes a similar observation, noting that the self-control () in verse 9 is an individual gift (), not a discipline that 12 one can adopt. Apparently, in Paul's eyes, avoidance of marriage and sex is acceptable for the person who has received celibacy as a gift from God, but for no one else. With regard to verse 6, Talbert and Witherington agree that Paul's concession is not marriage itself but abstinence within marriage. For Paul, both marriage and, within it, sexual relations are good. He allows sexual abstinence within marriage only "by mutual agreement, during a temporary period, for 15 prayer." Concerning Paul's statements in vv. 25-40, Talbert points out that "Paul does not aim to lay any restraint on his readers (v. 35, cf. 7:6)" and that "throughout 1 Cor 7 Paul states that there is no theological problem with marriage." Paul's apparently negative statements about marriage in this passage, Talbert says, spring from his eschatology. Paul believes that Christ will return in the near future and that the Corinthian Christians are living in a time of tribulation in which "the form of this world is passing away" (v. 31) and the age to come is about to be born. In this turbulent time, Christians need to be free of all distractions that could interfere with their devotion to their Lord. Thus, while Paul does not forbid marriage (vv. 36-38) or call for divorce (v. 39), he does point out that, given the troubles of the time, celibacy, for those who have the gift (vv. 7b, 9a, 17a, 37), is a great practical advantage.16 With regard to Paul's somewhat puzzling command in v. 29b, "let even those who have wives be as though they had none," Victor Furnish's comments are helpful. For Furnish, this statement should not be understood as a command to set aside marital responsibilities, as Paul has already instructed the Corinthians to fulfill such responsibilities (vv. 3-5). Rather, with the command in 29b and the similar commands that follow in vv. 30-3 la, Paul tells the Corinthians that, because they belong to Christ, they depend for life and hope not on the present world, which is passing away, but on God.17 I adopt the aforementioned positions of Talbert, Fee, Witherington, and Furnish. Paul does not in 1 Corinthians express a desire, or even a fond wish, that all Christians be celibate. He affirms the essential goodness of marriage and sex and, for those who are called to it, the goodness of celibacy. On this reading, much support for a claim that Paul takes a dim view of marriage vanishes. Still, we are left with verses 2 and 9b, which present marriage as talbert, Reading Corinthians, 39. Hans Conzelmann, Der erste Brief an die Korinther (llh. ed.; Kritisch-exegetischer Kommentar ber Neue Testament; Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1969), 5:144. 13 Talbert, Reading Corinthians, 38-39. 14 Witherington, Women in the Earliest Churches, 41. 15 Talbert, Reading Corinthians, 38-39. 16 Talbert, Reading Corinthians, 47-55. 17 Victor Paul Furnish, The Theology of the First Letter to the Corinthians (NTS; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 66-67.
12 1 13 14

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preferable to immorality and burning. As Tertullian observes, such comparisons, while technically favorable to marriage, are not overly flattering. One can easily see why these verses have led some to believe that Paul sees marriage and marital sex as necessary evils, tolerable means of release for those unable to control their baser passions. This is precisely where I propose to call upon the Greek novels for help. Comparing Paul's view to the views of the novels, I shall show that, while Paul perhaps does not explicitly celebrate marriage and sex, he stands firmly with those who do.

Key Components of Paul's View

Paul's view of sex and marriage in 1 Cor 7 contains five key components. First, Paul sees marriage, sex, and, apparently, sexual pleasure as good. Numerous times in the chapter, he expresses approval of marriage, and, in vv 3-5, he instructs husbands and wives to give each other their conjugal rights. Since he mentions procreation nowhere in the passage, it seems clear that in these verses he has in mind only the satisfaction, through sexual pleasure, of sexual desire. Second, Paul believes that, with the various responsibilities it entails, marriage has the potential to distract men and women from their service to God. As already stated, this point does not make marriage evil in Paul's eyes. It simply makes the gift of celibacy, for those to whom God has given it, a special blessing in a time of eschatological crisis. While this component of Paul's view seems to merit mention, it should be seen as more an afterthought than an integral part of Paul's view of sex and marriage. Third, Paul sees sexual desire as a very powerful, even dangerous, force. In 2, Paul says, "But because of cases of sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband." In 5, he instructs husbands and wives to continue in conjugal relations so that Satan will not tempt them. In both of these verses, Paul seems to assume that sexual desire will drive people to action. People will satisfy their sexual urgesif not in a godly manner, within marriage, then in a sinful manner, through immoral acts. In 9b, Paul says, "It is better to marry than to burn []." He sees sexual desire as an inward burning that will torment those who do not satisfy 18 it. Fourth, Paul sees marriage as the setting in which sexual desire can be satisfied in a safe and godly way. In 5:1-5 and 6:12-20, Paul speaks of sexually immoral acts among the Corinthian Christians. Then, in 7:2, he says that "because of cases of sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband." Apparently, he believes that, by satisfying their sexual desires within marriage, the Corinthians can avoid such immoral acts. In 7:9, by contrasting marriage with the burning of passion, Paul seems to say that
Paul's use of here is, of course, open to more than one interpretation. Tertullian apparently took it as a reference to eternal punishment in the fires of hell (Tertullian, Treatises on Marriage, 73). The NRSV renders it "to be aflame with passion." Talbert says either interpretation "would fit the context" (Talbert, Reading Corinthians, 43). I choose the second interpretation since, as our survey of the novels will show, burning was a common metaphor for sexual passion in the Greco-Roman world.
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within marriage the burning is in some way quenched. He does not believe that within marriage sexual passion disappears; if it did, husbands and wives would not need to continue to engage in sex in order to withstand Satan's attacks. Clearly, though, within marriage the passion is somehow different. Perhaps within marriage, because it is satisfied, sexual passion no longer causes pain akin to burning. 19 Fifth, Paul speaks of husband and wife as equals. Each is entitled to sexual satisfaction; each has authority over the body of the other.

Paul and the Romantics

While the Greek Romantic novels show little if any trace of the idea that marriage can distract one from service to God, each of the other four main components of Paul's thought is well represented in them. The first element of Paul's view, the idea that marriage, sex, and sexual pleasure are good, is readily apparent in the novels. It finds perhaps its clearest expression in Chaereas and Callirhoe, where Chariton pictures the assembly of Syracuse calling on the general Hermocrates to give his daughter, Callirhoe, in marriage to Chaereas:
When the people had taken their seats, their first and only cry was, "Noble Hermocrates, great general, save Chaereas! That will be your finest monument! The city pleads for the marriage, today, of a pair worthy of each other!" Who could describe that assembly? It was dominated by Eros . . . The Syracusans celebrated this day even more than the day of their [military] victory. (1.1.1114)20

Callirhoe's nurse joyously brings her the news: "'Get up, my child,' she said. The day we have all been praying so hard for has come: the city is here to see you married'" (1.1.14). In a way perhaps only found in narrative, novels vividly portray the joy husband and wife find in the physical expression of their love. Chariton tells us that after Chaeraeas and Callirhoe were married, "their first contact was passionate; they had an equal impulse to enjoy each other" (2.8.4). In An Ephesian Tale, Xenophon of Ephesus offers a lovely description of Habrocomes and Anthia's wedding night:
Both of them felt the same emotions and were unable to say anything to each other or to look at each other's eyes but lay at ease in sheer delight, shy, afraid, panting.. . . Their feelings passed through their lips from one soul to the other. .. . With this they relaxed in each other's arms and enjoyed the first fruits of Aphrodite; and there was ardent rivalry all night long, each trying to prove they loved the other more. (Xenophon 1:9.1-9)

In each of these last two passages, we see not only the first element of Paul's thought, the essential goodness of marriage and sex, but also the fifth element, equality and mutuality between husband and wife in the sexual
Alexander, "Better to Marry," 239-40, Witherington, Women in the Earliest Churches, 41. 20 A11 quotes from the Greek novels are from Collected Ancient Greek Novels (ed. .P. Reardon; Berkley: University of California Press, 1989).
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relationship. Each of these passages presents a husband and wife in love, each pleasing and enjoying the other, not just a husband enjoying a wife. Love, desire, and pleasure are mutual.21 Sharing the third element of Paul's thought, the novelists see sexual desire as a very powerful, even dangerous, force. One of their favorite vehicles for expressing this idea is the metaphor of sexual desire as burning. In Daphnis and Chloe, when the cowherd Dorcon becomes enamored of the heroine, Chloe, Longus tells us that Dorcon's soul was lit aflame (, 1.15.1). Later, in love and kept near their parents by the snow, the two young protagonists hold a rather heated conversation:
"There's lots of snow, Chloe, and I'm afraid I shall melt before the snow does." "Cheer up, Daphnis, the sun is quite hot." "If only, Chloe, it were as hot as the fire [] that burns in my heart." (3.10.4)

In An Ethiopian Story, Heliodorus tells us that "when lovers look one another in the eye, their ardor is reawakened; the sight rekindles their hearts and fuels the flames [ of love" (4.4.4). This erotic fire can become quite hot, bringing with it disarray or torment. As Daphnis and Chloe begin to realize that they are in love, they discuss the experience:
Lovers [ ] feel pain-and so do we. They neglect their food-and we've neglected ours in the same way. They cannot sleep-and that's happening to us at this moment. They seem to be burning up-and there's a fire [] inside us. . . . Surely this is "love;" and we are "in love" with each other. (2.8.2)

Chariton describes the effect of erotic passion on Mithridates:

He was a different man from when he had gone to Miletus; he was pale and thin, because he had a burning [], smarting wound in his heart. Consumed with passion for Callirhoe, he would have perished altogether if he had not found some consolation. (4.2.4-5)

At times, the passion rises to the level of an irresistible force. Hence, when the snow threatens to keep Daphnis from reaching Chloe, Longus assures us that "love [] can fight its way through anythingfire [], water, or Scythian snow" (3.5.4). Achilles Tatius explains Charmides's rush to arrange a meeting with Leukippe: "a man so wounded [by Eros] can scarce endure the

Alexander, "Better to Marry," 240. It seems worth noting at this point that Paul and the novels differ on the issue of same-sex sexual relationships. While such relationships are apparently unacceptable for Paul (Rom 1:26-7,1 Cor 6:9-10), it seems that at least one of the novelists sees them as legitimate. In An Ephesian Tale, Xenophon portrays Hippothomous as a faithful friend of the story's hero, Habrocomes, and gives no indication that Hippothous's same-sex sexual relationships are less respectable than Habrocomes's relationship with Anthia.

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pressure of his fever []" (4.6.1). Earlier in the same novel, Kleitophon reports hearing the voice of Eros: You would take up position and fight against me? How can you escape when I attackfromthe skies with arrows andfire?If you dodge my arrows, you won't evade my fire []. And even if you douse that with your high-minded selfcontrol, I will catch up with you on my wings. (2.5.2) At times in the novels, erotic passion is pictured as an injury or disease requiring treatment. In Leucippe and Clitophon, Charmides, trying to persuade Menelaos to procure for him the object of his passion, says, "The enemy within is besieging me with his bow, harassing me with his arrows: I have lost the fight . . . Call the doctor, sir, and quickly; my wounds demand immediate attention" (4.7.3-4). In Daphnis and Chloe, old Philetas tells the protagonists, "There is no medicine for Love [], no potion, no drug, no spell to mutter, except a kiss and an embrace and lying down together with naked bodies" (2.7.7). Passion, in the novels, may even manifest itself as a sort of madness that can drive one to irrational action or make one forsake deeply ingrained values. Hence Philetas's experience: "I forgot to eat; I didn't drink; I couldn't sleep . . . I cried out as though being hit; I was silent as though dying; I plunged in rivers as though on fire [ ] " (2.7.4-5). Earlier in the novel, Daphnis contemplates his feelings while Chloe sleeps: Her kiss stings my heart and, like new honey, makes me mad. And if I kiss her, m frightened I shall wake her up. Oh, these chattering cicadas! With their loud chirping, they won't let her go on sleeping! And the he-goats are fighting, with crashing horns! Oh, you wolves-more cowardly than foxes-why haven't you carried them off? (1.25.2-3) One can scarcely imagine a more powerful madness than that which leads a goatherd to long for wolves to carry away his goats. In a vivid portrayal of the power of sexual passion, Philetas tells Daphnis and Chloe that Eros "is a god . . . Zeus has not so much power as he has: he rules the elements, he rules the stars, he rules his fellow gods . . . All the plants are his creation; thanks to him, the rivers flow, the winds blow" (2.7.1-4). A burning, a wound, an illness, a madness that deprives people of sleep and vitality and molds their thoughts and actions, an all-powerful godtruly, erotic passion is, in the novels, a powerful and dangerous force. It seems no accident that the god Eros is portrayed as a playful, mischievous, perhaps irresponsible young boy armed with arrows and fire and wielding enormous power.22 This portrayal offers a powerful picture of the destructive potential of erotic passion uncontrolled and/or misdirected. In the world of the novels, as in the fourth element of Paul's thought, this passion is properly directed and rendered safe in marriage.
Longus, Daphnis and Chloe in Collected Ancient Greek Novels (ed. Reardon; trans. Christopher Gill), 2.3-2.7; Achilles Tatius, Leucippe and Clitophon in Collected Ancient Greek Novels (ed. Reardon; trans. John J. Winkler), 1.1,4.7.

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This idea is stated explicitly, if only briefly, in Heliodorus's An Ethiopian Story. When Charikleia confides to Kalasiris that she is in love, he replies:
You must consider how to make the best of your situation: never to have felt love's touch is a blessing, but once caught it is wisest to keep one's thoughts on paths of virtue. If you are willing to believe this, you may rid yourself of this slur of carnal desire and make your objective the lawful contract of wedlock, so transforming your malady into marriage. (4.10.6)

Kalasiris's apparently negative attitude toward erotic passion in this statement seems to be feigned in reaction to Charikleia's attitude, since, elsewhere, his attitude is more positive. While less explicit than in Heliodorus, the idea of marriage as the arena where erotic passion is properly directed is far more developed in Daphnis and Chloe. The idea develops largely along two lines. The first line involves the awakening of Daphnis's and Chl's erotic desire and their struggle to fulfill it. Early in the story, the two protagonists find themselves inflamed with passion for each other (1.23-24), but they do not understand what is happening to them until Philetas tells them about Eros and the "cure" for erotic passion-"a kiss and an embrace and lying down together with naked bodies" (2.3-7). From that point on, they begin to try to implement the cure, but they cannot figure out how. As their passion grows, so does their frustration. Finally, having observed that "what the rams do to the ewes and the he-goats to the she-goats" (3.14.2) seems to calm the animals' frenzy, so that they graze together placidly, the protagonists try to imitate the animals. When this fails, Daphnis sits down and cries in desperation (3.14.5). While the animals achieve satisfaction, Daphnis and Chloe cannot achieve satisfaction simply by imitating them; for the protagonists, something more, something human, is needed. I submit and will show that this human touch, in part at least, is marriage. The second line of development involves Daphnis's discovery of his own sexuality. Shortly after Daphnis cries in frustration, a woman named Lycaenion enters the story. Pretending to need help retrieving a lost goose, she lures Daphnis into a thicket, where she teaches him how to perform the sexual act at which he has thus far failed miserably. Delighted with his new expertise, Daphnis is eager to share it with Chloe, but Lycaenion holds him back, warning him that the first time he and Chloe have "this sort of wrestling match" (3.19.12) Chloe will cry out and bleed. She advises Daphnis to take Chloe to the thicket where the lesson occurred, so that no one will see or hear and she can wash herself in a nearby spring. Daphnis, however, unwilling for Chloe to cry or bleed, decides not to share his new knowledge with her (3.15-20). Having come face to face with the violent aspect of his sexuality, Daphnis has chosen to be a nurturer. Shortly after this encounter, he begins to seek Chloe's hand in marriage. Apparently, in the world view of the story, the violent aspect of Daphnis's sexuality is tamed, and sex is made safe, in marriage.23

Stephen J. Epstein, "Longus' Werewolves," CP 90 (1995): 70-71.

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At the end of the novel, Daphnis and Chloe are married with great celebration and share a wonderful night of sex. Chloe, we are told, "found out that what they had done in the woods had been nothing but shepherd's games" (4.40.3). Having experienced sex at its best, done correctly and within marriage, she now realizes that Daphnis's and her awkward attempts to achieve satisfaction were the products of immaturity and incomplete understanding. As a sexually mature woman, she can now live happily ever after with her husband. Of course, in the real world, a woman's first sexual experience can be every bit as traumatic in the bridal chamber as in the thicket, but the narrator gives no indication that, in the story, the experience is less pleasant for Chloe than for Daphnis. In the world of the narrative, apparently, marriage tames the dangerous aspect of sex and makes it safe.24 Further, for the rest of their lives, Daphnis and Chloe live "the pastoral life" at peace with the gods and in harmony with nature. Gone is the madness that seemed to grip them earlier in the novel. No longer occupying all their thoughts, sex has assumed its proper role as one part of a well-balanced life. Though the wedding night did not extinguish it, as the later birth of two children shows, the burning no longer torments them. Thus the story sends us back to the prelude, where Longus states that his story will, among other things, "cure the sick" (Prelude 1.3). If we take this to mean, "the love sick," which seems a reasonable interpretation, the message is clear. Daphnis and Chloe is not just a story; it is an exhortation: "If you are love sick, get married." In the thought world of the novels, then, erotic passion is a powerful, dangerous force. It is a painful wound, a sickness, a madness that can overcome anyone; it drives people to irrational thoughts and actions. This force is properly channeled and rendered safe in marriage. All of this, say the novels, is wonderful. Corinthian Christians influenced by the novels or by the thought world they reflect would find, "It is better to marry than to burn," entirely consistent with a mindset that not only approves but celebrates marriage, sex, and sexual pleasure. They would have no reason to see in Paul's words a disdain for marriage or sex.

Conclusion
I do not claim that Paul's words in I Cor 7 celebrate marriage and sex. That would be a bit ambitious. I do, however, claim that the thought of this chapter is in harmony with a body of thought that does celebrate marriage and sex: that of the Greek romantic novels. Further, while scholars have tended to compare
24 This is not to say that in the world of the novels marriage renders impossible the misdirection of erotic passion. In that world, married people may still be driven by sexual desire for people other than their spouses. In Daphnis and Chloe, Lycaenion, a married woman, seduces Daphnis (3.15-18). In An Ephesian Tale, a married person's misdirected passion becomes destructive when Kyno murders her husband in hopes of marrying Habrocomes (3.12). While it seems unlikely that Paul is unaware of the danger of misdirected passion in married people, he makes no mention of it, except to say that married people whose sexual desires are not satisfied within marriage will be vulnerable to temptation. Apparently, in the marital relationship Paul describes, as long as these obligations are met, sexual passion will remain properly directed.

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Paul's thought to that of Stoic or Cynic philosophy,251 claim that Paul's thought shows greater harmony with the thought of the novels than with the thought of either of those philosophical movements. If the novels reflect a major stream of thought in the Greco-Roman world, most of Paul's Corinthian readers would have recognized Paul's harmony with it and found no disdain for marriage or sex in his words. Paul may not have cried or danced at weddings, but I am confident that, when two Christians united in marriage, Paul congratulated them sincerely and wholeheartedly and believed that what they had done was good.

25 Will Deming, Paul on Marriage and Celibacy: The Hellenistic Background of I Corinthians 7 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995); O. Larry Yarbrough, Not Like the Gentiles: Marriage Rules in the Letters of Paul (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1985); David Balch, "I Corinthians 7:32-35 and Stoic Debates about Marriage, Anxiety, and Distraction," JBL 102 (1983): 430-39.

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