The material presented below is the original work of priest Maxim Kaskun (Moscow region), published on the Internet in the format of video lectures. The author of this project, “ierei063,” in order to present information more concisely, optimized his lectures in such a way as to significantly reduce the volume of material without losing the main idea, allowing the reader to quickly and accurately grasp the main idea.
Father did serious, respectable work, from various sources, including the works of the Holy Fathers, collected information on the topic, clearly systematized and revealed it. He worked on the development of this material for a very long time, and I do not claim authorship, but in order to save my own time, seeing this worthy work, I dare to post a “shortened version” on my website. Those wishing to access the original material, please go to the Internet project of Priest Maxim Kaskun, who also needs support for his works.
Fornication is a sinful passion that parasitizes a person’s ability to produce offspring. This passion is natural, as it is based on human nature.
Passion is a person’s perversion of his natural ability. But, in addition to passion, a person in fornication also sins the sin of death.
What is a mortal sin? The Apostle John the Theologian says that “there is sin leading to death, but there is sin not leading to death.” So the sin of death is the one that, firstly, kills a person’s soul. Secondly, this sin gives the demons the right to cry out to God so that He will take this person’s life for such a crime. This sin, first of all, includes fornication.
If a person does not repent and change his life, then, as a rule, he dies an unnatural death, that is, not his own death: violent or sudden, without preparation, without repentance and forgiveness.
The term “fornication” is translated as sexual immorality or debauchery. But in Russian transliteration the word “fornication” means to wander, to be mistaken. Which shows that such a person has complete ignorance or delusion, lack of path, that is, he is a person who does not have a spiritual path. This is expressed in such a concept as “spiritual fornication.”
Physical fornication - it means sexual relations before marriage, that is, civil marriage and so on, which is very common among young people today. Young people argue that they want to get to know each other better, live together, and what if they don’t fit in or, on the contrary, they are convinced that they do. But, as far as I noticed, even since Soviet times, such couples, before registering with the registry office, lived very well and amicably, gave birth to children and the like. But as soon as they formalized their marriage, it did not last even five years. A civil marriage itself cannot give a person the full sensation of a legal marriage, when you want to check whether you will get along - it is simply impossible. It's like testing yourself to see if you can be a priest. There is no way to know this without the sacrament. Likewise, marriage is also a sacrament, it is God’s blessing on your life together, and without it it is simply fornication, a mortal sin and nothing more. As for the official position of the Church on civil marriage, She recognizes it, but as not perfect, since there is no God’s blessing on it. However, by civil marriage the Church does not mean cohabitation, but a registered marriage in the registry office. And such a marriage is no longer fornication, and the one who calls it a sin sins himself, since no priest has the right to perform the sacrament of marriage if the couple has not registered with the registry office.
Adultery is when one spouse cheats on the other. These also include the so-called “Swedish families” - this is when two men and one woman live together, or vice versa, or when two families come together for mutual infidelity - this is all adultery.
The next manifestation of prodigal passion is the nightly or non-existent flow of semen. This problem is familiar to those who abstain for a long time and are therefore subject to demonic attacks.
Fornication or malakia is a very common type of fornication. In Soviet times, doctors began to recommend this practice to men to relieve tension, stress or depression, arguing that it was good for the body. We hear all this now, but after trying at least once, it’s very difficult to stop, especially for young people, during a period of growth, both physical and emotional.
The most insidious type of fornication in humans manifests itself in same-sex attraction or sodomy, and among women. I would also include pedophilia in this category - this is the attraction of an adult to young children or minor teenagers. These phenomena have become very widespread, I would even say universal. People no longer understand what they are doing, they are so blinded by their base desires and instincts.
Bestiality is the extreme degree of fornication.
How the sin of fornication is born.
First of all, this is the will of the person himself. Without our consent, without our will, this is impossible.
Procreation is our natural desire, but when we make it a source of pleasure, it is already sin and lust. This sin is by no means the lot of adults only; one can often hear that prodigal or even perverted thoughts visited a person when he was 5-10 years old, that is, even before puberty. Sin is a mystery and a personal choice of each person. We can only pray for our children and educate them in morality, but this does not give us a 100% guarantee of their righteousness in the future. Here is the mystery, here is the Providence of God.
And we must remember the story of Noah and his son Ham, who saw his father's nakedness. What's going on now! For example, many take their children with them to wash in the bathhouse - they say, what’s wrong with that, they’re still small. And no one understands that by doing this we ourselves are corrupting our children.
“Like strives for like, so flesh desires flesh,” says St. John Climacus. Sin requires internal consent, after which a desire appears, which is expressed in lust, which pushes us to action, be it violence or crime.
What is adultery in Christianity
Adultery is the sin of adultery, as well as carnal relations with a person who is married. In the strict biblical sense, adultery also refers to marriage with a divorced person, fornication, or lust. The Church recognizes a marriage registered by the state as full-fledged, even if the spouses were not married. Therefore, the betrayal of such spouses is also considered the sin of adultery.
Adultery
The concepts of “fornication” and “adultery” overlap in many ways, but are still not identical. A person who has recently begun his churching may ask the question “fornication and adultery - what is the difference?” Fornication is a broader concept that means the depraved behavior of a person without taking into account his marital status. Adultery is debauchery, trampling upon marriage and family, causing “libel and insult to someone else’s union,” according to St. Gregory of Nyssa.
Adultery is a violation of the sixth commandment of the Old Testament (Ex. 20:14). Jesus Christ warned against this sin, adding that even a lustful glance at a woman is already adultery in one’s heart (Matthew 5:28). The New Testament specifies adultery by one of the spouses as the only legal ground for their divorce.
Reasons why fornication occurs in a person
The depravity of human nature after the Fall - it rebelled against man, and we are doomed to wage a constant war with it. And we receive this body from our parents and pass it on to our children. Our nature is prone to sin and prone to vice, that is, we understand with our minds, but the body demands, rebels against the will. And who will win?
Evils of education. You know, there is a famous saying: “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Our personal example, the way we live, our behavior - all this is imprinted on the child’s soul, and then he imitates his parents.
The temptations of this world are a whole river of vice.
Spiritual causes of prodigal sin
Unbelief – after all, it is the main cause of sin. And this also applies to those who live the church life. Unbelief is so ingrained in us that it has become a habit; we no longer even notice it. We fast, take communion, pray, go to services - but where is faith?! After all, we live with worldly dreams, amusements, and sins.
The next reason is gluttony. Fornication is based on the belly, when the belly is full, a person receives excess juices, as St. says. Theophan the Recluse, and excess juices excite human nature.
Immodesty of hands and eyes. A person should monitor his vision and not stare at people of the opposite sex. When we just look at a person, this is fine, but as soon as we have made our judgment about his attractiveness or beauty, then a wide path for sin opens up. Married people have it easier in this regard, since they have found their companions along the path of life, and they are already working to maintain their marriage and increase love. And single people who are still looking for their chosen ones are forced to look, evaluate, search. The main thing here is not to get used to this; the Lord, even before the creation of everything visible, chose collaborators for each of us on this path of life. If we allow God, if we believe in His providence, His love for us, then we will not miss our soul mate, since they were created for each other. Unfortunately, very often we do not allow God to do this, and we do everything in our own way, for which we often grieve.
Many Holy Fathers forbade people, especially single people, from going to public baths.
It is best to refrain from unnecessary temptations. Remember the life of St. Anthony the Great, when he and his disciple crossed the river, they separated so that no one could see the naked body of the other, and when they crossed, they got dressed and united again for the further journey. Because you cannot look at the naked body of another person without causing harm to your soul.
As for the hands, there are many dangers here. Many Holy Fathers, such as St. John Climacus and St. Ephraim Sirin, especially noted the fact that when a person washes, he should not examine his body, touch his private parts, or prolong this process. Because in this case, people who lead a chaste lifestyle can very easily become aroused by their own touches, and then sin cannot be avoided.
For married people this is not so important, but for single people it is very important.
People who have chosen the path of monasticism and asceticism have a very vulnerable place through which lustful passion can penetrate their soul - this is the love of sweet, tasty food or laryngeal rage. This happens at the beginning of the monastic path, and when the monk has already gained some spiritual experience, then fornication seeks another path - this is arrogance.
If a monk has not achieved humility, then the Lord sends him fornication temptations in order to humble him. The third reason for ascetics to experience fornication is if they condemn their neighbors. Abba Evagrius and other Holy Fathers write that by judging your neighbors, you yourself fall into this sin. Condemnation kills love in a person. Each of us loves our child, no matter what, even if he does something, gets into a fight, or anything else. We still love him, protect him, shield him, forgive him. And if someone else’s child does something, we are immediately indignant, we condemn him and we will touch upon his parents about how poorly they raise their child, etc. Condemnation in a person kills not only love, but also prayer and reverence - this is a very insidious passion and one must be on guard with it.
Sunday Discussions
The Seventh Commandment
A Series of Discussions on the Ten Commandments
INTRODUCTION
Exodus 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery. Deuteronomy 5:18 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
What is adultery?
There are two types of adultery: physical (sexual) and spiritual. Let us first address sexual adultery.
I. SEXUAL ADULTERY:
1. Definition of Terms:
A. Adultery is sexual intercourse with a man or woman other than your spouse.
Adultery is an act of adultery. An adulterer in Old Testament times was a man who had sexual relations with a woman who was not his wife or who was betrothed to another man. The woman in this case was called an adulteress.
B. Adultery is also debauchery:
The Hebrew word is
zanah
/ The Greek word is
porneia
(from which comes another word, “pornography”). Debauchery is voluntary sexual intercourse. Adultery is only one type of sexual depravity. The Old Testament condemned corruption in any form (Leviticus 21:9; 19:29; Deuteronomy 22:20-11, 23-29; 23:18; Exodus 22:16).
B. Old Testament Law
(Numbers 5:11-31) involved testing a woman suspected of adultery or immorality with “bitter water.”
2. Punishment for adultery in the Old Testament:
Deuteronomy 22:22-24 If anyone is found lying with a married woman, then both of them must be put to death: both the man who lay with the woman and the woman;
and so destroy evil from Israel. If a young girl is betrothed to her husband, and someone meets her in the city and lies with her, then bring them both to the gates of that city and stone them to death: the girl because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he defamed his neighbor's wife; and so destroy evil from among you .
Leviticus 20:10-21 If anyone commits adultery with his married wife, if anyone commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death.
Whoever lies with his father's wife has revealed his father's nakedness: they both shall be put to death, their blood be on them. If anyone lies with his daughter-in-law, then both of them will be put to death: they have committed an abomination, their blood is on them. If anyone lies with a man as with a woman, then both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death, their blood be on them. If anyone takes a wife and her mother, this is lawlessness; He and them must be burned with fire, so that there is no iniquity among you. Whoever mixes with cattle must be put to death, and the cattle must be killed. If a woman goes to any cattle to have intercourse with it, then kill the woman and the cattle: let them be put to death, their blood be on them. If a man take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness: it is a disgrace; let them be cut off before the eyes of the children of their people; he revealed his sister's nakedness: he will bear his sin. If anyone lies with his wife during the sickness of purging blood and uncovers her nakedness, then he has exposed her flow, and she has revealed the flow of her blood: let both of them be cut off from among their people. Do not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or your father’s sister, for such a one bares his flesh; they will bear their sin. Whoever lies with his aunt has revealed the nakedness of his uncle; They will bear their sin and die childless. If anyone takes his brother's wife, it is abominable; He has revealed his brother's nakedness; they will be childless .
Question to ponder: Why did God command the killing of adulterers and debauchees in the Old Testament? Answer: To destroy evil from Israel. Sin is a contagious thing. It acts and spreads among people like a virus. The death penalty was introduced by God in order to eliminate sin and evil from the society of God's people.
II. BIBLE TEACHING ABOUT ADULTERY:
1. Old Testament:
Proverbs 6:32-35 But he who commits adultery with a woman has no understanding;
he who does this destroys his soul: he will find beatings and shame, and his dishonor will not be erased, because jealousy is the rage of a husband, and he will not spare on the day of vengeance, will not accept any ransom and will not be satisfied, no matter how many gifts you multiply . 2. New Testament:
A. Jesus' teaching on adultery and immorality:
(1) In the Sermon on the Mount
quotes the seventh commandment and emphasizes that concupiscence (lust) is adultery in the heart:
Matthew 5:27-28 You have heard that it was said to the ancients, “You shall not commit adultery.”
But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart . In other words, Jesus shows that the 10 Commandments are actually much deeper than they appear at first glance. They relate not only to our behavior, but to our thoughts, feelings and desires. Also pay attention to this. That Jesus does not differentiate between adultery and sexual immorality. In His opinion, sexual immorality in any shape or form is a violation of the Seventh Commandment.
(2) Jesus names the source of corruption (in any form).
Matthew 15:19 ...for out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, blasphemy...
B. The Apostles' teaching on adultery and sexual immorality:
1 Corinthians 6:13b But the body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for body. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 Avoid fornication; Every sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the fornicator sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who dwells in you, which you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God both in your bodies and in your souls, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 7:2-5 But to avoid fornication, each one have his own wife, and each one have her own husband. The husband show his wife due favor; likewise is a wife to her husband. The wife has no power over her body, but the husband does; Likewise, the husband has no power over his body, but the wife does. Do not deviate from each other, except by agreement, for a while, to exercise in fasting and prayer, and then be together again, so that Satan does not tempt you with your intemperance. Ephesians 5:3 But sexual immorality and all uncleanness and covetousness must not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints. Colossians 3:5-6 Mortify therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, passion, evil lust, and covetousness, which is
idolatry , for which the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience
. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality;
so that each of you knows how to keep his vessel in holiness and honor, and not in the passion of lust, like the pagans who do not know God; so that you do not deal with your brother in any way illegally or selfishly: for the Lord is the avenger of all this, as we told you and testified before. For God has not called us to uncleanness, but to holiness. So he who is disobedient is not subject to man, but to God, who gave us His Holy Spirit. C. New Testament teaching on punishment for sexual immorality:
Some people think that the New Testament is more gentle and humane in its treatment of the seventh commandment.
The Old Testament commanded that adulterers should be killed, while the New Testament only warns us not to commit adultery or have promiscuous sex. Dear friends, if you also think so, then you are deeply mistaken and deceiving yourself. The God of the New Testament is the God of the Old Testament. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is not a man for Him to change or change His principles. Therefore, both the Old and New Testaments prohibit sexual immorality and warn sinners of impending punishment: 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor wicked people, nor homosexuals
, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the Kingdom of God
.
Hebrews 13:4 Let marriage be honorable in all, and the bed undefiled;
But God judges fornicators and adulterers .
Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and the unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone
.
III. SPIRITUAL ADULTERY
We have already seen that the Bible calls fornication and debauchery idolatry, which is the worship of idols. And in this case, the idol is sex, the flesh and the desires of the flesh. However, it should be noted that the Bible also calls idolatry (the worship of other gods and idols) adultery.
Jesus called the Pharisees “an evil and adulterous generation” ( Matthew 12:39
). In this case, Jesus did not mean that all Pharisees were unfaithful to their wives. It was about their unfaithfulness to God.
Likewise, the word “corruption” is used figuratively in the Bible to describe the unfaithfulness of a people to their God.
Hosea 1:2
The beginning of the word of the Lord to Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea: Go, take yourself a harlot wife and children of harlotry; for this land commits great fornication, having departed from the Lord. Jeremiah 3:8-10 And I saw that when, because of all the adulterous acts of the apostate daughter of Israel, I released her and gave her a bill of divorce, her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid, but went and committed fornication herself.
And by open fornication she desecrated the earth, and committed adultery with stone and wood. But despite all this, her treacherous sister Judah did not turn to Me with all her heart, but only pretendingly, says the Lord .
2 Chronicles 21:10-11 However, Edom went out from under the authority of Judah to this day.
At the same time Libnah also came out from under his power, because he forsook the Lord God of his fathers. He also built high places on the mountains of Judea, and led the inhabitants of Jerusalem into asceticism and seduced Judea .
Ezekiel 16:26 She played the harlot with the children of Egypt, your neighbors, a tall people, and multiplied your fornications, angering Me
.
Question to ponder: Why did God command not to commit adultery? Answer: - Because it is a sin against one’s own body. - Because it is a sin against God. - Because it is a sin against one's neighbor. - Because it is a sin against your spouse. - Because it destroys marriage, family.
IV. MARRIAGE AND MATRIPITY
1. INITIAL:
God originally created man and woman for each other, so that they would be both spiritually and physically united with each other.
Only thanks to such unity can a person be absolutely complete and comply with the command of God: Be fruitful and multiply. And further it says, “ For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and cleave to his wife;
and they will become one flesh " (
Genesis 2:24
).
The Bible also says: “ And God blessed them, and God said to them: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth
” (
Genesis 1: 28
).
Jesus Christ repeats in Matthew 19:6 “ Therefore, what God has joined together, let not man put asunder
.”
Matthew 5:31-32 It is also said that if a man divorces his wife, he should give her divorce.
But I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for the guilt of adultery, gives her a reason to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery .
Question
: Why does God allow people to get divorced for adultery?
Answer
: Because the marriage has already been destroyed by adultery.
Matthew 19:3-9
And the Pharisees came to him and tempted him, saying to him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?”
He answered and said to them, Have you not read that He who created in the beginning made them male and female? And he said, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh, so that they are no longer two, but one flesh.” So, what God has joined together, let no man separate. They say to Him: How did Moses command to give a letter of divorce and divorce her? He says to them: Moses, because of your hardness of heart, allowed you to divorce your wives, but at first it was not so ; but I say to you: whoever divorces his wife for reasons other than adultery and marries another commits adultery; and he who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
2. UNITY:
Marriage is a relationship of unity. It’s no longer me and you, but WE. The idea of unity is seen throughout the Bible. Apparently God wants to emphasize something with this
a.
Husband and wife are one flesh. Genesis 2:24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and cleave to his wife; and they will be one flesh. 1 Corinthians 6:16 Or do you not know that whoever has sex with a harlot becomes one body with her?
for it is said: the two will become one flesh. b. God often refers to himself as a husband and his people as his (often unfaithful) wife.
V. Jesus is called in the Bible the Bridegroom, and the Church is His bride.
Jesus calls the Church His Body:
Ephesians 5:23 Christ is the head of the Church
.
1 Corinthians 12:12-13 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of one body, although many, are one body, so is Christ.
For we were all baptized into one body by one Spirit, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink .
3. FAMILY:
Family is... - The highest form of manifestation of intimacy in relationships between people; — Institute for the continuation of the human race; — Institute for educating the younger generation.
That is why Satan tries in every possible way to destroy families.
CONCLUSION:
The Seventh Commandment is to protect the integrity of the family.
God created the institution of family in such a way that it is a reflection of true, human relationships that strengthen and complement both spouses. The teachings of Jesus Christ proclaim the truth that such relationships between a man and a woman - family ties - are lifelong.
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We also recommend reading the following articles:
- Ten Commandments.
- First commandment.
- Second commandment.
- Third commandment.
- The fourth commandment.
- Fifth commandment.
- The sixth commandment.
- Eighth commandment.
- The Ninth Commandment.
- Tenth Commandment.
- Are you a good person?
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Signs of fornication
A full belly is the first sign that a person will be tempted by fornication.
Dreamy sleep, long sleep or, on the contrary, insomnia (when a person lies and dreams) - all this is a consequence of overeating.
Lack of sleep – when a person does not get enough sleep, there will also be a struggle of passion.
Exhaustion - a person who often indulges in lustful passion loses his strength, both physical and spiritual.
Resistance to prayer. Sadness, despondency, hopeless darkness are a state of extreme despair, since a person’s soul dies. Dies from exhaustion of spiritual strength, God's grace. Fornication destroys us from the inside, and after that the demon of despair comes and fills everything with itself, pushing a person to commit suicide.
Free treatment of neighbors (especially the opposite sex) - when a person behaves casually with the people around him. Abba Dorotheos advised not to look at the face of his interlocutor at all, but to look at the ground, because he taught his disciples that when you talk to another person, you are talking to the image of God, that is, to God. Therefore, he taught reverence in communication between people. In modern society, you rarely hear respect in a voice, let alone reverence.
Frequent night defilements - that is, if something like this happens to a person more than once a month, then we can say with confidence that lustful passion is progressing in him. And we urgently need to take up the fight against it.
Intemperance in family life - that is, failure to observe fasts.
Fornication and family relationships
Families living outside of marriage are deprived of divine grace and protection. Children see that their parents live in fornication and learn the same from them. When one of the partners, not restrained by either a formal mark in the passport or the provision on the mandatory payment of alimony, leaves, great damage is done to the children, their psyche, their faith in people, in goodness and love.
The free form of relationships does not prevent the expression of interest in free people or even “other people's wives” and husbands. On the contrary, there is always a psychological loophole that allows one to say that everything was not serious or “just didn’t work out.” Without marriage ties, those who love each other cannot fully realize their spiritual and spiritual aspirations, merge in God, but always remain, as it were, in limbo, in constant incompleteness, in a limited integrity that is not bound by either secular or divine law.
About harlots
The Old Testament says a lot about harlots, but never about fornicators, although both men and women indulge in debauchery there equally. A noteworthy story is about the widow Tamar in the Book of Genesis (Genesis 38:11-26), to whom her father-in-law entered, mistaking her for a prostitute. When, after 3 months, it turned out that the girl “fell into fornication” and was pregnant, he ordered to take her out and burn her, but the providence of the Lord prepared otherwise.
In the ancient Books, debauchery in men is revered as habitual; fornicators are warned only against drinking their neighbor’s wife and from lying with cattle; secular and religious laws are invariably strict for women.
Archpriest Gleb Kaleda notes with regret that in confession men rarely repent of fornication, because they do not consider it something unnatural. In patriarchal culture, the image of a harlot has become a household word, although both sexes always sin. This state of affairs also outraged the Christian saints. In particular, John Chrysostom wrote that he would prefer “the law of God, which equally reproaches both the wife and the husband,” to the laws in force in his time.
The image of the harlot, however, serves not only to condemn the female sex, but also to praise the Lord’s mercy towards the repentant. “ We know,” writes Archpriest. Gleb Kaleda. - “repentant harlots who became saints, and we honor Mary of Egypt as a great saint.” Jesus Christ said, according to the Gospel according to Matthew: “ Publicans and harlots go ahead of you [priests and elders] into the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 21:31), and those sinners “believed him ” (Matthew 21:32), repented of sin and believed in God and eternal life.
Degrees of sin:
- Suppression or perversion of conscience is a necessary condition for the initial stage of fornication. At the beginning, she needs to expel the Holy Spirit from the human soul so that nothing prevents her from taking root;
- Corruption by thoughts and deeds is the practical side of fornication. When a person moves from theory to practice;
- And the last, extreme degree of fornication is when a person with just one thought can bring himself to the point of expiration of semen.
Orthodox saints on adultery:
The Athonite elder, Saint Gregory Palamas writes that “prodigal admixture through hearing and sight penetrates the soul” of a layman or monk, and plunges him into “shameful thoughts,” so any virtue, if you do not vigilantly monitor the self-control of the body, can be turned to ashes . In the “Explanation of the Ten Commandments,” he teaches: “You shall not commit fornication, [otherwise you will] be guilty of eternal punishment” for desecrating the body of Christ with uncleanness. For those who do not choose celibacy, he orders them to treat their spouse “as a vessel in a shrine” and “to avoid other people’s wives with all their might.” The believer must purge from himself the “bitter roots” of thoughts before they bear “deadly fruits”—spiritual falling away.
The collections “Philokalia” cite the words of John Cassian that resistance to the spirit of fornication is “a fierce battle that begins to fight from the first age of maturity”; it must be resisted not only by bodily chastity, but also by “repentant contrition of the spirit, persistent prayer.” The main thing is “true humility, without which victory over any passion will never be achieved.” The disease of fornication “needs solitude and distance from people,” otherwise it is difficult to recover and achieve purity of spirit for the Kingdom of the Lord. “It’s another thing to be abstinent,” he writes. - “And another – pure, having come to an undisturbed state of chaste purity and virgin innocence.”
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Mark Zotov
The influence of fornication on the human body
“First of all,” as St. says. Theophan the Recluse, this is the loss of the body’s strength, and its exhaustion, and its weakness.” In ancient times, no warrior or athlete shared his bed with either his wife or woman before a battle or competition. since they already knew then that a person weakens after this by about 25%. And now we see what they show in modern historical films - they drink, eat, walk all night, and in the morning they go into battle. Only suicides behave this way. And there is victory, fanfare and a happy ending!
Whiteness of the body - a person becomes less able to control his body, as it becomes disobedient.
The development of a habit of sin and dependence on it, when a person can no longer live without it. This is especially evident among those who have taken monastic vows. It’s good if a person came to the monastery as a virgin, but those who have known sin are tormented by memories and dreams.
Fornication produces gloom and spiritual stench in the human body - and this is the real truth. The demons of fornication are stinking, and a person seduced by them takes on this stench, and his body becomes stinking and unclean.
Impact on the human soul
Dullness and insensibility of the soul, and, as a result, torture and death. After prodigal sin, the soul suffers and suffers greatly. It’s hard for her, she’s devastated, she’s wounded, and prodigal sin greatly defiles the soul and shakes the mind. One who has sinned by fornication is a completely demoralized person, prone to despair, since the mind cannot comprehend the full depth of its fall. Precisely falls, since this word is used only for prodigal sins and not for any others. Even if a person sinned by fornication only in his mind, he still fell, just as fornication immediately brings down the entire spiritual building of a person to the ground. In his works, St. John Climacus more than once makes this comparison: when a repentant heretic is accepted into the Church, he is accepted through repentance and even in his existing rank (if he is a priest) and that’s it, no penances. And for fornication they were excommunicated from Communion for up to 10 years. That is, how much more terrible is the sin of fornication compared to heresy!
Inflammation of the soul by passions - a person can completely lose control over himself and become simply an animal, a slave of his passions.
Paralysis of all spiritual movements in a person - after sin, a person cannot find the strength and will to pray, fast sincerely, with all his soul.
Frustration, anxiety, tossing and reeling of the soul is when the soul cannot find peace. She flutters like a flag in the wind, finding no shelter.
Suppression of joy about God in a person’s soul - this happens when a person begins to enjoy lustful thoughts and sin. Such a Person can no longer rejoice: he jokes, smiles, he is affable and friendly, he is the life of the party, but inside there is melancholy and despondency, and there is no place for joy in his soul - passion has destroyed everything.
Fighting passion. General methods
Believe in the Lord, who in His mercy can even say to an adulteress: “ I do not condemn you; Go and sin no more ” (John 8:11).
The Light, which is Christ, is the believer’s main weapon in the fight against the passions that overcome him.
Since passion develops from thoughts, it is necessary to cut off sinful thoughts at the root, which, according to Arch. Raphael (Karelin), it is achievable “only in the light of constant prayer,” with unyielding resistance and struggle with one’s own nature. The Archimandrite notes that one should not condemn other sinners; it is better to remain silent in great humility.
Priest Maxim Kaskun proposes to fight passion, exhausting and leaving no strength for sinful thoughts with bodily labor, fasting and abstinence, avoidance of contemplating another’s body, both in reality and in various videos and films, modest and graceful behavior.
Gregory Palamas warns that it is not enough to arm yourself against passion with fasting and mortification of the body, but you need to “dry up the source of your thoughts” with your humility and prayer.
Private Methods
At the moment when a lustful thought begins to take possession of the soul, one must remember the past repentance, the shame that was experienced in confession, when one had to confess to the confessor of debauchery and debauchery.
Another option is to think about the punishment for falling away from a righteous lifestyle, about the coming torment and dire consequences. In addition, you can turn to the image of your neighbor for help. List the moral virtues of a person whom fornication encourages to turn into a means to satisfy lust. One must always remember the general salvation, the troubles that this soul had to endure and its hopes. Move from carnal desire to spiritual communication.
Impact on the human spirit
Landing of the spirit. After prayer, a person’s spirit burns towards God, burns with a thirst for grace, love, joy, but when prodigal passion possesses a person, it does not allow the spirit to burn with God, but returns it to earthly affairs and pleasures.
Fornication drives away the Holy Spirit, and a person loses boldness before God.
Being possessed by a person is what a person comes to when he is obsessed with the passion for fornication. He is likened to Satan, since this sin is one of his favorite ones.
The general influence of fornication on a person
“Fornication is a carnal passion, it is a denial of Christianity within us” (St. Theophan the Recluse). When a person commits prodigal sin, he renounces Christ and drives Him away, becoming a pagan and atheist. Fornication is one of the most terrible passions.
The complete enslavement of a person to sin occurs through fornication. And it also destroys everything good that is in a person. He destroys and plunders everything that a person has created in his soul, leaving not a stone unturned.
Punishment of a person for the sin of fornication
Taking away God's blessings in life.
Sorrow. Trouble. Adversity. Diseases. And even death.
Church punishments follow in the following order:
- masturbation and fornication – ban on communion for 7 years;
- adultery, sodomy, bestiality - excommunication from St. Secrets for 15 years;
- night desecration - if a person did not inflame himself before this, and this happened simply for physiological reasons, then he can take communion.
This is stated in the rules of St. Athanasius the Great, Dionysius of Alexandria and Timothy of Alexandria.
