"And all that believed were together, and had all things common." (Acts ii. 44.)
"If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me." (Matt. xix. 21.)
A rigid continence was exacted:—
"All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given.... There be eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it." (Matt. xix. 11, 12.)
"And I looked, and, lo! a Lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with him an hundred and forty-four thousand, having his Father's name written on their foreheads.... These are they which were not defiled with women, for they are virgins." (Rev. xiv. 1, 4.)
Divines tell us that this first passage is to have only a "spiritual" interpretation. It forbids not marriage but excess. We might listen to this if we had not historical cognizance of a sect in Palestine at this date which enforced celibacy in its monasteries. The second passage shows that the disciples understood him literally.
The bloody sacrifice forbidden:—
"I will have mercy and not sacrifice." (Matt. ix. 13.)
"Unless ye cease from sacrificing, the wrath shall not cease from you." (Cited from Gospel of the Hebrews by Epiphanius, Hær. xxx. 16.)