There is more twisting and turning going on here than what takes place in the blacksmith shop!
There is much to understand before all comes together/
2 Corinthians 11:2 "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 2 Cor 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, physical, so your minds, spiritual, should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."
He then connects the physical example with the spiritual application.
"But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ." 2 Cor. 11:3.
If Paul's concern was the Corinthians "being led astray from the
simplicity and purity to Christ, why would we have to have such a convoluted expose' that 99% of humanity would conclude that is complicated beyond all rational belief so we could understand "the
simplicity"?
Greek Lesson No. 2.
Not all words, including the idea here of sexual seduction to the point of sexual interaction, are so precise as to discard any other possible meanings.
We could use "seduced" instead of "Beguiled" in our translation. We can affirm that "ex" leads us to "completely." But even if we do, being "completely seduced" or "completely corrupted" can easily be used in the way legitimate translators have used it, i.e., that the readers mind (not body) is in danger of being totally corrupted from the simplicity in Christ. It quite simply can mean to "to lead astray" or "completely lead astray."
The situation that Paul is dealing with is disobedience and unfaithfulness to the simplicity to Christ and simplicity of the gospel that he taught. Paul is not afraid that the Corinthians are going to have sex with the devil. One can be "seduced" by the devil spiritually (which was doubtlessly true with Eve), and physically (which no passage in all of Scripture suggests or demands).
Paul writes in 2 Thes. 2:3,
"Let no one in any way (exapatesei) deceive you..."
Because of the addition in the Greek of the word "Ex" or "Ek." If these words are NOT added then it is only a mental or emotional or can be a "spiritual" act!
But Paul adds "ex" in 2 Thes. 2:3. By your street-corner linguistics, Paul is saying
"Let no man rape you"!
Romans 7:11
"for sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, deceived (
exepatesen) First aorist active of
exapatao,
me, and through it killed me." But you claim that Paul said that the commandment "raped" him!
1 Cor. 3:18,
"Let no man deceive (exapato)
himself." "Let no man rape himself"? Really? The fictional "Rule" of Greek Grammar that "ex" demands a physical, and not an emotional or spiritual act, is clearly nonsense and a linguistic disaster! There is no such "Rule"! As one person stated,
"Can it be spelled out any more plainer? Do you need a hailstone of 180 pounds to drop on your head?"
Hermeneutics Lesson No. 1.
Context, Context, Context!
Words have no meaning independent from the context. To take the definitions of words and demand that their meaning is outside of their immediate context, is not a legitimate or rational academic argument!