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Porneia Defined

By Phillip Ross

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Published: 13Jul2009
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"It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans" (1 Corinthians 5:1).

Chapter 5 begins with a difficult text. It is not difficult to understand what it says. The meaning is quite clear. Again, the difficulty is found in ourselves because we do not want to accept what it says as being true. Nonetheless, it is the testimony of the historic churches that these verses are true and can be trusted.

The primary subject of the first four chapters of 1 Corinthians has been Paul's concern about the confusion of the foolishness of the world with the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 3:19). The leaders of the Corinthian church had grown the church into a large, wealthy, influential organization in the community. However, Paul found that they had done so by substituting the foolishness of the world for the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 4:8-16). The whole point of Paul's letter to the Corinthians was to accuse the leaders of the church of being confused and faithless, and to call them to repentance, forgiveness in Jesus Christ, and a change of belief and behavior.

Beginning with this fifth chapter Paul set an example of their faithlessness before them (v. 1). There are two ways that the Greek word "porneia" is translated. The older versions translated it as "fornication," and the newer versions translate it as "sexual immorality." The problem with using sexual immorality is that the English lacks definition. What does sexual immorality mean? The term can mean different things to different people. Would Paul say that all sexual activity was okay between consenting adults, and that only the lack of consent constitutes sexual immorality? Hardly! If there is any confusion about this issue it is ours. Paul was very specific about what he said and about what he meant.

The Greek Lexicon (Thayer & Smith) defines porneia as "illicit sexual intercourse." The word "licit" is Latin and means permissible by law. So, "illicit" means not permissible by law. Paul said that it had been reported to him that people in the Corinthian church were involved in illegal sexual activity, what was not permissible by law. The point is that Paul was talking about more than some generalized idea of immorality. His point was that leaders of the Corinthian church were engaged in illicit behavior -- illegal behavior between a man and his father's wife. We should also note that Paul's specificity does not annul the more general interpretation accorded to sexual immorality. It's just that Paul was being very specific by citing particular people involved in a specific relationship.

The Lexicon goes on to define porneia more generally to include adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals, sexual intercourse with close relatives (Leviticus 18), or sexual intercourse with a divorced man or woman (Mark. 10:11-12). And just to be clear the English dictionary defines adultery as "voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a partner other than the lawful spouse."

But what law had been broken? Greece, and particularly the seaport of Corinth, was rife with such practices. Greek culture is well known for its sexual permissiveness. The civil law of Greece and of Corinth were very tolerant of such behavior. So, Paul was not talking about Greek or Roman civil law. Rather, he was talking about God's law, biblical law, the Ten Commandments, the Bible.

So far, all I have done is to define a word that Paul used in his accusation against the leaders of the Corinthian church. And it is very interesting to simply define Paul's terms and understand them as he understood them. This kind of clarification speaks volumes about our own abandonment of God's law in the Twenty-First Century. By simply defining a word, we come face to face with our own immorality. But we are not talking about our situation, we are talking about Paul's accusation of the people of Corinth. So, I will leave the application of this verse in our contemporary context to the exercise of the Holy Spirit and your conscience. Lord, bring conviction upon your people.

Paul went on to say that the behavior of these church leaders was "not tolerated even among pagans" (v. 1). Matthew Henry calls it "incestuous fornication." Suffice it to say that whatever was going on was not common practice, even among the pagan Greeks. This is fascinating. We usually think of the church of the First Century as being more holy or more perfect or more faithful than we are today. And in some ways they may have been. But here we see Paul calling the leaders of one of the more successful churches of the First Century on the carpet for gross immorality and faithlessness.

Phillip A. Ross has been a pastor for over 25 years and is the author of many Christian books. He founded http://www.Pilgrim-Platform.org in 1998, which documents the church's fall from historic Christianity. Demonstrating the Apostle Paul's profound opposition to worldly Christianity, he published an exposition of First Corinthians in 2008. Ross recounts how Paul turned the world upside down in his book, Arsy Varsy -- Reclaiming the Gospel in First Corinthians.

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