In response to the words of Scripture: “But a whore sins in his own body” (1 Cor. 6:18)

In the conversation “On the words of Scripture: “But a fornicator sins in his own body” (1 Cor. 6:18)” (“Against fornicators”) St. Gregory of Nyssa considers the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:18: “The fornicator sins against his own body.” St. Gregory writes that the external position of the fornicator is no less bad than the internal state: “People run away from him in houses, they turn away from him in meetings; he is an insult to those close to him, an object of contempt for those hostile to him, a disgrace to his relatives; he is cursed by ministers, he is a sorrow to his parents, a laughing stock for his family, an object of laughter and conversation for his neighbors: he is rejected when he tries to get married; After marriage, he is a suspicious spouse.” In conclusion, St. Gregory of Nyssa suggests avoiding fornication, remembering the serious consequences of falling into this sin: “So, let us turn away from the arrows that the image of the prodigal throws... Let us also add the very sentence, which proclaims a terrible definition for the dissolute: “If anyone corrupts the church of God, God will corrupt him” (1 Cor. 3:17).” *The title of the essay in Latin is Contra fornicarios. The formidable trumpet of the apostolic instruction, announcing to the army many and other rules of piety, especially driving away from the abyss of adultery, adds at the end a military instruction: “Flee, he says, fornication; “Every sin, even if man commits it, is there besides the body” (1 Cor. 6:18). Fighters of sensual wars improve in martial art, either directly attacking the enemy, or evading him by flight. There is also spiritual warfare, which also requires the art of confrontation and flight. Knowing this, Paul leads his army to this and that kind of art of pious warfare; then he teaches constancy in battle: “Gird up your loins with truth” (Eph. 6:14.); then he advises deceiving the enemy by fleeing: “flee fornication” (1 Cor. 6:18). If there is a war on the part of unbelief, then it is useful to resist it; if the enemy threatens with treachery, then an ambush is good against such opponents. If the bow of slander is strained, then it is useful to fight lies face to face; if the image of a prodigal wounds, then it is more useful to give the rear and run away from a direct meeting with him; for adultery aims its arrows at the eyes. Therefore, we must remember the command of the military commander: “flee fornication.” For fornication is a vice from which one should flee more than from others. Other evil kinds of sin seem to spare the body of the perpetrators, and what is done stops only on the one affected by the deed; for example, in robberies, only those who are robbed suffer harm; in the vice of envy, the power of passion falls only on those who are envied; in slander, if they are believed, there is again danger only for the slandered; in murder, misfortune for the murdered; and if anyone pays attention to the consequences of all wrongful deeds, he will find that those who do wrong receive profit, and those who suffer injustice suffer harm. But adultery does not know this division, does not separate the deed of the one subjected to it from the deed of the one who committed it, but harms both together, uniting the fornicator and the harlot in a common union of defilement, and the one who dishonored the body is subjected to the same dishonor as the one who was dishonored. When murderers kill, it happens that they do not die with the killed; he who defiles the flesh is himself involved in defilement. And look with me at this subtlety in the words of the Apostle: “flee,” he says, “fornication.” Why? Because “every sin, if a man commits it, is besides the body” (that is, it does not harm the nature of the body, but is committed outside the body of the person who caused the harm), “but the fornicator sins in his own body”; not like a murderer who sins against someone else’s body, preserving his own not wounded; not like a covetous man who harms another, being careful not to harm his own body; a fornicator pierces himself with the arrow of dishonor. The thief decides to steal in order to feed the body, and the covetous man is driven to steal by the thought of acquiring self-interest; suffering is the glory of another, but the fornicator himself commits his own dishonor. For what is more dishonest than the burden of fornication? All slavery to sin is inglorious, for it dishonors the nobility of the soul; but the fornicator is the most inglorious slave of sin; for condemned by him to rake out his own filth, he gathers up heaps of filth and corrects the unclean work. Isn’t it disgusting to walk around sewage, to rub against shameful objects, to have a body that doesn’t differ from rags? For what is the difference between a sackcloth and a fornicator? It is torn away from the body of the Church, destroyed by daily rot - sinful pleasures, discarded as unnecessary rags, and lies trampled underfoot by all demons. The devil imprints his rottenness on him. The external position of the fornicator is no less bad than the internal state. People run away from him in their homes, they turn away from him in meetings; he is an insult to those close to him, an object of contempt for those hostile to him, a disgrace to his relatives; he is cursed by ministers, he is a sorrow to his parents, a laughing stock for his family, an object of laughter and conversation for his neighbors: he is rejected when he tries to get married; After marriage he is a suspicious spouse. Seeing fornication as the source of so many evils, Paul commands a victorious flight: “flee fornication.” These words reminded me now of the chaste youth who, by flight, triumphed over Egyptian fornication. Many things inclined the young man to become infatuated: an age at which the love of pleasure is strong, the yoke of slavery, the love seduction of his mistress; for the Scripture says: “There came to be a certain day, and Joseph went into the house to do his work; and no one else was present from them that were in the house; and the lady took hold of the robe, saying, Lie with me” (Gen. 39:11-12). Great is the virtue of chastity! It made the mistress the slave of the slave. The arrow of fornication was fired, but it did not find any burning substance in the soul and went out in the clothes. She said: “lie with me,” and chastity said to the young man opposite: stay awake with me, and he actually showed vigilance. For the cheerfulness of the spirit did not fall asleep from temptations, the mind did not fall asleep from charms. But for him, the voice of the mistress, who ordered: “Climb with me,” was bitterer than the abuse. The leader of fornication, the devil, stood ready, and together with the harlot he pulled clothes and participated in her tricks, but he did not know that he had entered into a fight with a skillful and experienced ascetic of chastity, who was well eluding her tricks; for, says Scripture, “having left his garments in her hands, he ran away and went out” (Gen. 39:13). O nakedness, more modest than that covered with clothing! What about the fury of Egyptian dissipation? He lays down his vices on Joseph, and running to his husband, he says: you brought to us a Jewish youth to scold us; for he said to me, “I will lie with you.” “When I lifted up my voice and cried out, leave my vestments and run away” (Gen. 39:14–15). Again Joseph is slandered because of his clothes. Previously, the brothers, having taken his clothes, used them to maliciously slander him that he had been torn to pieces by beasts; Now the woman, having taken the clothes, accuses him of fornication. The words of the Lord are appropriately applied to Joseph: “I divided my garments for myself” (Psalm 21:19). But, oh God’s righteous care for Joseph! He did not glorify Joseph before the temptations, but in dreams he showed him the future, teaching him that from afar He had prepared glory for the righteous; He deigned to test the young man with temptation in order to stop the mouths of his critics. For if Joseph had not given experience (his virtue), then the critics would have said that the events of Egypt were a matter of blind chance. Joseph reigns and the youth commands the barbarians. What kind of valor did he show? For what virtue did you achieve this? By warning such rumors about the righteous man, God deigns to tempt him, so that it will be a testimony for the righteous man and stop the mouths of those who blame. So let us turn away from the arrows that the image of the prodigal throws. Let us close our eyes from voluptuousness; Let chastity watch over the guard of the body, let purity dwell in the members, so that in this way the body may be the abode of the Spirit. Let us also add the sentence itself, which proclaims a terrible definition for the dissolute: “if anyone corrupts the church of God, God will corrupt him” (1 Cor. 3:17). You might be interested in: