hartley@uvm-cs.UUCP (Stephen J. Hartley) (10/29/84)
I came across the following article that I thought other people might be
interested in. This article is by Bruce Malina and appears in Volume 14
of the journal Novum Testamentum. The title is "Does Porneia Mean Forni-
cation?" Porneia is the Greek word that is usually translated as fornication
or sexual immorality in the New Testament. I will quote the conclusions of
the article.
From all of the above instances, it would seem quite clear that
porneia means: 1) unlawful sexual intercourse; 2) specifically,
sexual intercourse with a cultic or commercial prostitute; 3) unlawful
conduct in general. What makes a given line of conduct proneia, hence
unlawful, is that it is expressly prohibited by Torah -- both oral
and written. Now it would appear that in no case is pre-betrothal,
non-commercial, non-cultic heterosexual intercourse (what is called
"fornication" today) prohibited! The obvious reason for this is that
there is no injunction in the Torah prohibiting such "fornication".
To sum up: porneia means unlawful sexual conduct, or unlawful
conduct in general. What makes a particular line of conduct
unlawful is that it is prohibited by the Torah, written and/or
oral. Pre-betrothal, pre-marital, non-commercial sexual intercourse
between a man and a woman is nowhere considered a moral crime in
the Torah. ... there is no evidence in traditional or contemporary
usage of the word porneia that takes it to mean pre-betrothal,
pre-marital, heterosexual intercourse of a non-cultic or non-
commercial nature, i.e. what we call "fornication" today.
I would like to hear the reactions and comments of others to these
conclusions of Bruce Malina.
--
"If that's true, then I'm the Pope!" Stephen J. Hartley
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