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78) Do not teach to keep virginity properly

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Do not teach to keep virginity properly.

By including post-marital adultery into the meaning of the word "porneia" in Matthew 5:32 (the context of which totally excludes it) they therefore do not lay the emphasis Jesus did on keeping your virginity before you wed, whether you are a man or a woman.

The link to Abortion :

One very serious side effect of the Eastern Orthodox allowing remarriage for the cause of adultery, is not  only de-emphasizing the directive of Jesus to avoid sex before marriage, and retain virginity, but also that there lax attitude leads to more abortions, and a far less definite and clear stance in their practice and doctrines against abortion.

Roman Catholics make everything clear in their theology

 

CATHOLIC: 1) The word porneia in Matthew 5:32 & Matthew 19:9, because of the context in which it is used, means fornication and excludes adultery.\

 

CATHOLIC: 2) You should remain a virgin therefore until you marry.

 

CATHOLIC 3) Abortion is evil and murder.

 

By being alternately lax, or sometimes vague, about the real meaning of the "Matthean Clause" the Orthodox

 

ORTHODOX: 1) Allow adulterous second marriage.

 

ORTHODOX 2) Do not as actively doctrinally promote retaining virginity before marriage.

 

ORTHODOX 3) Consequently make a less clear stand on abortion being utter evil (that is Catholics are very famous for that stand, the Orthodox are not famous for it.)

 

It is not as simple as that though. I have met many "atheist Catholics" ad I have sometimes suspected that there are less people saying they are Orthodox who are actually atheists under their thin veil of pretentious religiosity. If there are more atheist nominal Catholics there might be a higher percentage fornication and consequently abortion rate among them. So the "reality" of the doctrine versus nominal status may mean in fact that though the Orthodox are less clear on doctrine, among the two churches the Orthodox may have less actual incidents of abortion.

One Orthodox priest on a Facebook wall told me an Orthodox woman confessed to him that she had an abortion, and he gave her a penance to adopt a child. Another Orthodox believer chided him for revealing that fact even though the confessor remained ambiguous.

  

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