Although we often notice Paul’s denunciation of sexual sins in his vice lists, one sin not so often noticed is his mention of “revilers.” This appears in his list of damnable sins in 1 Cor 6:10 (and 5:11). Paul might focus on it there because it may have been an issue in the Corinthian church—perhaps even against fellow believers there, given the divisions that were harming the church (1:10-12).
BDAG (a basic New Testament Greek dictionary) defines “reviling” (loidoria) as “speech that is highly insulting, abuse, reproach, reviling.” Normally it is not even subtle, but directly insulting (cf. Macrobius Sat. 7.3.2, trying to explain it in Latin). (It does not simply express disagreement.) It applies, for example, to people mocking Jesus during his passion (1 Pet 2:23) and the enemies of Jesus’s early followers insulting them and their movement (1 Tim 5:14; 1 Pet 3:9).
The verdict is consistent also with Paul’s list of death-worthy sins in Rom 1:29-32, which includes slanderers (1:30). The list in Rom 1 helps further set up Paul’s argument for why everybody needs God’s forgiveness and transformation; the list in 1 Cor 6 helps express Paul’s shock at how some of his converts are behaving.
One need not scan the internet very long, in various blogs, tweets and especially comments, to notice that reviling is a common pastime. Politics and even religious disagreements may generate heated passions, but the person who regularly reviles others falls short of Christian ethics. Like other sins on Paul’s lists, this is one he considers damnable. May we all learn to exercise restraint and, even when we are rightly passionate, to season our words with grace (Prov 15:1; Eph 4:29; Col 4:6). Or better yet, at some other times, to stay out of the fight altogether (Prov 17:27-28; 2 Tim 2:14, 23-26).
