INTRODUCTION
In the congregation of Corinth, there were persons who corrupted the word of God because of bad motives. The members of the Governing Body have been corrupting the word of God because of ignorance. It is quite ironic that the nine men in the Governing Body are the only interpreters of the Bible in the community of Jehovah’s Witnesses in spite of the fact that none of them can read the original languages of the Bible, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.
In connection with the Greek word porneia (“Illicit sexual intercourse”) that has been the focus of this study, they have let their imagination wander back and forth, resulting in several contradictory decisions as to its meaning. The Governing Body is alone in the whole world with their definitions of porneia — these definitions are not found in any scholarly work.
Of the 37 disfellowshipping offenses invented by the Governing Body and the 11 disfellowshipping offenses found in the Christian Greek Scriptures, being guilty of porneia is the one offense that has caused the disfellowshipping of most people. Because of this, each new definition of porneia that the members of Governing Body have invented because of their ignorance has had serious consequences for a great number of Witnesses.
It is no overstatement to say that the Governing Body’s definitions of the word porneia, have caused thousands of marriages to be dissolved for unbiblical reasons, tens of thousands of lives of Witnesses have been ruined, and members of tens of thousands of families have suffered, or these families have even been destroyed. The members of the governing Body have the responsibility for this bad situation because they have corrupted the word of God.
CORRUPTING THE WORD OF GOD WITH DIFFERENT MOTIVES
According to Matthew 4:4 Jesus said: “It is written, ‘Man must live, not on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth through Jehovah’s mouth.” The words of God are precious because we depend on these words in order to get life.
Paul and the other elders in the Christian congregations spoke the word of God to their congregations, and Hebrews 13:7 says:
7 Remember those who are taking the lead among YOU, who have spoken the word of God to YOU, and as YOU contemplate how [their] conduct turns out imitate [their] faith.
When the elders spoke the word of God to the congregation, the members of the congregation could imitate their conduct and their faith. In this way, both the elders and the members of the congregations spoke the word of God.
CORRUPTING THE WORD OF GOD BECAUSE OF BAD MOTIVES
The Christian Greek Scriptures show that not all persons who claimed to represent God in the first century CE spoke the word of God with right motives. 2 Corinthians 2:17 says:
17 for we are not peddlers (kapēleuō) of the word of God as many men are, but as out of sincerity, yes, as sent from God, under God’s view, in company with Christ, we are speaking.
The word “peddlers” is translated from the Greek verb kapēleuō, which has the meaning “be a retailer; peddle with, to corrupt; adulterate”. (Mounce) In the letters to the congregation in Corinth, Paul mentions several bad actions and viewpoints. But these do not include doing business with the word of God. I, therefore, take the word kapēleuō in the sense of “corrupt”. The verb is present active participle masculine plural nominative, and I translate the first clause in 2:17 in the following way: “for we are not corrupting the word of God.” Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 4:2 support this rendering:
2 but we have renounced the underhanded things of which to be ashamed, not walking with cunning, neither adulterating (doloō) the word of God, but by making the truth manifest recommending ourselves to every human conscience in the sight of God.
The verb doloō has the meaning “to entrap, beguile; to adulterate, corrupt, falsify” (Mounce). It is only found in this verse, but the corresponding noun dolos has the meaning “a bait or contrivance for entrapping, fraud, deceit, cunning, guile” (Mounce) is found 11 times. I quote the following three passages where dolos is found, 2 Corinthians 12:16 (above); 1 Peter 2:22 (middle), and 1 Peter 3:10 (below):
16 But be that as it may, I did not burden YOU down. Nevertheless, YOU say, I was “crafty” and I caught YOU “by trickery (dolos).”
22 He committed no sin, nor was deception (dolos) found in his mouth.
10 For, “he that would love life and see good days, let him restrain his tongue from what is bad and [his] lips from speaking deception (dolos).
Paul uses dolos with the meaning “trickery” in 2 Corinthians 12:16, and Peter uses the word in 1 Peter 2:22 and 3:10 with the meaning “deceit.” These meanings support the rendering “adulterating the word of God” (NWT84) in 2 Corinthians 4:2. An alternative rendering would be: “corrupting the word of God.” Thus, the verb kapeleuō in 2 Corinthians 2:17 and doloō in 4:2 are synonyms, and both verbs show that some people in Corinth were corrupting the word of God.
We do not know how these persons were corrupting the word of God, but the contrast to “corrupting God’s word” is seen in 2 Corinthians 4:2, namely: “making the truth manifest.” What this means in practical work is seen in a quotation in The Watchtower of August 1, 1974, page 472. The article discussed how disfellowshipped persons should be treated, and we read:
Holding to the Scriptures, neither minimizing what they say nor reading into them something they do not say, will enable us to keep a balanced view toward disfellowshiped ones.
CORRUPTING THE WORD OF GOD BECAUSE OF IGNORANCE
In order to “making the truth manifest” as it is found in the Christian Greek Scriptures one has to know the Greek language and to know the basic principles of lexical semantics — how to find the meaning of Greek words. If this understanding is lacking, the danger is that the person will read into the Scriptures something they do not say.
The members of the Governing Body are the primary teachers of Jehovah’s Witnesses today. But they neither know the Greek language nor the principles of lexical semantics, and because of lack of knowledge, in many cases, they have read into the text of the Bible ideas that are not there. I use the Greek word porneia as an example.
THE MEANING OF THE GREEK WORDS CAN ONLY BE FOUND IN THEIR CONTEXTS IN THE CHRISTIAN GREEK SCRIPTURES
The meaning and references of words will often change through time, and the meaning of words can also be different in different countries where the same language is spoken. A basic fact of lexical semantics in connection with the Bible is that similar words in Classical Greek and New Testament Greek often have different meanings. No scholar will dispute that. This fact is also mentioned in an article in The Watchtower of February 15, 1989, page 10, where Paul’s speech to the philosophers on Mars Hill is discussed. In Acts 17:30 we read:
31 True, God has overlooked the times of such ignorance, yet now he is telling mankind that they should all everywhere repent (metanoeō).
Paul used the Greek verb metanoeō (“to repent”). But the philosophers would understand the meaning of this verb differently from the way Paul used it in his speech and in the Christian Greek Scriptures. The article says:
They heard a memorable speech by the Christian apostle Paul to the famous court of the Areopagus. He first reasoned on the existence of one God, the Creator, to whom all of us owe our life. This led to the logical conclusion that we are accountable to this God. At this point Paul declared: “God has overlooked the times of such ignorance [as of men’s worshiping idols], yet now he is telling mankind that they should all everywhere repent.”—Acts 17:30.
Frankly, repentance would be a startling concept for that audience. Why so? The ancient Greeks knew of repentance in the sense of feeling remorse over some deed or statement. As one dictionary points out, however, the word “never suggest[ed] an alteration in the total moral attitude, a profound change in life’s direction, a conversion which affects the whole of conduct.”
The important point here is that The Watchtower accepts the words of the dictionary that are quoted, indicating that the meaning of words in Classical Greek can be different from the meaning in the Christian Greek Scriptures. There is also another word in the speech of Paul that we should consider, namely, the word kosmos in 17:24. In Classical Greek, kosmos is “the sum total of everything here and now; the (orderly) universe.” (Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich) There is no passage in the Christian Greek Scriptures with this meaning. But here kosmos refers to the human family, the human family outside the Christian congregations, and the environment in which the human family lives. The differences in meaning are great, and it is logical that Paul in his speech used kosmos in the Classical sense of the word.
I use two more examples: the noun hadēs in Classical Greek refers to the god of the underworld and to the underworld itself, where the dead were living. (Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich) In the Christian Greek Scriptures, hadēs refers to the common grave of mankind where there is no life. The verb tartaroō refers in classical Greek to “a subterranean place lower than Hades where divine punishment was meted out”(Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich). In 2 Peter 2:4. The reference is to the abyss where the demons are held captive but where punishment is not meted out.
The fact that word meaning in Classical Greek is often different from the meaning in the Christian Greek Scriptures shows that the only way to find the meaning of a Greek word in the Christian Greek Scriptures is to consider its use in its contexts in these Scriptures. |
THE UNCRITICAL USE OF GREEK-ENGLISH LEXICONS AND THE ETYMOLOGICAL FALLACY
The word porneia was defined in The Watchtower of December 15, 1972, page 767, and this definition is still the basic source for the view of porneia by the members of the Governing Body:
A thorough study of the matter shows that por·neiʹa refers to all forms of immoral sexual relations. It is a broad term, somewhat like the word “pornography,” which is drawn from por·neiʹa or the related verb por·neuʹo. Lexicons of the Greek language clearly show this to be so.
They show that por·neiʹa comes from a root word meaning “to sell,” and it describes sex relations that are licentious and not restrained (as by the restraint of adherence to marriage bonds). Thus, of the use of the word in Bible times, Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament states that por·neiʹa described “illicit sexual intercourse in general.” Moulton and Milligan’s The Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament says it is “unlawful sexual intercourse generally.” The sixth volume of the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament says that por·neiʹa can come to mean “‘sexual intercourse’ in gen[eral] without more precise definition.”
I have checked the three quotations and they are correct. Two of them refer to the Christian Greek Scriptures, but the reference of the third is uncertain. It is important to note that none of the quotations support the definition in the quotation from The Watchtower The article’s definition of porneia is: “all forms of sexual relations.” But the common denominator of the three quotations is “sexual intercourse,” and this is a more restricted meaning:
Sexual intercourse (or coitus or copulation) is sexual activity involving the insertion and thrusting of the male penis inside the female vagina for sexual pleasure, reproduction, or both.[1]
According to the lexicons, porneia includes the penetration of the penis. But when I discuss the Governing Body’s different definitions of porneia, we will see that several definitions do not include sexual intercourse. These definitions are invented by the members of the Governing Body, and no Greek-English lexicon supports these definitions.
Because of the lack of lexical support, the members of the Governing Body have tried a workaround by using what is called the idiomatic fallacy. This is a real fallacy and its definition is:
Etymological fallacy is the faulty argument that the “true” or “proper” meaning of a word is its oldest or original meaning.
Because the meanings of words change over time, a word’s contemporary definition can’t be established from its origin (or etymology). The best indicator of a word’s meaning is its current use, not its derivation.[2]
The supposed etymology of porneia is “to sell,” and this has been correlated with different definitions of porneia in The Watchtower:
December 15, 1972, page 767:
They show that por·neiʹa comes from a root word meaning “to sell,” and it describes sex relations that are licentious [lacking legal or moral restraints] and not restrained (as by the restraint of adherence to marriage bonds).
February 15, 1978, pages 31, 32:
It may be noted that the Greek term is drawn from a word having the basic meaning of “to sell” or to “surrender or give oneself up to,” and thus porneia has the sense of “a selling or a giving of oneself up to lust or lewdness.”
The Watchtower of March 15, 1983, pages 30, 31
The Greek word in this text is porneia. In discussing the matter, The Watchtower of December 15, 1972, pages 766-768, showed that porneia “comes from a root word meaning ‘to sell.’” Thus it is tied in with prostitution, such as that practiced in many pagan temples in the first century and in ‘houses of ill fame’ today… But to this day, the term porneia embraces the various kinds of sexual activity that might take place in a house of prostitution, where sexual favors are bought and sold.
Here we see more and more imaginative connections with the supposed etymology of “sell” of porneia. In the first example, the relationship to “sell” is that sex is not restrained by marriage bonds. The second is “selling or a giving of oneself up to lust or lewdness.” And the third example of porneia is the more important one. The reason why porneia can include a number of sexual acts in addition to illicit sexual intercourse, is that prostitutes sell sex, and therefore all actions that occur in a house of prostitution is included in the word porneia.
All these connections with the word “sell” and the meaning of porneia are pure nonsense! It is impossible to know the present meaning of a word by looking at its etymology.
According to Greek-English lexicons, the word porneia always includes the idea of illicit sexual intercourse. All the definitions of porneia that does not include penis penetration are invented by the members of the Governing Body and do not have any lexical or biblical basis. |
[1]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_intercourse.
[2]. https://www.thoughtco.com/etymological-fallacy-words-1690613.
THE DIFFERENT VIEWPOINTS REGARDING THE MEANING OF PORNEIA IN THE WATCHTOWER LITERATURE
Between 1930 to 1970, very little is said about the word porneia. In The Watchtower of January 1, 1952, page 31, we read:
The April 15, 1951, Watchtower, page 233, said: “Fornicators are unmarried persons who commit immorality. Adulterers are married persons who willingly have sex relations with someone of the opposite sex not their legal marriage mate.” Yet Matthew 19:9 refers to the immorality of a married woman as fornication. Why?—E. W., Texas.
Legally and generally the distinction is made between the two terms as The Watchtower presents it, though sometimes fornication is used in a broader sense to take in all sexual immorality.
The expression “all sexual immorality” is ambiguous. But because the Watchtower literature of that time only describes sexual intercourse between persons who are not married to each other as fornication (porneia), it seems that only these actions and adultery were included in “all sexual immorality.” During the next 20 years, very little is said about fornication and adultery. However, from 1969 on, several questions regarding the detailed meaning of porneia were raised, and over the years, different answers were given.
1956: ARTIFICIAL INSEMINATION IS PORNEIA
The Watchtower of October 1, 1956, page 591, speaks about a couple who are not able to produce children and who solves this problem with the help of another man:
Where a man is impotent today the married couple in their desire for children might agree for the wife to receive the seed of another man by artificial insemination. Some law courts have already held that artificial insemination is adultery and that children produced by such means are illegitimate. The recent British Royal Commission on Marriage and Divorce recommended as a ground for divorce the wife’s acceptance of artificial insemination by a donor of seed without her husband’s consent. Such a divorce would be Scriptural. But where the husband consented it would be grounds for the disfellowshiping of both man and wife. Why? Because it is a virtual committing of adultery, and both man and wife consented to the immoral act. The husband in effect gave her to another man to receive the seed of copulation, and the wife gave herself to a man not her husband to become the mother of a child by that other.
Because adultery (moikheia, sexual relations with a married person and one to whom he or she is not married) is one of the references of porneia (“illicit sexual intercourse”) according to Matthew 5:32, the article shows that artificial insemination also is porneia. By artificial insemination, the marriage could rightly be dissolved, and both the husband and the wife could be disfellowshipped, according to the article.
Artificial insemination was discussed in The Watchtower of November 1, 1960, page 660, Awake! of November 8, 1970, page 28, and August 8, 1974, page 27. The last time this subject is discussed in the Watchtower literature, according to Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY, is in The Watchtower of August 15, 1984, page 26. Artificial insemination is not mentioned in the Shepherd book as a disfellowshipping offense. But that does not mean that the decision that artificial insemination is porneia has been abandoned.
Artificial insemination is not porneia because there is no penetration of the penis. And the Bible does not tell us whether it is right or wrong. Therefore, the conscience of each person must decide.
1969: BESTIALITY IS NOT PORNEIA, BUT IS A DISFELLOWSHIPPING OFFENSE
The first time bestiality was discussed in the Watchtower literature from a biblical point of view was in 1969. The lexicon Aid To Bible Understanding, 1969, page 601, 217, says:
Fornication: Sex relations by mutual agreement by two persons not married to each other…
Unnatural sexual intercourse of a man or a woman with an animal. The Mosaic law emphatically condemned this perverted practice, sentencing the guilty person and the beast to death. “Where a man gives his seminal emission to a beast, he should be put to death without fail, and they should kill the beast. And where a woman approaches any beast to have a connection with it, you must kill the woman and the beast.”—Lev. 20:15, 16; 18:23; Ex. 22:19; Deut. 27:21…
Despite its depravity, bestiality is not the same as adultery or fornication, and hence does not constitute Scriptural grounds for divorce. (Matt. 19:9) However, anyone indulging in such filthy practice is morally unclean, and, if a member of the Christian congregation were to indulge in such a practice, that one would be subject to disfellowshiping.—Eph. 5:3; Col. 3:5.
The view of porneia that was expressed in 1952 was upheld, and bestiality was not included in porneia. But bestiality had now become a new disfellowshipping offense.
The conclusion that bestiality is not included in the Greek word porneia is correct. That it is a disfellowshipping offense is wrong because that is not stated in the Christian Greek Scriptures.
1970: THE WORD PORNEIA COULD POSSIBLY INCLUDE HOMOSEXUAL ACTS
The Watchtower of August 15, 1970, page 511, discusses 1 Corinthians 6:18, where it is said that fornication (porneia) is a sin against one’s own body. This issue is discussed in detail, and regarding the meaning of porneia, the article says:
In fact, the words of Paul at 1 Corinthians 6:18 could include homosexuality, for Greek writers also used porneia to refer to homosexuality.
We note that it is not stated that porneia does include homosexuality, but the possibility of this is mentioned. And the reason for this possibility is that Classical Greek writers used the word in this sense. But this is a weak argument because the meaning and references of words in the Christian Greek Scriptures are often different from the meanings and references in Classical Greek.
The conclusion that porneia could include homosexual acts is too weak because Jude 7 connects homosexual acts with porneia. Thus, homosexual acts represent one reference of the word porneia.
1972 (JANUARY): THE WORD PORNEIA DOES NOT INCLUDE HOMOSEXUAL ACTS OR BESTIALITY
In The Watchtower of January 1, 1972, page 31, the question of whether homosexuality is included in porneia and, therefore, is a reason for divorce was raised. The viewpoint in this article is different from the article in 1970 in that Classical Greek writers are not used as sources. But the article correctly reasons:
“But the sense in which Jesus used the word porneia at Matthew 5:32 and Mt 19:9 must be ascertained from the context.”
This viewpoint is correct because only the context in the Christian Greek Scriptures can help us to ascertain the meaning and references of a Greek word. In keeping with this, the definition of porneiabelow is correct:
The Greek word for fornication is porneía. It can refer to illicit sexual relations between either married or unmarried persons…
It should be noted that in Matthew chapters 5 and 19 “fornication” (moikheia) is used in the restricted sense of marital unfaithfulness.
Then the article discusses the reasons for divorce on the basis of the context:
It should be noted that in Matthew chapters 5 and 19 “fornication” is used in the restricted sense of marital unfaithfulness, or illicit relations with another person not one’s marriage mate. Just before bringing up the matter of divorce in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ pointed out that “everyone [married] that keeps on looking at a woman so as to have a passion for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matt. 5:28) Consequently, when he afterward alluded to a woman’s committing fornication, his listeners would have understood this in its relative sense, namely, as signifying a married woman’s prostitution or adultery.
The context of Matthew chapter 19 confirms this conclusion. On the basis of the Hebrew Scriptures, Jesus pointed out that a man and his wife became “one flesh,” and then added: “What God has yoked together let no man put apart.” (Matt. 19:5, 6) Now, in homosexual acts the sex organs are used in an unnatural way, in a way for which they were never purposed. Two persons of the same sex are not complements of each other, as Adam and Eve were. They could never become “one flesh” in order to procreate. It might be added, in the case of human copulation with a beast, two different kinds of flesh are involved. Wrote the apostle Paul: “Not all flesh is the same flesh, but there is one of mankind, and there is another flesh of cattle, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish.”—1 Cor. 15:39.
While both homosexuality and bestiality are disgusting perversions, in the case of neither one is the marriage tie broken. It is broken only by acts that make an individual “one flesh” with a person of the opposite sex other than his or her legal marriage mate.
This quotation has several correct observations:
- The meaning of porneia must be ascertained on the basis of the context.
- The words in Matthew 5:28 that “everyone that keeps on looking at a woman so as to have a passion for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart,” only relates to married persons because the word moikheia in the verse only relates to sexual intercourse between a married person and one to whom he or she is not married.
- The words “becoming one flesh” means having sexual intercourse with someone.
- Bestiality is not a included in the word porneia.
There is also one conclusion that is wrong, namely, that homosexual intercourse is not included in the word porneia. As shown above, Jude 7 indicates that homosexual intercourse is porneia.
1972 (DECEMBER): THE WORD PORNEIA INCLUDES HOMOSEXUAL ACTS
The conclusion in January 1972 that the word porneia did not include homosexual acts had great consequences for a number of married persons. In November of 1972, the definition of porneia was expanded, and this also had great consequences for a number of married persons. The new view was presented in The Watchtower of December 15, 1972, page 767, where the Greek word porneia is discussed:
The sixth volume of the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament says that por·neiʹa can come to mean “‘sexual intercourse’ in gen[eral] without more precise definition.”
It is because of its being a broad term (broader in its scope than the word “fornication” is in the minds of many English-speaking people) that many Bible translators use expressions such as “gross immorality,” “sexual immorality,” “sexual sins,” or similar, when translating por·neiʹa.
Does this mean that unnatural and perverted sexual relations such as those engaged in by homosexuals are included in the meaning of this term used by the apostle in recording Jesus’ words? Yes, that is the case.This can be seen by the way Jesus’ half brother Jude used por·neiʹa when referring to the unnatural sex acts of the men of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Jude 7) Concerning the use of por·neiʹa by Greek-speaking Jews around the start of the Common Era, the sixth volume of the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament says: “πορνεία [por·neiʹa] can also be ‘unnatural vice,’ . . . sodomy.”
The words “unnatural vice” is a disapproving name for sodomy. So, The Watchtower article from December 1972 says that sodomy is included in porneia. This is correct, as I have shown above. Please note that the word “sodomy” includes the penetration of the penis and not other kinds of sexual acts (Merriam-Webster). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament also shows that porneia refers to the penetration of the penis by using the words “sexual intercourse.” But the Watchtower article uses this Dictionary in the wrong way. The author refers to the Dictionary and says that because porneia is a broad term according to the definition, “Bible translators use expressions such as “gross immorality,” “sexual immorality,” “sexual sins,” or similar, when translating por·neiʹa.” By this, the reader is misled because these renderings include much more than the penetration of the penis. And this is the only meaning that the Dictionary gives for porneia.
1974: THE WORD PORNEIA CAN BE APPLIED TO ACTIONS INSIDE MARRIAGE
A new view of porneia, with enormous consequences for many, was expressed in The Watchtower of November 15, 1974, page 703. Contrary to the correct definition that was presented in The Watchtower of December 15, 1972 that “por·nei’a refers to illicit sexual intercourse in general, without more precise definition,” the word was now being precisely defined and applied to specific sexual acts between married persons.
There are times when lewd practices within the marriage arrangement would provide a basis for a Scriptural divorce. . . .
Thus “fornication” is set forth as the only ground for divorce. In the common Greek in which Jesus’ words are recorded, the term “fornication” is por·nei’a, which designates all forms of immoral sexual relations, perversions and lewd practices such as might be carried on in a house of prostitution, including oral and anal copulation.
As to Jesus’ statements about divorce, they do not specify with whom the “fornication” or por nei’a is practiced. They leave the matter open. That por·nei’a can rightly be considered as including perversions within the marriage arrangement is seen in that the man who forces his wife to have unnatural sexual relations with him in effect “prostitutes” or “debauches” her. This makes him guilty of por·nei’a, for the related Greek verb porneu’o means “to prostitute, debauch.”
Hence, circumstances could arise that would make lewd practices of a married person toward that one’s marriage mate a Scriptural basis for divorce.
Specifying sexual actions that are included in porneia, except illicit sexual intercourse is guesswork without any basis in the Christian Greek Scriptures. The saying that porneia includes “perversions and lewd practices such as might be carried on in a house of prostitution” have no linguistic or biblical basis whatsoever. However, this claim has been repeated over and over again to this day. To say that porneia refers to anal and oral copulation and other lewd practices inside a marriage is to trespass into the private sphere of each married couple.
During the three and a half years of the existence of the view that anal and oral copulation inside marriage were porneia, there were huge problems. For example, what was a “lewd practice”? If a wife accused her husband of lewd practices and wanted to divorce him, but the husband did not view their sexual relations as lewd, what then?[1] Who should decide the matter? The elders? Husbands were disfellowshipped because of their sexual relations with their wives inside their own marriages. The most egregious consequence of this error on the part of the Governing Body was that a great number of marriages were dissolved on unbiblical grounds, and husbands, wives, and children were suffering. And Jehovah hates divorce, according to Malachi 2:16. Many elders also created problems because they began to behave like police officers (see the last clause in the quotation from The Watchtower of 1978 on page 189 at the end of this section), and even interrogated married couples about their sex lives.[2]
1978: THE WORD PORNEIA CANNOT BE APPLIED TO ORAL AND ANAL SEX INSIDE MARRIAGE
The view that oral and anal copulation inside marriage were porneia existed for 3 1/2 years, and then this view was reversed. The Watchtower of February 15, 1978, page 31, shows that porneia could not be applied inside marriage and that oral and anal sex inside marriage, which had been viewed as porneia, could not be included in this word:
In the past some comments have appeared in this magazine in connection with certain unusual sex practices, such as oral sex, within marriage and these were equated with gross sexual immorality. On this basis, the conclusion was reached that those engaging in such sex practices were subject to disfellowshipping if unrepentant. The view was taken that it was within the authority of the congregational elders to investigate and act in a judicial capacity regarding such practices in the conjugal relationship.
A careful further weighing of this matter, however, convinces us that, in view of the absence of clear Scriptural instruction, these are matters for which the married couple themselves must bear the responsibility before God and that these marital intimacies do not come within the province of the congregational elders to attempt to control nor to take disfellowshipping action with such matters as the sole basis. [A footnote shows that Romans 1:24–27 relates only to homosexuals and cannot be used in connection with married couples.] Of course, if any person chooses to approach an elder for counsel he or she may do so and the elder can consider Scriptural principles with such a one, acting as shepherd, but not attempting to, in effect, “police” the marital life of the one inquiring.[3] (My italics and emphasis.)
The words of this quotation are balanced. But porneia-inside-marriage was not completely removed. Pages 31 and 32 of The Watchtower quoted above say:
What if a married person claims that certain sexual practices of the marriage mate are sufficiently gross to come within the scope of the Greek term porneia as used at Matthew 19:9 (“fornication,” New World Translation)? As has been shown, the Scriptures do not give specific information that allows for positive identification of certain sexual practices within marriage as being—or not being—porneia. It may be noted that the Greek term is drawn from a word having the basic meaning of “to sell” or to “surrender or give oneself up to,” and thus porneia has the sense of “a selling or a giving of oneself up to lust or lewdness.” The verb form (porneuo) includes among its meanings that of “to debauch.” (Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon) If a married person believes that the sexual practices of the mate, though not involving someone outside the marriage, are nevertheless of such a gross nature as to constitute a clear surrender to lewdness or a debauching in lewdness, then that must be his or her own decision and responsibility.
Such a one may hold that the circumstances provide Scriptural basis for divorce. If so, he or she must accept full responsibility before God for any divorce action that might be taken. Elders cannot be expected to express approval (Scripturally) of divorce, if they are not sure of the grounds. At the same time they are not authorized to impose their conscience on another when the matter is a questionable one. (Jas. 4:11, 12)
The last quotation above is a glaring example of how the ignorance of the members of the Governing Body can create huge problems for individual Witnesses. The permission to a wife to look for lewd sexual practices on the part of their husband, and use these to obtain a divorce is based on a faulty basis. My copy of Liddell and Scott’s Greek Lexicon has the following comment on the verb porneuō:
Prostitute mostly in pass., of a woman prostitute herself: be or become a prostitute [references to three Greek authors] of a man [references to two Greek authors] II [references to two Greek authors]…fornicate 1 Ep. Cor 6:18.
The word “debauch” has the meaning “to corrupt by sensuality, intemperance etc., to corrupt or pervert.” The word “debauch” is not found in my copy of the Lexicon published in 1996. This lexicon basically refers to Classical Greek authors. But occasionally it refers to the Christian Greek Scriptures, as seen in the quotation above. Even if “debauch” had been written in this Lexicon, it could not be applied to the Christian Greek Scriptures, as the author of the Watchtower article does. If the Lexicon had the word “debauch” and had applied it to the Christian Greek Scriptures, the particular verse had been mentioned, as we see in the quotation.
Moreover, “debauch” is a general word, and to apply it to sexual actions between marriage mates that even can lead to divorce is the same as corrupting the word of God. The author has read something into the Scriptures that is not there. The only reason for divorce according to Jesus is sexual intercourse between a married person and one to whom he or she is not married. To introduce practices that can be viewed as “a clear surrender to lewdness or a debauching in lewdness” is, in reality, a contradiction of the words of Jesus.
And please look at the Lexicon’s definition of porneuō in the Christian Greek Scriptures: The meaning of the word in 1 Corinthians 6:18, according to the Lexicon, is “fornicate.” And the definition of this word is seen below.
Fornicate refers to sexual intercourse that occurs between people who are not married to each other. It is a word that is associated with legal language and the language of the Bible.[4]
This definition accords with the definition of porneia in the three Greek-English lexicons that are referred to above, namely, an illicit sexual intercourse. Apart from Revelation, where we cannot define porneuō on the basis of the context, this verb only occurs in 1 Corinthians 10:8 where sexual intercourse with women from Moab is referred to. So, the verb porneuō in the Christian Greek Scriptures has the meaning “to have illicit sexual intercourse,” just as porneia has the meaning “illicit sexual intercourse.” So, the meaning of the verb in the Christian Greek Scriptures as “debauch” is completely impossible.
1983: AN AMPLIFICATION AND ADJUSTMENT OF THE MEANING AND APPLICATION OF PORNEIA
Despite all indications that the matter of porneia-inside-marriage had been put to rest, in 1983, a part of the balanced view that was expressed in 1978 was changed. Now the viewpoints of the members of the Governing Body regarding the meaning and application of porneia was presented in a new garb.
The Watchtower of March 15, 1983, pages 30, 31, says:
Defining “Fornication”
What do we understand here by “fornication”? The Greek word in this text is porneia. In discussing the matter, The Watchtower of December 15, 1972, pages 766-768, showed that porneia “comes from a root word meaning ‘to sell.’” Thus it is tied in with prostitution, such as that practiced in many pagan temples in the first century and in ‘houses of ill fame’ today.
True, porneia is sometimes used in a limited sense, as applying to sex relations between unmarried (single) persons. An instance of such a limited usage is 1 Corinthians 6:9, where “fornicators” are mentioned separately and in addition to those who engage in such other sexual vices as adultery and homosexuality. But just before this, at 1 Corinthians 5:9-11, Paul used the same word when counseling Christians not to mix with “fornicators.” Is it reasonable to think that here he referred only to immoral unmarried persons? That could not be so, for chapter 6 sets out a broad range of illicit sexual practices that must be shunned, including adultery and homosexuality. Likewise, Jude 7 and Revelation 21:8, which show that God judges unrepentant “fornicators” as worthy of eternal destruction, could hardly be limited only to unmarried persons that have sex relations. And the Jerusalem governing body’s edict at Acts 15:29, “to keep abstaining . . . from fornication,” must be understood to have the wide field of application. (the author’s italics)
So, then, “fornication” in the broad sense, and as used at Matthew 5:32 and Mt 19:9, evidently refers to a broad range of unlawful or illicit sex relations outside marriage. Porneia involves the grossly immoral use of the genital organ(s) of at least one human (whether in a natural or a perverted way); also, there must have been another party to the immorality—a human of either sex, or a beast. Thus, self-abuse (unwise and spiritually dangerous as this may be) is not porneia. But to this day, the term porneia embraces the various kinds of sexual activity that might take place in a house of prostitution, where sexual favors are bought and sold. A person who goes to a male or a female prostitute to buy any kind of sexual favors would be guilty of porneia.—Compare 1 Corinthians 6:18.
Married Christians
How about sexual activity between married couples within the marriage bond? It is not for the elders to pry into the intimate lives of married Christians. However, the Bible certainly enters into their lives. Those who would “keep walking by spirit” should not ignore the Scriptural indications of God’s thinking. And they will do well to cultivate a hatred for everything that is unclean before Jehovah, including what are clearly perverted sexual practices. Married couples should act in a way that will leave them with a clean conscience, as they give unimpeded attention to developing “the fruitage of the spirit.”—Galatians 5:16, 22, 23; Ephesians 5:3-5.
What, though, if one mate wants or even demands to share with his or her partner what is clearly a perverted sex practice? The above-presented facts show that porneia involves unlawful sexual conduct outside the marital arrangement. Thus, a mate’s enforcing perverted acts, such as oral or anal sex, within the marriage would not constitute a Scriptural basis for a divorce that would free either for remarriage. Even though a believing mate is distressed by the situation, yet that one’s endeavor to hold to Scriptural principles will result in a blessing from Jehovah. In such cases it may be helpful for the couple to discuss the problem frankly, bearing in mind especially that sexual relations should be honorable, wholesome, an expression of tender love. This certainly should exclude anything that might distress or harm one’s mate.—Ephesians 5:28-30; 1 Peter 3:1, 7. As already stated, it is not for elders to “police” the private marital matters of couples in the congregation. However, if it becomes known that a member of the congregation is practicing or openly advocating perverted sex relations within the marriage bond, that one certainly would not be irreprehensible, and so would not be acceptable for special privileges, such as serving as an elder, a ministerial servant or a pioneer. Such practice and advocacy could even lead to expulsion from the congregation.
Why? Galatians 5:19-21 lists many vices that are not classed as porneia, and which could lead to one’s being disqualified from God’s Kingdom. Among them are “uncleanness” (Greek, akatharsia, signifying filthiness, depravity, lewdness) and “loose conduct” (Greek, aselgeia, signifying licentiousness, wantonness, shameless conduct). Like porneia, these vices, when they become gross, can be grounds for disfellowshipping from the Christian congregation, but not for obtaining a Scriptural divorce. A person who brazenly advocates shocking and repulsive sexual activities would be guilty of loose conduct. Of course, a person with that attitude might even sink to committing porneia; then there would be a basis for a Scriptural divorce. How concerned all devoted Christians should be to avoid and war against all such How concerned all devoted Christians should be to avoid and war against all such “works of the flesh”! —Galatians 5:24, 25.
A footnote says:
This is an amplification and adjustment in understanding of what appears in The Watchtower of November 15, 1974, pages 703-704, and of February 15, 1978, pages 30-32. Those who acted on the basis of the knowledge they had at the time are not to be criticized. Nor would this affect the standing of a person who in the past believed that a mate’s perverted sexual conduct within marriage amounted to porneia and, hence, obtained a divorce and is now remarried.
One new viewpoint regarding porneia is the following: “But to this day, the term porneia embraces the various kinds of sexual activity that might take place in a house of prostitution, where sexual favors are bought and sold.” As I have shown above, this new viewpoint has no basis in the Christian Greek Scriptures, where the only meaning that can be construed from the contexts where the word occurs is “illicit sexual intercourse,” which implies the penetration of the penis inside the vagina or inside the anus of homosexuals. We should also note that this is the definition of the Greek-English lexicons that have been quoted in The Watchtower.[1]
Another new point is that The Watchtower of February 15, 1978, page 31, showed that if the marriage mate viewed the sexual acts of her mate “of such a gross nature as to constitute a clear surrender to lewdness or a debauching in lewdness” she could say that this is porneia and divorce her mate. She had to bear the full responsibility for her decision. This was no longer permitted “Thus, a mate’s enforcing perverted acts, such as oral or anal sex, within the marriage would not constitute a Scriptural basis for a divorce that would free either for remarriage.” This is a correct decision
MARRIAGE: SNEAKING IN THE VIEWPOINTS OF THE MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BODY
The real issue is that the members of the Governing Body want to implant into the minds of the Witnesses their viewpoints regarding what is right and wrong in sexual relations between married people. And they do this in an imperceptible way. This is a scheme that we very often see. The members of the Governing Body have made 200+ laws that all Jehovah’s Witnesses must follow, often with the threat of disfellowshipping. In other cases, they make decisions, and they try to get the Witnesses to comply with these either directly or indirectly.
The correct biblical viewpoint was expressed in The Watchtower of February 15, 1978, page 31:
A careful further weighing of this matter, however, convinces us that, in view of the absence of clear Scriptural instruction, these are matters for which the married couple themselves must bear the responsibility before God and that these marital intimacies do not come within the province of the congregational elders to attempt to control nor to take disfellowshipping action with such matters as the sole basis.
As the quotation says, there are no instructions in the Bible regarding how sexual relations between married persons should be performed, and therefore, neither the elders nor the Governing Body should interfere in these situations. First Peter 4:15 exhorts a Christian not to behave “as a busybody in other people’s matters.” This is good advice for the members of the Governing Body. But they believe that they have the right to be “lording it over those who are God’s inheritance.” (1 Peter 5:3). The designation “the Governing Body” shows this. Therefore, they are meddling in the personal affairs of individual Jehovah’s Witnesses. Let us see.
The Watchtower of March 15, 1983, page 30, says:
How about sexual activity between married couples within the marriage bond? It is not for the elders to pry into the intimate lives of married Christians. However, the Bible certainly enters into their lives. Those who would “keep walking by spirit” should not ignore the Scriptural indications of God’s thinking. And they will do well to cultivate a hatred for everything that is unclean before Jehovah, including what are clearly perverted sexual practices.
There is a clear contradiction between the quotation from 1978 and the one from 1983. It cannot be disputed that regarding the sexual relations between married persons, there is “an absence of clear Scriptural instruction.” In view of this, how can the members of the Governing Body in connection with sexual activity between married couples speak of “the Scriptural indications of God’s thinking.”? The fact is that what is behind the words is the thinking of the members of the Governing Body, but the thinking of these persons is disguised as God’s thinking!
The book Correspondence Guidelines (2007) is written for the branch offices to help them answer questions that they receive. The members of the congregations do not read this book. But when they ask questions, they get the answers that are written in this book. And all the points in the quotation below from the mentioned book are found somewhere in the Watchtower literature. On page 98 we read:
When questions arise as to the propriety of certain conduct between husband and wife, it is good to indicate that it is not for the Christian congregation to direct individuals about what may or may not be done in the marriage bed. Marriage mates can be advised that in their intimate relations, as in all aspects of life, Christians ought to display kindness, love, and concern for others.
Married Christians are included in the admonition to avoid “covetous sexual appetite.” (1 Thess. 4:4-8) This involves showing proper restraint even during sexual relations, not resorting to unclean acts.
Christians should always have a hatred for all perverted practices — homosexuality, lesbianism, bestiality, oral or anal sex, and the like. (Lev. 15:24; 20:18; Ps. 97:10; Amos 5:15; Rom. 12:9; Eph. 5:3, 10-12; Col. 3:5, 6) Married couples can be urged to act in a way that leaves them with a clean conscience and that reflects their desire to see the marriage bed kept honorable and without defilement.—Heb. 13:4…
Here we see “the Governing Bodies thinking” disguised as “the Scriptural indications of God’s thinking.” The first part is excellent: “It is good to indicate that it is not for the Christian congregation to direct individuals about what may or may not be done in the marriage bed.”
However, the next part nullifies the first part because specific points are mentioned that can have a bad effect on individual Witnesses. How so? The sexual relations between a married couple who are Jehovah’s Witnesses can easily be disturbed because many Witnesses have a sensitive conscience. They strive to live according to the Bible, and they are afraid to do anything that is wrong in Jehovah’s eyes. I will use an example by quoting Genesis 3:9-11:
9 And Jehovah God kept calling to the man and saying to him: “Where are you?” 10 Finally he said: “Your voice I heard in the garden, but I was afraid because I was naked and so I hid myself.” 11 At that he said: “Who told you that you were naked? From the tree from which I commanded you not to eat have you eaten?”
Adam and Eve had been naked for some time. This was a normal situation for them, and they had not been thinking, “Oh, we are naked.” But now, their guilty, sin-stricken consciences made them aware that they were naked. Sexual relations between married couples are something normal; it is a spontaneous expression of their love for one another. And most couples are not cautious in their sexual relations, asking: “Is there anything wrong with what er are doing that is displeasing Jehovah.”
But now, when the literature draws attention to sexual relations. — Then “their eyes are opened,” and they may start to think that there may possibly be something dirty with their sexual relations, something they have never thought about earlier. Their sexual relations that have been beautiful may now have been tainted; at least there is a possibility for that. Particularly the consciences of the wives may be sensitive. The wives may start to look at sexual relations with their husbands with critical eyes when the get the admonition, “avoid ‘covetous sexual appetite’.” And this can put a damper on their sexual relations or even destroy these relations. The reason for this bad situation is that the members of the Governing Body have been meddling in other people’s matters.
Particularly bad is the clause, “Married Christians are included in the admonition to avoid ‘covetous sexual appetite’. (1 Thess. 4:4-8)” This statement is not true, and it is the same as corrupting the word of God. The context shows that Paul speaks about how unmarried Christians should exercise self-control, so as not to perform porneia (“illicit sexual intercourse”) And the verses have nothing to do with sexual relations between married couples.
EXCURSUS ON “COVETOUS SEXUAL APPETITE” IN 1 Thessalonians 4:5
I will analyze the Greek words: Pathos: “suffering; an affection, passion, especially sexual” (Mounce) Epithumia: “irregular or violent desire, Mk. 4:19; spc. impure desire, lust. (Mounce) NWT84 has the rendering “covetous sexual appetite” and NIV has the rendering “passionate lust.” Both renderings are accurate. In order to look at the context, I quote 1 Thessalonians 4:3-6:
The word porneia refers to illicit sexual intercourse. It can refer to, 1) sexual intercourse between a married person and one to whom he or she is not married, 2) Sexual intercourse between unmarried persons, and 3) sexual intercourse between homosexuals. Sexual intercourse with a married person and one to whom he or she is not married is also expressed by the Greek word moikheia. Thus, moikheia can be subsumed under porneia. What is the reference of porneia in this context? We can understand this if we look at the result of performing porneia. Verse 6 shows that the result is “harming and encroach upon the rights of his brother (adelfos). The word “brother” (adelfos) can refer to males and females in the congregation that are harmed. A marriage mate would not be called “brother,” so, there are good reasons to believe that porneia in this case refers to sexual intercourse between unmarried persons, and that the idea of moikheia is not included. This is corroborated by the words of Paul in 2 Timothy 2:22 to flee from “desires incidental to youth,” and his words in 1 Corinthians 7:2, that because of prevalence of fornication (porneia) “Let each man have his own wife and each woman have her own husband.” What are “the rights of his brother? The Watchtower of November 15, 1989, page 31, has the following comments:
These are fine comments, and they show that each Christian has the right to enter marriage as a clean virgin. Because of this, Paul exhorts unmarried Christians to abstain from fornication (porneia). What is the meaning of the words, “that each one of YOU should know how to get possession of his own vessel in sanctification and honor”? The Greek word autos (“himself”) stands in the genitive, and skeuos stands in the accusative. So, the meaning of “his own vessel” is “his own body.” Paul’s point is that every brother must exercise self-control so he does not succumb to passionate lust. If he does not do this, he may perform porneia and harm and encroach upon the rights of the sister or brother he or she seduces. The book Correspondence Guidelines says:
The first idea that came to my mind when I read these comments was that he that made this interpretation must have had an unnatural or extreme view of sexual relations between married couples. The context shows that Paul admonishes unmarried brothers to refrain from poeneia, and the words have nothing to do with the way sexual relations are performed by married couples. “
In view of the absence of clear Scriptural instruction,” as The Watchtower of February 15, 1978 wrote, the members of the Governing Body should not have given any guidance regarding sexual relations between married couples. By doing this, they have ignored the admonition of Peter not “lording it over those who are God’s inheritance.” (1 Peter 5:3) and not being “as a busybody in other people’s matters.” (1. Peter 4:15) And they have introduced ideas that can harm the sexual relations between married Christians.
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The following clause in Correspondence Guidelines is also bad: “Christians should always have a hatred for all perverted practices — homosexuality, lesbianism, bestiality, oral or anal sex, and the like,” Homosexuality, lesbianism, and bestiality are actions that are not relevant for married couples. But what about “oral sex, anal sex, and the like”? Again, the members of the Governing Body are meddling in the personal affairs of married couples. “In view of the absence of clear Scriptural instruction,” The Watchtower of February 15, 1978, would not give any advice regarding oral and anal sex. And this is of course the correct Christian viewpoint.
I am not defending oral or anal sex, but I am neutral because the Scriptures are neutral. Moreover, what is the reference of the words “and the like”? These words indicate that there are several more actions that are perversions, and there can also be actions that are not directly oral or anal sex but are bordering of being so. By using such expressions, we have the same situations as I discussed above. Couples, and particularly the wife, can start looking at their sexual relations with critical eyes: “Is this action bordering on oral sex?” “Is this action lewd”? And the good sexual relations that the couple had can be destroyed.
But how can we give good advice to couples regarding their sexual lives? We can use the first part in the quotation from the book Correspondence Guidelines:
Marriage mates can be advised that in their intimate relations, as in all aspects of life, Christians ought to display kindness, love, and concern for others.
We can tell the couple who is inquiring that the Scriptures have no specific guidance for the sexual lives of married couples. Then we can read some scriptures about kindness, love, and concern for others. And we can say that sexual relations are a beautiful gift from Jehovah. And you can use this gift to the best for one another.
Paul shows in Romans 13:8-10 that Christians do not need the ten commandments because they fulfill most of these commandments by loving their neighbor. And Christian couples do not need “commandments” that they must show proper restraints in their sexual relations and that they must avoid certain perversions defined by the Governing Body. They show kindness, love, and concern for one another, and therefore they may have beautiful sexual relations.
1999—2000: NEW DEFINITIONS OF PORNEIA ARE INTRODUCED
In The Watchtower of March 15, 1983, page 30, this general definition of porneia was given: “But to this day, the term porneia embraces the various kinds of sexual activity that might take place in a house of prostitution, where sexual favors are bought and sold.” Now this general definition was given some specification.
The Watchtower of September 1, 1999, page 12, (first quotation below) and The Watchtower of November 1, 2000, page 8, (second quotation) have a new and even ‘more precise’ definitions of porneia:
The original Greek word for fornication, por·neiʹa, refers to all illicit sexual activity involving the use of the genital organs carried on outside the bonds of marriage. That would include oral sex and the deliberate fondling of sexual organs.
What is meant by the word “fornication”? It comes from the Greek word por·nei’a, which is sometimes used to apply to sexual relations between unmarried people. (1 Corinthians 6:9) Elsewhere, such as at Matthew 5:32 and Matthew 19:9, the term is broader in meaning and refers additionally to adultery, incest, and bestiality.Other sexual practices between individuals not married to each other, such as oral and anal sex and the sexual manipulation of another person’s genitalia, can also be designated as por·neiʹa. All such practices are condemned—either explicitly or by implication—in God’s Word.—Leviticus 20:10, 13, 15, 16; Romans 1:24, 26, 27, 32.
I would like to add one remark to the words in blue, namely that these words are not true. No place in the Bible mentions, or even hints at oral and anal sex, in connection with married couples or unmarried persons. The Watchtower of February 15, 1978, page 31, says that “in view of the absence of clear Scriptural instruction,” oral and anal sex between married couples were not condemned — so the article was neutral as to these actions. A footnote shows that Romans 1:24–27 relates only to homosexuals and cannot be used in connection with married couples. So, “the Scriptural indications of God’s thinking,” that are mentioned in The Watchtower of March 15, 1983, page 30, is “the unscriptural indications of the Governing Body’s thinking.”
2018: PORNEIA WITHOUT SKIN-TO-SKIN CONTACT
In 2018, there came an extension of the definition of porneia as we see in The Watchtower of November 2018, page 27:
Lap dancing is defined as “an activity in which a usually seminude performer sits and gyrates on the lap of a customer.” Depending on the facts of an actual situation, this could constitute sexual immorality requiring judicial action. A Christian who has taken part in such activity should seek help from the elders.—Jas. 5:14, 15.
The Shepherd Book for elders 12:3 confirms the decision mentioned in The Watchtower:
Por·nei’a does not require skin-to-skin contact, copulation (as in penetration), or sexual climax.
In The Watchtower of December 15, 1972, three Greek-English lexicons were quoted as sources for the definition of porneia, and in all three lexicons illicit sexual intercourse is mentioned as the definition, and this requires the penetration of the penis. All three definitions are now flatly rejected — penetration of the penis is not required for an action to be porneia, according to the members of the Governing Body.
The important point is that the only definition of porneia in the Christian Greek Scriptures is “illicit sexual intercourse,” and the whims of the members of the Governing Body as to the definition of porneia have no linguistic or biblical basis. I am certain that no Greek-English lexicon includes oral and anal sex or the other definitions of the Governing body in its definition of porneia. So, the members of the Governing Body are alone in the whole world of their definition of porneia.
What is really bad in this situation is that the idiosyncratic definitions of porneia invented by the members of the Governing Body have ruined the lives of tens of thousands of Witnesses and tens of thousands of families because the definitions are used as disfellowshipping offenses.
When we look at table 1.1, we see that the Governing Body’s definitions of porneia have changed greatly— from unlawful sexual intercourse (which by definition requires the penetration of the penis) with one of the opposite sex to fully-clothed-porneia with no penetration of the penis. These definitions are diametrically opposed to one another, and if the Bible was acknowledged as the only source of Christian doctrine, such irreconcilable definitions would not be possible. But alas, the contradictory definitions are there, and the reason is that the members of the Governing Body have made their own human commandments that are not based on the Bible.
Table 1.1 Different definitions of porneia
1956 | Artificial insemination from another man than her husband. |
1969 | Bestiality is not porneia, but it is a disfellowshipping offense. |
1970 | The word porneia can possibly include homosexual acts. |
1972, January | The word porneia does not include homosexual acts and bestiality. |
1972, December | The word porneia includes homosexual acts. |
1974 | The word porneia can be applied inside marriage to anal an oral sex and other lewd practices performed by married persons. Such actions can lead to divorce and disfellowshipping. |
1978 | The word porneia cannot be applied inside marriage to anal an oral sex, and such actions cannot lead to divorce. However, one marriage mate can view sexual actions by the other mate so lewd that he or she defines them as porneia. On this basis, the married mate can rightly demand a divorce. |
1978 | No Scriptural instruction regarding sexual relations inside marriage exists. Only the married couple can decide how their sexual relations should be performed. |
1983 | The members of the Governing Body have decided that they have the right to make rules for sexual relations between married couples: While oral and anal sex by a married couple is not porneia, they are “perversions”. Such actions are not reasons for divorce, but they can still lead to disfellowshipping. |
1983 | The word porneia includes sexual relations between a human being and a beast. |
1999 | The word porneia includes oral and anal sex by unmarried persons and deliberate fondling of the genitals of a person to whom he or she is not married. |
2018 | The word porneia can include actions of fully clothed persons without any skin-to-skin contact. |
[1]. The only exception is a reference to Liddel and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon in The Watchtower of February 15, 1978, page 31. The claim is that this lexicon shows that porneia can have the meaning “to debauch.” My copy of the lexicon does not have this meaning. But it has “fornicate 1 Ep. Cor 6:18.” So, the reference in The Watchtower must be wrong.
[1]. I have firsthand knowledge of one such example. It dragged on for several months with numerous conversations between the wife and the husband and the elders. Both became depressed, and at last, they were divorced.
[2]. For a detailed discussion, see the article “Porneia-inside-marriage” in the category “Reversed view of disfellowshipping offenses.”
[3]. The Watchtower of February 15, 1978, 31.
[4]. https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/fornicate.
[5]. https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/anal_sex; https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/oral-sex.
CONCLUSION
In the congregation of Corinth, there were persons who corrupted the word of God because of bad motives. The members of the Governing Body have been corrupting the word of God because of ignorance. It is quite ironic that the nine men in the Governing Body are the only interpreters of the Bible in the community of Jehovah’s Witnesses in spite of the fact that none of them can read the original languages of the Bible, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.
In connection with the Greek word porneia (“Illicit sexual intercourse”) that has been the focus of this study, they have let their imagination wander back and forth, resulting in several contradictory decisions as to its meaning. The Governing Body is alone in the whole world with their definitions of porneia — these definitions are not found in any scholarly work.
Of the 37 disfellowshipping offenses invented by the Governing Body and the 11 disfellowshipping offenses found in the Christian Greek Scriptures, being guilty of porneia is the one offense that has caused the disfellowshipping of most people. Because of this, each new definition of porneia that the members of Governing Body have invented because of their ignorance has had serious consequences for a great number of Witnesses.
It is no overstatement to say that the Governing Body’s definitions of the word porneia, have caused thousands of marriages to be dissolved for unbiblical reasons, tens of thousands of lives of Witnesses have been ruined, and members of tens of thousands of families have suffered, or these families have even been destroyed. The members of the Governing Body have the responsibility for this bad situation because they have corrupted the word of God.