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Shun Immorality, Shun Idolatry
TWICE Paul warns the Corinthians to run away from sin. (In the RSV, the translators used the word shun; they could instead have used the word flee.) The first time is in 1 Cor 6:18, which literally means "flee from sexual immorality", and the second is in 10:14, which literally means "flee from idolatry". The similar wording of these two passages suggests a connection between them that was probably clear to the original recipients of the letter but is not easily understood by modern readers. How are these two sins related to one another? And how does Paul attempt to dissuade believers from committing them?
To reach a satisfying answer, we must recognize that Near Eastern and Greco-Roman religions were thoroughly idolatrous. Everywhere numerous deities were served in numerous ways and depicted under numerous forms. In many cases, sexual activity was an essential part of this ancient worship. For instance, cultic prostitution was an institutionalized form of unchastity that was performed in idol temples in service to the gods, probably as a fertility rite designed to bring blessings of prosperity upon families, flocks, and fields. In some situations, the hired services of these temple prostitutes were a means of bringing revenue into local idol shrines. In this world of the ancient past—familiar to the Corinthians but unfamiliar to us—idolatry officially sanctioned sexual immorality in the name of religion, and its liturgy became the context for surrendering the soul to the gods and the body to sexual impurity. It is not surprising that Paul would have to deal with situations like these in the pagan city of Corinth, especially since many believers in the congregation had been former idolaters (1 Cor 8:7; 12:2). Nor is it surprising that Paul should approach this issue from the perspective of biblical tradition, since in many ways the history of Israel is a chronicle of the People of God struggling to overcome these very sins.
THE THEOLOGY OF THE BODY
(1 Corinthians 6)
Paul's first line of defense against immorality is to explain the theological meaning of the body. His most striking statement in this regard is in 1 Cor 6:19, where Paul says that the body of the believer is "a temple of the Holy Spirit". It is no accident that this assertion immediately follows a rebuke aimed at certain Corinthians involved in prostitution (6:15). It suggests that the un-chastity in question is connected with temple rituals in Corinth. Paul, it seems, is trying to impress upon his readers that, whereas pagan worship promotes self-indulgence, the proper worship of God demands self-mastery. Aware that pagan temples are places of fornication and idol worship, he challenges the Corinthians to shun these abominations and glorify God "in" their own temples instead (6:20). Paul thus affirms that the body is an instrument designed for worship. But in glaring contrast to the degrading liturgies of the pagans, the body is to be offered to God as a living sacrifice in the form of chastity (Rom 12:1), and the Spirit of holiness that fills our temples forbids any form of fellowship with idols (2 Cor 6:16).
THE EXPERIENCE OF ISRAEL
(1 Corinthians 10)
Paul later adds weight to his warnings by appealing directly to the OT. In the course of developing a series of parallels between Israel and the Church, he recalls two episodes of the Exodus period where the congregation lapsed into sin. The first is the golden calf rebellion (1 Cor 10:7), where the Israelites fashioned an idol for worship, consumed food and drink consecrated to the idol, and then rose up to engage in a cultic sexual dance (Ex 32:1-6). The second is the apostasy at Beth Peor (1 Cor 10:8), where the sons of Israel were lured into sexual sin by the daughters of Moab, who then persuaded them to sacrifice and eat in the presence of their idols (Num 25:1-5). In both of these episodes idolatry is closely linked with sexual immorality—at the golden calf, idol worship paved the way for unchastity, and at Beth Peor, unchastity paved the way for idol worship. The alarm that Paul is sounding for the Corinthians could not be clearer when we consider that Yahweh destroyed the perpetrators of these crimes and cut them off from the blessings of the covenant (Ex 32:2728; Num 25:9). For Paul, the sins of idolatry and sexual impurity are so radically incompatible with true worship of the Lord that they exclude offenders from his kingdom (1 Cor 6:9-10; 10:6-10).
To an extent, the force and coherence of Paul's warnings to shun immorality (1 Cor 6:18) and idolatry (10:14) depend upon our understanding of how these two sins are related. Once we see that prostitution degrades the body just as idolatry degrades the soul, and that often these sins were committed together under the same roof of pagan temples, we can better appreciate Paul's teaching strategy in First Corinthians. Indeed, biblical reflections on the Temple and Israel's apostasy in the wilderness furnished him with a ready means of exposing the dangers of idol worship and the sexual impurity that often went with it. Mindful of the holiness of our bodies, and cautioned by the transgressions of Israel, we too are challenged to glorify God through lives of chastity and sanctity made possible by the grace of Jesus Christ. « Back to 1 Corinthians 7:1.
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