Page:Christian Marriage.djvu/64

 looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."

Is it not plain that marriage, contracted under such a conception of purity, has a security and a greatness, which are quite absent from so mechanical a notion of its obligation as that which breathes through the Mosaic rules?

The teaching of Christ, then, is rather implicit in the Gospel than specifically set down in pronouncements. He adopts the prophetic reading of the Jewish law, and leaves His disciples to correlate that reading with the knowledge of God which they received from His example and His teachings. The Christian doctrine of marriage must give free expression to the "mind of Christ" as unfolded in the Gospel; and just in measure as the Gospel is truly appreciated will that doctrine be satisfying and permanent.