—REVIEW—
The meaning of the Greek word porneia is “illicit sexual intercourse” — sexual intercourse between two persons who are not married to each other. The 12 other meanings that the members of the Governing Body have invented and attached to porneia have no basis in the Bible.
The words of Paul in 1 Corinthians chapters 5 and 6 show that only a person who is a pornos deserves to be disfellowshipped. A person who has committed illicit sexual intercourse one time, two times, or five times is not a pornos. To qualify for being a pornos, a person who deserves to be disfellowshipped, his life must be centered around having illicit sexual intercourse, he must be a person who is permeated by these actions, just like a pornē, which refers to a prostitute.
THE TWO KINDS OF TRADITIONS
I start this study by a discussion of the Greek word paradosis, which can be translated as “tradition.” This word is used in two different ways in The Christian Greek Scriptures, and I quote 2 Thessalonians 2:15 (above), 3:6 (middle), Matthew 15:1-6 (below):
15 So, then, brothers, stand firm and maintain YOUR hold on the traditions that YOU were taught, whether it was through a verbal message or through a letter of ours.
6 Now we are giving YOU orders, brothers, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to withdraw from every brother walking disorderly and not according to the tradition YOU received from us.
1 Then there came to Jesus from Jerusalem Pharisees and scribes, saying: 2 “Why is it your disciples overstep the tradition of the men of former times? For example, they do not wash their hands when about to eat a meal.”3 In reply he said to them: “Why is it YOU also overstep the commandment of God because of YOUR tradition? 4 For example, God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Let him that reviles father or mother end up in death.’ 5 But YOU say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother: “Whatever I have by which you might get benefit from me is a gift dedicated to God,” 6 he must not honor his father at all.’ And so YOU have made the word of God invalid because of YOUR tradition.
The traditions (paradosis) that Paul spoke about in his second letter to the Thessalonians were the Christian truth he had taught the Thessalonians, either orally or by his letters. This truth was inspired by God, as he wrote in 2. Timotheus 3:16. For us today, this “tradition” (paradosis) is the Bible with its 66 books.
The Mishnah is a book of Jewish traditions, and it was written about 200 CE. It contains rabbinic traditions and has quotations of what different rabbis have said. This includes references to the rabbis Hillel and Shammai, who lived in the last part of the 1st century BCE and the first part of the 1st century CE, therefore overlapping with the life of Jesus. And it includes the sayings of other rabbis back to Antigonus of Sokho, who lived in the first part of the third century CE.
The Talmud consists of rabbinic comments on the Mishnah, and the Babylonian Talmud consists of 37 volumes. In this work, there are many different traditions of washing of hands in different ways and in connection with eating different kinds of food. The second part of the Talmud is the Gemara, and in Sotah 4b-6 we read:
Rabbi Zerika says that Rabbi Elazar says: Anyone who treats the ritual of washing hands with contempt is uprooted from the world.
These words show that keeping the rabbinic traditions was very important, even to the point of saving the life. When Jesus referred to “the tradition of the men of former times,” he referred to the sayings of rabbis who had lived before his days.
Jesus showed in Matthew 15:3 that the traditions of the rabbis violated the Laws of God:
“Why is it YOU also overstep (parabainō) the commandment (entolē) of God because of YOUR tradition?
The word “commandment” is translated from the Greek word entolē with the meaning “commandment.” It can refer to the ten commandments or to any of the laws given by Moses. The word “overstep” is translated from the Greek word parabainō with the meaning “to act contrary to established custom or law, with the implication of intent — ‘to disobey, to break the law, to transgress, disobedience, transgression.’” (Louw and Nida). The point of Jesus was that the traditions (paradosis) of the rabbis violated or nullified the laws of God, the true tradition (paradosis).
The example Jesus used is as follows: God’s law was that children should honor their father and mother and support them. The rabbis agreed with this law. But their tradition was that instead of supporting their parents with gifts, these gifts should be offered to God in his temple. Thus, the tradition of the rabbis would nullify God’s commandment of children honoring their father and mother.
There is a similar situation today. The traditions made by the members of the Governing Body regarding disfellowshipping violate and nullify a number of God’s commandments.
It destroys the God-given relationship between parents and children and between children and parents, it destroys the relationship between friends, and it destroys the possibility of the elders giving help to those who are spiritually sick. (James 5:13-15) The reason for all this destruction against God’s will is that that the members of the Governing Body have created a great number of disfellowshipping offenses that are not mentioned in the Bible, and that they have demanded that disfellowshipped persons must be shunned and totally isolated.
In this article, I will discuss the disfellowshipping offense that is connected with porneia (illicit sexual intercourse).
THE MEANING OF PORNEIA AND MOIKHEIA
The members of the Governing Body have ascribed 12 different meanings to the word porneia. But the Christian Greek Scriptures porneia has only one meaning, namely, sexual intercourse between persons who are not married to each other.
It is very important to understand the exact meaning of porneia because being guilty of porneia is a serious sin, which also can terminate marriage. Greek-English lexicons have definitions of Greek words including examples from Classical Greek writings and the Christian Greek Scriptures.The meaning and references of Greek words in The Christian Greek Scriptures often are different from the meaning and references in Classical Greek writings. Therefore, the only way to find the meaning of Greek words in the Christian Greek Scriptures is to study the context where each word occurs in these Scriptures.
There are two related words referring to illicit sexual intercourse, namely, moikheia and porneia. I will now discuss these words.
THE MEANING OF THE NOUN MOIKHEIA AND THE VETRBS MOIKHAŌ AND MOIKHEUŌ
The verb moikhaō (“to commit adultery”) occurs three times in the Christian Greek Scriptures. (Matthew 5:32; 19:9; Mark 10:11). And the verb moikheuō, with exactly the same meaning — it is only a dialectal variant — occurs 15 times. Below is the text of Matthew 5:32, and here we find both the verbs moikhaō and moikheuō as well as the substantive porneia (“fornication”):
32However, I say to YOU that everyone divorcing his wife, except on account of fornication (porneia), makes her a subject for adultery (moikheuō), and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery (moikhaō).[1]
I have stressed that the meaning and references of Greek words may be different in Classical Greek writings and in the Christian Greek Scriptures. The members of the Governing Body have acknowledged this, as the quotation The Watchtower of February 15, 1989, page 10, shows. The quotation shows that repentance in Classical Greek referred to one or two actions but did not include a change in the whole personality of the person, as is the case in the Christian Greek Scriptures:
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 verbs moikhaō and moikheuō are translations of a Hebrew verb, and because of this, the meaning of these two verbs can be known with certainty. Romans 13:9 says:
For the law code, “You must not commit adultery (nā’ap), you must not murder, you must not steal, you must not covet,” and whatever other commandment there is, is summed up in this saying: “You must love your neighbor as yourself.”
The English expression “commit adultery” is translated from the Greek verb moikheuō, and it is a quotation from Exodus 20:14, where the Hebrew verb nā’ap is used. This Hebrew word means that a married person has sexual intercourse with another person to whom he is not married (= adultery). Thus, moicheuō has the single meaning, sexual intercourse between a married person and one to whom he or she is not married.
In Israel in the time of Jesus, there was a difference in viewpoint regarding what situation warranted a Scriptural divorce — a woman committing adultery or a man committing adultery. But Jesus speaks of adultery in connection with a woman in Matthew 5:32 and in connection with a man in Matthew 19:9. So, in the Christian Greek Scriptures, there is no difference.
The meaning of the verbs moikheuō/moikhaō is clear from their contexts. Both verbs refer to a married person who has sexual intercourse with another person to whom he or she is not married.
THE MEANING OF THE NOUN PORNEIA AND THE VERB PORNEUŌ
Jesus spoke about marriage and divorce, and his words in Matthew 5:27, 28, 31, 32 show that porneia has the meaning “illicit sexual intercourse.”
27 “You heard that it was said: ‘You must not commit adultery (moikheia).’ 28 But I say to you that everyone that keeps on looking at a woman so as to have a passion for her has already committed adultery (moikheuō) with her in his heart… 31 “Moreover, it was said: ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 However, I say to you that everyone divorcing his wife, except on account of fornication (porneia), makes her a subject for adultery (moikheuō), and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery (moikheia).
As I have shown above, the Greek word moikheia has the meaning “adultery,” which means sexual intercourse between a married person and one to whom he or she is not married. And by saying that moikheia is porneia, Jesus shows that “adultery” is one of the references of porneia. Thus, the meaning of porneia is “illicit sexual intercourse.”
There is another example of the words of Jesus showing that the meaning of porneia and the corresponding verb porneuō is “illicit sexual intercourse.” This is the expression “one flesh.” The meaning of this expression can be seen in the words of Jesus in Matthew 19:5, 6 (above) and Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:16-18 (below):
5 and said: ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and will stick to his wife, and the two will be one flesh’? 6 So that they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has yoked together, let no man put apart.”
16 What! Do YOU not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body? For, “The two,” says he, “will be one flesh.” 17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. 18 Flee from fornication (porneia). Every other sin that a man may commit is outside his body, but he that practices fornication (porneia) is sinning against his own body.
The key expression here is “one flesh,” and the study note for Matthew 19:5 in the online NWT13 says:
One flesh: The expression is a literal rendering into Greek of the Hebrew term at Ge 2:24 and could also be rendered “one body” or “one person.” It describes the closest bond possible between two humans. It not only refers to sexual relations but extends to the whole relationship, making the two individuals faithful and inseparable companions. Such a union cannot be broken up without damage to the partners bound by it.
These comments are excellent. The phrase “one flesh” refers to sexual intercourse and to the closest possible bond between two persons. On this background, I will discuss the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:16-18. I give a literal translation of these words.
16 Do you not know that anyone who is gluing together (kollaō) with a prostitute, he is one body with her? For it is being said “the two to one flesh will become.” 17 The one who is being glued to the Lord is one spirit with him.” 18 Flee from fornication (porneia)! Any sin that a man would do is outside the body. But the one who is practicing fornication (porneuō) is sinning against his own body.
The Greek word kollaō has the meaning “stick or cling to something” according to Louw and Nida, and “to glue or weld together,” according to Mounce. It is obvious that “gluing together” with a prostitute refers to the closest possible bond between the prostitute and the man. In this verse, the expressions “gluing together” and “the two to one flesh will become” can only refer to sexual intercourse, and this is connected with porneia two times in verse 18. We can also see this in 1 Corinthians 10:8:
8 Neither let us practice fornication (porneuō), as some of them committed fornication (porneuō), only to fall, 23,000 of them in one day.
The Israelites were at the point of entering the promised land. But on the plains of Moab, Moabite women enticed Israelite men to have sexual intercourse with them. In this verse, the verb porneuō is used two times, and the situation shows that the verb only has the meaning “illicit sexual intercourse.” There are three more verses where this is the meaning:
John 8:41:
41 YOU do the works of YOUR father.” They said to him: “We were not born from fornication (porneia); we have one Father, God.”
A person cannot be born without sexual intercourse between his father and his mother.
1 Corinthians 5:1
1Actually fornication is reported among YOU, and such fornication as is not even among the nations, that a wife a certain [man] has of [his] father.
The man took his father’s wife, and this would include sexual intercourse between the two.
Revelation 2:14
14 “‘Nevertheless, I have a few things against you, that you have there those holding fast the teaching of Baʹlaam, who went teaching Baʹlak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication (porneia).
Balaam was the one who suggested that the women from Moab should entice the men of Israel to have sexual intercourse with them. This is a reference to the situation mentioned in 1 Corinthians 10:8, and there can be no doubt that porneia in this case refers to sexual intercourse. I include the six instances where porneia clearly means “illicit sexual intercourse” in table 1:1.
Table 1.1 Passages where it is clear that the meaning of porneia is “illicit sexual intercourse”
| Matthew 5:32 | Adultery (moikheia) is a reference of porneia. |
| 1 Corinthians 6:16-16 | One flesh with a prostitute is poreneia. |
| 1 Corinthians 10:8 | Sexual intercourse on the plains of Moab is porneia. |
| John 8:41 | The Jews were not born from fornication (porneia) |
| 1 Corinthians 5:1 | The man who took his father’s wife were guilty of porneia. |
| Revelation 2:14 | Balaam caused Israelite men to commit fornication (porneia). |
As the table shows, there are six passages in the Christian Greek Scriptures where the context shows that porneia has the meaning “illicit sexual intercourse.” There are 19 more occurrences of the noun porneia and four occurrences of the verb porneuomai. The passages where these words occur are listed below, and anyone can analyze the passages and see that porneia has no other meaning than “fornication.”
Matthew 15:19
19 For example, out of the heart come wicked reasonings, murders, adulteries (moikheia), fornications (porneia), thieveries, false testimonies, blasphemies.
Mark 7:21
21 for from inside, out of the heart of men, injurious reasonings issue forth: fornications (porneia), thieveries, murders.
Acts 15:20
20 but to write them to abstain from things polluted by idols and from fornication (porneia) and from what is strangled and from blood.
Acts 15:29
29 to keep abstaining from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication (porneia). If YOU carefully keep yourselves from these things, YOU will prosper. Good health to YOU!”
Acts 21:25
25 As for the believers from among the nations, we have sent out, rendering our decision that they should keep themselves from what is sacrificed to idols as well as from blood and what is strangled and from fornication (porneia).”
2 Corinthians 12:21
21 Perhaps, when I come again, my God might humiliate me among YOU, and I might mourn over many of those who formerly sinned but have not repented over their uncleanness and fornication (porneia) and loose conduct that they have practiced.
Galatians 5:19
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, and they are fornication (porneia), uncleanness, loose conduct.
Ephesians 5:3
3 Let fornication (porneia) and uncleanness of every sort or greediness not even be mentioned among YOU, just as it befits holy people.
Colossians 3:5
5 Deaden, therefore, YOUR body members that are upon the earth as respects fornication (porneia), uncleanness, sexual appetite, hurtful desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
- Thessalonians 4:3
3 For this is what God wills, the sanctifying of YOU, that YOU abstain from fornication (porneia).
Revelation 2:20
20 “‘Nevertheless, I do hold [this] against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezʹe·bel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and misleads my slaves to commit fornication (poreuomai) and to eat things sacrificed to idols.
Revelation 2:21
21 And I gave her time to repent, but she is not willing to repent of her fornication (porneia).
Revelation 9:21
21 and they did not repent of their murders nor of their spiritistic practices nor of their fornication (porneia) nor of their thefts.
Revelation 14:8
8 And another, a second angel, followed, saying: “She has fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen, she who made all the nations drink of the wine of the anger of her fornication (porneia)!”
Revelation 17:2
2 with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication (poreuomai), whereas those who inhabit the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication (porneia).”
Revelation 17:4
4 And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and was adorned with gold and precious stone and pearls and had in her hand a golden cup that was full of disgusting things and the unclean things of her fornication (porneia).
Revelation 18:3
3 For because of the wine of the anger of her fornication all the nations have fallen [victim], and the kings of the earth committed fornication (porneuomai) with her, and the traveling merchants of the earth became rich due to the power of her shameless luxury.”
Revelation 18:9
9 “And the kings of the earth who committed fornication (porneuomai) with her and lived in shameless luxury will weep and beat themselves in grief over her, when they look at the smoke from the burning of her.
Revelation 19:20
2 because his judgments are true and righteous. For he has executed judgment upon the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication (porneia), and he has avenged the blood of his slaves at her hand.”
Where porneia is listed together with other negative words without any context, its meaning cannot be known. This occurs in ten passages (Matthew 15:19; Mark 7:21; Acts 15:20, 29; 21:25; 2 Corinthians 12:21; Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5; Revelation 9:21). There are four examples of porneia and three examples of porneuomai that are used in a symbolic sense in connection with Babylon the great (Revelation 14:8; 17:2, 4; 18:3, 9, and 19:20). In addition to these passages, there are only two examples of porneia and one example of porneuomai that do not belong to one of these two groups (1. Thessalonians 4:3, and Revelation 2:20, 21). And the contexts of these three passages do not tell us anything about the meaning of porneia or porneuō. So, we can only rely on the six examples where the meaning “illicit sexual intercourse” is clear.
| There are six contexts showing that porneia and porneuō means illicit sexual intercourse. None of the other 19 occurrences have additional meanings. |
[1] . https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fornication.
THE REFERENCES OF THE NOUN PORNEIA AND THE VERBS PORNEUŌ AND EKPORNEUŌ
The meaning of a word is how native speakers of the language view the word, and the reference of a word is how the native speakers apply the word, that is, the things in the world that are denoted by the word. I have demonstrated above that the noun porneia and the verb porneuō has only one meaning: illicit sexual intercourse. I will show that the two words have three references in the Christian Greek Scriptures:
Reference 1: Sexual intercourse with a married person and one to whom he or she is not married — Matthew 5:32:
However, I say to you that everyone divorcing his wife, except on account of fornication (porneia), makes her a subject for adultery (moikheuō), and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery (moikhaō).
The words of Jesus show that “committing adultery” (moikheuō) is porneia.
Reference 2: Sexual intercourse between unmarried persons — 1 Corinthians 7:2
2 yet, because of prevalence of fornication (porneia), let each man have his own wife and each woman have her own husband.
The man Paul speaks about must have been unmarried, and he could be guilty of fornication (porneia).
Reference 2: Sexual intercourse between homosexuals is porneia — Judas 1:7:
So too Sodʹom and Go·morʹrah and the cities about them, after they in the same manner as the foregoing ones had committed fornication (ekporneuō) excessively and gone out after flesh for unnatural use, are placed before [us] as a [warning] example by undergoing the judicial punishment of everlasting fire.
The Greek word ekpoeneuō has about the same meaning as the verb porneuō. We see that the homosexual actions that were performed in Sodom and Gomorra are classified as porneia.
Table 1.2 The references of porneia, porneuō and ekporneuō
| Matthew 5:32 | Sexual intercourse with a married person and one to whom he or she is not married. |
| 1 Corinthians 7:2 | Sexual intercourse between unmarried persons. |
| Jude 7 | Sexual intercourse between homosexuals. |
| There are three different references of porneia, porneuō, and ekporneuō: Sexual intercourse with a married person and one to whom he or she is not married, sexual intercourse between unmarried persons, and sexual intercourse between homosexuals. |
THE TRADITIONS OF THE MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNING BODY REGARDING PORNEIA
The system of disfellowshipping created by the members of the Governing Body resembles the system of human traditions made by the rabbis in Israel, which were written down in the Mishnah and the Talmud. To the 11 disfellowshipping offenses mentioned in the Bible the members of the Governing Body have created 37 other disfellowshipping offenses. To these, they have also added new meanings, such as 12 new references for porneia. This expands the number of man-made disfellowshipping actions greatly.
Table 1.3 Different definitions and references of porneia invented by the Governing Body
| 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. |
As seen in Table 1:3, the members of the Governing Body have made conscious attempts to water down the meaning and references of porneia. The have even done this in their new Bible translation. NWT84 translated porneia as “fornication” while NWT13 uses the words “sexual immorality.”
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “fornication” as “consensual sexual intercourse between two persons not married to each other.”[1] But “sexual immorality” is a vague expression that can include different kinds of actions.
A detailed discussion of each of the 12 inventions of the meaning and references of porneia is found in the article, “Disfellowshipping on the basis of human commandments — the case of porneia.”
I will now return to the words of Jesus in Matthew 15:
“Why is it YOU also overstep the commandment of God because of YOUR tradition?
The point of Jesus is that human traditions tend to nullify the commandments and principles of Jehovah. All the 12 inventions of the members of the Governing Body violate the Christian freedom that each witness received at baptism to make personal decisions based on their consciences.
I will use just one example to show the great damage that have been caused by the traditions of the members of the Governing Body. In 1974, the members of the Governing Body decided that oral sex, anal sex, and other lewd practices inside marriage were now defined as porneia. The results were that God’s laws and principles regarding marriage and families were grossly violated. Marriages were terminated for unbiblical reasons, many brothers were disfellowshipped for unbiblical reasons, and wives, husbands and children were suffering. I was district overseer when these new laws were introduced, and I saw the problems with my own eyes.
In the year 1978, these new decisions were retracted, and porneia could no longer be applied inside marriage. However, in 1983, the members of the Governing Body decided that while oral and anal sex was no longer a reason for terminating marriage, it was a disfellowshipping offense.
BEING PERMEATED BY ILLICIT SEXUAL INTERCOURSE
Of the 11 disfellowshipping offenses that are mentioned in the Bible, seven of these are mentioned in 1 Corinthians chapters 5 and 6. It is very important to keep in mind that the words referring to disfellowshipping are nouns and not verbs. Verbs show what people do but nouns show what people are.
The feminine form of pornos is pornē, and all Greek-English lexicons show that this word refers to a prostitute, a woman who has unlawful sexual intercourse as her occupation. This is confirmed in 1. Corinthians 6:15, where NWT13 translates pornē as “prostitute.” In a similar way, a pornos is not a man who has unlawful sexual intercourse one, two or five times. But a pornos is a person whose life is centered around having unlawful sexual intercourse, a person who is permeated by this action.
A methysos is not a person who has been drunk one, two or five times, but a person who practices drunkenness, a drunkard. A kleptēs is not a person who has been stealing one, two, or five times. But as John 12:6 says that Judas was a thief because “he used to steal money put in it [the contribution box].”
This means that to qualify for disfellowshipping, a person must be permeated by one or more of the actions described by the agent nouns. These actions have now become a part of his or her personality.
None of the members of the Governing Body understand Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek, and they simply do not understand the meaning of the Greek words dealing with disfellowshipping used by Paul. If only persons who were permeated by porneia and the other ten disfellowshipping offenses were disfellowshipped, more than 90% of those who are disfellowshipped should never have been disfellowshipped.[2]
Every side of the disfellowshipping process, the number of disfellowshipping offenses, how the elders should view those who violated the laws of God, how the sinners should be treated, and how disfellowshipped persons should be treated, are based on traditions invented by the members of the Governing Body and not on the Bible. As in the days of Jesus, all the human traditions violated a number of God’s laws, the human traditions invented by the members of the Governing Body also violate a number of God’s laws. This has led to ruined lives for tens of thousands of Jehovah’s servants who have been disfellowshipped contrary to the true traditions that are found in the Bible.
[1]. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fornication
[2]. See the article: «Disfellowshipping in the biblical way.
CONCLUSION
The human traditions made by the members of the Governing Body violate several of the laws given to Christians by God, just as the traditions of the rabbis in the days of Jesus violated several of the laws given by God.
In order to show how the members of the Governing Body violate the true Christian tradition, they can be asked two questions:
- Can you point to one or more passages in the Christian Greek Scriptures showing that porneia has other meanings than fornication, that is, other meanings than sexual intercourse between two persons who are not married to each other?
If they cannot answer this question, the next question should be:
- With what authority do you attach new meanings to porneia that are not found in the Bible?
They cannot rightfully answer this question by pointing to Greek-English lexicons because such lexicons also include meanings of words from Classical Greek. And the Watchtower agrees that the meaning of Greek words in Classical Greek can be different from the meaning of the same words in The Christian Greek Scriptures.
