Thomas Aquinas

Above, the Apostle rebuked the Corinthians in three ways concerning judgments; now, however, he returns to rebuking the sin of the fornicator, whom he had mentioned above at V, 1, and in whose judgment the Corinthians had been negligent. He condemns fornication, moreover, by four arguments: the first is taken from the divine ordination; the second from union with Christ, at the words "or do you not know that your bodies," etc.; the third from the defilement of the body, at the words "flee fornication"; the fourth from the dignity of grace, at the words "or do you not know," and so forth.

Concerning the first he does two things. First he sets down the divine ordination; second, the end of that ordination, at the words "For God," and so forth.

Concerning the first it must be considered that some take an argument for their lasciviousness from the ordination of God. For those who fornicate use their body for a use instituted by God. But he excludes this, saying that food is ordained for the belly, and the belly for foods, but the body of man is not for fornication—that is, it is not ordained for fornicating, but for the Lord—that is, it is ordained for this, that it may belong to our Lord Jesus Christ; and the Lord for the body—that is, the Lord Jesus Christ was given to men for this, that he might conform human bodies to his glory, according to that saying of Phil. III, 21: "he will reform the body of our lowliness, conformed to the body of his brightness."

But against this it seems to be that just as the belly is ordained by God for the use of foods, so also certain members of the human body are ordained by God for the use of generation, by which fornication is carried out. But a difference must be attended to as to two points. First, indeed, that the Apostle above spoke of one member of the body, namely the belly, but here he speaks of the whole body, which just as it is not ordained for fornicating, so neither for taking food; but rather the use of foods is for the sake of the body, and the body for the sake of the soul, from which it receives life according to its condition. And because all things are ordained to God as to an end, therefore the body ought to be subject to the Lord and dedicated to him. And because above he spoke of the use of foods in common without disorder, but fornication is a disordered use arising from the member of the fornicator. Hence not even those members themselves are for the sake of fornication, but are ordained by reason for the sake of the use of generation, to which all the members of the body ought to be of service, just as also the belly is not for the sake of gluttony and drunkenness, but for the sake of the fitting use of foods.

Then, when he says "But God," etc., he sets down the end of the aforesaid ordination. And first he sets down what God did concerning the Lord, saying that God also "raised up the Lord," namely the Lord Jesus Christ, from the dead, from whom Christ himself asks in Ps. XL, v. 11: "But you, O Lord, have mercy on me, and raise me up." Now God is both the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; hence also Christ himself, who is the Son of God, raised himself up, and rose by his own power, according to that saying of Ps. III, 6: "I slept, and took rest, and rose up, because the Lord sustained me"; and II Cor., last chapter: "if he was crucified out of weakness, yet he lives by the power of God."

Second he sets down what he is going to do concerning us, saying that God will raise us up "through his power," namely the power by which he raised up Christ, according to that saying of Rom. VIII, 11: "he who raised up Jesus Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies." And it must be noted that above, speaking of foods and the belly, which pertain to the use of animal life, he said that they would be destroyed by God; but now, speaking of the body and the Lord, he makes mention of the resurrection, because, namely, when animal life ceases, the nature of the body will be reformed into something better. Hence it is clear that the body is not to be used for fornication, which impedes future incorruption, according to that saying of Gal., last chapter: "he who sows in the flesh will also reap corruption from the flesh."

Then, when he says "do you not know," etc., he sets down the second argument, which is taken from the affinity of the human body to Christ, which is as follows: the members of a man who fornicates are the members of a harlot; but the members of a man are the members of Christ; therefore through fornication the members of Christ become the members of a harlot, which is unfitting. Concerning this he does four things.

First he states the major, saying, "Or do you not know that your bodies are the members of Christ?" As if to say: you ought not to be ignorant of this, because whoever you are who have been regenerated in Christ, you have been made members of Christ, according to that saying below at XII, 27: "you are the body of Christ, and members of a member." And this is so not only with regard to souls, which are justified by him, but also with regard to bodies, which will be raised up by him, as has been said.

Second he sets down the conclusion, saying, "Taking, then, the members of Christ"—that is, rightly withdrawing them from the service of Christ, to which they ought to be assigned (according to that saying of Rom. VI, 13: "that you present your members as weapons of righteousness to God")—"shall I make" them, namely those same members, "to be the members of a harlot" by fornicating? "God forbid": for this is a horrifying sacrilege. Hence it is said in Mal. II, v. 11: "Judah has profaned the sanctification of the Lord which he loved, and has had the daughter of a strange god."

Third he sets down the minor, saying, "Or do you not know that he who cleaves to a harlot"—namely by fornicating—"is made one body"? Namely through unclean commingling. And to prove this, he brings in the authority of Genesis, saying: "for," Scripture "says," namely Gen. II, 24: "the two"—namely man and woman—"shall be in one flesh," that is, through carnal mixture they are made one flesh, and thus the members of the one become the members of the other. For these are the words of Adam speaking of husband and wife, which the Apostle here refers also to fornication, because according to the species of nature the acts of both do not differ.

But it must be understood that, as the Philosopher says in the book On the Generation of Animals, in the male is the active principle of generation, in the female is the passive. And just as in a plant, whose life is principally ordained to generation, there is always one body in which both principles are united, so in animals, which are ordained to higher acts of life, there is not always one body having these two principles, but out of two there is made one in the act of generation. Which indeed is not the man's alone, because, as is said below in chapter VII, 4, "the husband does not have power over his own body, but the wife."

Fourth he proves the minor, saying, "but he who cleaves to the Lord," etc., namely through faith and charity, "is one spirit with him," because, namely, he is united to him by a spiritual unity, not a bodily one. Hence also it is said in Rom. VIII, 9: "if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his"; and Jn. XVII, 21 and following: "that they may be one in us, as we are one," namely through the connection of the spirit: and because the body is in service to the spirit, it follows that our bodies too are the members of him to whom we are united through the spirit, not indeed by carnal conjunction, but spiritual.

Now from the two aforesaid arguments one argument can be forged, namely, that because our body is not assigned to fornication, but to the Lord—in this way, namely, that our members are the members of Christ, as he afterward explains—we should not make them the members of a harlot by fornicating.

Then, when he says "flee fornication," etc., he sets down the third argument, which is taken from the defilement of the body. First he sets down the intended conclusion, saying "flee fornication." Where it must be noted that the other vices are overcome by resisting, because the more a man considers and dwells upon particulars, the less he finds in them wherein to delight, but is rather made anxious; but the vice of fornication is not overcome by resisting, because the more a man there thinks upon the particular, the more he is inflamed; but it is overcome by fleeing, that is, by totally avoiding unclean thoughts and any occasions whatsoever, as is said in Zech. II, 6: "flee from the land of the North, says the Lord."

Second he assigns the reason, saying, "every other sin whatsoever a man commits," and so forth. For evidence of this it must be known that certain sins are not consummated in carnal delight, but in spiritual delight alone, and so they are called spiritual vices, such as pride, avarice, sloth; but fornication is completed chiefly in carnal delight, and according to this it could be understood what is said here, "every sin whatsoever a man commits is outside the body," because, namely, it is completed apart from the delight of his own body. "But he who fornicates sins against his own body," because, namely, his sin is consummated in the flesh.

But contrary to this exposition it seems to be that the sin of gluttony also is consummated in the delight of the body. To which it could be said that the sin of gluttony is contained under lust, insofar as it is ordained to it, according to that saying of Eph. V, 18: "do not be drunk with wine, in which is lust." But it can better be said that the Apostle does not say "he who fornicates sins by his own body," which would fit the first exposition; but "sins against his own body," that is, against his own body, by corrupting and defiling it apart from the use of reason. Hence also Apoc. III, 4: "you have a few names in Sardis, who have not defiled their garments," that is, their body; and Apoc. XIX, 4: "these are they who have not been defiled with women."

Or otherwise, according to Augustine, here in the Gloss, "he who fornicates sins against his own body," because his soul in that act is totally subjected to the flesh, so that he cannot think of anything else there. Hence in Ps. XXXI, 9 it is said: "do not become like the horse and the mule, which have no understanding."

Or otherwise: "he sins against his own body," that is, against his wife, who is called the body of the husband, against whom the other sins are not so directly committed as the fornication of the husband. Hence also in I Thess. ch. IV, 4 it is said: "that each of you know how to possess his vessel in sanctification," that is, his wife.

Or according to Augustine it can be understood of spiritual fornication, by which the soul cleaves through love to the world, and withdraws from God, according to that saying of Ps. LXXII, 27: "you will destroy all who fornicate away from you." The sense, therefore, is: "he who fornicates," withdrawing from God on account of love of the world, "sins against his own body," that is, through bodily concupiscence. But every other sin, for instance one which a man commits out of forgetfulness, or out of ignorance, or negligence, is "outside the body," that is, outside bodily concupiscence.

Then, when he says "or do you not know," etc., he sets down the fourth argument, which is taken from the dignity of grace, which indeed arises from two things, namely from the grace of the Holy Spirit, and from the redemption of the blood of Christ. Concerning this, then, he does three things.

First he sets forth the dignity of our body, which it has from the grace of the Holy Spirit, saying "or do you not know," as if to say, you ought not to be ignorant, "that your members"—namely the bodily ones—"are the temple of the Holy Spirit"? Just as above at III, 16 it was said: "do you not know that you are the temple of God." And he assigns the reason for this, adding, "who is in you." Now a temple is called the house of God; therefore, because the Holy Spirit is God, it is fitting that in whomever the Holy Spirit is, he should be called the temple of God. Now the Holy Spirit is indeed principally in the hearts of men, in whom the charity of God is poured out through the Holy Spirit, as is said in Rom. V, 5. But secondarily he is also in the bodily members, insofar as they carry out works of charity. Hence in Ps. LXXXIII, 3 it is said: "my heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God." And lest they should ascribe this dignity to themselves, he adds, "whom you have from God," not from yourselves. Hence Joel II, 28: "I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh"; and Acts V, 23: "he has given his Spirit to those who obey him."

Second he sets down the dignity which our bodies have from the redemption of the blood of Christ, saying, "and you are not your own, but Jesus Christ's," according to that saying of Rom. XIV, 8: "whether we live, or whether we die, we are the Lord's"; II Cor. V, 15: "he who lives, let him no longer live for himself." He assigns the reason for this, saying, "you have been bought at a great price," and therefore you are the servants of him who redeemed you from the servitude of sin. Hence below at VII, 22 it is said: "he who was called free is the servant of Christ; for you have been bought at a price"; and in Ps. XXX, 6: "you have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth." Now the price of redemption is called great, because it is not corruptible, but has an eternal power, since it is the blood of God himself, the eternal one. Hence I Peter I, 18 and following: "you have been redeemed from your vain manner of life, not with corruptible things like gold or silver, but with the blood of the lamb, unspotted and undefiled, Jesus Christ."

Third he draws the intended conclusion, saying, "glorify, therefore, and bear God in your body." For because your members are the temple of God, nothing ought to appear in your body except what pertains to the glory of God, and this is to glorify God in your body, because in Ps. XXVIII, 9 it is said: "in his temple all shall speak his glory." Exodus, last chapter, it is said: "the cloud covered the tabernacle of the testimony, and the glory of the Lord filled it." But because you are not your own, but are the servants of God, your body ought to bear God, just as a horse or another animal bears its master. Hence in Ps. LXXII, 23 it is said: "I have become like a beast of burden before you." But our body bears the Lord, insofar as it is assigned to divine ministry. Thus, then, a man ought to avoid sinning against his own body by fornicating, which is against the glory of God, and against the ministry which our body owes to God.