Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Pretty clear right up front. Don't do it!
The dictionary definition of adultery is : the act of having intercourse with a person you are not married to. If the person engaging in this activity is a woman, she is an adultress (remember "The Red Letter"?) - if a man, he is simply fornicating. Women are, to this day in some countries, subject to death by stoning for adultery. It is difficult to find an instance of any similar punishment meted out to a man for the same offense.
The institution of marriage is widely thought to be spiritually mandated. In fact, marriage was instituted to protect wealth and property (primarily of men and the church) and to ensure (to whatever degree possible) that a man's heirs were indeed the fruit of his own loins! Misogeny? Probably!
If there is a spiritual component to the idea of adultery, it is probably this : idolatry, covetouness and apostasy are considered adultery in some books of the christian bible. Check out Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Hosea.
In Isaiah and Ezekiel, an apostate church is considered an adultress (that would be most of the churches on the earth today, and interestingly, female).
So where does this commandment leave us in these modern times? It would seem that, unless one is Roman Catholic and believes the Pope in Rome is the living representative of Jesus Christ on earth, we are ALL adulterers of one stripe or another.
This post will not attempt to detail the pain and destruction caused by the act of adultery in human relationships. Perhaps that discourse belongs under the heading "Thou shalt not kill" (a person's spirit)!
Just a thought ...
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