11.1.16

You Don't Have To Have Excuses

First Baptist Church of Memphis, Tennessee. Since 1839.


5 comments:

Frankie Smith said...

Hey Frank, I had a question that's sort of off topic, but I'm in need of a second opinion on something. 1 Cor. 5:1 refers to a man committing fornication with his father's wife. Can you think of any reason why Paul called it fornication and not adultery? I've heard several answers. One, being that his father was no longer married to his step-mother and thus the sexual encounter was wrong on these grounds that it was at one time his father's wife. I'm not certain about this however because even under the Law it forbids sexual acts with your father's wife while she is married to your father of course but says nothing in the event that the marriage should end. And even in the case that it did, we aren't under the Law, but we obey the law of Christ which holds that something is only bad if it's unloving and thus, harms your neighbor. How could it be this option then seeing as to how your father surely wouldn't be harmed seeing as to how he divorced the step-mother anyway. Second, The same line of reasoning follows if the father had died. According to Paul in Rom 7:1-4, when a man dies, his wife is loosed from the Law of her husband. Thus, there is no violation under the Law, and the father's dead so it couldn't possibly harm him under the law of Christ. Therefore, it seems only logical in my mind that in this situation, that the man is actually having sex with his father's ACTUAL currently married wife. Do you agree with this? And again, why would Paul refer to it as fornication and not adultery?

RQC said...

Just to let everyone know, Friday's and the weekend I lay off of social media... unless I'm bored.

The word Paul uses in 1 Cor. 5 is 'porneia' that is a wide term for fornication, a general sexual immorality Paul is applying to the man and his actions. If Paul wanted to condemn actual adultery taking place, he would have used the term 'moicheia' instead. Adultery by definition means one of the two partners in marriage is fooling around (the Romans and Jews saw adultery the same way we do today and it's pretty clear-cut with everyone). In otherwards, with this SPECIFIC case I don't believe true adultery was taking place here, hence Paul's use of a general term of "sexual immorality" with 'porneia.'

Paul saw SOME type of transgression against SOMEONE with this specific situation and your conclusion makes perfect and logical sense, but here's the rub. The mother would be committing true adultery on her husband if he were still alive and she's not even mentioned other than in passing and what looks like having no consequences for HER actions. This church, somehow, didn't see it as being an issue (the main issue?) of "adultery" between a married couple and Paul is going with that while still addressing the sexual immorality taking place.

To add to the confusion, in 1 Cor 6, Paul uses the word 'porneuĆ³' that can mean adultery AND incest. Now I don't know enough about the differences between the two Greek words (porneuĆ³/porneia) if there is any difference at all.

Sorry I can't help you more with this.

Frankie Smith said...

The reason why I ask is because, if it can be demonstrated that what is happening is wrong even if there were no injured parties, (like this case) would the fundamentalists be able to say homosexuality is wrong? After all, though its not unloving, theoretically, what is unloving about what is happening here? Im sorry, but I do find myself being somewhat confused.

Frankie Smith said...

And one final thing. Does pornea generally refer to harlotry in the Bible or no?

RQC said...

But there IS an injured party because someone is dishonored and it's stated who in Lev 18:8:

"Do not have sexual relations with your father's wife; THAT would dishonor your father."

Later the Christian Emperor Justinian decreed a man could not marry his stepmother with the Roman people for the same reason.


Harlotry, as in actual prostitution, is yes, one of the closest associations with the word 'porneia' going as far back as Jeremiah and Hosea.


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