1 Corinthians 8:1

1 COR. 8

Beginning here and through 1 Corinthians 11:1, this epistle discusses food (especially meat) sacrificed to idols; and in the culture and society of the people who first received it the problems here dealt with were paramount and practically universal. The total meat supply, in any practical sense, came from the sacrifices to the idol gods of the Gentiles, a portion of each sacrifice being the perquisite of the pagan priest, and the rest of it consumed in the temple area itself, carried to the homes of the worshipers, or sold, either by them or the priests, in the common meat markets.

It might be inquired, what relevance is the apostolic teaching, with regard to Christians partaking of such meats, to the peoples of this present age; to which it must be replied that they are of the most commanding relevance and importance. This is true because the apostle Paul established four timeless principles of Christian behavior in the course of his writing on this subject, these being: (1) that what is permissible behavior for one man may, in certain circumstances, be dangerous and sinful in another; (2) that no Christian conduct should be evaluated solely from the standpoint of knowledge, but in the light of the love of brethren, with regard to its possible influence upon others, and in the light of what others may think of it; (3) that no Christian has a right to practice anything, however innocent it may be to him, if in so doing he shall damage the faith of another; and (4) that whatever is done, even to the weakest member of the body of Christ, is also done to Christ himself, and that weakening or destroying the faith of even the least and weakest of Christ's members is a sin of the greatest magnitude against Christ himself. "A pleasure or an indulgence which may be the ruin of someone else is not a pleasure but a sin."[1]