Answers from church history on today's questions
What Christian writers said, from about AD 70 to 1930.
246 passages · 54 writers · 14 centuries
The writers in this collection do not use the term premarital sex. They write about fornication, which Philaret of Moscow (1839) defines as irregular carnal love between unmarried persons and which Basil (AD 357) says is not wedlock. Of the 246 passages here, 150 state a position on it and 96 mention it in passing, as in lists of sins or in comments on other texts. The writers who state a position treat intercourse outside marriage as forbidden, ground the ban in Scripture, the commandments, and natural law, and call it a grave sin that wrongs the body that belongs to Christ. They tell those who cannot remain continent to marry, and they rank virginity above marriage and marriage above fornication. They differ on discipline, and the passages on penance and restoration disagree on whether pardon is open to those who have committed it.
34 passages · 13 writers · 300s to 1900s
Writers ground the ban on intercourse outside marriage in Scripture, the commandments, natural law, and the order of marriage.
Let lust not go beyond the marriage-bed, but be subservient to the procreation of children. For a too great eagerness for pleasure both produces danger and generates disgrace, and that which is especially to be avoided, leads to eternal death.
Lactantius, The Divine Institutes 8.58
As the apostle Paul says, “Fornication and all uncleanness…let it not be once named among you as becometh saints,” thus including the unspeakable doings of both males and females under the name of uncleanness. It follows that silence certainly does not give license to voluptuaries.
Basil of Caesarea, The Letters 160
Earthly laws give a free rein to the unchastity of men, merely condemning seduction and adultery; lust is allowed to range unrestrained among brothels and slave girls, as if the guilt were constituted by the rank of the person assailed and not by the purpose of the assailant. But with us Christians what is unlawful for women is equally unlawful for men, and as both serve the same God both are bound by the same obligations.
Jerome, The Letters of St. Jerome 77
But adultery and fornication are against the law; the one whereof is impiety, the other injustice, and, in a word, no other than a great sin.
Constitutions of the Holy Apostles, Constitutions of the Holy Apostles 7.5
Undoubtedly, by the eternal law, which requires the preservation of natural order, and forbids the transgression of it, conjugal intercourse should take place only for the procreation of children, and after the celebration of marriage, so as to maintain the bond of peace. Therefore, the prostitution of women, merely for the gratification of sinful passion, is condemned by the divine and eternal law.
Augustine of Hippo, Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 24
In Scripture, all fornication and adultery are condemned by the divine law; accordingly, when actions of this kind are narrated, without being expressly condemned, it is intended not that we should praise them, but that we should pass judgment on them ourselves.
Augustine of Hippo, Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 24
But what unlawful food is in the supporting of life, this sexual intercourse of fornication or adultery is in the seeking of a family. … As therefore it is better to die of hunger than to eat things offered unto idols: so it is better to die without children, than to seek a family from unlawful intercourse.
Augustine of Hippo, On the Good of Marriage 18
Rightly then did we declare that “the good of marriage is no more impeachable because of the original sin which is derived therefrom, than the evil of adultery and fornication can be excused, because of the natural good which is born of them:” since the human nature which is born, whether of wedlock or of adultery, is the work of God. … From this, then, it follows, that in the birth of human beings neither fornication is to be excused on account of the good which is formed out of it by the good Creator, nor is marriage to be impeached by reason of the evil which has to be healed in it by the merciful Saviour.
Augustine of Hippo, On Marriage and Concupiscence 2.36
Cleanness also of body is to be guarded in our strivings after well-doing, since, according to the voice of the apostolic preacher, The temple of God is holy, which temple ye are ( 1 Cor. iii. 17 ). And again he says, For this is the will of God, even your sanctification ( 1 Thess. iv. 3 ). As to which sanctification, what he means by it he shews by straightway adding, That ye should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour, not in the lusts of concupiscence.
Gregory the Great, Selected Epistles of Gregory the Great 5.57
HENCE appears the folly of those who say that simple fornication is not a sin.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa contra Gentiles 3.122
The unlawfulness of fornication and of all connexion with any other woman than one’s own wife is clear from Deut. xxiii, 17: There shall be no whore among the daughters of Israel, nor whoremonger among the sons of Israel: Keep thyself from all fornication, and beyond thine own wife suffer not the charge of knowing another (Job. iv, 13): Fly fornication (1 Cor. vi, 18).
Thomas Aquinas, Summa contra Gentiles 3.122
Hence, whereas it is necessary in all animals for the male to stand by the female for such time as the father’s concurrence is requisite for bringing up of the progeny, it is natural for man to be tied to the society of one fixed woman for a long period, not a short one. This social tie we call marriage. Marriage then is natural to man, and an irregular connexion outside of marriage is contrary to the good of man; and therefore fornication must be sinful.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa contra Gentiles 3.122
Now this obligation which binds the female and her mate to remain together constitutes matrimony. Consequently it is evident that it is contrary to the natural law for a man to have intercourse with a woman who is not married to him, which is the signification of a concubine.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica Suppl..Q65.A3
For among the Gentiles, fornication was not deemed unlawful, on account of the corruption of natural reason: whereas the Jews, taught by the Divine law, considered it to be unlawful. The other things mentioned were loathsome to the Jews through custom introduced by the law into their daily life. Hence the Apostles forbade these things to the Gentiles, not as though they were unlawful in themselves, but because they were loathsome to the Jews, as stated above ( FS, Q[103], A[4] , ad 3).
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II.Q154.A2
Wherefore the apostles inserted the prohibition of fornication among that of other ceremonial observances, because in both cases there was a difference of opinion between Jews and Gentiles. Reply to Objection 2: This law was the result of the darkness just mentioned, into which the Gentiles had fallen, by not giving due honor to God as stated in Rom. 1:21, and did not proceed from the instinct of the natural law. Hence, when the Christian religion prevailed, this law was abolished.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica Suppl..Q65.A3
Reply to Objection 1: Human laws leave many things unpunished, which according to the Divine judgment are sins, as, for example, simple fornication; because human law does not exact perfect virtue from man, for such virtue belongs to few and cannot be found in so great a number of people as human law has to direct.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II.Q69.A2
Reply to Objection 2: Fornication is said to be a sin, because it is contrary to right reason. … Therefore just as Abraham did not sin in being willing to slay his innocent son, because he obeyed God, although considered in itself it was contrary to right human reason in general, so, too, Osee sinned not in committing fornication by God's command.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II.Q154.A2
Wherefore, since fornication is an indeterminate union of the sexes, as something incompatible with matrimony, it is opposed to the good of the child's upbringing, and consequently it is a mortal sin. Nor does it matter if a man having knowledge of a woman by fornication, make sufficient provision for the upbringing of the child: because a matter that comes under the determination of the law is judged according to what happens in general, and not according to what may happen in a particular case.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II.Q154.A2
Let this then be the main point, that fornication will not be unpunished, for God will take vengeance on it. And doubtless as God has blessed the union of man and wife, instituted by himself, it follows that every other union different from this is by him condemned and accursed. He therefore denounces punishment not only on adulterers, but also on fornicators; for both depart from the holy institution of God; nay, they violate and subvert it by a promiscuous intercourse, since there is but one legitimate union, sanctioned by the authority and approval of God.
John Calvin, Commentary on Hebrews 13.1
That ye abstain . This is one injunction, which he derives from the fountain of which he had immediately before made mention; for nothing is more opposed to holiness than the defilement of fornication , which pollutes the whole man. On this account he assigns the lust of concupiscence to the Gentiles, who know not God .
John Calvin, Commentary on Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians 1 Thessalonians 4.1
Two characters are afterwards mentioned, “fornicators and adulterers.” The first disregard marriage and the second defile the conjugal bed. Then the first clause speaks of marriage as in itself honorable, in opposition to the dishonor put on it by fornicators, who being unmarried, indulge in illicit intercourse with women; and the second speaks of the conjugal bed as being undefiled, when not contaminated with adultery.
John Calvin, Commentary on Hebrews 13.1
“Whoredom and wine take away the heart.” ( Hosea 4:11 .) Thus, when the Prophets metaphorically condemn the corruptions of their nation, they do not always use the same; word as Moses here does, נפ , naaph , but compare them to fornications, whereas, if fornication were lawful in itself, this metaphor would be altogether inappropriate. Hosea was commanded to take a harlot for a wife, ( Hosea 1:2 ;) no mention is made of adultery, and still the shame and baseness of the people is thus condemned. Who, then, would say that fornication is free from sin, since God brands it with no ordinary mark of ignominy?
John Calvin, Harmony of the Law, Vol. 3 1.3.1
Although one kind of impurity is alone referred to, it is sufficiently plain, from the principle laid down, that believers are generally exhorted to chastity; for, if the Law be a perfect rule of holy living, it would be more than absurd to give a license for fornication, adultery alone being excepted. Furthermore, it is incontrovertible that God will by no means approve or excuse before this tribunal, what the common sense of mankind declares to be obscene; for, although lewdness has everywhere been rampant in every age, still the opinion could never be utterly extinguished, that fornication is a scandal and a sin.
John Calvin, Harmony of the Law, Vol. 3 1.3.1
Now the body is not for fornication Having mentioned the exceptions, he now states still farther, that our liberty ought not by any means to be extended to fornication For it was an evil that was so prevalent at that time, that it seemed in a manner as though it had been permitted; as we may see also from the decree of the Apostles, ( Acts 15:20 ,) where, in prohibiting the Gentiles from fornication, they place it among things indifferent; for there can be no doubt that this was done, because it was very generally looked upon as a lawful thing. Hence Paul says now, There is a difference between fornication and meats , for the Lord has not ordained the body for fornication , as he has the belly for meats And this he confirms from things contrary or opposite, inasmuch as it is consecrated to Christ, and it is impossible that Christ should be conjoined with fornication.
John Calvin, Commentary on Corinthians, Vol. 1 6.3
In short, the veil of Tamer shows that fornication was not only a base and filthy thing in the sight of God and the angels; but that it has always been condemned, even by those who have practiced it.
John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis, Vol. 2 38.1
And in the first place, he limits liberty by two exceptions; and secondly , he warns them, that it does not by any means extend to fornication. These words, All things are lawful for me, must be understood as spoken in name of the Corinthians, κατ ᾿ ἀνθυποφορὰν, (by anticipation,) as though he had said, I am aware of the reply which you are accustomed to make, when desirous to avoid reproof for outward vices.
John Calvin, Commentary on Corinthians, Vol. 1 6.3
Now, if Christ and the Apostles, who are the best interpreters of the Law, declare that God’s Law is violated no less by fornication than by theft, we assuredly infer, that in this Commandment the whole genus is comprehended under a single species . Wherefore, those have done nothing but betray their disgraceful ignorance, who have sought to be praised for their acuteness on the score of their ridiculous subtlety, when they admitted that fornication is indeed condemned with sufficient clearness and frequency in the New Testament, but not in the Law. For, if they had reasoned justly, inasmuch as God is declared to have blessed marriage, it must at once be concluded, on the contrary, that the connection of male and female, except in marriage, is accursed.
John Calvin, Harmony of the Law, Vol. 3 1.3.1
Lastly let us consider who the Lawgiver is that thus condemns fornication: even He who, as he is entitled to possess us entirely, requires integrity of body, soul, and spirit. Therefore, while he forbids fornication, he at the same time forbids us to lay snares for our neighbour’s chastity by lascivious attire, obscene gestures, and impure conversation.
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion II.8
Q. What is God’s will for us in the seventh commandment? A. That God condemns all unchastity, 1 and that we should therefore detest it wholeheartedly 2 and live decent and chaste lives, 3 within or outside of the holy state of marriage.
Reformed Churches, Heidelberg Catechism 107
"The avoiding of fornication is necessary to all Christians at all times; the avoiding of things strangled, and of blood, and of things offered to idols, is necessary at this time, for the keeping up of a good understanding between you and the Jews, and the preventing of offence;" and as long as it continues necessary for that end, and no longer, it is enjoined.
Matthew Henry, Commentary on Acts 15.3
Though all meats were supposed lawful, he would not become a glutton nor a drunkard. And much less would he abuse the maxim of lawful liberty to countenance the sin of fornication, which, though it might be allowed by the Corinthian laws, was a trespass upon the law of nature, and utterly unbecoming a Christian.
Matthew Henry, Commentary on First Corinthians 6.3
But the case is quite otherwise with fornication. This is not indifferent, but at all times evil. For the body is for the Lord - Designed only for his service.
John Wesley, Notes on the Bible 7.6
Since "this is the will of God," let it be your will also. fornication—not regarded as a sin at all among the heathen, and so needing the more to be denounced (Ac 15:20).
Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible First Thessalonians 4
Christianity makes unchastity dishonour in both sexes. There is no double standard of morality.
A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament 8.6
35 passages · 15 writers · 100s to 1700s
Writers describe fornication as a grave or mortal sin, set it among sins that bar entry to the kingdom, and rank it against other sins.
If we please Him in this present world, we shall receive also the future world, according as He has promised to us that He will raise us again from the dead, and that if we live worthily of Him, “we shall also reign together with Him,” provided only we believe. In like manner, let the young men also be blameless in all things, being especially careful to preserve purity, and keeping themselves in, as with a bridle, from every kind of evil. For it is well that they should be cut off from the lusts that are in the world, since “every lust warreth against the spirit;” and “neither fornicators, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, shall inherit the kingdom of God,” nor those who do things inconsistent and unbecoming.
Polycarp of Smyrna, Epistle to the Philippians 5
And take heed not to commit fornication, for fornication is mother of all evils, separating from God, and bringing near to Beliar.
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs 4
Take heed, therefore, my children, of fornication and the love of money; hearken to Judah your father, for these things do withdraw you from the law of God, and blind the understanding of the soul, and teach arrogance, and suffer not a man to have compassion upon his neighbour: they rob his soul of all goodness, and bind him in toils and troubles, and take away his sleep and devour his flesh, and hinder the sacrifices of God; and he remembereth not blessing, and he hearkeneth not to a prophet when he speaketh, and is vexed at the word of godliness.
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs 6
Wherefore he who commits fornication is wholly dead to God, and is abandoned by the Word as a dead body by the spirit.
Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor 2.10
For the licentious rush readily into uncleanness, like swine rushing to that part of the hold of the ship which is depressed. … Away with fornication.
Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor 3.4
What, in short, does he write to the Thessalonians withal? “For our consolation (originated) not of seduction, nor of impurity:” and, “This is the will of God, your sanctification, that ye abstain from fornication; that each one know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour, not in the lust of concupiscence, as (do) the nations which are ignorant of God.” What do the Galatians read? “Manifest are the works of the flesh.” What are these? Among the first he has set “fornication, impurity, lasciviousness:” “(concerning) which I foretell you, as I have foretold, that whoever do such acts are not to attain by inheritance the kingdom of God.”
Tertullian, On Modesty 17
That the sin of fornication is grievous. In the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: “Every sin whatsoever a man doeth is outside the body; but he who committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a great price.
Cyprian of Carthage, The Treatises of Cyprian 12.4.65
“If any that is named a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such an one not even to eat. … It is clear that this is said of the baptized, for they receive the inheritance, who are baptized into the death of Christ and are buried together with Him, that they may rise again with Him.
Ambrose of Milan, Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose 15
And fornication is the destruction of one’s own flesh, not being made use of for the procreation of children, but entirely for the sake of pleasure, which is a mark of incontinency, and not a sign of virtue. All these things are forbidden by the laws; for thus say the oracles: “Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind.” … And afterwards: “There shall not be a fornicator among the children of Israel, and there shall not be an whore among the daughters of Israel.
Constitutions of the Holy Apostles, Constitutions of the Holy Apostles 7.5
And as a swine full charged with mire, wherever he enters, fills all places with his ill odor, and chokes the senses with dung, so too does fornication; it is an evil not easy to be washed away. But when some even who have wives practice this, how excessive is the outrage! “For this,” he says, “is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye abstain from all fornication.”
John Chrysostom, Homilies on First Thessalonians 5
Not the body, but incontinence, doth this. For all these things which I was mentioning certainly do belong to the body: on which account it is impossible that a man who has entered into this life should escape disease and pain and lowness of spirits: but that he commit no uncleanness is possible. Thus it appears that if the affections of vice were part of the nature of the body they would be universal: since all things natural are so; but to commit fornication is not so. Pain indeed cometh of nature: but to commit fornication proceeds from deliberate purpose.
John Chrysostom, Homilies on First Corinthians 18
For that an harlot’s body is mire, I do not enquire of any one else but of thine own self that wallowest in the mire, if thou dost not feel ashamed of thyself, if thou dost not think thyself unclean after the sin is over. Wherefore I beseech you flee fornication, and the mother of it, drunkenness. Why sow where reaping is impossible, or rather even if thou dost reap, the fruit brings thee great shame? For even if a child be born, it at once disgraces thyself, and has itself had injustice done it in being born through thee illegitimate and base.
John Chrysostom, The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 26
The fornicator, then, is not the only one that is unclean, but others more than he, as the adulterer. But both the one and the other are unclean, not on account of the intercourse, (for according to that reasoning a man cohabiting with his own wife would be unclean,) but because of the wickedness of the act, and the injury done to his neighbor in his nearest interests. … And the fornicator is not unclean on account of the intercourse, but on account of the manner of it, because it injures the woman, and they injure one another, making the woman common, and subverting the laws of nature.
John Chrysostom, Homilies on Titus 3
That I should speak of fornication? It makes men subject to reproach, poor, objects of ridicule, despicable to all, just as enemies treat them. Ofttimes it hath involved men in disease and danger; many men have perished or been wounded in behalf of their mistresses. And if fornication produces these things, much rather doth adultery.
John Chrysostom, Homilies on Philippians 15
Why dost thou turn away from her who is the partner of thy living, and court her who would subvert thy life? The one is thy member and body, the other is a sharp sword. Therefore, beloved, flee fornication; both for its present evils, and for its future punishment.
John Chrysostom, The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch 16
A dreadful, a dreadful thing is fornication, and an agent for everlasting punishment; and even in this world it brings with it ten thousand woes.
John Chrysostom, The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 65
And that what I say may be more clear, let one sin be set forth, fornication; and mark how many different punishments I find not from myself, but from the divine Scriptures. … He shall suffer more grievous things. “For as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law.” Did any one commit fornication being a priest, he receives from his dignity a very great addition to his punishment.
John Chrysostom, The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 75
Paul, when in his letter to the Hebrews he thus speaks and exhorts them; “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” ( Heb. xii. 14 .) By “holiness,” meaning chastity, so that it behooved each to be content with his own wife, and not have to do with any other woman; for it is impossible that one not so contented should be saved; he must assuredly perish though he have ten thousand right actions, since with fornication it is impossible to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
John Chrysostom, The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 65
And having first set down “Marriage is honorable in all men, and the bed undefiled,” he shows that he rightly added what follows. For if marriage has been conceded, justly is the fornicator punished, justly does the adulterer suffer vengeance.
John Chrysostom, The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 37
For, whereas that natural use, when it pass beyond the compact of marriage, that is, beyond the necessity of begetting, is pardonable in the case of a wife, damnable in the case of an harlot; that which is against nature is execrable when done in the case of an harlot, but more execrable in the case of a wife. … Hence is it also that he sins far less, who is ever so unceasing in approaches to his wife, than he who approaches ever so seldom to commit fornication.
Augustine of Hippo, On the Good of Marriage 12
“Mortify,” says he, “your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, lust, etc.” And again of two of them he says to the Ephesians: “Let fornication and uncleanness be not so much as named among you:” and once more: “But know this that no fornicator or unclean person, or covetous person who is an idolater hath inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” And just as these three must be avoided by us with equal care, so they one and all shut us out and exclude us equally from the kingdom of Christ.
John Cassian, The Conferences of John Cassian. Part I. Containing Conferences I-X 6.11
The single are to be admonished not to think that they can have intercourse with disengaged women without incurring the judgment of condemnation. For, when Paul inserted the vice of fornication among so many execrable crimes, he indicated the guilt of it, saying, Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall possess the kingdom of God ( 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10 ).
Gregory the Great, The Book of Pastoral Rule, and Selected Epistles, of Gregory the Great 4.4.28
Beware, my son, keep thee from all fornication, and suffer not thyself save with thy wife to know that sin; and suffer never pride to have domination in thy wit, ne in thy word, that sin was the beginning of all perdition.
Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend 7
I answer that, As we have already stated (Sent. ii, D, 42, Q[1], A[4]), those sins are mortal in their genus which violate the bond of friendship between man and God, and between man and man; for such sins are against the two precepts of charity which is the life of the soul. Wherefore since the intercourse of fornication destroys the due relations of the parent with the offspring that is nature's aim in sexual intercourse, there can be no doubt that simple fornication by its very nature is a mortal sin even though there were no written law.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica Suppl..Q65.A4
"Take heed to keep thyself . . . from all fornication, and beside thy wife never endure to know a crime." Now crime denotes a mortal sin. Therefore fornication and all intercourse with other than one's wife is a mortal sin. … Therefore simple fornication is a mortal sin.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II.Q154.A2
Reply to Objection 2: The fornicator is said to sin against his own body, not merely because the pleasure of fornication is consummated in the flesh, which is also the case in gluttony, but also because he acts against the good of his own body by an undue resolution and defilement thereof, and an undue association with another. Nor does it follow from this that fornication is the most grievous sin, because in man reason is of greater value than the body, wherefore if there be a sin more opposed to reason, it will be more grievous. Reply to Objection 3: The sin of fornication is contrary to the good of the human race, in so far as it is prejudicial to the individual begetting of the one man that may be born. Now one who is already an actual member of the human species attains to the perfection of the species more than one who is a man potentially, and from this point of view murder is a more grievous sin than fornication and every kind of lust, through being more opposed to the good of the human species.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II.Q154.A3
With regard to the other species of lust they imply a transgression merely of that which is determined by right reason, on the presupposition, however, of natural principles. Now it is more against reason to make use of the venereal act not only with prejudice to the future offspring, but also so as to injure another person besides. Wherefore simple fornication, which is committed without injustice to another person, is the least grave among the species of lust.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II.Q154.A12
The gravity of a sin is measured with regard to the sin itself, by reason of its species, which is determined according to the good to which that sin is opposed. Now fornication is contrary to the good of the child to be born. Wherefore it is a graver sin, as to its species, than those sins which are contrary to external goods, such as theft and the like; while it is less grievous than those which are directly against God, and sins that are injurious to the life of one already born, such as murder.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II.Q154.A3
In order to make this evident, we must take note that every sin committed directly against human life is a mortal sin. Now simple fornication implies an inordinateness that tends to injure the life of the offspring to be born of this union.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II.Q154.A2
Reply to Objection 4: Simple fornication is contrary to the love of our neighbor, because it is opposed to the good of the child to be born, as we have shown, since it is an act of generation accomplished in a manner disadvantageous to the future child. Reply to Objection 5: A person, who, while given to works of piety, yields to the inconstancy of the flesh, is freed from eternal loss, in so far as these works dispose him to receive the grace to repent, and because by such works he makes satisfaction for his past inconstancy; but not so as to be freed by pious works, if he persist in carnal inconstancy impenitent until death. Reply to Objection 6: One copulation may result in the begetting of a man, wherefore inordinate copulation, which hinders the good of the future child, is a mortal sin as to the very genus of the act, and not only as to the inordinateness of concupiscence.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II.Q154.A2
Moreover, fornication is a sin against God, not directly as though the fornicator intended to offend God, but consequently, in the same way as all mortal sins. And just as the members of our body are Christ's members, so too, our spirit is one with Christ, according to 1 Cor. 6:17, "He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit."
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II.Q154.A3
Three things are here enumerated, which the apostle desires Christians to hold in such abhorrence, that they shall not even be named, or, in other words, shall be entirely unknown among them. By uncleanness he means all base and impure lusts; so that this word differs from fornication, only as the whole class differs from a single department. The third is covetousness, which is nothing more than an immoderate desire of gain. To this precept he adds the authoritative declaration, that he demands nothing from them but that which becometh saints, — manifestly excluding from the number and fellowship of the saints all fornicators, and impure and covetous persons.
John Calvin, Commentary on Galatians and Ephesians Ephesians 5.2
By using the word “defiled,” Moses teaches us what is the true purity of man; namely, when chastity is religiously cultivated, and every one possesses his vessel in honor. But whoever prostitutes his body to fornication, filthily defiles himself. If then Dinah is said to have been polluted, whom Shechem had forcibly violated, what must be said of voluntary adulterers and fornicators?
John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis, Vol. 2 34.1
Note, The sin of fornication is a great injury in a Christian to his head and lord, and a great reproach and blot on his profession. It is no wonder therefore that the apostle should say, " Flee fornication ( v. 18 ), avoid it, keep out of the reach of temptations to it, of provoking objects.
Matthew Henry, Commentary on First Corinthians 6.3
Now some among the Corinthians seem to have imagined that they were as much at liberty in the point of fornication as of meats, especially because it was not a sin condemned by the laws of their country. They were ready to say, even in the case of fornication, All things are lawful for me. This pernicious conceit Paul here sets himself to oppose: he tells them that many things lawful in themselves were not expedient at certain times, and under particular circumstances; and Christians should not barely consider what is in itself lawful to be done, but what is fit for them to do, considering their profession, character, relations, and hopes: they should be very careful that by carrying this maxim too far they be not brought into bondage, either to a crafty deceiver or a carnal inclination.
Matthew Henry, Commentary on First Corinthians 6.3
27 passages · 14 writers · 100s to 1900s
Writers on 1 Corinthians 6 say fornication wrongs the body, which belongs to Christ and is a temple of the Spirit.
Here he manifestly declares the body to be the temple in which the Spirit dwells. … He speaks these things, not in reference to some other spiritual man; for a being of such a nature could have nothing to do with an harlot: but he declares “our body,” that is, the flesh which continues in sanctity and purity, to be “the members of Christ;” but that when it becomes one with an harlot, it becomes the members of an harlot.
Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies: Book V 7
It is to be observed that, after [Samson had committed] fornication, the holy Scripture no longer speaks of the things happily accomplished by him in connection with the formula, “The Spirit of the Lord came upon him.” For thus, according to the holy apostle, the sin of fornication is perpetrated against the body, as involving also sin against the temple of God.
Irenaeus of Lyons, Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenæus 40
Hence the apostle says: “This is the will of God, that ye abstain from fornication.” Hence also he says the same thing: “That the members of Christ must not be joined with the members of an harlot.”
Cyprian of Carthage, Treatises Attributed to Cyprian on Questionable Authority 4
The body is an instrument, and, as it were, a garment and robe of the soul: and if by this latter it be given over to fornication, it becomes defiled: but if it dwell with a holy soul, it becomes a temple of the Holy Ghost. … Pollute not thy flesh in fornication: defile not this thy fairest robe: and if ever thou hast defiled it, now cleanse it by repentance: get thyself washed, while time permits.
Cyril of Jerusalem, The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 8
You have taken the members of Christ and made them the members of a harlot. This is an evil with which no other can be matched.
Basil of Caesarea, The Letters 46
It is only lust and sensual pleasure that in the very hour of penitence undergo once more the temptations of the past, the itch of the flesh, and the allurements of sin; so that the very thought which we bestow on the correction of such transgressions becomes in itself a new source of sin. Or to put the matter in a different light: other sins are outside of us; and whatever we do we do against others. But fornication defiles the fornicator both in conscience and body; and in accordance with the words of the Lord, “for this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh,” he too becomes one body with a harlot and sins against his own body by making what is the temple of Christ the body of a harlot.
Jerome, The Letters of St. Jerome 55
Theft, manslaughter, and all other sins except fornication we commit with our hands outside ourselves. Fornication alone we commit inside ourselves in our bodies and not with our bodies upon others.
Jerome, The Letters of St. Jerome 55
“Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.” This is less than what went before; but since he had to speak of fornicators, he amplifies that guilt by topics drawn from all quarters, from greater things and smaller alike, making the charge heinous. And, in fact, that former topic was addressed to the more religious, but this to the weaker sort.
John Chrysostom, Homilies on First Corinthians 19
Become not then “members of a harlot:” for it is not your body which is insulted; since it is not your body at all, but Christ’s. And these things he spake, both to make manifest His loving-kindness in that our body is His, and to withdraw us from all evil license.
John Chrysostom, Homilies on First Corinthians 19
“Know ye not,” he says, “that your bodies” (and this the Apostle spake touching fornication, that they might not think lightly of sins of the body) “are the temples of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” For “ye have been bought with a great price.” If thou think so lightly of thine own body, have some consideration for thy price.
Augustine of Hippo, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 34
“I blame not,” he says, “the nature of the body, but the immoderate license of the mind.” And therefore he subjoins, “Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord;” for it was not formed for this purpose, to live riotously and commit fornication, as neither was the belly to be greedy; but that it might follow Christ as a Head, and that the Lord might be set over the body. Let us be overcome with shame, let us be horror-struck, that after we have been counted worthy of such great honor as to become members of Him that sitteth on high, we defile ourselves with so great evils.
John Chrysostom, Homilies on First Corinthians 18
I suppose it is plain to every one. But since it was not possible to mention anything worse than the fornicator, he amplifies the crime in another way, by saying that in the fornicator the entire body becomes defiled. … Both however are bad, both covetousness and fornication; and both cast into hell. But as Paul doeth every thing with good management, so by whatever topics he had he magnified the sin of fornication.
John Chrysostom, Homilies on First Corinthians 19
Having set before us honorable conduct, he now shows how much we ought to abhor fornication , setting before us the enormity of its wickedness and baseness. Now he shows its greatness by comparison — that this sin alone, of all sins, puts a brand of disgrace upon the body.
John Calvin, Commentary on Corinthians, Vol. 1 6.3
Know ye not that he that is joined to an harlot He brings out more fully the greatness of the injury that is done to Christ by the man that has intercourse with an harlot; for he becomes one body , and hence he tears away a member from Christ’s body. It is not certain in what sense he accommodates to his design the quotation which he subjoins from Genesis 2:24 . For if he quotes it to prove that two persons who commit fornication together become one flesh , he turns it aside from its true meaning to what is quite foreign to it.
John Calvin, Commentary on Corinthians, Vol. 1 6.3
And God hath also raised up the Lord He shows from Christ’s condition how unseemly fornication is for a Christian man; for Christ having been received into the heavenly glory, what has he in common with the pollutions of this world? Two things, however, are contained in these words. The first is, that it is unseemly and unlawful, that our body, which is consecrated to Christ, should be profaned by fornication, inasmuch as Christ himself has been raised up from the dead, that he might enter on the possession of the heavenly glory. The second is, that it is a base thing to prostitute our body to earthly pollutions, while it is destined to be a partaker along with Christ of a blessed immortality and of the heavenly glory.
John Calvin, Commentary on Corinthians, Vol. 1 6.3
The gospel hath added two arguments against uncleanness which were never before used, nor, indeed, could be; since God hath given the Holy Spirit to them that are baptized, and rightly confirmed and entered into covenant with him, our bodies are made temples of the Holy Ghost, in which he dwells; and therefore uncleanness is sacrilege, and defiles a temple. … Therefore glorify God in your bodies; that is, flee fornication.
Jeremy Taylor, Holy Living 2.3.2
Nothing can stand in greater opposition to the honourable relations and alliances of a Christian man than this sin. … But he that is joined to a harlot is one body, for two shall be one flesh, by carnal conjunction, which was ordained of God only to be in a married state. Now shall one in so close a union with Christ as to be one spirit with him yet be so united to a harlot as to become one flesh with her?
Matthew Henry, Commentary on First Corinthians 6.3
Every sin that a man does is without the body; he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body ( v. 18 ); every sin, that is, every other sin, every external act of sin besides, is without the body. … This sin is in a peculiar manner styled uncleanness, pollution, because no sin has so much external turpitude in it, especially in a Christian. He sins against his own body; he defiles it, he degrades it, making it one with the body of that vile creature with whom he sins.
Matthew Henry, Commentary on First Corinthians 6.3
Note, It is good to know in what honourable relations we stand, that we may endeavour to become them. But now, says the apostle, shall I take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a harlot? … Would it not be dishonouring Christ, and dishonouring ourselves to the very last degree? What, make a Christ's members the members of a harlot, prostitute them to so vile a purpose!
Matthew Henry, Commentary on First Corinthians 6.3
Body and spirit are to be kept clean, that God may be honoured by both. But God is dishonoured when either is defiled by so beastly a sin. Therefore flee fornication, nay, and every sin.
Matthew Henry, Commentary on First Corinthians 6.3
The body is not for fornication, but for the Lord. … The body is not for fornication; it was never formed for any such purpose, but for the Lord, for the service and honour of God. It is to be an instrument of righteousness to holiness ( Rom. vi. 19 ), and therefore is never to be made an instrument of uncleanness.
Matthew Henry, Commentary on First Corinthians 6.3
Flee fornication - All unlawful commerce with women, with speed, with abhorrence, with all your might. Every sin that a man commits against his neighbour terminates upon an object out of himself, and does not so immediately pollute his body, though it does his soul. But he that committeth fornication, sinneth against his own body - Pollutes, dishonours, and degrades it to a level with brute beasts.
John Wesley, Notes on the Bible 7.6
What motives does holy Scripture set before us to make us flee fornication and live chastely? It bids us keep our bodies in purity, because they are the members of Christ, and temples of the Holy Ghost; while, on the other hand, he who committeth fornication sinneth against his own body; that is, corrupts it, infects it with diseases, and, further, hurts his mental faculties, such as imagination and memory.
Philaret of Moscow, The Longer Catechism of the Orthodox, Catholic, Eastern Church q. 584–591
The argument drawn from the indifference of meats (1Co 8:8; Ro 14:14, 17; compare Mr 7:18; Col 2:20-22) to that of fornication does not hold good. … Therefore fornication is not indifferent, since it is a sin against one's own body, which, like the Lord for whom it is created, is not to be destroyed, but to be raised to eternal existence.
Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible First Corinthians 6
Perhaps the dominant idea of Paul is that fornication, as already shown, breaks the mystic bond between the body and Christ and hence the fornicator (ο πορνευων) sins against his own body (εις το ιδιον σωμα αμαρτανε) in a sense not true of other dreadful sins. The fornicator takes his body which belongs to Christ and unites it with a harlot. In fornication the body is the instrument of sin and becomes the subject of the damage wrought.
A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament 8.6
Have the habit of fleeing without delay or parley. Note abruptness of the asyndeton with no connectives. Fornication violates Christ's rights in our bodies (verses 13-17) and also ruins the body itself.
A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament 8.6
But the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body … Sex is of God for the propagation of the race, not for prostitution.
A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament 8.6
25 passages · 13 writers · 100s to 1800s
Writers say the unmarried who cannot remain continent are to marry, and that marriage is God's provision against fornication.
Pay no heed, therefore, to the beauty of women, and muse not upon their doings; but walk in singleness of heart in the fear of the Lord, and be labouring in works, and roaming in study and among your flocks, until the Lord give to you a wife whom He will, that ye suffer not as I did. Until my father’s death I had not boldness to look stedfastly into the face of Jacob, or to speak to any of my brethren, because of my reproach; and even until now my conscience afflicteth me by reason of my sin. … For fornication is the destruction of the soul, separating it from God, and bringing it near to idols, because it deceiveth the mind and understanding, and bringeth down young men into hell before their time.
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs 3
No such indulgence granted Paul, who endeavours to obliterate “necessity of the flesh” wholly from (the list of) even honourable pretexts (for marriage unions). He does grant “indulgence,” I allow;—not to adulteries, but to nuptials. He does “spare,” I allow;—marriages, not harlotries.
Tertullian, On Modesty 16
That we should “abstain from fornication,” not from marriage; that every one “should know how to possess his vessel in honour.” … The law of nature is opposed to luxury as well as to grossness and uncleanness; it does not forbid connubial intercourse, but concupiscence; and it takes care of our vessel by the honourable estate of matrimony.
Tertullian, The Five Books Against Marcion 5.15
Come, now, and let us examine more carefully the very words which are before us, and observe that the apostle did not grant these things unconditionally to all, but first laid down the reason on account of which he was led to this. For, having set forth that “it is good for a man not to touch a woman,” he added immediately, “Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife” —that is, “on account of the fornication which would arise from your being unable to restrain your voluptuousness”—“and let every woman have her own husband.
Methodius of Olympus, The Banquet of the Ten Virgins; or Concerning Chastity 4.12
Above all things, let them join the young betimes in marriage, anticipating the entanglements of youthful lusts. But neither let them neglect the marriage of those who are already old; for lust is vigorous even in some old men. Lest, therefore, fornication find a place among you, and bring upon you a very pestilence, take precaution, and search, lest at any time the fire of adultery be secretly kindled among you.
Pseudo-Clement, Pseudo-Clementine Literature 4.3.7
“And let them inculcate marriage not only upon the young, but also upon those advanced in years, lest burning lust bring a plague upon the Church by reason of whoredom or adultery. For, above every other sin, the wickedness of adultery is hated by God, because it not only destroys the person himself who sins, but those also who eat and associate with him. For it is like the madness of a dog, because it has the nature of communicating its own madness. For the sake of chastity, therefore, let not only the elders, but even all, hasten to accomplish marriage.
Pseudo-Clement, Pseudo-Clementine Literature 4.6.68
But if they have not continency, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn . But let all the other practices be banished afar, fornication, adultery, and every kind of licentiousness: and let the body be kept pure for the Lord, that the Lord also may have respect unto the body.
Cyril of Jerusalem, The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 8
“It is good to marry, simply because it is bad to burn,” not putting forward a view of my own, but only explaining the apostle’s precept, “It is better to marry than to burn;” that is, it is better to take a husband than to commit fornication. If, then, you teach that burning or fornication is good, the good will still be surpassed by what is still better.
Jerome, The Letters of St. Jerome 48
If, then, he have a wife, or a woman hath an husband, let them be taught to be content with each other; but if they be unmarried, let them learn not to commit fornication, but to enter into lawful marriage.
Constitutions of the Holy Apostles, Constitutions of the Holy Apostles 9.4
He that is chaste before marriage, much more will he be chaste after it; and he that practiced fornication before, will practice it after marriage. … But if captivated by pleasure he has given himself up to harlots, why does he wear the garland, since he has been subdued?
John Chrysostom, Homilies on 1 Timothy 10
Yet the blame would attach not to the fire but to the one who kindled it; for it was given for the purpose of dressing food, affording light, and other like ministries, not for burning houses. In like manner desire is implanted for the rearing of families and the ensuring of life, not for adultery, or fornication, or lasciviousness; that a man may become a father, not an adulterer; a lawful husband, not a seducer; leaving heirs after him, not doing damage to another man’s.
John Chrysostom, Commentary on Galatians 5
And the fathers are to blame, who while they constrain the horsebreakers to discipline their horses with much attention, and suffer not the youth of the colt to go on long untamed, but put upon it both a rein, and all the rest, from the beginning; but their own young ones they overlook, going about for a long season unbridled, and without temperance; disgracing themselves, by fornications, and gamings, and continuings in the wicked theatres, when they ought before fornication to give him to a wife, to a wife chaste, and highly endued with wisdom; for she will both bring off her husband from his most disorderly course of life, and will be instead of a rein to the colt.
John Chrysostom, The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 59
If it is good not to touch a woman, it is bad to touch one: for there is no opposite to goodness but badness. But if it be bad and the evil is pardoned, the reason for the concession is to prevent worse evil. But surely a thing which is only allowed because there may be something worse has only a slight degree of goodness. He would never have added “let each man have his own wife,” unless he had previously used the words “but, because of fornications.”
Jerome, Against Jovinianus 1
If any person is unmarried (he says) let him remain pure, let him marry: or if he be married, let him not commit fornication, but let him live with his own wife: for this also is “holiness.” How? Marriage is not “holiness,” but marriage preserves the holiness which [proceeds] from Faith, not permitting union with a harlot. … For how shall he who has become the body of a harlot, how shall he be able to be the body of Christ?
John Chrysostom, The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 34
“Honorable,” therefore, “is marriage in all, and the bed undefiled.” And this we do not so call a good, as that it is a good in comparison of fornication: otherwise there will be two evils, of which the second is worse: or fornication will also be a good, because adultery is worse: for it is worse to violate the marriage of another, than to cleave unto an harlot: and adultery will be a good, because incest is worse; for it is worse to lie with a mother than with the wife of another: and, until we arrive at those things, which, as the Apostle saith, “it is a shame even to speak of,” all will be good in comparison of what are worse.
Augustine of Hippo, On the Good of Marriage 8
“He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.” He, however, who cannot receive it, “even if he marry, sinneth not;” and if a woman have not the gift of continence, let her also marry. “It is good, indeed, for a man not to touch a woman.” But since “all men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given,” it remains that “to avoid fornication, every man ought to have his own wife, and every woman her own husband.” And thus the weakness of incontinence is hindered from falling into the ruin of profligacy by the honourable estate of matrimony.
Augustine of Hippo, On Marriage and Concupiscence 1.18
But fornicators and adulterers God will judge ( Heb. xiii. 4 ). They are therefore to be admonished that, if they suffer from the storms of temptation with risk to their safety, they should seek the port of wedlock. For it is written, It is better to marry than to burn ( 1 Cor. vii. 9 ). They come, in fact, to marriage without blame, if only they have not vowed better things.
Gregory the Great, The Book of Pastoral Rule, and Selected Epistles, of Gregory the Great 4.4.28
For the sake of avoiding fornication , says Paul, let every man marry a wife , ( 1 Corinthians 7:2 .) He who has done so, though he may not succeed to his wish, has done his duty; and, therefore, if any thing be wanting, he will be supported by divine aid.
John Calvin, Harmony of the Evangelists, Vol. 2 1.67
But to avoid fornication He now commands, that those who are liable to the vice of incontinency should have recourse to the remedy. For though it may seem that the statement is universal, it ought, nevertheless, to be restricted to those who feel themselves urged by necessity. As to this, every one must judge for himself. Whatever difficulty, therefore, is perceived to be in marriage, let all that cannot resist the promptings of their flesh, know that this commandment has been enjoined upon them by the Lord.
John Calvin, Commentary on Corinthians, Vol. 1 7.1
The Lord prohibits fornication, therefore he requires purity and chastity. The only method which each has of preserving it is to measure himself by his capacity. Let no man rashly despise matrimony as a thing useless or superfluous to him; let no man long for celibacy unless he is able to dispense with the married state.
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion II.8
If he has not the power of subduing his passion, let him understand that the Lord has made it obligatory on him to marry. … The incontinent, therefore, neglecting to cure their infirmity by this means, sin by the very circumstance of disobeying the Apostle’s command.
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion II.8
For Paul’s definition of chastity is purity of mind, combined with purity of body. … Therefore when he gives a reason for the former precept, he not only says that it is better to marry than to live in fornication, but that it is better to marry than to burn.
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion II.8
It is convenient therefore that the unmarried abide as I, which plainly implies that Paul was at that time unmarried. But, if they cannot contain, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn. This is God's remedy for lust. … Marriage is honourable in all; but it is a duty in those who cannot contain nor conquer those inclinations.
Matthew Henry, Commentary on First Corinthians 7.1
II. He informs them that marriage, and the comforts and satisfactions of that state, are by divine wisdom prescribed for preventing fornication ( v. 2 ), Porneias — Fornications, all sorts of lawless lust. To avoid these, Let every man, says he, have his own wife, and every woman her own husband; that is, marry, and confine themselves to their own mates.
Matthew Henry, Commentary on First Corinthians 7.1
Here the general rule is given to avoid fornication—More literally, "on account of fornications," to which as being very prevalent at Corinth, and not even counted sins among the heathen, unmarried persons might be tempted. The plural, "fornications," marks irregular lusts, as contrasted with the unity of the marriage relation [Bengel].
Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible First Corinthians 7
9 passages · 8 writers · 100s to 1800s
Writers define simple fornication as intercourse between unmarried persons and discuss betrothal, seduction, and unions without a marriage compact.
Every homicide, even outside a wood, is banditry. So, too, whoever enjoys any other than nuptial intercourse, in whatever place, and in the person of whatever woman, makes himself guilty of adultery and fornication. Accordingly, among us, secret connections as well—connections, that is, not first professed in presence of the Church—run risk of being judged akin to adultery and fornication; nor must we let them, if thereafter woven together by the covering of marriage, elude the charge.
Tertullian, On Modesty 4
Fornication is neither marriage, nor the beginning of marriage. If it may be, it is better that they who have committed fornication together be parted; but if they be passionate lovers, let them not separate, for fear of what is worse.
Appendix containing Canons and Rulings not having Conciliar Origin but Approved by Name in Canon II. of the Synod in Trullo, Appendix containing Canons and Rulings not having Conciliar Origin but Approved by Name in Canon II. of the Synod in Trullo 12
Fornication is not wedlock, nor yet the beginning of wedlock. Wherefore it is best, if possible, to put asunder those who are united in fornication. If they are set on cohabitation, let them admit the penalty of fornication.
Basil of Caesarea, The Letters 199
For, if a man should take unto him any one for a time, until he find another worthy either of his honors or of his means, to marry as his compeer; in his soul itself he is an adulterer, and that not with her whom he is desirous of finding, but with her, with whom he so lies, as not to have with her the partnership of a husband. Whence she also herself, knowing and willing this, certainly acts unchastely in having intercourse with him, with whom she has not the compact of a wife.
Augustine of Hippo, On the Good of Marriage 5
This passage more clearly proves that all unlicensed connections were always unlawful in God’s sight. … It is plain that adultery is not in question here; but God declares it to be criminal if a man and woman have connection out of wedlock. Consequently, the people are taught in the Seventh Commandment to beware of all unchastity.
John Calvin, Harmony of the Law, Vol. 3 1.3.4
As the law under which man was created was not to lead a life of solitude, but enjoy a help meet for him, and ever since he fell under the curse the necessity for this mode of life is increased; the Lord made the requisite provision for us in this respect by the institution of marriage, which, entered into under his authority, he has also sanctified with his blessing. Hence, it is evident, that any mode of cohabitation different from marriage is cursed in his sight, and that the conjugal relation was ordained as a necessary means of preventing us from giving way to unbridled lust. Let us beware, therefore, of yielding to indulgence, seeing we are assured that the curse of God lies on every man and woman cohabiting without marriage.
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion II.8
Adultery or fornication committed after a contract, being detected before marriage, giveth just occasion to the innocent party to dissolve that contract.
Westminster Assembly, Westminster Confession of Faith 24.5
Walk in love, and shun fornication and all uncleanness. Fornication is folly committed between unmarried persons.
Matthew Henry, Commentary on Ephesians 5.2
Fornication; or irregular carnal love between unmarried persons.
Philaret of Moscow, The Longer Catechism of the Orthodox, Catholic, Eastern Church q. 584–591
8 passages · 5 writers · 100s to 1700s
Writers extend the ban from the act to desire, looks, and imaginations.
Beware, therefore, of fornication; and if you wish to be pure in your mind, guard your senses against every woman. And command them likewise not to company with men, that they also be pure in their mind. For constant meetings, even though the ungodly deed be not wrought, are to them an irremediable disease, and to us an everlasting reproach of Beliar; for fornication hath neither understanding nor godliness in itself, and all jealousy dwelleth in the desire thereof.
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs 3
Wherefore since fornication is a mortal sin, and much more so the other kinds of lust, it follows that in such like sins not only consent to the act but also consent to the pleasure is a mortal sin.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II.Q154.A4
Reply to Objection 2: Consent to a sin that is venial in its genus, is itself a venial sin, and accordingly one may conclude that the consent to take pleasure in a useless thought about fornication, is a venial sin. But delectation in the act itself of fornication is, in its genus, a mortal sin: and that it be a venial sin before the consent is given, is accidental, viz. on account of the incompleteness of the act: which incompleteness ceases when the deliberate consent has been given, so that therefore it has its complete nature and is a mortal sin.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica I-II.Q74.A8
Q. 139. What are the sins forbidden in the seventh commandment? A. The sins forbidden in the seventh commandment, besides the neglect of the duties required, are, adultery, fornication, rape, incest, sodomy, and all unnatural lusts; all unclean imaginations, thoughts, purposes, and affections; all corrupt or filthy communications, or listening thereunto; wanton looks, impudent or light behavior, immodest apparel; prohibiting of lawful, and dispensing with unlawful marriages; allowing, tolerating, keeping of stews, and resorting to them; entangling vows of single life, undue delay of marriage; having more wives or husbands than one at the same time; unjust divorce, or desertion; idleness, gluttony, drunkenness, unchaste company; lascivious songs, books, pictures, dancings, stage plays; and all other provocations to, or acts of uncleanness, either in ourselves or others.
Westminster Assembly, Westminster Larger Catechism 139
I call all desires irregular and sinful that are not sanctified: 1. by the holy institution, or by being within the protection of marriage; 2. by being within the order of nature; 3. by being within the moderation of Christian modesty. Against the first are fornication, adultery, and all voluntary pollutions of either sex.
Jeremy Taylor, Holy Living 2.3.1
Whosoever looketh on a woman (not only another man's wife, as some would have it, but any woman), to lust after her, has committed adultery with her in his heart, v. 28 . This command forbids not only the acts of fornication and adultery, but, (1.) All appetites to them, all lusting after the forbidden object; this is the beginning of the sin, lust conceiving ( James i. 15 ); it is a bad step towards the sin; and where the lust is dwelt upon and approved, and the wanton desire is rolled under the tongue as a sweet morsel, it is the commission of sin, as far as the heart can do it; there wants nothing but convenient opportunity for the sin itself.
Matthew Henry, Commentary on Matthew 5.6
It is expressed in these words: That you should abstain from fornication ( v. 3 ), by which we are to understand all uncleanness whatsoever, either in a married or unmarried state. … All that is contrary to chastity in heart, speech, and behaviour, is contrary to the command of God in the decalogue, and contrary to that holiness which the gospel requires.
Matthew Henry, Commentary on First Thessalonians 4.1
We must look upon our whole selves as holy to the Lord, and must use our bodies as property which belongs to him and is sacred to his use and service. We are to honour him with our bodies and spirits, which are his; and therefore, surely, must abstain from fornication; and not only from the outward act, but from the adultery of the heart, as our Lord calls it, Matt. v. 28 .
Matthew Henry, Commentary on First Corinthians 6.3
8 passages · 7 writers · 100s to 1500s
Writers and canons set penance, exclusion, and restoration for those who commit fornication, and disagree on whether pardon is open.
She who has committed fornication liveth in sin, and is dead to the commandments; but she who has repented, being as it were born again by the change in her life, has a regeneration of life; the old harlot being dead, and she who has been regenerated by repentance having come back again to life.
Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata, or Miscellanies 2.23
“Every unrighteousness is sin; and there is a sin unto death. But we know that every one who hath been born of God sinneth not” —to wit, the sin which is unto death. Thus there is no course left for you, but either to deny that adultery and fornication are mortal sins; or else to confess them irremissible, for which it is not permitted even to make successful intercession.
Tertullian, On Modesty 19
That fornicators be three years wholly ejected from prayer, three years hearers, three years prostrators, and then admitted to communion; but the time of hearing and prostrating may be lessened to them who of their own accord confess, and are earnest penitents.
Appendix containing Canons and Rulings not having Conciliar Origin but Approved by Name in Canon II. of the Synod in Trullo, Appendix containing Canons and Rulings not having Conciliar Origin but Approved by Name in Canon II. of the Synod in Trullo 21
But perhaps even among women some one will say, I have committed fornication, and adultery, I have defiled my body by excesses of all kinds: is there salvation for me? Turn thine eyes, O woman, upon Rahab, and look thou also for salvation; for if she who had been openly and publicly a harlot was saved by repentance, is not she who on some one occasion before receiving grace committed fornication to be saved by repentance and fasting?
Cyril of Jerusalem, The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 6
In the case of a man having a wife by seduction, be it secret or by violence, he must be held guilty of fornication. The punishment of fornicators is fixed at four years.
Basil of Caesarea, The Letters 199
Because an open fornicator should be excommunicated according to the Scriptures, it follows that fornication or impure celibacy, are accounted as scandalous, and is harmful to all orders of men — even more to the priesthood.
Reformed Churches, Ten Theses of Berne 10
Some might think it harsh, or inconsistent with the Divine goodness, that all who have incurred the guilt of fornication or covetousness are excluded from the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven. But the answer is easy. Paul does not say that those who have fallen into those sins, and recovered from them, are not pardoned, but pronounces sentence on the sins themselves.
John Calvin, Commentary on Galatians and Ephesians Ephesians 5.2
When men have repented, and thus give evidence that they are reconciled to God, they are no longer the same persons that they formerly were. But let all fornicators, or unclean or covetous persons, so long as they continue such, be assured that they have no friendship with God, and are deprived of all hope of salvation.
John Calvin, Commentary on Galatians and Ephesians Ephesians 5.2
4 passages · 4 writers · 300s to 700s
Writers rank continence above marriage and marriage above fornication.
Suppose I say, “It is better to be a virgin than a married woman;” in this case I have preferred to what is good what is still better. But suppose I go a step further and say, “It is better to marry than to commit fornication;” in that case I have preferred, not a better thing to a good thing, but a good thing to a bad one. There is a wide difference between the two cases; for, while virginity is related to marriage as better is to good, marriage is related to fornication as good is to bad.
Jerome, The Letters of St. Jerome 48
For intercourse of marriage for the sake of begetting hath not fault; but for the satisfying of lust, but yet with husband or wife, by reason of the faith of the bed, it hath venial fault: but adultery or fornication hath deadly fault, and, through this, continence from all intercourse is indeed better even than the intercourse of marriage itself, which takes place for the sake of begetting.
Augustine of Hippo, On the Good of Marriage 6
Blessed is such beauty and worthy of God; for nothing is to be compared with virginity. Thus, then, those who set marriage side by side with fornication grievously err; and those who think that marriage is to be placed on an equal footing with virginity are utterly wretched and foolish. But this distinction must be maintained by wise people, that marriage belongs to those things which may be excused, while virginity points to glory, and fornication must incur punishment unless its guilt is purged away through atonement.’
Sulpitius Severus, Dialogues of Sulpitius Severus 2.10
Good indeed is the procreation of children enjoined by the law, and good is marriage on account of fornications, for it does away with these , and by lawful intercourse does not permit the madness of desire to be enflamed into unlawful acts. Good is marriage for those who have no continence: but that virginity is better which increases the fruitfulness of the soul and offers to God the seasonable fruit of prayer.
John of Damascus, John of Damascus: Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 4.24
11 passages · 10 writers · 100s to 1900s
Writers cite 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 to place fornicators among those who do not inherit the kingdom of God.
Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, not effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” And as it was not to those who are without that he said these things, but to us, lest we should be cast forth from the kingdom of God, by doing any such thing, he proceeds to say, “And such indeed were ye; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God.” And just as then, those who led vicious lives, and put other people astray, were condemned and cast out, so also even now the offending eye is plucked out, and the foot and the hand, lest the rest of the body perish in like manner. And we have the precept: “If any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such an one go not to eat.”
Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies: Book IV 28
Let us therefore not flatter the Catholic who is hemmed in with all these vices, nor venture, merely because he is a Catholic Christian, to promise him the impunity which holy Scripture does not prom ise him; nor, if he has any one of the faults above mentioned, ought we to promise him a partnership in that heavenly land. For, in writing to the Corinthians, the apostle enumerates the several sins, under each of which it is implicitly understood that it shall not inherit the kingdom of God: "Be not deceived," he says: "neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." He does not say, those who possess all these vices together shall not inherit the kingdom of God; but neither these nor those: so that, as each is named, you may understand that no one of them shall inherit the kingdom of God.
Augustine of Hippo, On Baptism, Against the Donatists 6.19
And therefore neither ought such persons as lead an abandoned and damnable life to be confident of salvation, though they persevere to the end in the communion of the Church catholic, and comfort themselves with the words, “He that endureth to the end shall be saved.” By the iniquity of their life they abandon that very righteousness of life which Christ is to them, whether it be by fornication, or by perpetrating in their body the other uncleannesses which the apostle would not so much as mention, or by a dissolute luxury, or by doing any one of those things of which he says, “They who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Consequently, they who do such things shall not exist anywhere but in eternal punishment, since they cannot be in the kingdom of God.
Augustine of Hippo, City of God 21.25
First, there is sin, which directly excludes a man from the kingdom, according to 1 Cor. 6:9,10, "Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, etc., shall possess the kingdom of God"; and to this refer the words, "Forgive us our trespasses."
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II.Q83.A9
The sum is, that God, whenever He punishes the ungodly and iniquitous, pays them the wages which they have earned; whereas He never punishes the just. Yet it is to be observed, that when God declares that he will be the avenger of sins, His mercy is not excluded, whereby He buries the transgressions of His people, so that they come not into mind. Thus, when Paul says, “Neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor murderers, nor revilers, shall possess the kingdom of God,” ( 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10 ;) it would be incorrect to conclude that they were all shut out from the hope of salvation; since he only speaks of the reprobate, who never repent, so that being converted they may obtain grace.
John Calvin, Harmony of the Law, Vol. 3 5.9
In opposition also to the subtle wits of certain men, who, by pleasing speeches and good words, seduce the hearts, of the innocent, it is to be maintained, that the received grace of Justification is lost, not only by infidelity whereby even faith itself is lost, but also by any other mortal sin whatever, though faith be not lost; thus defending the doctrine of the divine law, which excludes from the kingdom of God not only the unbelieving, but the faithful also [who are] fornicators, adulterers, effeminate, liers with mankind, thieves, covetous, drunkards, railers, extortioners, and all others who commit deadly sins; from which, with the help of divine grace, they can refrain, and on account of which they are separated from the grace of Christ.
Council of Trent, Canons and Dogmatic Decrees of the Council of Trent Session 6, ch. XV
Q. Can those be saved who do not turn to God from their ungrateful and unrepentant ways? A. By no means. Scripture tells us that no unchaste person, no idolater, adulterer, thief, no covetous person, no drunkard, slanderer, robber, or the like will inherit the kingdom of God.
Reformed Churches, Heidelberg Catechism 87
When we are telling the drunkard that he cannot be saved unless he become temperate, and the fornicator that he cannot be saved unless he become chaste, have we not as great reason, if we are proud, to say to ourselves, that we cannot be saved unless we become humble. Pride, in fact, is a greater sin than drunkenness or whoredom; and humility is as necessary as sobriety and chastity.
Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor 3.1
He puts it to them as a plain truth, of which they could not be ignorant, that such sinners should not inherit the kingdom of God. The meanest among them must know thus much, that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God ( v. 9 ), shall not be owned as true members of his church on earth, nor admitted as glorious members of the church in heaven. All unrighteousness is sin; and all reigning sin, nay, every actual sin committed deliberately, and not repented of, shuts out of the kingdom of heaven. He specifies several sorts of sins: against the first and second commandments, as idolaters; against the seventh, as adulterers, fornicators, effeminate, and Sodomites; against the eighth, as thieves and extortioners, that by force or fraud wrong their neighbours; against the ninth, as revilers; and against the tenth, as covetous and drunkards, as those who are in a fair way to break all the rest.
Matthew Henry, Commentary on First Corinthians 6.2
The unholy cannot be saved, Co1 6:9-10. So God has determined; and this purpose cannot be evaded or escaped. It is fixed; and men may think of it as they please, still it is true that there are large classes of people who, if they continue such, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The fornicator, the idolater, the drunkard, and the covetous, cannot enter heaven.
Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible First Corinthians 6:20
Do not be led astray by plausible talk to cover up sin as mere animal behaviourism. Paul has two lists in verses 9,10 , one with repetition of ουτε, neither (fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, or μαλακο, abusers of themselves with men or αρσενοκοιτα or sodomites as in 1Ti 1:10 a late word for this horrid vice, thieves, covetous), the other with ου not (drunkards, revilers, extortioners). All these will fall short of the kingdom of God. This was plain talk to a city like Corinth. It is needed today.
A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament 8.6
9 passages · 9 writers · 200s to 1700s
Writers cite 1 Corinthians 7:2 and 7:9 and say marriage is permitted or commanded to prevent fornication.
But in the new covenant also there are some legal injunctions of the same order as, “Moses for your hardness of heart suffered you to put away your wives;” for example, because of our hardness of heart, it has been written on account of our weakness, “But because of fornications, let each man have his own wife and let each woman have her own husband;” and this, “Let the husband render unto the wife her due, and likewise also the wife unto the husband.” To these sayings it is accordingly subjoined, “But this I say by way of permission, not of commandment.”
Origen of Alexandria, Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew 2.7.23
“‘Since, therefore, the erotic desire occurs for the sake of continuation and legitimate increasing, as I have said, it behoves parents providing for the chastity of their children to anticipate the desire, by imbuing them with instruction by means of chaste books, and to accustom them beforehand by excellent discourses; for custom is a second nature. And in addition to this, frequently to remind them of the punishments appointed by the laws, that, using fear as a bridle, they may not run on in wicked pleasures. And it behoves them also, before the springing of the desire, to satisfy the natural passion of puberty by marriage, first persuading them not to look upon the beauty of another woman.
Pseudo-Clement, Pseudo-Clementine Literature 4.8.25
But, for my part, to every one who is thinking about marriage I testify that, “the fashion of this world passeth away,” and the time is short: “it remaineth that both they that have wives be as though they had none.” If he improperly quotes the charge “Increase and multiply,” I laugh at him, for not discerning the signs of the times. Second marriage is a remedy against fornication, not a means of lasciviousness. “If they cannot contain,” it is said “let them marry;” but if they marry they must not break the law.
Basil of Caesarea, The Letters 160
Has the apostle, think you, both shown sufficiently to the strong what is highest, and permitted to the weaker what is next best? Not to touch a woman he shows is highest when he says, "I would that all men were even as I myself." But next to this highest is conjugal chastity, that man may not be the prey of fornication.
Augustine of Hippo, On the Morals of the Catholic Church 35
I answer that, The final cause of marriage may be taken as twofold, namely essential and accidental. The essential cause of marriage is the end to which it is by its very nature ordained, and this is always good, namely the begetting of children and the avoiding of fornication.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica Suppl..Q48.A2
Marriage is not forbidden to any class of men in the Scriptures, but as a means of avoiding fornication and impurity, it is commanded and permitted to men of all classes.
Reformed Churches, Ten Theses of Berne 9
First, concerning such as contract matrimony, they teach on our part that it is lawful for all men who are not fitted for single life to contract matrimony, because vows cannot annul the ordinance and commandment of God. But the commandment of God is 1 Corinthians 7:2 , To avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife.
Lutheran Church, Augsburg Confession 24.5
Marriage is instituted for the comfort of human life, here in this state where we carry bodies about with us. It is likewise a remedy against fornication, that natural desires might not become brutal, but be under direction and control.
Matthew Henry, Commentary on Luke 20.4
It is good for a man - Who is master of himself. … 2. Yet, when it is needful, in order to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife. His own - For Christianity allows no polygamy.
John Wesley, Notes on the Bible 7.7
9 passages · 9 writers · 100s to 1800s
Writers and councils address exclusion from communion, penance, and whether fornicators may be restored.
I admit that the sinner portrayed in each parable is one who is already a Christian; yet not that on this account must he be affirmed to be such an one as can be restored, through repentance, from the crime of adultery and fornication. For although he be said to “have perished,” there will be the kind of perdition to treat of; inasmuch as the “ewe” “perished” not by dying, but by straying; and the “drachma” not by being destroyed, but by being hidden.
Tertullian, On Modesty 7
If a presbyter marry, let him be removed from his order; but if he commit fornication or adultery, let him be altogether cast out [i.e. of communion] and put to penance. … A presbyter who marries is removed from the exercise of the priesthood but retains his honour and seat. But he that commits fornication or adultery is cast forth altogether and put to penance.
The Canons of the Councils of Ancyra, Gangra, Neocæsarea, Antioch and Laodicea, which Canons were Accepted and Received by the Ecumenical Synods, The Canons of the Councils of Ancyra, Gangra, Neocæsarea, Antioch and Laodicea, which Canons were Accepted and Received by the Ecumenical Synods 4.3.1
For all things whatsoever thou hast done shall be forgiven thee, whether it be fornication, or adultery, or any other such form of licentiousness. What can be a greater sin than to crucify Christ? Yet even of this Baptism can purify.
Cyril of Jerusalem, The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 7
Samuel of old lamented for Saul because he neglected to treat the ulcers of pride with the balm of penitence. And Paul wept for the Corinthians who refused to wash out with their tears the stains of fornication.
Jerome, The Letters of St. Jerome 122
I know, he saith, that ye shared in my anger and indignation against him that had committed fornication, and that what had taken place grieved in part all of you. And therefore said I “in part,” not as though ye were less hurt than I, but that I might not weigh down him that had committed fornication. … “Sufficient to such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the many.” … “So that contrariwise ye should rather forgive him and comfort him, lest by any means such a one should be swallowed up with his overmuch sorrow.”
John Chrysostom, Homilies on Second Corinthians 4
There is nothing contrary to the mercifulness of truth, or inconsistent with Christian faith, in a harlot leaving fornication, and becoming a chaste wife. Indeed, nothing could be more unbecoming in one professing to be a prophet than not to believe that all the sins of the fallen woman were pardoned when she changed for the better.
Augustine of Hippo, Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 24
True it is that my conscience and sense of guilt deserves damnation, and that my penance is not enough for satisfaction; but yet it is certain that Thy mercy out strips all Thy resentment. Spare, therefore, Thou good Lord, to whom salvation belongeth, and who desirest not the death of the sinner, spare my sinful soul; for it flies, frightened by Thy frightening justice, to Thy consoling mercy; that so, since the treasure of his marred virginity is now—O grief!—irrecoverable, yet the punishment due to fornication may not be inevitable to the penitent; for ’tis neither impossible to Thy omnipotence, nor ill-becoming to Thy justice, nor unwonted to Thy mercy; since Thou art good, and since Thy mercy reaches to eternity, Thou who art blessed for ever more.
Anselm of Canterbury, Meditations and Prayers 2.3
To this use of discipline the apostle referred when he commanded the Corinthians to discard the incestuous man from their society. “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (1 Cor. 5:6) And so much danger did he foresee here, that he prohibited them from keeping company with such persons. “If any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one, no not to eat” (1 Cor. 5:11). A third end of discipline is, that the sinner may be ashamed, and begin to repent of his turpitude.
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion IV.12
A second law of this visible kingdom of our Lord is that heretics and those guilty of scandalous offences should be excommunicated. “A man that is an heretic, after the first and second admonition reject.” (Titus iii. 10.) “I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.” (1 Cor. v. 11.) Our Lord teaches that such an offender when he refuses to hear “the Church” is to be regarded as a “heathen man and a publican.”
Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology III.11.3
8 passages · 8 writers · 100s to 1900s
Writers cite 1 Corinthians 6 to say fornication defiles the body that belongs to Christ.
Those, therefore, who are consecrated to God must never live mortally ( θνητῶς ). “Nor,” as Paul says, “is it meet to make the members of Christ the members of an harlot; nor must the temple of God be made the temple of base affections.” Remember the four and twenty thousand that were rejected for fornication.
Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor 2.10
And are not they who wallow in dissoluteness, as do the majority of mankind, and they who associate promiscuously with common harlots, and who teach that such practices are not wholly contrary to propriety, worms who roll in mire?—especially when they are compared with those who have been taught not to take the “members of Christ,” and the body inhabited by the Word, and make them the “members of a harlot;” and who have already learned that the body of the rational being, as consecrated to the God of all things, is the temple of the God whom they worship, becoming such from the pure conceptions which they entertain of the Creator, and who also, being careful not to corrupt the temple of God by unlawful pleasure; practise temperance as constituting piety towards God!
Origen of Alexandria, Origen Against Celsus 4.26
There is nothing polluted in the human frame except a man defile this with fornication and adultery. He who formed Adam formed Eve also, and male and female were formed by God’s hands. … But let us remember Paul’s saying, Know ye not that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost which is in you ?
Cyril of Jerusalem, The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 16
My hand, it is true, is defiled by theft or murder, my tongue by evil speaking, or perjury, and the whole body by drunkenness; but fornication leaves a stain impressed upon the body, such as is not impressed upon it from other sins.
John Calvin, Commentary on Corinthians, Vol. 1 6.3
Use four: Seeing you expect your bodies shall rise to glory, keep them unspotted from sin. Shall a drunken body rise to glory? Shall an unclean body rise to glory? … Your bodies are the members of Christ. Hear what the apostle says: ‘Shall I take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot?
Thomas Watson, A Body of Divinity 7.3
If we are Christians indeed they are yielded to him, and he inhabits and occupies them by his Spirit: so that our bodies are not our own, but his. And shall we desecrate his temple, defile it, prostitute it, and offer it up to the use and service of a harlot? Horrid sacrilege! This is robbing God in the worst sense.
Matthew Henry, Commentary on First Corinthians 6.3
The fornicator treats his body as if it were "his own," to give to a harlot if he pleases (1Co 6:18; compare 1Co 6:20). But we have no right to alienate our body which is the Lord's. … Christ buys him to Himself, to serve Him (Ro 6:16-22).
Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible First Corinthians 6
The horror of deliberately taking "members of Christ" and making them "members of a harlot" in an actual union staggers Paul and should stagger us.
A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament 8.6
11 passages · 11 writers · 1st c. to 1800s
Writers extend the prohibition to thoughts, looks, and desires, and urge guarding them.
My child, flee from every evil thing, and from every likeness of it. … 3. My child, be not a lustful one; for lust leadeth the way to fornication; neither a filthy talker, nor of lofty eye; for out of all these adulteries are engendered.
The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles 3.3
“I charge you,” said he, “to guard your chastity, and let no thought enter your heart of another man’s wife, or of fornication, or of similar iniquities; for by doing this you commit a great sin. But if you always remember your own wife, you will never sin. For if this thought enter your heart, then you will sin; and if, in like manner, you think other wicked thoughts, you commit sin.
Hermas, The Pastor of Hermas 3.4
Do ye also therefore, my children, flee ill-doing, envy, and hatred of brethren, and cleave to goodness and love. He that hath a pure mind in love, looketh not after a woman unto fornication; for he hath no defilement in his heart, because the Spirit of God resteth in him.
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs 14
“For the light of the body is the eye,” says the Scripture, by which the interior illuminated by the shining light appears. Fornication in a woman is in the raising of the eyes.
Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor 3.11
Even in seeing, thou mayest sin, if thy mind is not watchful; and in hearing thou mayest transgress, if thou dost not guard thy hearing. The fornicator’s heart waxes wanton through speech that is full of uncleanness. The passion hidden in the mind, sight and hearing awaken it.
Ephrem the Syrian, Ephraim Syrus: Three Homilies 3
The Lord says: “whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” … Woe be to us who commit fornication every time that we cherish lust.
Jerome, The Letters of St. Jerome 125
Or if the harlot be not found in the brothel, doth he, who seeks her, on that account fail to commit fornication in his heart? … Thus all the other evil deeds of men, which no motion of the body performs, of which no sense of the body is conscious, have their own secret criminals, who are also polluted by consent alone in thought, that is, by evil words of the inner mouth.
Augustine of Hippo, On Continence 4
But if a sudden thought or a passage of Holy Scripture brings up the recollection of a woman and we feel that we are at all attracted towards her, we should know that the fire of fornication is not yet extinguished in us. But if on a comparison of our own strictness with the laxity of another even the slightest conceit tries our mind, it is clear that we are affected with the dreadful plague of pride. When then we detect these signs of faults in our heart, we should clearly recognize that it is only the opportunity and not the passion of sin of which we are deprived.
John Cassian, The Conferences of John Cassian. Part III. Containing Conferences XVIII.-XXIV 3.12
As it is generally by the wantonness of the eyes that temptations are presented to the mind, and as lust enters, as it were, by that door, Christ used this mode of speaking, when he wished to condemn lust: which is evident from the expression, to lust after her. This teaches us also, that not only those who form a deliberate purpose of fornication, but those who admit any polluted thoughts, are reckoned adulterers before God. The hypocrisy of the Papists, therefore, is too gross and stupid, when they affirm that lust is not a sin, until it gain the full consent of the heart.
John Calvin, Harmony of the Evangelists, Vol. 1 5.46
An unclean heart is like an oven heated; and the unclean lusts and affections of it are as the fuel that makes it hot. It is an inward fire, it keeps the heat within itself; so adulterers and fornicators secretly burn in lust, as the expression is, Rom. i. 27 .
Matthew Henry, Commentary on Hosea 7.1
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her—with the intent to do so, as the same expression is used in Mt 6:1; or, with the full consent of his will, to feed thereby his unholy desires. hath committed adultery with her already in his heart—We are not to suppose, from the word here used—"adultery"—that our Lord means to restrict the breach of this commandment to married persons, or to criminal intercourse with such. The expressions, "whosoever looketh," and "looketh upon a woman," seem clearly to extend the range of this commandment to all forms of impurity, and the counsels which follow—as they most certainly were intended for all, whether married or unmarried—seem to confirm this.
Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Matthew 5
10 passages · 8 writers · 200s to 1800s
Writers rank fornication against adultery, polygamy, gluttony, and sins of the soul.
The Fathers say nothing of polygamy as being beastly, and a thing unagreeable to human nature. To us it appears a greater sin than fornication: Let therefore such [as are guilty of it] be liable to the canons, viz.: after they have been mourners one year—let them be prostrators three years—and then be received
Appendix containing Canons and Rulings not having Conciliar Origin but Approved by Name in Canon II. of the Synod in Trullo, Appendix containing Canons and Rulings not having Conciliar Origin but Approved by Name in Canon II. of the Synod in Trullo 13
If a man living with a wife is not satisfied with his marriage and falls into fornication, I account him a fornicator, and prolong his period of punishment. Nevertheless, we have no canon subjecting him to the charge of adultery, if the sin be committed against an unmarried woman.
Basil of Caesarea, The Letters 199
For tell me not of acts of fornication only, nor of adulteries, nor of these things that are manifest, and acknowledged amongst all men: but lay together also thy secret crafts, and thy false accusations, and thine evil speakings, and thy vain gloryings, and thine envy, and all such things. For neither will these bring a trifling punishment.
John Chrysostom, The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 44
I answer that, There is a twofold gravity to be observed in sin. one results from the very species of the sin: thus we say that adultery is a graver sin than simple fornication.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II.Q163.A3
Hence although fornication is less grave on account of the greatness of its incentive, yet on account of the matter about which it is, it has a greater gravity than immoderate eating, because it is about those things which tighten the bond of human fellowship, as stated above.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica Suppl..Q65.A4
For, whilst all fornication pollutes a man, there is grosser impurity in adultery, because the sanctity of marriage is violated, and by the commingling of seed a spurious and illegitimate offspring is derived. Wherefore, God has justly enumerated this crime amongst the abominations of the Gentiles, as may be more clearly seen from the exordium of the chapter from whence this passage is taken.
John Calvin, Harmony of the Law, Vol. 3 1.3.2
Before punishment was sanctioned by a written law, the adulterous woman was, by the consent of all, committed to the flames. This seems to have been done by a divine instinct, that, under the direction and authority of nature, the sanctity of marriage might be fortified, as by a firm guard: and although man is not the lord of his own body, but there is a mutual obligation between himself and his wife, yet husbands who have had illicit intercourse with unmarried women have not been subject to capital punishment; because that punishment was awarded to women, not only on account of their immodesty, but also, of the disgrace which the woman brings upon her husband, and of the confusion caused by the clandestine admixture of seeds.
John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis, Vol. 2 38.1
It is a higher aggravation, when men in sinning abuse and dishonour their own bodies; for these are the principal external workmanship of God, being made for eternity, and whose preservation unto his glory is committed unto us in an especial manner. This the apostle declareth to be the peculiar aggravation of the sin of fornication, and uncleanness of any kind, 1 Cor. vi. 18, 19. But the height of impiety consists in the abuse of the faculties and powers of the soul, wherewith we are endowed purposely and immediately for the glorifying of God.
John Owen, Pneumatologia 6.8
Idolatry is here placed between fornication and adultery, because they generally accompanied it. … We may learn hence, that we are never secure from the greatest sins, till we guard against those which are thought the least; nor, indeed, till we think no sin is little, since every one is a step toward hell.
John Wesley, Notes on the Bible 7.6
Fornication is nearly akin to gluttony, Esau's sin. He profanely cast away his spiritual privilege for the gratification of his palate.
Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Hebrews 12
9 passages · 8 writers · 300s to 1900s
Writers explain why the apostles forbade fornication to Gentile converts and describe pagan and Corinthian attitudes.
For it hath seemed good unto the Holy Ghost and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; that ye abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication ; shewing evidently by what they wrote, that though the writing was by the hands of human Apostles, yet the decree is universal from the Holy Ghost: which decree Paul and Barnabas took and confirmed unto all the world.
Cyril of Jerusalem, The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 21
Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world. Wherefore my sentence is, that we do not trouble those who from among the Gentiles turn unto God: but to charge them that they abstain from the pollutions of the Gentiles, and from what is sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication; which laws were given to the ancients who lived before the law, under the law of nature, Enos , Enoch , Noah , Melchizedek , Job , and if there be any other of the same sort.”
Constitutions of the Holy Apostles, Constitutions of the Holy Apostles 7.3
Then, again, the Apostles and elders wrote letters from Jerusalem that no heavier burden should be laid on Gentile believers than that they should keep themselves from idolatry, and from fornication, and from things strangled. … For if the young man who boasted of having done all that the law enjoins, when he heard this went away sorrowful, because he had great possessions, and the Pharisees derided an utterance such as this from our Lord’s lips: how much more would the vast multitude of Gentiles, whose highest virtue consisted in not plundering another’s goods, have repudiated the obligation of perpetual chastity and continence, when they were told in the letter to keep themselves from idols, and from fornication, seeing that fornication was heard of among them, and such fornication as was not “even among the Gentiles.”
Jerome, Against Jovinianus 1
There are nevertheless some persons who, disregarding these precepts, suppose all fornication to be an indifferent matter; but contend about holy-days as if their lives were at stake, thus contravening the commands of God, and legislating for themselves, and making of none effect the decree of the apostles: neither do they perceive that they are themselves practicing the contrary to those things which God approved.
Socrates Scholasticus, The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus 8.23
With regard to fornication a special prohibition was made, because the Gentiles did not hold it to be sinful.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica I-II.Q103.A4
To abstain from fornication - Which even the philosophers among the heathens did not account any fault. It was particularly frequent in the worship of their idols, on which account they are here named together.
John Wesley, Notes on the Bible 5.15
From such food James would enjoin the Gentile converts to abstain, lest it should seem to the Jews that they were not entirely weaned from idolatry. and from fornication—The characteristic sin of heathendom, unblushingly practiced by all ranks and classes, and the indulgence of which on the part of the Gentile converts would to Jews, whose Scriptures branded it as an abomination of the heathen, proclaim them to be yet joined to their old idols. and from things strangled—which had the blood in them.
Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Acts 15
All things are lawful unto me—These, which were Paul's own words on a former occasion (to the Corinthians, compare 1Co 10:23, and Ga 5:23), were made a pretext for excusing the eating of meats offered to idols, and so of what was generally connected with idolatry (Ac 15:29), "fornication" (perhaps in the letter of the Corinthians to Paul, 1Co 7:1). Paul's remark had referred only to things indifferent: but they wished to treat fornication as such, on the ground that the existence of bodily appetites proved the lawfulness of their gratification.
Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible First Corinthians 6
James agrees with Peter in his support of Paul and Barnabas in their contention for Gentile freedom from the Mosaic ceremonial law. The restrictions named by James affect the moral code that applies to all (idolatry, fornication, murder). Idolatry, fornication and murder were the outstanding sins of paganism then and now (Re 22:15 ).
A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament 6.15
9 passages · 9 writers · 100s to 1900s
Writers and canons treat intercourse before marriage, with betrothed women and unbetrothed virgins, as fornication or as binding the parties to marry.
According to the opinion of the Stoics, marriage and the rearing of children are a thing indifferent; and according to the Peripatetics, a good. In a word, these, following out their dogmas in words, became enslaved to pleasures; some using concubines, some mistresses, and the most youths. And that wise quaternion in the garden with a mistress, honoured pleasure by their acts.
Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata, or Miscellanies 2.23
If anyone shall force and keep a virgin not espoused, let him be excommunicated. And he may not take any other, but must retain her whom he has chosen, though she be a poor person.
Appendix containing Canons and Rulings not having Conciliar Origin but Approved by Name in Canon II. of the Synod in Trullo, Appendix containing Canons and Rulings not having Conciliar Origin but Approved by Name in Canon II. of the Synod in Trullo 4
For it is not sufficient if you abstain from another’s bed, or from the brothel. Let him who has a wife seek nothing further, but, content with her alone, let him guard the mysteries of the marriage-bed chaste and undefiled. For he is equally an adulterer in the sight of God and impure, who, having thrown off the yoke, wantons in strange pleasure either with a free woman or a slave.
Lactantius, The Divine Institutes 8.62
If any one wants to contract a lawful marriage, the whole world is open to him: if he is only impelled by lust, let him be the more restricted, “that he may know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour, not in the lust of concupiscence.” I should like to say more, but the limits of my letter leave me no further room. I pray that my exhortation may prove stronger than lust, or at least that this pollution may not be found in my own province. Where it has been ventured on there let it abide.
Basil of Caesarea, The Letters 160
Wherefore, if one woman cohabits with several men, inasmuch as no increase of offspring accrues to her therefrom, but only a more frequent gratification of lust, she cannot possibly be a wife, but only a harlot.
Augustine of Hippo, On Marriage and Concupiscence 1.10
There is rape without seduction if a man abduct a widow or one who is not a virgin. … There is seduction without rape when a man, without employing force, violates a virgin unlawfully. … For one who is promised in marriage must be restored to her betrothed, who has a right to her in virtue of their betrothal: whereas one that is not promised to another must first of all be restored to her father's care, and then the abductor may lawfully marry her with her parents' consent.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica II-II.Q154.A7
The severity of the punishment is now extended further, and a betrothed woman is counted as a wife; and this for a very good reason, because she has plighted her troth, and it is a token of abandoned incontinency for the mind of a woman to be so alienated from the man to whom she is betrothed, as to prostitute her virginity to another’s embraces. But since one who has been ravished is not criminal, a woman is absolved if she be forced in a field, because it is probable that she yielded unwillingly, inasmuch as she was far from assistance. Although, however, the terms are accommodated to the comprehension of a rude people, it was the intention of God to distinguish force from consent.
John Calvin, Harmony of the Law, Vol. 3 1.3.4
No unlawful pleasures are compatible with chastity; the pure heart is like the mother of pearl which admits no drop of water save that which comes from Heaven,—it is closed to every attraction save such as are sanctified by holy matrimony. Close your heart to every questionable tenderness or delight, guard against all that is unprofitable though it may be lawful, and strive to avoid unduly fixing your heart even on that which in itself is right and good.
Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life 3.12
Betrothal with the Jews was a serious matter, not lightly entered into and not lightly broken. The man who betrothed a maiden was legally husband (Ge 29:21; De 22:23f. ) and "an informal cancelling of betrothal was impossible" (McNeile). Though they did not live together as husband and wife till actual marriage, breach of faithfulness on the part of the betrothed was treated as adultery and punished with death.
A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament 2.1
14 passages · 13 writers · 1st c. to 1900s
Writers include fornication in the Decalogue, the Two Ways, and lists of vices.
And the way of death is this: First of all it is evil and full of curse: murders, adulteries, lusts, fornications, thefts, idolatries, magic arts, witchcrafts, rapines, false witnessings, hypocrisies, double-heartedness, deceit, haughtiness, depravity, self-will, greediness, filthy talking, jealousy, over-confidence, loftiness, boastfulness;
The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles 3.5
Let no one addicted to idleness eat, lest he become a wanderer about, and a whoremonger. Let drunkenness, anger, envy, reviling, clamour, and blasphemy “be not so much as named among you.” … But as to the practice of magic, or the impure love of boys, or murder, it is superfluous to write to you, since such vices are forbidden to be committed even by the Gentiles.
Ignatius of Antioch, The Epistles of Ignatius 11
They have the commands of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself graven upon their hearts; and they observe them, looking forward to the resurrection of the dead and life in the world to come. They do not commit adultery nor fornication, nor bear false witness, nor covet the things of others; they honour father and mother, and love their neighbours; they judge justly, and they never do to others what they would not wish to happen to themselves; they appeal to those who injure them, and try to win them as friends; they are eager to do good to their enemies; they are gentle and easy to be entreated; they abstain from all unlawful conversation and from all impurity; they despise not the widow, nor oppress the orphan; and he that has, gives ungrudgingly for the maintenance of him who has not.
Aristides of Athens, The Apology of Aristides the Philosopher 3
Thou shalt not allow over-boldness to enter into thy soul. Thou shalt not commit fornication: thou shalt not commit adultery: thou shalt not be a corrupter of youth. Thou shalt not let the word of God issue from thy lips with any kind of impurity.
Barnabas, Epistle of Barnabas 2.19
“For [God] sets before every race of mankind that which is always and universally just, as well as all righteousness; and every race knows that adultery, and fornication, and homicide, and such like, are sinful; and though they all commit such practices, yet they do not escape from the knowledge that they act unrighteously whenever they so do, with the exception of those who are possessed with an unclean spirit, and who have been debased by education, by wicked customs, and by sinful institutions, and who have lost, or rather quenched and put under, their natural ideas.
Justin Martyr, Dialog with Trypho 93
And thus do we also, since our persuasion by the Word, stand aloof from them (i.e., the demons), and follow the only unbegotten God through His Son —we who formerly delighted in fornication, but now embrace chastity alone; we who formerly used magical arts, dedicate ourselves to the good and unbegotten God; we who valued above all things the acquisition of wealth and possessions, now bring what we have into a common stock, and communicate to every one in need; we who hated and destroyed one another, and on account of their different manners would not live with men of a different tribe, now, since the coming of Christ, live familiarly with them, and pray for our enemies, and endeavour to persuade those who hate us unjustly to live conformably to the good precepts of Christ, to the end that they may become partakers with us of the same joyful hope of a reward from God the ruler of all.
Justin Martyr, The First Apology 14
And they also taught us to refrain from unlawful idolatry, and adultery, and murder, fornication, theft, avarice, false swearing, wrath, and every incontinence and uncleanness; and that whatever a man would not wish to be done to himself, he should not do to another; and thus he who acts righteously shall escape the eternal punishments, and be thought worthy of the eternal life from God.
Theophilus of Antioch, Theophilus to Autolycus - Book II 34
For we have no need to learn that fornication is an evil thing, and that chastity is a good thing, but we know this from the first.
John Chrysostom, The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch 14
It is certain, then, that Moses on the mount received the law, that he might deliver it to the people, written on tables of stone by the finger of God. It is summed up in these ten commandments, in which there is no precept about circumcision, nor anything concerning those animal sacrifices which have ceased to be offered by Christians. Well, now, I should like to be told what there is in these ten commandments, except the observance of the Sabbath, which ought not to be kept by a Christian,—whether it prohibit the making and worshipping of idols and of any other gods than the one true God, or the taking of God’s name in vain; or prescribe honour to parents; or give warning against fornication, murder, theft, false witness, adultery, or coveting other men’s property?
Augustine of Hippo, A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 23
Some are natural and legitimate, for instance those who are born of a true and lawful marriage; some are natural and illegitimate, as those who are born of fornication; some are legitimate and not natural, as adopted children; some are neither legitimate nor natural; such are those born of adultery or incest, for these are born not only against the positive law, but against the express natural law. Hence we must grant that some children are illegitimate. Reply to Objection 1: Although those who are born of an unlawful intercourse are born according to the nature common to man and all animals, they are born contrary to the law of nature which is proper to man: since fornication, adultery, and the like are contrary to the law of nature.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica Suppl..Q68.A1
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornification, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft . . . Paul does not enumerate all the works of the flesh, but only certain ones. First, he mentions various kinds of carnal lusts, as adultery, fornication, wantonness, etc. But carnal lust is not the only work of the flesh, and so he counts among the works of the flesh also idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, and the like.
Martin Luther, Commentary on Galatians 5:19
Adultery and fornication are placed first, and next follows uncleanness , which extends to every species of unchastity. Lasciviousness appears to be a subsidiary term, for the Greek word ασέλγεια, which is thus translated, is applied to those who lead wanton and dissolute lives. These four denote sins forbidden by the seventh commandment.
John Calvin, Commentary on Galatians and Ephesians Galatians 5.4
Against the seventh commandment: Fornication; he mentions no more, having spoken before of other uncleannesses. … Here is enough to humble us all, in the sense of our original corruption; for every heart by nature has in it the seed and spawn of all these sins.
Matthew Henry, Commentary on Romans 1.4
There are more than seven in this deadly list in verses 19-21. He makes the two lists in explanation of the conflict in verse 17 to emphasize the command in verses 13f . There are four groups in Paul's list of manifest vices: (I) Sensual sins like fornication (πορνεια, prostitution, harlotry), uncleanness (ακαθαρσια, moral impurity), lasciviousness (ασελγεια, wantonness), sexual vice of all kinds prevailed in heathenism.
A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament 10.5
6 passages · 6 writers · 100s to 1900s
Writers cite Israel's fornication, Balaam's counsel, and Jezebel's teaching as warnings.
“To inflict vengeance from the Lord on Midian.” For this man (Balaam), when he speaks no longer in the Spirit of God, but contrary to God’s law, by setting up a different law with regard to fornication, is certainly not then to be counted as a prophet, but as a soothsayer. For he who did not keep to the commandment of God, received the just recompense of his own evil devices.
Irenaeus of Lyons, Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenæus 25
Phineas was called Zelotes because he ran through the Midianitish woman with the man who was committing fornication with her, and because he took away the reproach from the children of Israel: but he was more praised because he prayed for the people when they had transgressed.
Gregory of Nazianzus, Select Letters of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 4.7.1
“Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed.” … This then Paul also does here, at the same time both reminding them of that sin, and teaching that the parent of this evil also was luxury and gluttony. Wherefore also he adds, “Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.”
John Chrysostom, Homilies on First Corinthians 24
To teach and seduce my servants - At Pergamos were many followers of Balaam; at Thyatira, one grand deceiver. … This she seems to have done by first enticing them to fornication, just as Balaam did: whereas at Pergamos they were first enticed to idolatry, and afterwards to fornication.
John Wesley, Notes on the Bible 27.2
What they had peculiarly to contend against at Pergamos was the temptation to idol-meats, and fornication, put in their way by Balaamites. As Phinehas was rewarded with "an everlasting priesthood" for his zeal against these very sins to which the Old Testament Balaam seduced Israel; so the heavenly high priesthood is the reward promised here to those zealous against the New Testament Balaamites tempting Christ's people to the same sins.
Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible Revelation 2
Balaam, as Josephus and Philo also say, showed Balak how to set a trap for the Israelites by beguiling them into the double sin of idolatry and fornication, which often went together (and do so still).
A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament 28.2
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