The other day, I was thinking to myself, what does the Bible mean exactly by the term "orgy" or the term "revelings". I wondered to myself, if this was one of those words that Christians today define incorrectly.
Now, upfront, I want to indicate to you that the activity of an orgy, as defined today, is sinful in various forms, as it could include gay sex activities (prohibited in scripture?), or it could be a form of "chambering", which means defiling the marriage bed (theft of another man's wife). In that, marriage never includes a "group" of people, hence it goes against the ideal design for sex. Does it mean that all forms of orgies are sinful? I don't believe all forms would be sinful, as even some polygamous sex acts would fall into the definition of an orgy. And there are various situations, where harlotry would be involved and potentially permitted (2 of the 3 types of prostitution are sins, though). Polygamy is a secondary form of marriage that is permitted by God within scripture. Harlotry on a smaller scale was permitted in Israel on a restricted level as well and I discuss it in this article here. Of course, God's primary design for marriage and sexual relations is one man and one woman or monogamy, as that is the design we see originally in the Garden of Eden before the Fall of Man.
Back to the topic at hand. Christians assume that the term "orgy" in scripture refers to a bunch of people having sex. As that is what the term means in our current society and what I was thinking prior to doing this study. And, I am postulating that many Christians will assume the term "revelings" refers to maybe a wild reckless party. As this is what I thought at first glance.
However, as I have mentioned in several other articles, many words within scripture are incorrectly defined by Christians today. Terms such as fornication, adultery and lust are generally only partially understood.
Well, it appears that after doing some research, the term orgy is not defined as you and I would define it today. The term in the Greek refers to a drunken party, parade, etc to a diety, such as Bacchus, who was son of Zeus and represented wine, unrestricted partying, etc. Matter of fact, you can see in CrossWalk.com's Strong's Concordance right here, that is exactly what it is refering to. And, when you read this definition in Crosswalk, probably like me, you have no clue who Bacchus is nor do you have a clue what occurred in such festivals.
Also, interestingly, on Dictionary.com shows you can see the word history for the term "orgy" and you discover that it changed meanings around the 18th century (keep in mind the KJV Bible was written prior to the 18th Century).
| Word History: The word orgy has become connected in the minds of many of us with unrestrained sexual activity, but its origins are much less licentious. We can trace the word as far back as the Indo-European root *werg-, meaning "to do," also the source of our word work. Greek orgia, "secret rites, worship," comes from *worg-, one form of this root. The Greek word was used with reference to the rites practiced in the worship of various deities, such as Orpheus and Dionysus. The word in Greek did not denote sexual activity, although this was a part of some rites. The rites of Dionysus, for example, included only music, dancing, drinking, and the eating of animal sacrifices. Having passed through Latin and Old French into English, the word orgy is first recorded in English with reference to the secret rites of the Greek and Roman religions in 1589. It is interesting to note that the word is first recorded with its modern sense in 18th-century English and perhaps in 17th-century French. Whether this speaks to a greater licentiousness in society or not must be left to the historian, but certainly the religious nature of the word has gone into eclipse. |
However, I have a question for you. Why don't you and I know? Is it interesting how so few people truly go into depth and study the Greek and Hebrew. We are sheep without a shepard, it seems sometimes.. Our pastors, goto these grand theological seminaries to come out indoctrinated. Did they study this? Why haven't you and I heard about it, if they did?
For more historical perspective on orgies, see this article here.
For the Christian replacement of orgies (i.e. LoveFeasts), see here.
Seeing we need to keep scripture in its context and that it is unwise to impose our niave understanding of definitions onto the text, lets look at who Bacchus was and what these festivals to him encompassed. I am no theologian, nor do I have a Phd in anything, but I am able to type words into a search engine and look up information.. I found this article here, discussing Bacchus.
Read through the page a little. Soak it in and get an idea of what the term "orgy" or "revelings" means. Isn't it interesting.. Doesn't it sound a lot like what happened to the Israelites while Moses was talking to God on Mount Sinai. He came down, and saw them all praising a golden calf with crazy dancing, drunkeness, music and lewdness.
And, isn't it interesting.. When you read about Bacchus, did you notice something I noticed? I noticed a little pattern here that relates to a few things in society today. Did you notice the part where they tore open animals? Where they danced until they could not dance anymore? Crazy drunken activity? Doesn't that sound like a heavy metal concert? A little? Particularly those who talked about Satan in their lyrics? Remember heavy metal singers biting heads off bats? Could that be an orgy? Revelry today? Or these Indian festivals, where they dance around, get into a trance like state, while worshipping an idol or false god? Isn't it interesting? I guess orgies and revelry do exist today and now we know where they are and what to avoid..
Or how about Marti Gra? Doesn't that seem to fit the context pretty well? Drunkeness, crazy partying.. Not sure about idolatry with Marti Gra, but I have noticed that most of these instances where they start to worship some false god, such as Satan or one of these idols in India, they seem to be almost controlled or moved by a fallen spirit to kill animals, to dance like crazy, getting drunk.. So, its not normal drunkeness or normal dancing. Its sort of a spirit or something driving them.
How about the phallus and the parade and the procession of Bacchus? Doesn't that sound familar? What came to your mind? Gay pride day? Gay parades? Isn't that interesting. Another form of an orgy.. Not really sex acts, but more so, the mood, the theme, the condition of the mind and the influence. I have seen some of this in some of these pornstars as well. Sort of an influence. Sort of like a spirit is driving it..
Maybe I am just looking into it to much, but doesn't it make more sense to actually look at what words mean in scripture, instead of just assuming things?
So, now when you read the word orgies in the Bible, do not assume it is talking about sex. As you can see, the term "fornication" and the term "revelings" and the term "lasciviousness" all have idolatrous components to them. And I believe the church has sexualized these words and totally threw off the original meanings. Yes, the original meanings had sexual components, but the fact is its an "either/or" or "both". So they often mean sex, idolatry or a combination of both.
And when you ignore meanings of words, you ignore commands and understanding from God. In Galatians 5:18-21, it discusses the "works of the flesh". I was studying the greek behind these words today and found some interesting patterns. Most of the sins mentioned can be grouped into for genres:
- Wild Parties/Drunkeness/Revelings
- Idolatry/Witchcraft
- Evil Sexual/Covetous Desires
- Strife/Jealousy/Fighting/Seditions
If you are blind to something, you can not see and will stumble through the dark. Notice, the church always focuses totally on number 3 on the list and seems to minimize the others listed.
But, if you think about it, number 2 and number 4 on the list seems to be the church's main sins. Think about it.. James 4. The very first verse is talking about strife among believers.. Sedition among believers.. Isn't that the 4th sin on my list above? Division and quarrels in the church. Ignoring how violence, evil talking, division, fighting is a sin and how it is rampant in the church. We bear its scars everywhere.. How many denominations are there? Why are there denominations? Look at James 4 and you will know.. Because of your sinful nature and evil desires.
The term fornication refers to idolatry as well as sexual sin. And the church commits idolatry by forsaking its first love and going after its own desires.. People want and can not have, because they consume it upon their lusts.. You adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that friendship with the world is enimity against God? Whosoever is a friend of the world is an enemy of God. - James 4:1 - 4
What is being said in this passage? That people are having sex and sleeping around? Of course not. It is refering to the use of adultery in context of your relationship with God. Sexual sin is similar to idolatry. They are intertwined. Idolatry is "cheating on God". Adultery is "cheating on your spouse". So, when you fight, divide, you are commiting fornication (idolatry). Look up the definition of fornication here. Notice, fornication is not refering to sex before marriage, but rather adultery, incest and idolatry..
What is the common link between adultery, incest and idolatry? They violate love towards God and neighbor by robbing God or your neighbor of what is rightfully due to them. It is not about some intrinsical sinful value to sex. It is about cheating. The sex act is the channel of the cheating, not the sin in itself.
What am I saying here? IN OTHER WORDS, because of these errors in definitions you and I have been blinded to the sin of idolatry. The sin of strife, fighting, sedition.. It is all related. Intertwined.. Because we are told fornication, adultery, lasciviousness, etc only refers to sex. As a result, we do not understand God correctly and sin in ways we did not realize! Division. Quarrels. Fights. Covetousness. Greed. Power. Selfish control over our own destiny, our own churches, our own money, our own life. All those sins you can not identify anymore, because they have been erased from the definitions in scripture. Because now, it is convenient not to give your life, your church, your will over to Christ.
It is convient to compromise and be diverse. Accept other religions. That is a form of idolatry. And at the same time, you are fighting with other Christian denominations. Forsaking scripture.
I am not saying be united with non-Christians who have "churches". Rather, unite with your brothers in Christ and forsake fighting over small doctrinal issues.
So, does fornication refer to pornography? It does refer to some types of pornography, but I would say not all forms. However, let us not forget the complete definiton. Adultery, incest, sexual immorality(as defined by God, not man) and, let us not forget, "idolatry"..
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