[Jim Noble]

>>better to marry than to burn (in hell presumably)<<

i always thought he was referring to lust.

[BlackElk]

The gist of the passage is that a life of dedicated celibacy is a higher calling than one of marriage but it is better to marry than to burn. The second part of that may be susceptible of two perfectly valid meanings: it is better to contain the powerful force of sexual desire into the legitimate context of marriage than to engage in fornication or adultery although dedicated celibacy is a higher calling, or it is a higher calling to live a life of dedicated celibacy than to marry but far better to marry than to engage in sexual sin and risk eternal damnation. Either one works and makes Christian sense.