19 May 2023
In 1 Corinthians 8 Paul again asserts his eldership for the sake of peace. The underlying principle from God is that food is food and there are no other gods. Food offered to idols does not really defile you. Ritual objects are just objects; demons can't get you that way. God is not concerned about such things.
Still, it's better to be cautious around those who are still burdened with a cultural mindset that those other gods actually exist. Israel struggled for centuries with the idea that Jehovah was the only God, despite Moses flatly saying so more than once. It took the Exile for them to realize that pagan idols were, at most, demons masquerading as deities. And the Code of Noah that we have includes the provision of avoiding anything offered to idols.
To be honest, it may well be that the Seven Noahic Laws we have today were just a little embellished over that God actually told Noah. Keep in mind that the only record we have of this Code of Noah comes from the Talmud, not fully listed any place in the Bible. We can tell that Genesis 9 is not the whole story, but a summary that implies far more than it says. Furthermore, we know that Israel held Gentile nations accountable to some standard that made them ritually tolerable enough live among Israelis (as foreigners subject to Israeli jurisdiction) -- notably the Jebusites, Gibeonites, and Kenites. Either way, this doctrinal statement from Paul is not consistent with what he agreed to in Acts 15. My guess is that the Apostles included this rule to keep the peace between Gentile and fussy Hebrew Christians.
But, there in Corinth, whether coming from a Jewish or pagan background, newer Christians might struggle with a lingering reverence for pagan images and shrines. They would see someone like Paul eating from a market selling pagan temple food as being disloyal to Christ. There is a divine principle here that the conscience must develop and grow, or it will harass you for no good reason. A falsely guilty conscience can suffocate your faith. Your conscience is not your convictions, but is the standard interface for them. Your convictions are from God, but your conscience is part of your fleshly nature. It needs redemption and that takes time.
Paul suggests that it's better to sacrifice a little of our freedom for the sake of someone's weak conscience. Frankly, it sounds like Paul is worried about the conscience of Christian Jews who still struggled under Talmudic reflexes. While the Kosher code was shot down by both Christ and His Father (in a revelation to Peter), there seems this one last issue Paul wants to keep around for the mixed church he planted there.
These days we don't really have an equivalent issue. I'm not aware of any pagan shrines selling food offerings here in the US. Our bigger problem is that packaged or prepared food often hides junk. Do you like that sawdust and other fillers in your chicken sandwich or those pink slime burgers? Still, what makes this passage relevant to us is that it's good to understand the underlying doctrines of truth.
He moves to another issue in Chapter 9 and comes back to this matter of food offered to idols again in Chapter 10. The context is pagan celebrations. For some people, the habitual association of pagan idolatry with immoral living is just a bit too much. That's the way it was for Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai. They ate a pagan ritual meal and then proceeded to defile themselves in naughty dancing. Just because you can mentally process the idea that idols and pagan offerings mean nothing, it doesn't mean you can just waltz through a pagan celebration without being tempted. You may start out thinking the singing and dancing is just a tradition or custom, but if the purpose is rooted in idolatry, stay away from it.
Thus, Paul comes back to the position that you should play it safe. Avoid pagan celebrations. It's not the cup or the drink that defiles, but it's your own internal weakness, the doors in your soul still open to demons. Thus, the principle that all things are lawful, but not everything is a blessing. In other words, we cannot afford to waste time and resources on something that might be neutral. You cannot Christianize pagan celebrations (like our Halloween or "Christmas"). Make it clear to the world you are avoiding moral compromise.
God made everything for His own glory. If someone invites you to a meal, and you really want to join them, eat whatever is put before you and don't ask questions. But if they proudly tell you that something is dedicated to a pagan deity, don't eat it. You know it makes no difference, but they don't see it that way. They want you to approve of their idolatry by joining in; don't do it.
It's not being fake if you play along with someone else's conscience.
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