She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her porneia.

“The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. “With her the kings of the earth committed porneia, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her porneia” (Revelation 17:2). “A second angel followed and said, ‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’ which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her porneia’” (Revelation 14:8). Porneia on the part of a spouse is noted by Jesus as a legitimate reason for divorce (Matthew 19:9).įiguratively, porneia can refer to spiritual unfaithfulness or “spiritual adultery.” In Revelation, “ Babylon the Great” is pictured as a prostitute committing spiritual adultery. “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid porneia” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). “But among you there must not be even a hint of porneia, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people” (Ephesians 5:3). All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18). “The body is not meant for porneia but for the Lord” (1 Corinthians 6:13). The New Testament consistently warns against porneia: Jesus did call lust adultery (Matthew 5:28), and adultery is a type of porneia.

Even though pornography is not mentioned in the New Testament, it seems reasonable to include it in the category of porneia, as it is essentially sexual in nature and focuses sexual energy and desire on someone other than one’s spouse. The English word pornography is from the word porneia. The word does not specify which kinds of sexual activity are immoral however, since the rest of Scripture defines any sexual activity outside of marriage as off-limits, it would all be considered porneia.

The NASB consistently translates it “fornication.” The NIV translates it “sexual immorality” or on a few occasions simply “immorality.” It is often included in lists with other sinful activities without any further definition or explanation (Matthew 15:19 Mark 7:21 Acts 15:20, 29 21:25 Romans 1:29 2 Corinthians 12:21 Galatians 5:19 Colossians 3:5 Revelation 9:21). Porneia is a Greek word that essentially means “illicit sexual activity.” It is a general, inclusive word for any kind of sexual immorality and occurs about 25 times in the New Testament.

Ponia Delovėj by Virginia Woolf