Fornication vs. Adultery
Fornication vs. Adultery:
Understanding the Difference and Connection can help anyone with a moral Compus and even those who strive to know the differences between
"Truth and Faulty."
When discussing Christian ethics, particularly in relation to sexuality and relationships, two terms often arise:
Fornication and Adultery.
Both terms relate to sexual behaviors that, according to Christian teaching, are outside the bounds of marriage.
However, they have distinct meanings and implications. To better understand their differences and how they are related, let's dive into each term and explore how they connect within the context of biblical teachings.
What is Fornication?
Fornication is generally understood as sex outside of marriage between individuals who are not married to each other. The term is derived from the Latin word foris, meaning "outside," emphasizing the idea that the act takes place outside the sanctity of a marital relationship.
Foris also means: "Banishment"
In the Bible, fornication is used to describe various forms of sexual immorality, and it's often listed alongside other sinful behaviors such as idolatry, drunkenness, and theft. Fornication is considered a violation of the commandment to keep the marriage bed pure, and it's explicitly condemned in numerous New Testament passages. For example, in;
1 Corinthians 6:18, Paul writes:
"Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body."
What is Adultery?
Adultery, on the other hand, specifically refers to a married person engaging in sexual relations with someone who is not their spouse. It’s a breach of the covenant of marriage and is one of the most severe violations of the biblical understanding of marriage, as it involves betrayal of trust, fidelity, and commitment.
Adultery is directly condemned in both the Old and New Testaments,
including in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:14)
and in Matthew 5:27-28, where Jesus warns that even looking at someone with lust can be equivalent to committing adultery.
Why do you ask:
That's a good question, the answer is because everything that Yahweh is concerned with, is the heart and soul of a person.
Mostly has to do with "Truth"
Which is that when you look someone over and you begin to take their clothes off with your mind and then go on to see yourself committing the act of which you are thinking.
Means indirectly; That if the opportunity arose, the person would act upon it.
For more clarification on this topic, check out my blog
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
How Are Fornication and Adultery Related?
While fornication and adultery are distinct in definition, they are related in that they both violate God’s design for sexual purity. Both involve the act of sexual immorality, with;
Fornication referring to pre-marital sexual relations
Adultery referring to infidelity within marriage.
Jesus’ teachings in the New Testament emphasize that sexual immorality (which encompasses both fornication and adultery) is a sin against God’s holy standard.
In Matthew 19:4-6, Jesus refers to the creation account in Genesis, where God established marriage as a sacred union between one man and one woman:
"Haven’t you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'?"
Thus, while fornication is often understood as sexual sin before marriage, and adultery occurs after marriage, both are treated as violations of God’s ideal for human sexuality and relationship.
Thoughts From Author on Topic at Hand:
The author struggles with the idea that Yahweh, our God, created us in His image but also gave us human nature with the ability to breed.
When you add the soul or spirit to human flesh, breeding turns into sex.
Without the spirit that Yahweh breathed into us.
We would simply be like animals.
Additionally, Yahweh gave each human their own unique smell called "pheromones."
The author recalls a memory from elementary school, perhaps around the 5th or 6th grade. Where he remembers coming home from school crying in the kitchen and refusing to tell his mother what was wrong.
In response, she picked him up by his ankles and held him upside down until he confessed.
His answer, was this:
"She smells so good, Momma."
His mother, confused said, "What?"
His reply was:
"This girl in my class—she smells so good."
It wasn’t because she smelled like chocolate or food of some sort but something else.
Logical explaination is that he caught a whiff of her pheromones which can stem from multiple things such as;
- Axillary sweat: Secreted from the dense eccrine and apocrine sweat glands, and sebaceous glands in the armpits. These secretions are odorless, but apocrine sweat can become odorous when it interacts with bacteria on the skin.
- Vaginal fluid: A source of pheromones in humans.
- Urine: A source of pheromones in humans.
- Breast milk: A source of pheromones in humans.
- Saliva: A potential source of pheromones in humans.
- Breath: A potential source of pheromones in humans.
What Are Pheromones & How Do They Work?
Scientists in the field of osmolgy (Note: This should probably be chemistry or biology) have determined that individuals of the same species are often attracted to one another through chemical signals known as pheromones. These chemicals can stimulate sexual arousal, influence hormone levels, and even affect fertility. Pheromones are primarily detected through smell and are produced by the body in substances such as sweat, saliva, and urine.
which, as he later understood, play a role in human attraction. Smell, he reflected, is powerful—when you encounter a scent again, it can bring back vivid memories.
The author’s issue lies in the conflict between human nature and God's design: If we are not meant to have sexual encounters outside of marriage, then this expectation of marriage is imposed on people, particularly those who are God-fearing.
By golly, "fearing God" is a wise principle to live by. For people without this fear, it suggests a lack of respect for Yahweh.
