Early Christian Views on Remarriage After Death
Early Christian writings generally allowed remarriage after a spouse died. Hermas says there is no sin in marrying again, and Origen and Tertullian both discuss Paul’s teaching in Romans 7:2-3 and 1 Corinthians 7:39. Other writers, especially the Apostolic Constitutions and Tertullian, still praise widowhood and restraint as the better path.
101 early-church witnesses · 179 source quotations · compared with Scripture
What did early Christians believe about remarriage after death?
Early Christian writings mostly allow remarriage after a spouse dies, especially in Tertullian’s use of Romans 7:2-3 and in Origen’s note that a widow is free to marry again, though he treats it as a lesser choice than remaining single. Hermas is even more direct, saying, “There is no sin in marrying again,” while the Apostolic Constitutions allow second marriage after a husband’s death but urge widows to live carefully and praise widowhood.
At the same time, some writers like Tertullian argue strongly for continence after widowhood and speak as if second marriage falls short of a higher ideal. Overall, the evidence is mixed in tone but broad in one basic point: remarriage after death was generally treated as lawful, while widowhood and single life were often praised as better. Many more early Christian quotations, Bible passages, and source links are gathered below so you can study the evidence for yourself.
Key Takeaways
- Hermas says remarriage after death is not sinful.
- Origen quotes Paul to say a widow is free to marry again, but also points to a higher call to stay single.
- The Apostolic Constitutions allow second marriage after death but praise careful widowhood.
- Some writers treat remarriage as lawful but second-best.
Questions Answered by the Sources
Which Bible verses say a widow may remarry after her husband dies?
Romans 7:2-3 and 1 Corinthians 7:39 are the clearest direct texts used for the claim that death ends the marriage bond. 1 Timothy 5:14 also shows younger widows being told to marry, which is part of the wider biblical discussion.
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Hermas, Connection to 1 Corinthians 7:39 Direct teaching
If a wife or husband die, and the widower or widow marry, does he or she commit sin? There is no sin in marrying again.
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Origen, Commentary on Matthew Direct teaching
...ness, "But because of fornications, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband," 1 Corinthians 7:2; and this, "Let the husband render to the wife what is due to her, and likewise also the wife to the husband," 1 Corinthians 7:3. To these sayings this is added: "But this I say by way of permission, not of commandment," 1 Corinthians 7:6. And this also, "A wife is bound as long as her husband lives; but if her husband is dead, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord," 1 Corinthians 7:39, was said by Paul because of our hardness of heart and weakness, to those who do not want to desire earnestly the greater gifts, 1 Corinthians 12:31, and become more blessed. But now, contrary to what was written, some even of the rulers of the church have allowed a woman to marry even while her husband was still living. In doing this, they act contrary to what was written, where it says, "A wife is bound as long as her husband lives," and, "So then if, while her husband lives, she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress," Romans 7:3. Yet not altogether without reason, for it is probable that this concession was allowed in comp
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Origen, Commentary on Matthew Direct teaching
1 Corinthians 7:6 But this also, A wife is bound for so long time as her husband lives, but if her husband be dead, she is free to be married to whom she will, only in the Lord, 1 Corinthians 7:39 was said by Paul in view of our hardness of heart and weakness, to those who do not wish to desire earnestly the greater gifts 1 Corinthians 12:31 and become more blessed.
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Tertullian, On Monogamy Supporting witness
We also read that he writes to the Romans: “But the woman who is under a husband is bound to her husband while he is living. But if he has died, she has been set free from the law of the husband.” No doubt, then, while the husband is living, she will be thought to commit adultery if she is joined to a second husband. If, however, the husband has died, she has been freed from his law, so that she is not an adulteress if made the wife of another husband. But read what follows as well, so that this meaning, which flatters you, may evade your grasp. “And so, my brothers, be also made dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be made subject to a second, namely, to Him who has risen from the dead, that we may bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sin, which used to be efficiently caused through the law, worked in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been set free from the law, being dead to that in which we used to be held, to the serving of God in newness of spirit, and not in oldness of letter.” Therefore, if he bids us be made dead to the law through the body of Christ, which is the Church, which consists in the spirit of newn
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Tertullian, On Exhortation to Chastity Supporting witness
nay, rather, he would have commanded. But see again: a woman when her husband is dead, he says, can marry, if she wish to marry any one, only 'in the Lord.' Ah!
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Romans 7:3 Direct teaching
So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.
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1 Corinthians 7:39 Direct teaching
A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.
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Romans 7:2 Direct teaching
For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.
Did early Christians say remarriage after death was allowed?
Several early Christian writers explicitly say a widow may marry again after her husband’s death, often while still insisting that it is limited or less ideal than remaining single. Hermas, Origen, Tertullian, and the Apostolic Constitutions all appear in this discussion.
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Tertullian, On Exhortation to Chastity Direct teaching
...siderations may be advanced, even in the case of first and single marriage, to support the cause of continence, how much more will they afford a prejudgment for refusing second marriage? Be thankful if God has once for all granted you indulgence to marry. You will be thankful, moreover, if you do not know that He has granted you that indulgence a second time. But you abuse indulgence if you use it without moderation. Moderation is understood to be derived from modus, a limit. It does not suffice you to have fallen back, by marrying, from that highest grade of spotless virginity. But you roll yourself down into yet a third, and into a fourth, and perhaps into more, after you have failed to be continent in the second stage, since he who has treated of contracting second marriages has not willed to prohibit even more. Therefore, let us marry daily. And while marrying, let us be overtaken by the last day, like Sodom and Gomorrah; that day when the woe pronounced over those who are with child and giving suck will be fulfilled, that is, over the married and the incontinent. For from marriage come wombs, and breasts, and infants. And when is there an end of marrying? I believe, after t
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Tertullian, On Exhortation to Chastity Supporting witness
which (second virginity) either in the marriage state keeps (its subject) pure by mutual compact, or else perseveres in widowhood from choice: a third grade remains, monogamy, when, after the interception of a marriage once contracted, there is thereafter a renunciation of sexual connection.
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Tertullian, To His Wife Supporting witness
A hard and arduous thing enough, surely, is the continence for God's sake of a holy woman after her husband's decease, when Gentiles, in honour of their own Satan, endure sacerdotal offices which involve both virginity and widowhood!
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching
...ws to be no less than sixty years old, so that their age may in some measure prevent suspicion of a second marriage. But if you admit a younger woman into the order of widows, and she cannot bear her widowhood in her youth and marries, she will bring shameful criticism on the honor of the order of widows, and she will give an account to God. This is not because she married a second time, but because she has grown wanton against Christ, 1 Timothy 5:11, and has not kept her promise, because she did not come and keep her promise with faith and the fear of God. Therefore, such a promise should not be made carelessly, but with great caution. For it is better for her not to vow than to vow and not pay, Ecclesiastes 5:5. But if any younger woman has lived only a short time with her husband, and has lost him by death or some other cause, and remains by herself, having the gift of widowhood, she will be found blessed and will be like the widow of Sarepta in Sidon, with whom the holy prophet of God, Elijah, 1 Kings 17:9, stayed. Such a woman may also be compared to Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser, who did not depart from the temple, but continued in prayers and supplic
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching
...er of widows, lest, claiming they cannot control themselves in the prime of their age, they enter a second marriage and become open to accusation. Instead, let them be helped and supported, so that they do not, under the excuse of being abandoned, enter a second marriage and so be caught in a shameful accusation. For you ought to know this: to marry once according to the law is righteous, because it is according to the will of God. But second marriages, after the promise, are wicked, not because of the marriage itself, but because of the falsehood. Third marriages are signs of lack of self-control. But marriages beyond the third are obvious fornication and unquestionable uncleanness. For in creation God gave one woman to one man, for "the two shall be one flesh," Genesis 2:24. But for the younger women, let a second marriage be allowed after the death of their first husband, lest they fall into the condemnation of the devil, and into many snares and foolish lusts that are harmful to souls and bring punishment on them rather than rest.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
for they two shall be one flesh. Genesis 2:24 But to the younger women let a second marriage be allowed after the death of their first husband, lest they fall into the condemnation of the devil, and many snares, and foolish lusts, which are hurtful to souls, and which bring upon them punishment rather than rest.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
Ecclesiastes 5:5 But if any younger woman, who has lived but a while with her husband, and has lost him by death or some other occasion, and remains by herself, having the gift of widowhood, she will be found to be blessed, and to be like the widow of Sarepta, belonging to Sidon, with whom the holy prophet of God, Elijah, 1 Kings 17:9 lodged.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
I. Choose your widows not under sixty years of age, that in some measure the suspicion of a second marriage may be prevented by their age.
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Didache, Connection to 1 Timothy 5:9 Supporting witness
Let the deaconess be a pure virgin; or, at the least, a widow who has been but once married, faithful, and well esteemed.
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Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness
... alone bears sons of God. For there are not many brides of Christ, since the apostle says, "I have espoused you, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ," in 2 Corinthians 11:2. And again: "Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear; forget also your own people, for the King has greatly desired your beauty." And: "Come with me, my spouse, from Lebanon; you shall come, and shall pass over from the source of your faith," in Song of Songs 4:8. And: "I have come into my garden, my sister, my spouse," in Song of Songs 5:1. We see that one person is presented everywhere, because the bride also is one. But the synagogue of heretics is not one with us, because the bride is not an adulteress or a harlot. Therefore she also cannot bear children of God; unless, as seems to appear to Stephen, heresy does indeed bring them forth and cast them out, while the Church takes them up when they have been cast out, and nourishes as her own those whom she did not bear, although she cannot be the mother of strangers' children. And therefore Christ our Lord, showing that His bride is one and declaring the sacrament of His unity, says, "He that is not with me is against me, and he
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Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness
...who bore her.” Song of Songs 6:9 About this He also says again, “A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring sealed up, a well of living water.” Song of Songs 4:12 But if the spouse of Christ, which is the Church, is a garden enclosed, then something that is closed cannot lie open to strangers and profane persons. And if it is a fountain sealed, then one who is outside and has no access to the spring can neither drink from there nor be sealed. And if the well of living water is also one and the same within, then he who is outside cannot be made alive and sanctified by that water, since only those who are within are allowed to use it or drink it. Peter also showed this. He taught that the Church is one, and that only those who are in the Church can be baptized. He said, “In the ark of Noah, few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water; the like figure to which even baptism shall save you.” 1 Peter 3:20-21 In this way he proves and testifies that the one ark of Noah was a type of the one Church. If, then, in that baptism by which the world was expiated and purified, the person who was not in Noah’s ark could be saved by water, then the person who is not in the Church, to
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Background
We ask whether we ought to marry. This is one of the questions that depends on circumstances. Some people must marry, and a man must be in a certain condition, and he must marry someone who is in a certain condition. Not everyone is to marry, nor always. But there is a time when it is suitable, and a person for whom it is suitable, and an age up to which it is suitable. Neither should everyone take a wife, nor is it every woman that one should take, nor always, nor in every way, nor without thought. But only he who is in certain circumstances, and such a woman, and at such a time as is required, and for the sake of children, and one who is in every respect similar, and who does not by force or compulsion love the husband who loves her. For this reason Abraham, referring to his wife as a sister, says, "She is my sister by my father, but not by my mother; and she became my wife," Genesis 20:12, teaching us that children of the same mothers ought not to enter into marriage. Let us briefly follow the history. Plato ranks marriage among outward good things, providing for the lasting continuation of our race, and handing down, like a torch, a certain continuation to children's children.
More related quotations from this section 2 shown
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Background
..., so we too, led on by the crafty attractions of heresies, may transgress the commandments. But the second part establishes monogamy. For we must not think, as some have thought, that it means the binding of a woman to a husband, as if it meant the joining of flesh with corruption. For he is rebuking the opinion of ungodly men who openly assign the invention of marriage to the devil. By this the lawgiver is put in danger of being attacked with curses. I think Tatian the Syrian dares to hand down teachings like this. For he certainly writes these words in his book On Perfection According to the Savior: “Agreement indeed joins itself to prayer; but fellowship with corruption destroys intercession.” He very carefully shuts marriage out by making a concession. For when Paul again allowed husband and wife to come together because of Satan and lack of self-control, 1 Corinthians 7:5, Tatian declared that the one who will obey this will serve two masters, Matthew 6:24: by agreement, God; but by disagreement, lack of self-control and fornication and the devil. This is what he says while explaining the Apostle. But in a sophistical way he evades the truth, using what is true to support w
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Background
...ly turn away from women. If they make use of this natural disposition, they do right if they do not marry. These, they say, are eunuchs from birth. But those who are eunuchs by necessity are actors on the stage, and trainers, who keep themselves continent because they are driven by the desire for glory. Also, those who have been mutilated by some accident have become eunuchs by necessity. Therefore, those who become eunuchs by necessity do not become eunuchs according to reason. But those who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the eternal kingdom, they say, did this to avoid the troubles of marriage, because they feared the burden and anxiety of managing a household. And when the Apostle says, "It is better to marry than to burn," 1 Corinthians 7:9, they say he means this: Do not throw your soul into the fire, resisting night and day, and fearing that you may fall away from self-control. For when the soul is occupied in resisting, it is separated from hope. Therefore, endure a contentious wife patiently, says Isidore in the Ethics, lest you be torn away from the grace of God. And when you have mastered the fire in your seed, pray with a good conscience. But when, he says, y
Common Questions
Did early Christians allow remarriage after a spouse died?
Yes. Hermas says there is no sin in marrying again, and Origen and Tertullian both cite Paul’s teaching that a widow is free after her husband dies.
Did all early Christians agree on remarriage after death?
No. Many allowed it, but some writers strongly praised widowhood and continence and treated remarriage as a lower choice.
Which Bible passages mattered most in this debate?
Romans 7:2-3 and 1 Corinthians 7:39 are the main passages, with 1 Timothy 5:14 also used for younger widows.
Source Index for Remarriage after death
The guided sections above show the strongest quotations. This compact index highlights 158 ranked source links from 179 compiled sources for deeper study.
Source index 158 ranked links shown
Early Christian Writings 80 shown of 101
Primary-source quotations from early Christian writers and church documents.
Bible Passages 78 included
Related Bible passages saved for comparison with the early Christian quotations.