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From: mangoe@umcp-cs.UUCP (Charley Wingate)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Re: Christianity and sex
Message-ID: <13@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 17-Sep-84 23:07:14 EDT
Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.13
Posted: Mon Sep 17 23:07:14 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 25-Sep-84 06:18:57 EDT
References: <124@cadovax.UUCP>
Organization: U of Maryland, Computer Science Dept., College Park, MD
Lines: 26

>    David Brunson writes this:

>>If you don't agree that fornication and discipleship are incompatible,
>>then you have been eating too much cabbage.  Period.

>    Actually, St. Paul probably had a different understanding of
>what fornication is.  The latin word "fornix" means arch.  This
>is the etymological root of fornication.  [Etymological treatise
 continues]

>    Of course, through the ages fornication has come to mean an
>act of pre-marital or extra-marital sex.  I submit that when Paul
>spoke out against fornication, he was referring to the temple 
>prostitution that was common during the First Century.

One big hole in this argument is that nothing that Paul may have happened
to say in Latin has been recorded.  The original language of the New
Testament is Koine Greek; therefore, etymological arguements based on
Latin are largely irrelevant.  The choice of the word 'fornication' by
MODERN translators (and I include the KJV among the moderns for this 
purpose) represents an attempt to convey the intended meaning of the
original Greek words.  Not to be snide, but I'll take the opinions of
the biblical scholars on this one, especially considering their 350+
years of unanimity on this point.

     Charley Wingate          umcp-cs!mangoe