De bono coniugali and De sancta virginitate

De bono coniugali and De sancta virginitate were written in the same year (AD 401). In them Augustine rebuffs the Manichees, who argued that marriage was evil, and the followers of Jovinian, who argued that the married state was as meritorious as that of virginity. The first work analyses why marriage is good, and the second why virginity is a higher good. Both are closely related to present-day controversies amongst theologians and social historians. This edition includes the Latin text, a new translation, an introduction, and explanatory notes.