poneria
Definition
Poneria (Greek: πονηρία) is the biblical term for “baseness,” “wickedness,” “vileness” — the earthly, fleshly character of sin that sets itself against God’s holiness. In 1 Corinthians 5:6-8, Paul uses poneria as the type for the “old leaven” that must be purged from the congregation: “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness (poneria); but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Cor. 5:6-8).
The term marks the contrast between the “old” life of earthly, base religiosity and the “new” life of holiness in Christ.
Usage per author
Noordzij
Noordzij connects poneria to the theme of Passover-liberation and the unleavened bread as the type of cleansing. From Exodus 12 — where the Passover lamb is slain for deliverance from Egypt — he reads the unleavened bread as depicting deliverance from the “flesh” (= Egypt). The poneria (“baseness”) is the “old leaven” of the former life:
Old leaven is ‘low,’ ‘earthly,’ religiosity with ‘old’ rites and tradition, as the ‘Pharisees’ did (Matt. 23, Mark 7:13). Deliverance from Egypt comes only if we leave behind every ‘old,’ base interpretation and custom and ‘learn to eat new,’ only the unleavened bread of purity and truth [Noordzij, Bread and Wine, b9].
The poneria stands for stagnation and self-complacency in religious life: religion occupied with outward ritual without inward transformation. Paul’s answer is radical: purge out the old leaven, because Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.