Lewis W. Gillenson, Editor
Coronet Magazine
488 Madison Avenue
New York 22, New York

In the August 1961 Coronet, David Boroff made several serious errors in the article, "Religion and Sex: A Changing Church View."

He asserted: "Fundamentalists in a 11 parts of the country still regard sex as sinful and the body as something to be distrusted." A fundamentalist is one who believes in the verbal plenary inspiration of the scriptures. He believes the Bible is God's will in God's Words. Fundamentalists, then, will regard sex to be precisely what God has revealed it to be in His word. The Scriptures do not "regard sex as sinful," but to the contrary, honorable, when it is confined where God has confined it, to holy wedlock. "Let marriage be had in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled; for fornicators and adulterers God will judge" (Heb. 13:4--ASV).

Mr. Boroff stated, and correctly so, "The Bible, the final authority in such matters, is quite explicit in its reference to sex." However, Mr. Boroff is not as explicit as the Bible, for he misrepresents its teachings when he says: "Nor is there any explicit disapproval (in the Bible) of premarital sex. Only adultery is clearly denounced--and! even then it is defined as an act committed by a married woman and not by a married man."

"Explict disapproval of premarital sex" IS found in Exodus 22:16-17; Deut. 22:2829. In the New Testament, the original Greek word for fornication was porneia, "illicit sexual intercourse in general." It may include adultery, which is "unlawful intercourse with the spouse of another." (Thayer-Grimm English-Greek Lexicon, and Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words).

This clearly means that whenever fornication is denounced, it includes pre-marital sex as well as adultery. Heb. 13:4 condemns both. " Fornicators and adulterers God will judge."

And as for adultery being "an act committed by a married woman and not a married man," that is so erroneous as to be laughable. The recorded instances in the four Gospels when Christ speaks of adultery are nearly unanimous in connecting it with men: i.e., Matt, 5:28, 32; 19:9; Mark 10: 11; Luke 16:18. But, Mark 10:12 does speak of women committing adultery, as does Rom. 7:3 in the epistles.

Mr. Boroff's statements could have a corrupting influence on national morals. They infer that there is no divine restraint on the unmarried or the male population whatsoever. Mr. Boroff should have let the Bible speak for itself, or else not speak at all.

Sincerely yours,

Bill Fling, Evangelist
Church of Christ
Anaheim, California

Truth Magazine, VI: 1 pp.7
October 1961