What is fornication and adultery, and what is their difference?

A Christian must keep his body morally pure, as well as his thoughts. You can read about this in the New Testament - the handbook of every Orthodox believer. However, the morals of modern society are so far from the principles of the Gospel that it is difficult to express in words.

What is fornication that the holy apostles spoke about, and why did they pay such attention to it? Talking to young girls of the Orthodox faith, I had to explain the difference between fornication, adultery and outright fornication. The conversation also touched upon decorum in clothing, which young people do not observe at all. Let's look at what the holy fathers of the church teach us in order to explain to young people the moral principles of Christian morality.

Fornication and adultery: what is the difference

The apostles say that all unclean deeds and thoughts should not be mentioned at all in the Holy Scriptures. However, the surrounding depravity extremely dulled the sense of morality, so that even people raised in Christianity began to have premarital sexual relations and divorces.

• The sin of adultery in Orthodoxy is associated, first of all, with adultery and betrayal. By succumbing to carnal temptations, a person destroys his own family. Passion can be regarded as betrayal, because a marriage is always a sacred union. Relationships are destroyed, everything that was built in love for each other is in decline.
• Fornication is different in that people enter into a relationship without being in a marital relationship. A person with all his appearance and behavior shows that he has a strong desire to achieve the goal he has set for himself. Prodigal life forces one to violate moral principles and blinds the mind of the individual, violating the law of chastity.

Adulterous individuals provoke a large number of problems and disasters. Sin destroys homes and breeds strife, and withers love and goodwill. Libertines deprive themselves of a huge amount of benefits and replace them with devilish troubles.

Orthodox priests say that there is no one more shameful than a person who commits vile adultery.

On a note! Those suspected of treason live with difficult emotions. It seems to them that the table is filled with poisons, and the house is shrouded in countless evils. Such people have trouble sleeping, the words of good friends and the light of the bright sun are not pleasant to them. They experience suffering not only when they see their half committing adultery, but also when they think about it.

Spouses must be very close to each other, so it becomes painful for them when a husband or wife finds himself in the unclean and illegal service of another person. People who indulge in fornication are extremely condemned by the people and religion. Adultery carries a greater penalty because the spouses entered into a sacred covenant and swore fidelity to each other.

About family in Orthodoxy:

• Apostle Paul on love
• Responsibilities and Instructions for Husband and Wife
• About contraception in an Orthodox family

Believer at confession

What should the innocent party do?

What should a person do if he has suffered from the weakness of someone he trusted? What to do if the other half cheated or committed adultery? This is also stated in some sacred sources.

These are the lines you can find in Romans 7:2,3. 1 Cor. 7:39: “Remarriage is possible in the event of the death of one of the partners.” And in Matthew 19:9. write the following: “The conclusion of a second union is permitted if the innocent party who suffered from adultery filed for divorce.”

And nothing else. Because what God has joined together, man cannot separate. This, by the way, is said in Matt. 19:6.

Permission to enter into a second marriage due to the sin of adultery is a sign, a reference and a reminder that even the Most High terminated the covenant with Israel, after which he entered into a New one.

Punishment for adultery

Fornication is the name given to carnal pleasure without causing any harm to another.

The sin of adultery gives rise to slander (lies) and insult to the legal union. As punishment, the church can excommunicate an adulterer from communion with the Holy Mysteries for 15 years. A seven-year sentence is prescribed for a fornicator.

Important! The measure of penance (church punishment) is established depending on the condition of the person who committed the sin.

• The people highly condemn any manifestation of infidelity, so the adulterer will feel unpleasant conversations on the side.
• Those who have fallen into fornication cannot receive communion until they repent.
• Punishment comes from one’s own conscience, which does not allow one to forget the sin for a long time. Purification comes only after the memory of this event is destroyed.
• The consequence of the sin of adultery is the suffering that arises after learning about the betrayal. Spouses have to seek a divorce because saving the marriage is even more difficult.
• Any prodigal sin closes the soul’s gate to the Heavenly abode.
• Adulterers will suffer “the second death in the lake of hell, full of fire and brimstone.
• In the New Testament, the bodies of each person become members of the body of Christ, therefore the sinner brings dishonor to the Son of God and dissolves the original unity. Having lost sacred support, a person surrenders to the power of monstrous demons.
• Fornication and adultery build a metaphysical wall through which prayers and forgiveness filter heavily. If you do not take appropriate measures to heal the soul, there is a possibility of falling away from the Church and God forever.
• They distance themselves from the adulterer and turn away. He is considered an object of shame and contempt, he brings grief to his parents and is the subject of unflattering reviews.
• The sin of adultery in Orthodoxy is capable of destroying not only the physical, but also the spiritual shell. They annul moral laws that are independent of human will.

On a note!
Saint Basil, speaking about adultery, did not distinguish between adultery on the part of the wife and the husband. In both cases, the sins became mortal and required complete repentance. This position did not take root in the Christian tradition for a long time, because in ancient times the wife did not have the status of a full member of society.

The meaning of the commandment “thou shalt not commit adultery”

The statements of the Holy Fathers and certain passages from the Gospel have special power against this sin.

• The one who looks at a woman with lust is already committing adultery.
• The children of Israel should not be subjected to this passion, since the heavenly abode does not accept people who are unclean in heart.
• In Orthodoxy, bodies are regarded as a temple in which the Holy Spirit dwells. It is believed that there is nothing in the material world that belongs to us, therefore sinning at a party is prohibited and unnatural.
• It is necessary to take care of the purity of your body, because the time will come when every Christian will have to give an answer for the life he has lived.
• Adultery is necessarily judged by the Almighty Lord, but a pure marriage and an immaculate bed are permitted by God.

About the fight against prodigal passion.

The fight against prodigal passion is, first of all, sobriety of mind and heart, that is, timely detection and immediate cutting off of an unclean thought (image), which is possible only in the light of constant prayer; turning anger against unclean thoughts (images); constant work, confession and opening of thoughts to your spiritual father, mentor; the fight against gluttony, modesty in clothing and behavior, non-judgment, silence and reasonable solitude during especially strong attacks of the prodigal spirit and, most importantly, unfeigned, deep humility. The Holy Fathers say: “Chastity is the sum of all virtues.”

Causes of adultery and the sin of fornication in Orthodoxy

The most important factor in falling into this dangerous passion is the mental desire for the pleasures of the flesh and a drunken life. The enemy (sin) finds loopholes in the consciousness of a Christian if the latter does not drive away evil and lustful thoughts. A soul that has weakened its control over temptations is approaching an unhappy and disastrous fall.

• The clergy note that those who have already fallen under the power of another passion become adulterers and fornicators. The root of all lust is the acquisition of praise and glory.
• Sinfulness increases when people do not protect their bodies from objects of temptation. Pride and vanity, which are rarely noticed by a person, encourage him to engage in fornication in order to satisfy his own lust.
• The apostles call the cause of fornication (fornication) and adultery satiety. When our body is full, the demon of gluttony leaves and invites the unclean spirit of adultery to come and confuse the mind with dirty thoughts and the body with waste.
• The spirit of drowsiness also torments the unfortunate person enough, because a lazy and drowsy mind is not able to provide full resistance to the severe demon of fornication.
• Often the help of the Almighty withdraws from those who ask, because they slander, reproach and condemn their neighbors. Going against his brothers, a person is left alone and is unable to resist destructive temptations.
• The onslaught of thought is a rapid cause that is almost imperceptible by consciousness. Without words or images, it instantly arouses passion.

How to atone for lustful sin

Each of the passions is capable of capturing the soul and removing it from communication with the Eternal purity of the Lord. If sins are combined, it becomes difficult to get out of a dangerous situation, therefore the task of every Orthodox Christian is to destroy all the seeds of sinfulness.

• The first thing is to cleanse the recesses of the heart, which will allow you to see God in the soul. He will give instructions and faithful advice that will protect you from the influence of the sin of fornication. Not a single thought can be hidden from the Creator, therefore the desire for fornication or adultery must be destroyed by great shame in the face of the Almighty.
• The clergy teach the laity to be more attentive to feelings and desires. Demons of lustful sinfulness often appear in the form of a useful and good deed. Unclean creatures first darken the mind, and then explain what they need.
• Healing will come when the thought of the opposite sex ceases to arouse passion. To reduce temptation, it is necessary to reduce the time of communication and remove vicious thoughts from yourself. The fire of lust flares up precisely in the movement of thought, and not in the body.
• Since the demonic attack is carried out on the body and soul, one must resist in two ways. Physical fasting alone is not enough; a layman should constantly meditate on the Holy Scriptures, and also occupy his hands with work or handicrafts.
• If a temptation arises before a person, he is obliged to find the reason, internal or external, and eradicate it. Chastity presupposes simplicity in attire and peace of one’s own flesh, which will not allow lustful moods to arise in the mind.

Prayer help:

• Prayer against prodigal warfare
• Prayers to the Holy Venerable Mary of Egypt
• Prayer for the return of the husband to the family from his mistress

Notes[ | ]

1. Corrupt // Explanatory dictionary of the living Great Russian language: in 4 volumes / author's compilation. V. I. Dal. — 2nd ed. - St. Petersburg. : Printing house of M. O. Wolf, 1880-1882.
2. Fornication // Explanatory dictionary of the living Great Russian language: in 4 volumes / author's compilation. V. I. Dal. — 2nd ed. - St. Petersburg. : Printing house of M. O. Wolf, 1880-1882.
3. debauchery // Dictionary of the Russian language: In 4 volumes / RAS, Institute of Linguistics. research; Ed. A. P. Evgenieva. — 4th ed., erased. - M.: Rus. language; Polygraph resources, 1999.
4. ↑ 12
   Prostitution // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
5. Pokrovsky I. A. History of Roman law.
6. Barmina V. E. Byzantine legal culture. Experience of gender analysis // News of the Ural State University. - 2006. - No. 47. - P. 6-13.
7. S. S. Eskibaeva. Retrospective analysis of criminal liability for evasion of payment of funds for the maintenance of children or disabled parents. // Bulletin of Chelyabinsk State University. 2010. No. 33 (214). Right. Vol. 26. pp. 48-52.
8. Alexander Sergeevich Lykoshin.
   Parents // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
9. Grigory Markovich Herzenstein.
   Prostitution // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
10. Petrov, Artyom Sergeevich. Legislation of the Russian Empire in the field of prostitution and regulatory rules for this activity in Chita in the period 1907-1917. (unavailable link). // Bulletin of ZabSU No. 10 (89) 2012. P. 3-11.
11. ↑ 12
    A. M. Strakhov. The evolution of images of gender and love in Russian culture of the 19th—21st centuries (inaccessible link). // Scientific bulletins of Belgorod State University. No. 9(40) Issue. 2 2007. P. 81.
12. M. I. Miroshnichenko. “Evil faces” of the female gender: the fight against prostitution in the light of revolutionary self-awareness in 1920-1922. (Based on materials from the Urals). Woman in Russian society, 1 / 2011.
13. O. S. Stepanyuk. On the question of the formulation of the definition of the evaluative concept of criminal law (inaccessible link). // Scientific bulletins of Belgorod State University. No. 9(40) Issue. 2 2007. P. 196.
14. ↑ 12
    Commentary on the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (article-by-article) / Rep. ed. V. M. Lebedev. M., Yurayt-Izdat, 2007.
15. Mamchenko N.V. Moral content of Ukrainian legislation (inaccessible link). Scientific notes of the Tauride National University named after. V. I. Vernadsky. Series "Legal Sciences". Volume 23 (62). No. 1. 2010, pp. 35-42.
16. N. A. Berdyaev. The meaning of creativity. MintRight Inc, 2000, p. 114.
17. ibid., p.118.
18. Marquis de Sade. "Philosophy in the boudoir (immoral mentors)"