How does God punish adultery? Adultery - what is it? Sin of adultery in Orthodoxy

Instruction

Adultery

Helpful advice

Sources:

• What is adultery?

Sin is breaking the commandments given by God. According to Deacon Andrei Kuraev, sin is a wound that a person inflicts on his soul. A person is responsible for his sins, and only children under seven years of age are considered sinless, since they cannot fully realize their actions.

Instruction

To believe is to put all your hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. We must remember that Jesus Christ died on the Cross for all our sins and purchased for us the gift of eternal salvation. The mercy of God is infinite: “Call on Me on the day and I will deliver you” (Psalm 49:15).

Confession is a great Sacrament in which the penitent is cleansed from sins by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. As Holy Scripture teaches: “If we confess our sins, He, being faithful and just, will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John, ch.1, verse 8). You need to know that mentioning your sins in home prayer is not enough, since the Lord gave the right to resolve the sins of people only to the apostles and their successors - bishops, clergymen.
It is necessary to prepare for Confession in advance: it is necessary to make peace with your neighbors, asking for forgiveness from those whom you have offended. It is advisable to read the literature on the Sacrament of Confession and Communion and remember all your sins (sometimes, in order not to forget, they are written out on a separate sheet). In the evening, there are three canons at home: Repentant to our Lord Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, the Angel. You can use the prayer books, where there are these three canons.

Fulfill the penance appointed by the priest. Sometimes a priest may impose penance on a penitent, as in a fight with. The strengthening of the prayer rule, the ban on Communion for a certain time, fasting, pilgrimage to Holy places, alms, etc. can act as a penance. This must be regarded as the will of God, intended for the healing of the soul. Penance requires obligatory execution. If for some reason it is impossible to perform penance, you must contact the one who imposed it.

Helpful advice

To confess, you need to go to the temple and find out at what time the Sacrament of Confession is performed.

Sin adultery is one of the deadly sins and a violation of the seventh commandment. However, as the Holy Fathers wrote, "there are no unforgiven sins - there are unrepentant ones." Repentance must be sincere and active - one must not only realize one's guilt before the Lord and people, but also do everything not to fall into sin again.

You will need

• penitential canon, list of your sins

Instruction

It is important to understand that we ourselves cannot atone for any of our sins. We have a Redeemer who took all our sins upon Himself. We can only ask His mercy to forgive us, who once again violated His commandments and His will. We receive forgiveness through repentance and our sins. Adultery is one of the deadly sins. St. John Chrysostom believed that adultery is a more serious sin than any robbery, because the adulterer not only defiles his body and soul, but also steals from others that which is more precious than any treasure - love and marriage. Put yourself in the place of a spouse who recognized him, understand his pain and mental anguish. This is necessary in order to abstain from such sin in the future.

To receive forgiveness, you need to turn to and confess to him not only in the sin of adultery, but also in other sins that have accumulated in you, like in any person. Think well in what you are still sinful, make up your sins, voluntary or involuntary. If you want to be cleansed, then after confession it is very good to take Communion. Before Communion, you need to fast for at least three days.

Read prayers in the morning and before bed. If possible, it is better to go on the eve of Communion, so that during the morning Divine Service you will not be distracted from prayer. It will be very difficult to tell the priest about your sins, but it is necessary to do this, because unrepentant sin will remain unforgiven. You do not need to go into detail about your adventures, unless you need advice in a particular situation. It is enough to report that you committed adultery, deceived your spouse and involved other people in deception. If the priest has questions, answer them as honestly as possible - remember that lying and hiding in confession will add weight to your already committed sins.

After receiving permission from sins, remember the moment of shame when you told about your fall in a cassock, and imagine how much more painful it will be to stand before the Lord and answer Him for your deeds. Try to avoid in the future any situation that can lead you to a new fall.

Helpful advice

Remember that not only physical betrayal, but also an attempt to seduce an unfree person is a sin before the Lord and people.

Sources:

• What is adultery?

Christianity recognizes two forms of organizing personal life: marriage and celibacy (celibacy). If such a sin happened, it is wrong to look for an answer how to atone. The Lord said, repent. Didn't say redeem.

Instruction

Repent in your soul and realize the sinfulness of fornication. Repent to your loved one, if you have committed the sin of fornication in relation to him. Honestly tell him about the reasons that led to fornication, about your feelings, experiences, emotional state. Apologize to him and try in every possible way to regain the trust and love of the one from whom you fornicated. Keep no connection with the person with whom you have sinned and try not to allow even a hint that you can commit this sin again. Behave with dignity, decently, do not give even the slightest reason to your loved one to doubt the sincerity of your repentance. But at the same time, never allow yourself to be humiliated, do not tolerate mockery of moral or physical punishment.

Try to explain that you are fully aware of the sin you have committed and are ready to atone for it. Focus on the fact that you honestly admitted to fornication and now repent of committing such an act. Remind your loved one that your conscience constantly punishes you, that it does not allow you to forget for a second about the sin you have committed.

Go to church if you want to atone for the sin of fornication before God. Confess to the priest, do not hide anything, tell everything as it happened, do not embellish your story and do not try to understand it. Repent to the priest with all your soul and realize the sinfulness of fornication. Never fornicate again, refrain from temptations and committing sinful deeds. Start living a correct human and Christian life, confess more often and live according to church laws. Do not allow despair, which is also a very great sin, at the source of which is human pride. Find out from the priest the order of communion and be sure to start constantly taking communion.

Sin is a loose concept in the modern world and in some way even attractive. In a religious context, sin is understood as a crime not only against conscience, but also against God.

Release me, father, sins

The sacrament of confession is provided for in Christian religions precisely in order to let go of deeds committed against God's commandments. The main element of confession is repentance. Simply speaking about sin to a person who is only a witness is not enough. It is difficult to atone for sin, sincerely in it without repenting, without regretting the deed. Purifying the soul by confession, a person should strive all his life not to commit such a thing again. Well, if the confession is sincere. Then the sin will be forgiven.

Prayer and fasting

There is no such act as confession in Islam. It is believed that there should be no intermediaries between God and man. And Muslims ask for forgiveness of sins in their prayers before Allah. If you properly spend the main Muslim post - the month of Ramadan - all sins will be forgiven.

Fasting and prayer are only helpers in atonement for sins. However, as you know, there are exceptions to any rule. For example, when it was impossible to receive confession, the monks expiated their sins by prayer and strict fasting.

Case

If it is possible to fix it, then it should be done. At least try. One good parable tells how a man came to an old man who wanted to get rid of the vice of a tongue that was unkind to the word. To the question "how?" The elder ordered first to gut the feather bed from the roof of the house. The man fulfilled, rejoiced, returned to the elder, to find out if he redeemed his deeds by this. To which he received the answer: "Now collect."

It is better not to bring your affairs to such a scale, but if it has already happened, then you will have to make every effort to atone. Stolen things can sometimes be returned. Apologize to the offended. Killed - help someone live or survive. In general, by doing deeds of kindness in the name of faith, in the coming time one can tip the scales of judgment in one's favor, receive the remission of sins.

Depending on the severity of the sin committed, good deeds are different. Some will get used to coping in the world; for some, the soul requires monastic solitude. But that's not the point. Still, the main thing in the atonement of sin is a feeling of regret about what has been done, repentance.

All at once

Any good housewife understands that one fresh water for borscht is clearly not enough. You need to add vegetables, roast, meat, etc. there. I forgot something - and borscht is no longer borscht. The comparison may be rather weak, but it is obvious that in order to atone for sins, you need to do everything possible: confess and take communion, pray and do good deeds. And strive not to repeat the same mistake in the future.

Fornication and adultery - what significance do these sins have in the Orthodox Church? You can find out about this if you read our article.

Fornication and adultery

It is with the greatest sorrow that we have to proceed to the following pages: in essays designed for the baptized, for the believers, for the members of the Church, these pages, in essence, should not have been. The Apostle Paul writes: “Fornication and all uncleanness and covetousness must not even be named among you” (Eph 5:3, see also 1 Cor 6:9-10). However, the debauchery of this world has so dulled the moral sense (“bad associations corrupt good morals,” 1 Cor 15:33) that even those brought up in the Orthodox faith (even they!) have premarital relationships and divorces. The one who has not entered into marriage, who is firm in his marital union, who is not embarrassed by the thoughts of extramarital adultery, and who does not bear the cross of pastoral ministry, it is all the better not to read this essay.

Priest Alexander Elchaninov in his notes notes (and this observation is confirmed by other pastors) that men often do not repent of the sin of accidental lustful adultery, considering it of little importance; they are recognized in it only at the direct question of the confessor. He even recalls one wife who told her husband who was leaving on a business trip: “If you really need it, then you can use someone there - I don’t mind and I won’t be jealous. It is important to me that your life as a whole belongs to me.” And this was said by a woman, to some extent a believer, to her somewhat believing husband. Complete misunderstanding of the Gospel commandments, patristic instructions, the spirit of the Church, and even the commandments of Moses!

What does "do not commit adultery" mean?

What can be said against such a sin? Let us cite only the sayings of the Holy Fathers and the words of Holy Scripture.
1. “You have heard what the ancients said: do not commit adultery. But I tell you that everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mt 5:27-28).
2. “... fornication and all impurity and covetousness should not even be named among you, as befits saints, know that no fornicator, or unclean, or covetous person, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for for this the wrath of God comes against the sons of disobedience” (Eph 5:3-6).
3. "There shall be no harlot among the daughters of Israel, and there shall be no harlot among the sons of Israel" (Deut. 23:17).
4. “Run fornication; every sin a man commits is outside the body, but a fornicator sins against his own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18). “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members from Christ to make them the members of a harlot? Let it not! Or do you not know that he who has sex with a prostitute becomes one body with her? for it is said, The two shall be one flesh” (1 Corinthians 6:15-16).
5. “Don't you know that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought with a price” (1 Cor 6:19-20). How can I defile this temple with fornication?
6. “Take care of your body, as of the temple of God, - take care, as one who will rise again and give an answer to God; fear God as having to give an account to Him for all that you have done; when your body receives a wound, you take care to heal it, so take care that it appears clean on the resurrection” (Abba Isaiah)
7. “If he who commits fornication before marriage is condemned and punished, then even more so after marriage. For here there is a double and a triple crime, it is heavier than any sin.
Let us reveal the meaning of the words of the great teacher of the Church, St. John Chrysostom. Here - a sin against your own body and a violation of the seventh commandment "do not commit adultery." Here is a violation of the eighth commandment, which says: “Do not steal,” for “… your body,” as Chrysostom says, “is her (wife’s) property and the most precious property of all property. Do not offend her in the most important subject and do not inflict a mortal wound on her. But if you despise her, then fear God, the avenger for such deeds, Who threatens unbearable suffering for such sins. Here - a violation of the ninth commandment - "do not bear false witness", for the adulterer usually bears false witness about himself to his spouse - most divorces begin with a lie in the relationship between spouses. Here is often a violation of the tenth commandment, which says: “Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, and do not covet your neighbor’s house or everything that your neighbor has”
8. St. John Chrysostom exclaims: "... there is truly nothing more shameful than a man who commits fornication after marriage."
9. “The lips of a strange woman exude honey, and her speech is softer than oil; but its consequences are bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword” (Proverbs 5:3-4).
Extramarital affairs corrupt marital love, destroy families, deprive children of one of their parents, corrupt bodies and souls.
10. “I wrote to you in a letter - do not associate with fornicators; but not in general with the fornicators of this world, or covetous men, or predators, or idolaters, for otherwise you would have to go out of this world. But I wrote to you not to communicate with one who, being called a brother, remains a fornicator with such a one, not even to eat together” (1 Corinthians 5:9-11).
11. “Think about what a wife endures when she hears from someone or only suspects that you have given yourself over to a prodigal woman. Presenting this, not only avoid adultery, but do not give rise to suspicion; and if the wife suspects unjustly, then reassure her and dissuade her. She does it not out of enmity and pride, but out of care.”
12. “From chastity is born love, and from love there are countless blessings. And so consider all women as if made of stone, knowing that if after marriage you look with lustful eyes at another woman, you become guilty of the sin of adultery and if you see that lust for another woman is aroused in you and then your wife seems unpleasant to you because of this, then enter the inner room and, opening this book, taking Paul as your intermediary, and repeating these words without ceasing, put out the flame. In this way also your wife will be desired by you; because such a wish will not destroy your goodwill towards her ....
13. “But, in order to avoid fornication, each one has his own wife, and each one has her own husband. Husband show his wife due favor; like a wife to her husband. The wife has no power over her body, but the husband; likewise, the husband has no power over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deviate from each other, except by agreement, for a time, for exercise in prayer, and then be together again, lest Satan tempt you with your intemperance” (1 Corinthians 7:2-5).
14. “Let marriage be honorable for all and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge” (Heb 13:4).
15. “Carefully observing these words (that is, the words of 1 Cor 7:2-4. - Auth.) And in the marketplace and at home, and in the afternoon, and in the evening, and at the table, and on the couch, and everywhere we ourselves will try, and teach wives to speak to us in such a way as to live a chaste life in this life, to be worthy of us and the kingdom of heaven by the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, glory forever and ever. Amen.

It is not so difficult to pray for anyone as for those who have fallen into fornication and adultery.

Renunciation of Christ and fornication with adultery put up a wall between a person and God, through which it is difficult to offer prayer to relatives and lovers, and even to priests. Just as renunciation of the Son of Man leads to falling away from the Church, so fornication, if it is not dissolved by the deepest humility and repentance, leads to the loss of faith. We know this both from the example of the laity and from the example of priests, some of whom, having committed adultery, were deprived of their rank (according to the 25th Rule of the Holy Apostles and the 3rd Rule of Basil the Great) and became full-time militant atheists. They were recognized by their shifty, lascivious eyes.

Only humility and the deepest repentance can return those who have denied Christ and whoremongers to God, like St. Peter, who “went out and wept bitterly” (Matthew 26:75).

Renunciation can be impulsive, as in St. Peter, instant. Fornication, in order to be perfect, requires time, some prudence, preparation. It cannot be an involuntary sin, like a flash of anger or a harsh word that breaks loose - it is always a free sin. Even murder can be involuntary, and fornicators always have time to come to their senses and ask themselves: “What am I going to do?” and move away from sin in the body, committing it only in your heart. Fornication is terrible because of the obvious consciousness of the committed crime.

A fornicator is worse than a harlot, just as an alcoholic is worse than an alcoholic - she is practically almost incurable, and an alcoholic, if he really wants to, can be cured. The fornicator is vile because he consciously or unconsciously counts on his own impunity.

“Our business is not to give birth, to enjoy and run,” one of the soldier's commandments sounded in a censored form. A woman, and even more so a girl, always takes risks. Complete fornicators, as the experience of the war shows, are usually cowards in battle.

We know repentant harlots who have become saints, and we venerate Mary of Egypt as a great saint. To the priests and elders of the Jewish people, Jesus Christ said: “I tell you that publicans and harlots go ahead of you into the Kingdom of God,” but He did not say fornicators.

Among men, those who wallowed in fornication and became saints are unknown; Mary of Egypt is not among them.

However, over the centuries, the mores of society have pandered to men (“be a good fellow is not a reproach”) and condemned women (“walking woman”). Against such views were the Church Fathers of St. Basil the Great, John Chrysostom and many others. The first wrote: “The Lord's saying, as if it is not permissible to resolve from marriage, unless the word of an adulterer is equally befitting to men and wives. But not in the usual way. We find many strict sayings about wives.

“Don’t tell me now,” exclaimed St. John Chrysostom, - about external laws, which wives of adulterers are dragged to the court and subjected to punishments, and husbands who have wives and debauchery with maids are left without punishment; I will read to you the law of God, which reproaches both wife and husband alike and calls this case adultery.”

There are, however, terrible women who “on a wager” or out of revenge or envy seduce pure young men and married men. They are found in all strata of society and sometimes have the appearance of respectable ladies, crowned with honorary titles and degrees.

It is hard and disgusting to write about all this, but you have to shout with fear and pain in your heart: “Look, how dangerously you walk!” Sin sits in us, the sin of the world surrounds us, offering us its seductive images. Hell is often dressed in clothes not only of “feeling”, but also of aesthetic charm.

Examples are the favorite song of many parties, “Because of the island to the rod”, where at first the motive captures the width of the Volga expanses, and the text ends with the praise of Stepan Razin, who “travelled” with the princess all night, and in the morning, for the sake of his comrades, drowned the girl as unnecessary item. Even more deceptive and insinuating sounds amazingly musical romance "My fire in the fog shines." Just think about the terrible meaning of the words, dressed in an elegant musical shell: “Remember, if another, / Loving your dear friend, / Will sing songs, playing, / On your knees ...”.

Many other songs, motifs, films, short stories, paintings, etc., can be cited that excite sensuality, corrupt the soul and body… “Satan himself,” according to St. Paul, - takes the form of an Angel of light, and therefore it is not a great thing if his servants also take the form of servants of the truth ”(2 Cor 11:14-15), - and, we add, - aesthetic refinement. It is quite natural that under the cover of night in amateur-comradely groups and "creative" associations during trips to the bosom of nature, to the accompaniment of passionate music with its aesthetically sensual cries and half-whispers, young people are corrupted and previously concluded marriages fall apart.

In such "fellowships" the participation of Christians, members of the Church, must be excluded. Remember the words of Paul: “What agreement is there between Christ and Belial? Or what is the partnership of the faithful with the unbelievers?” (2 Cor 6:15). This does not mean that we are against any fellowship of believers with unbelievers. The only question is when and in what way we can and should be with them, and when and in what way we are obliged to leave their midst and separate (see 2 Cor 6:17), remembering that “friendship with the world is enmity against God.” ” (James 4:4).

It seems that never in the history of the world after the Flood was the sense of sin so deeply lost among the peoples as at the present time. The princes of this world have labored hard to pluck him out of human consciousness. The seventh commandment has always revolted them. It is no coincidence that crime is growing all over the world, in different countries with different socio-economic and political systems. In some countries, even sodomy is not considered a reprehensible act and such relationships are protected by law.

Living in a corrupt world, the Christian is nonetheless called to purity (“blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God,” Matt. 5:8); it is necessary to constantly maintain in oneself the consciousness and feeling of where sin begins, cultivating in oneself the fear of sin, for sin, especially carnal sin, removes us from God.

While living in the world, one must constantly remember that a Christian is called to an “invisible war” with sin within him, with sin surrounding him from the outside, to fight for purity and love, for goodness, for the acquisition of the Holy Spirit, for the Kingdom of God, which , according to the Savior (Luke 17:21), must be within us. Every Christian must realize himself as a warrior of Christ our God with sin, a warrior who acquires the joy of the Holy Spirit already here on earth.

American John Mott, the founder of the Christian student movement, called the fight against carnal sin "the most difficult struggle in the life of a student." All or almost all monastics went through this struggle. It is not avoided by many who enter into marriage. Sin, especially carnal sin, begins with the thought, “for from within, out of the human heart, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, malice, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness—all this is evil. comes out from within and defiles a man” (Mk 7:21-23). Therefore, it is necessary to constantly control your thoughts, especially such insidious ones as lust, adultery and vanity.

Christ taught in the Sermon on the Mount: “You have heard what was said to the ancients: do not commit adultery. But I tell you that everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. But if your right eye offends you, pluck it out and throw it away from you, for it is better for you that one of your members perish, and not your whole body be cast into hell” (Mt 5:27-29).

The world-famous psychologist V. Dzhemey pointed out that it would be quite natural if a person, indulging in prodigal thoughts for days and weeks, finally goes to a brothel, and St. Mark the Ascetic wrote: “Having sinned, blame not the body, but the mind; for if the thought had not flowed, the body would not have followed it.”

The first elementary rule of struggle with thoughts is no participation in “greasy” conversations and anecdotes. If it is impossible for you to interrupt them, then do not approve of them with a smile or anything - read the Jesus Prayer at this time. We knew soldiers who, with every obscene curse, said this prayer and throughout the entire war they never cursed obscenely. It is necessary to behave in such a way that it would be psychologically impossible to tell you such anecdotes and dubious stories, and it would be inconvenient to tell you in front of you. To do this, you do not need to declare yourself a Christian or say something, but you just need to have in yourself inner chastity and prayerful memory. The Jesus Prayer in such situations will not only protect you from impurity, but it will also make the very mental atmosphere of the collective around you cleaner. She is a weapon in an invisible battle, the war of Christ for her purity and for the purity of others. The second elementary rule - do not go to voluptuous films even in old age, do not participate in fellow amateur song circles with a dubious repertoire, be chaste in choosing books to read, etc.

Summarizing the experience of the Holy Fathers set forth in the “Philokalia”, it must be emphasized that the human consciousness cannot be unoccupied: it either indulges in empty thoughts, including prodigal ones, or is occupied with prayer and work, contemplation of the heavenly.

For the sin under consideration, more than for any other, the popular proverb is true: “Laziness is the mother of all sin.” May work, prayer and mutual love be companions of your life and may they protect the purity and strength of your marriage.

The ancient, and therefore somewhat mysterious, word "adultery" is called one of the deadly sins.

He is mortal because a person who has received an immortal soul as a gift from God, committing the most serious of existing sins, distances it from the Creator and thereby dooms it to death, to the impossibility of salvation.

What is the actual meaning of the word "adultery", what kind of sin is this? In Orthodoxy it's an extramarital affair, violation of marital fidelity, an analogue of the modern concept of "adultery".

Sin of adultery in Orthodoxy

The marriage union is consecrated by the Lord, He blessed not only the spiritual unity of the spouses, but also the carnal one. On this occasion, it is even said in the Book of Genesis about husband and wife: let them be one flesh. Marriage presupposes mutual responsibility, the existence of duties both towards each other and towards other members of the “cell of society”.

The great teacher of the Church, St. John Chrysostom calls adultery a double and even triple crime. What is the meaning of these words? They testify to the insidious nature of adultery, which “masks” a few more problems:

A man in marriage gives his body to the power of his spouse.

• theft,
• lies and perjury,
• envy,
• lust,
• distrust of the spouse.

The eighth commandment of the Law of God says: "Thou shalt not steal." And the man who commits adultery steals his body from his wife (husband), which from the moment of marriage is the property of the "second half". The Apostle Paul writes about marital relationships in the following way: “The wife has no power over her own body, but the husband does; likewise, the husband has no power over his own body, but the wife does.”

By changing their spouse, adulterers will certainly get entangled in lies, bear false witness about themselves, get out and be cunning.

About envy and lust in relation to someone's wife or property says the 10th commandment: "do not covet ..." everything just mentioned.

And distrust, or rather, even the murder of trust in a spouse, is caused not so much by jealousy as a feeling, but by the principle “once the very stigma is down”, then he sees the other as such.

The result of extramarital affairs most often is divorce, the destruction of the family, the deprivation of children, corruption - not only of the body, but also, which is much more terrible, of the soul.

By the way, adultery, regardless of which of the spouses committed it, is a completely weighty reason for the dissolution of a marriage, and even a church one.

How is it different from fornication

Our immoral age has given rise to many questions. In particular, priests often admit that many of the young parishioners do not at all consider premarital intimate relationships a sin: what, they say, is sinful here - we love each other, everything happens by mutual agreement, without deceiving someone else. After all, adultery is when you cheat on your husband or wife.

To deal with this, it makes sense to remember what sin is in general. Sin is everything that is classified as non-observance, and even violation of the laws of spiritual life, simply speaking, lawlessness. And this threatens with disaster, self-destruction. Nothing lasting in life can be created if the foundation is a mistake, a sin.

It must be understood that the sin in question lies not only in the very fact of treason, but even in impure thoughts, corresponding to the manner of behavior. Here we can already talk about the sin of fornication.

Fornication and Adultery - What's the Difference, What Does the Bible Say? If we have already basically dealt with the first, then the second, in short, is the physical proximity of persons who are not bound by the bonds of legal marriage and indulge in carnal pleasures. Thus, the meaning of this phenomenon is wider. But it would be even more accurate to call fornication a "variety" of fornication.

A person may be single, but his natural physiological needs persistently dictate to achieve his goal in any way, and he tries to disguise his prodigal disposition by “civil marriage”, that is, in other words, cohabitation. And then suddenly he or she sees a more worthy "object" of sexual attention, and the "temporary family" falls apart as easily as it was created.

Marriage, besides a love affair, is also a union of souls.

A truly happy person can only be in marriage, because it is not only bodily, but also spiritual intimacy, unity, love and mutual trust of loved ones.

Speaking of fornication, it is appropriate to recall that this is the "native" sin of prostitutes, homosexuals, lesbians, people who have intimate relationships with close relatives - this type of fornication is called incest, and other sexual perverts.

In another way, fornication can be called immorality, depravity, an extreme degree of human depravity.

To understand how serious this sin is, it is worth recalling the definition of the apostle Paul about a person as a “temple of the Holy Spirit”. And if this person lives in fornication passions, corrupts the bodies - his own and his sexual partner, then he defiles this holy temple; as it is now customary to say, commits an act of vandalism in relation to the shrine, i.e. by and large rebels against what God has established for each of us, against His order and harmony.

What is fornication

A broader concept of sexual immorality is what among the deadly sins is called fornication or fornication. What is this sin? This "term" denotes everything, one way or another connected with the manifestations of lust, and therefore this sin is considered the most disgusting.

Lust is multifaceted. We have already spoken about the first two "kinds" called "adultery" and "fornication". It also covers such unnatural vices as:

• incest,
• malakia - which means
• sodomy - "sodomy sin", homosexuality,
• bestiality - the same "sodomy sin", which is sexual contact between a person and an animal.

What are the consequences and punishment

In the First Epistle to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul warns fornicators and idolaters, adulterers, malaks and homosexuals that they will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Figuratively speaking, this is the death of the soul. So, there is no way out? The words of the apostle can be continued: if they do not bring sincere repentance and do not break with a sinful life.

Centuries ago, adulterers were severely punished.

It must be said that in the times described in the Old Testament, the adulterer was put to death. And the New Testament testifies how the Pharisees were going to stone the woman taken in adultery.

According to modern church canons, fornications that have fallen into sin are also punished very severely. No, they are not executed, but they for a long time absent from communion, which for a believer is almost comparable to a physical execution. And before that, they must repent and suffer penance - this is the name of the church moral and corrective measure for penitent sinners.

It can be expressed by fasts appointed by the spiritual father, prayers, deeds of mercy, a certain number of bows. How the penance will look exactly for the prodigal sin of a particular person, the priest can decide.

However, despite all the strictness, one should always remember that the Kingdom of Heaven is open to everyone. Christianity is called the religion of the resurrection for a reason. Throughout its history, individuals arose who sinned once and led a dissolute life, who, having repented and spiritually healed, were even numbered among the host of saints for their exploits.

St. John Chrysostom spoke very well about the path to salvation, noting that the resurrection, which serves as the beginning of the future for each of us, also consists in the fact that the fornicator becomes chaste, the greedy becomes merciful, and the cruel becomes meek. Sin is thus mortified, and righteousness is raised; the old life has been abolished, and a new, gospel life has begun.

The path from sin to a normal life is not easy. Sincere repentance is the first step. The second - the healing of the soul - is much more difficult. For a long time, undermined spiritual health will need spiritual therapy. The main thing is not to return to sin. Nor should one be discouraged and discouraged, find salvation in prayer.

Prayer for fornication and adultery

“Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all His blessings. He forgives all your iniquities, heals all your diseases; delivers your life from the grave, crowns you with mercy and bounties,

Or you can learn this prayer:

“O great saint of Christ, reverend mother Mary! Hear the unworthy prayer of us sinners (names), deliver us, reverend mother, from the passions that are fighting on our souls, from all sorrow and misfortune, from sudden death and from all evil, at the hour of the separation of the soul from the body, holy saint , every evil thought and evil demons, as if our souls would receive in peace in a place of light Christ the Lord our God, as if from Him the cleansing of sins, and He is the salvation of our souls, He deserves all glory, honor and worship, with the Father and the Holy Spirit now and forever and forever and ever."

By the way, this prayer is an appeal to St. Mary of Egypt, who was a harlot in her youth, but then realized all the meanness of her life and with deeds that truly exceeded human capabilities, prayers and fasting atoned for her sins.

Fornication and others like them capable of pulling a chain of new sins. The consequences of adulterous sins, in addition to lies, can be slander and gossip, bitterness and hatred, murders out of jealousy and abortions - infanticide are not uncommon.

And you can avoid falling into this terrible vice by removing from your character the very tendency to such a sin, by avoiding seductive entertainment and idleness, by changing your attitude towards temptations. But the most important thing is to remember the Last Judgment and its possible consequences for yourself and call on God's help in the fight against sin.

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Adultery - what is it? Is it equivalent to fornication or not? What are the consequences and how to atone for the sin of adultery? You will receive answers to these and other questions in this article.

"Fornication", "Adultery" and "Fornication"

“Do not commit adultery” is one of the sacred commandments. But what does "adultery" mean? But besides "adultery" there are also such concepts as "fornication" and "fornication" - what is the difference?

If you look at all the examples of the use of these three words in the scriptures, you will notice that the words "fornication" and "fornication" carry exactly the same meaning, they are synonyms. Then what is the difference between the terms "adultery" and "fornication/fornication"? “Do not commit adultery” in translation means “do not deviate from what is right, ordained by God.” The other two terms are translated as "appeal to the wrong" or "delusion". Thus, in Orthodoxy, fornication (fornication) and adultery do not mean only a sin of a sexual nature. This means any rejection of what God has prepared. Only in one case, this refusal is not necessarily accompanied by protest, delusion, betrayal, if you like, but it is still a sin, and in the other, some kind of sinful act necessarily accompanies the rejection of God.

What the scriptures say

What is adultery and fornication in Orthodoxy? In the Old Testament, any spiritual debauchery, or "fornication", was forbidden by the law of Moses. In general, this term was necessary to describe idolatry, since such rites were often accompanied by sexual intercourse. Fornication in the New Testament is illicit lust and its satisfaction. Here we are talking not only about idolatry, but also about various sexual sins such as homosexuality, prostitution, masturbation or banal adultery. It is worth noting that there is no talk of marriage yet. Fornication is all kinds of satisfaction of one's lust. In other words, sex is just that. Sex is not in the name of procreation, but in the name of satisfying one's own whim. According to God's scriptures, man is the Lord's temple. The desecration of a temple is a grave sin, and the one who allows the sanctuary to be corrupted is sinful. In connection with this, Orthodoxy forbids fornication, but marriage is allowed, legalized and enshrined in the church.

The meaning of the word "adultery" is directly related to the marriage bond - it is a violation of marital fidelity. In the scriptures, adultery is always integral to the dissolution of a marriage. After all, the wife is given to her husband by God and vice versa. Divorce or abandonment of a spouse is a rejection of the gift of God, which means it is adultery.

Vulgar thoughts are a sin?

Are adultery and fornication really sins? Let's sort it out in order. Fornication - any manifestation of sex outside of marriage - is it sinful? The modern world has changed since the fixation of the scriptures, and sex outside of marriage with a loved one is no longer considered "delusion" or "recourse to the wrong." Therefore, the so-called "fornication" is a normal phenomenon of our time and is no longer considered a sin.
Now let's deal with adultery. Adultery is a sin, and does adultery have consequences?

The fact is that in Orthodoxy even mental adultery is considered treason. If a man or a woman commits adultery “in the heart” or “in the head”, then they are sinful. Thus, if a married man or woman allows the idea that it would be nice to sleep with someone else, this will already be considered adultery. But the only thing is that in this case all people are sinful. The whole modern world contributes to this: mass culture, deformation of values, and so on. Obscene thoughts about sex with Angelina Jolie visited every married man at least once. And here the scales are leaning on the side of the woman: it all depends on what the partner considers to be infidelity. For some, infidelity is expressed in action; for some, even the thought of another partner is unacceptable. Thus, the only question is what is considered cheating, and, accordingly, what will be a sin: sex with a charming secretary or a languid look when she turns her back.

What punishment awaits a person for adultery? Everything depends on faith. In Islam, for example, they threw stones at them and beat them with whips. Orthodoxy does not provide for corporal punishment, however, a terrible fate was prepared for all believers - God's punishment. To fix everything, by the way, and to earn the forgiveness of God for believers is not so easy. Sincerity of repentance, prayers from adultery and fornication, further abstinence from adultery - all this is a long way for a sinner to redemption. In addition, earlier sinful parishioners of the church were excommunicated from communion for 15 years, and priests were defrocked. Now, of course, everything has changed. And each traitor is responsible to himself. The most obvious and often the most severe punishment for adultery is the collapse of the family. The bonds of marriage are strong as long as fidelity and mutual respect reign in marriage. As soon as lies and lust take their place, the union loses its strength, becomes vulnerable and meaningless. The wife is no longer a reliable rear, the husband is no longer a protector. Not only family happiness is collapsing, but also the inner spirit of a person. It is not controlled by reason, but by need, like an animal. He longs for peace of mind and cannot get it, he is tormented. These are the consequences of adultery. Sinners are always rewarded according to their deserts. As one could understand, we no longer talk only about faith. Man destroys himself, and this is because he is weak. And only strong-willed people are capable of fighting their inner demons.