God Hates Adultery

ADULTERY The foremost of sinful actions is adultery or fornication. Noother sin has such a baneful effect on the spiritual life. Because it iscommitted in secret, by mutual consent, and often without fear of the law,adultery is especially a sin against God and against the goal of life.Modern secular societies can do little to inhibit adultery and sexualpromiscuity. Only the norms of morality which are founded on religion caneffectively curb this sin. Most of the passages collected here condemn adultery, fornication,and sexual promiscuity in general. A number of passages seek to demarcatelimits of behavior that verge on fornication. At the conclusion arepassages on related behaviors: divorce and homosexuality.Approach not adultery: for it is a shameful deed and an evil, opening theroad to other evils. Islam. Qur'an 17.32Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed beundefiled; for God will judge the immoral and the adulterous. Christianity. Hebrews 13.4We find that to every sin God is long-suffering, except to the sin ofunchastity. Rabbi Azariah said, "All things can God overlook savelewdness." Judaism. Midrash, Leviticus Rabbah 23.9Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure man... has any inheritancein the kingdom of Christ and of God. Christianity. Bible, Ephesians 5.5Neither fornicate, for whosoever does that shall meet the price ofsin--doubled shall be the chastisement for him on the Resurrection Day. Islam. Qur'an 25.68-69Violating and misusing love is the gravest of all crimes. Abusing love isa greater crime than cutting the universal root of life [murder]. Unification Church. Sun Myung Moon, 3-20-77Both learning and the practice of the Teaching are lost to him who isgiven to sexual intercourse. He employs himself wrongly. That is what isignoble in him. Buddhism. Sutta Nipata 815A wise man has nothing to do with lust. Lust is nothing but death, andlack of it is serenity. How can one who perceives this indulge in wantonbehavior? Jainism. Acarangasutra 2.61Four misfortunes befall a careless man who commits adultery: acquisitionof demerit, disturbed sleep, third, blame; and fourth, a state of woe.There is acquisition of demerit as well as evil destiny. Brief is the joyof the frightened man and woman. The king imposes a heavy punishment.Hence no man should frequent another man's wife. Buddhism. Dhammapada 309-10When a family declines, ancient traditions are destroyed. With them arelost the spiritual foundations for life, and the family loses its sense ofunity. Where there is no sense of unity, the women of the family becomecorrupt; and with the corruption of its women, society is plunged intochaos. Social chaos is hell for the family and for those who havedestroyed the family as well. Hinduism. Bhagavad Gita 1.40-42Immorality in the house is like a worm in the vegetables. Judaism. Talmud, Sota 3bDo not approach thy neighbor's wife or maids. Taoism. Tract of the Quiet WayLet those who cannot find a match keep chaste till God give themindependence by His grace. Islam. Qur'an 24.33Whoever has illicit affairs with the wives of his relatives or friends,either by force or through mutual consent, he is to be known as anoutcast. Buddhism. Sutta Nipata 123The philanderer lusting after numerous womendoes not give up seeking in others' homes.What he does daily only brings regrets--In sorrow and greed he is shrivelled up. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Dhanasari, M.5, p. 672- - - - - - - - - - - -Sutta Nipata 815: Cf. Sutra of Forty-two Sections 25, p. 929.- - - - - - - - - - - -A man should not think incontinently of another's wife, much less addressher to that end; for such a man will be reborn in a future life as acreeping insect. He who commits adultery is punished both here andhereafter; for his days in this world are cut short, and when dead hefalls into hell. Hinduism. Vishnu Purana 3.11The lips of a loose woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil;but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol;she does not take heed to the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it....Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well.Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets?Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you.Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth, a lovely hind, a graceful doe.Let her affection fill you at all times with delight, be infatuated always by her love.Why should you be infatuated, my son, with a loose woman and embrace the bosom of an adventuress?For a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he watches all his paths.The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is caught in the toils of his sin.He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is lost. Judaism and Christianity. Proverbs 5.3-23If you are handsome, do not go astray after lewdness, but honor yourCreator, and fear Him, and praise Him with the beauty which He has givenyou. Judaism. Pesikta Rabbati 127aThe body is not meant for immorality, but for the Lord... Do you not knowthat your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I therefore take themembers of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Do younot know that he who joins himself a prostitute becomes one body with her?For, as it is written, "The two shall become one flesh." But he who isunited to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Shun immorality. Everyother sin which a man commits is outside the body; but the immoral mansins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple ofthe Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? Christianity. 1 Corinthians 6.13-19Offering presents to a woman, romping with her, touching her ornaments anddress, sitting with her on a bed, all these are considered adulterousacts. Hinduism. Laws of Manu 8.357A monk who, with sexual desire and a perverse intention, contacts a woman,holding her hand or holding a braid of her hair or rubbing against anypart of her body, commits an offense, requiring formal meetings of theOrder for its exoneration. Buddhism. Vinaya PitakaBecause the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with outstretched necks, glancing wantonly with their eyes,mincing along as they go, tinkling with their feet;the Lord will smite with a scab the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts. Judaism and Christianity. Isaiah 3.16-17Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and be modest. That is purerfor them. Lo! God is Aware of what they do.And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and todisplay of their adornment only that which is apparent, and to draw theirveils over their bosoms, and not to reveal their adornment save to theirown husbands or fathers... or children who know naught of women'snakedness. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what theyhide of their adornment. And turn unto God together, O believers, inorder that ye may succeed. Islam. Qur'an 24.30-32- - - - - - - - - - - -1 Corinthians 6.13-19: Cf. 1 Corinthians 3.16-17, p. 211, on thesacredness of the human body as God's temple. Paul is quoting Genesis2.24, p. 252. Vinaya Pitaka: The Vinaya Pitaka is the standard text ofmonastic discipline for Theravada monks. Qur'an 24.30-32: Wearing theveil by Muslim women was instituted in the Qur'an as a practicalprotection against the temptation to adultery.- - - - - - - - - - - -A master has said, "He who beholds a beautiful woman should say, 'Blessedbe He who hath created such in His universe.'" But is even mere lookingpermitted? The following can surely be raised as an objection: "Thou shaltkeep from every evil thing" [Deuteronomy 23.10] implies that one shouldnot look intently at a beautiful woman, even if she be unmarried, nor at amarried woman, even if she be ugly, nor at a woman's gaudy garments, norat male and female asses or at a pig and a sow or at fowls when they aremating. Judaism. Talmud, Aboda Zara 20abThe lawful thing which God hates most is divorce. Islam. Hadith of Abu DawudThe Lord was witness to the covenant between you and the wife of youryouth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion andyour wife by covenant.... "For I hate divorce," says the Lord. Judaism and Christianity. Malachi 2.14-16The husband receives his wife from the gods; he does not wed her accordingto his own will; doing what is agreeable to the gods, he must alwayssupport her while she is faithful."Let mutual fidelity continue until death;" this may be considered as asummary of the highest law for husband and wife. Hinduism. Laws of Manu 9.95, 101 And Pharisees came up and in order to test him [Jesus] asked, "Isit lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" He answered them, "What didMoses command you?" They said, "Moses allowed a man to write acertificate of divorce, and to put her away." But Jesus said to them,"For your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from thebeginning of creation, 'God made them male and female.' 'For this reasona man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and thetwo shall become one flesh.' So they are no longer two but one flesh.What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder." And in the house the disciples asked him about this matter. And hesaid to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commitsadultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another,she commits adultery." Christianity. Mark 10.2-12- - - - - - - -Aboda Zarah 20ab: Cf. Treatise on Response and Retribution, p. 932. Hadithof Abu Dawud: The Islamic law on divorce is found in Qur'an 2.226-32.There a waiting period of four months is prescribed, to allow the decisionto be reconsidered. Malachi 2.14-16: Christian and Jewish marriage is notlike a secular contract which can be anulled at will; it is a covenant towhich God is witness and third partner. Laws of Manu 9.95, 101: Divorceis permitted, but it is not done by virtuous people. According to NaradaDharma Sutra 12.92-100 and Laws of Manu 9.76-81, a man may divorce hiswife on the grounds of adultery, profligacy, procuring an abortion,drunkenness, malicious speech, or failure to produce a male heir. A womanmay divorce her husband if he becomes a religious ascetic, is impotent, isexpelled from his caste, or is long absent. A waiting period of one toeight years is normally required. - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - -You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. Judaism and Christianity. Leviticus 18.22The bodhisattva does not approach the five kinds of unmanly men in orderto be friendly with or close to them. Buddhism. Lotus Sutra 14And Lot said to his people, "You commit lewdness, such as no people increation ever committed before you. Do you indeed come in unto males?" Islam. Qur'an 29.28-29God gave them up to dishonorable passions. Their women exchanged naturalrelations for unnatural, and the men likewise gave up natural relationswith women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committingshameless acts with men and receiving in their own persons the due penaltyfor their error. Christianity. Romans 1.26-27- - - - - - - - - - - -Mark 10.2-12: In the parallel attestation in Matthew 19.3-9, there is anexception for 'unchastity.' Current biblical scholarship does not seethis exception as sanctioning divorce on the grounds of maritalinfidelity. 'Unchastity' is not the same word as adultery; it is thoughtto refer to the incestuous relations practiced by some pagans before theirconversion to Christianity. Jesus is quoting Genesis 1.27, p. 282 andGenesis 2.24, p. 252. Lotus Sutra 14: The 'five kinds of unmanly men'includes homosexuals, hermaphrodites, eunuchs, and those suffering fromvarious kinds of impotence. The Sangha did not want anyone to join theorder as an escape; it likewise barred from membership debtors who wantedto renege on their debts and young novices who did not have their parents'permission. Qur'an 29.28-29: This passage refers to the story of Sodomand Gomorrah. According to the Bible (Genesis 19.4-11), when two angelscame to Lot's home to warn him of the city's impending destruction, themob demanded that Lot give the men over to them, that they might rape andsodomize them. Lot defended them and offered his daughters instead; atwhich point the mob sought to lay hands on Lot, but the angels rescuedhim. Romans 1.26-27: The 'due penalty' probably refers to venerealdisease. In addition, there is the spiritual damage to the personality ofone who engages in such behavior.- - - - - - - - - - - -