1st Corinthians Lesson 7

1st Corinthians 8 Part 1

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

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Lesson Transcript

Opening: Modern vs. Ancient Church Problems

Please open your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 8. If I ask you to name some problems facing the church today, church at large, what problems would you name? You might list the role of women. You might mention instrumental music or the role of baptism in God’s plan or marriage, divorce, and remarriage, or evolution, or any number of things.

And some of those so-called modern-day problems are dealt with right here in the book of 1 Corinthians. We just finished a chapter on marriage and divorce, and Paul’s going to deal with the role of women when he gets to chapter 11.

But if you were living in the first century, and I asked you that same question, most likely your initial response would not be something on our list today. Most likely your initial response would be, well, the biggest problem I know of is the problem of meat sacrificed to idols.

The Problem of Meat Sacrificed to Idols

That issue was a major problem in the early church. We read about it in the book of Acts, you’re still reading about it in the book of Revelation. And all in between. Paul devotes a significant part of this letter to that issue. And I think we can infer from his discussion here that this was not the first time he’d ever discussed this with them.

How Sacrifices Worked

Sacrifice to the gods, these false gods, was an integral part of this ancient life, and that sacrifice could be public or private. In the private sacrifice, the animal would be divided into three parts. One part would be burned on the altar. Another part would be given to the priest. And then the worshipper himself would keep the remaining part.

In a public sacrifice, it was very similar to that, except that the final part was not kept by the worshipper, it was given to a magistrate, who then very often sold it into the marketplace. Where that meat that had been sacrificed to an idol would find its way into the local grocery store.

Temple Feasts and Invitations

Now, we can go back into the ancient documents and find invitations to some of these feasts that were held in the temple of these false gods. And these feasts that were held also involved drunkenness and gluttony, sexual immorality. And these feasts were held to honor these false gods. And some of these invitations have been found.

One of them reads: “Antonius invites you to dine with him at the table of our Lord Serapis.” Serapis was one of the false gods.

Another invitation says, “Herias asks you to dine in the dining room of Seriapion at a banquet of the Lord Serapis tomorrow, the 11th from the ninth hour.”

And finally, one says, “the God calls you to a banquet being held tomorrow from the ninth hour.” Those have been found, those invitations.

Paul’s Clear Position

Now before we even get into chapter 8, let me ask you this question. What do we expect Paul to say about an invitation like that? I don’t even think we have to guess about that. Because if you go all the way over to 1 Corinthians 10 and verse 21, you’re going to find where it says, “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils. You cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table and the table of devils.”

Remember one of those invitations I just read to you? It said, “invite you to dine with him at the table of our Lord Serapis.” I think we know Paul’s view on that. It’s the table of demons. It’s the table of devils.

Do we expect Paul to tell anyone who follows Christ that it’s okay for them to attend a banquet like that in an idol’s temple? And partake of meat that had been sacrificed to that idol, that had been given to honor that false God? I ask that question because many commentaries say yes. And they say that based on 1 Corinthians 8. And I think they’ve taken the wrong boat on 1 Corinthians 8. We’re going to talk about that. But many commentaries say that Paul thought that was perfectly fine.

The Social Pressure in Corinth

Now, if you were living back in the first century, to avoid all contact with idolatry in a city like Corinth would have taken an uncompromising devotion to Christ, which of course is what we’re called to do, to have an uncompromising devotion. But you would have been viewed by your fellow Corinthians as antisocial, as even subversive not to partake in those banquets, in those false temples.

Those social meals were an integral part of life in the first century. And in fact, the situation must have been very difficult for Christians, particularly those in the business community or even those in the government who refused to partake of those meals in those false temples.

In fact, Erastus, Romans 16 tells us, was the city director of public works in Corinth. It must have been particularly difficult for him not to participate in those.

The Jerusalem Council’s Decision

Now, as I mentioned, the problem of meat sacrificed to idols goes all the way back to Acts. In fact, in Acts 15, the apostles met in Jerusalem and prepared a letter. And that letter was to Gentile Christians and dealt in part with this very issue. You can read about it in Acts 15, 28 and 29. It says, “you abstain from meat offered to idols and from fornication,” the letter said.

Notice that those two things are the very things we’re reading about here in the book of 1 Corinthians, fornication and idolatry, two major issues, and they’re addressed in that letter sent by the apostles and carried by Paul, the author of 1 Corinthians.

However, we interpret these chapters, 8, 9, and 10, which deal with this issue, our interpretation is going to be wrong if it contradicts that letter from the apostles. If it contradicts that letter that Paul himself carried to the Corinthians from the other apostles.

And if we conclude that Paul thought idolatry was some matter of expediency here in 1 Corinthians chapter 8, what does that say about fornication? Both idolatry and fornication are prohibited with the same language in the Jerusalem letter in Acts 15. And the Corinthians are told to flee from both of those things. Here in this letter, chapter 6, verse 18, chapter 10, verse 14. Fornication, flee idolatry.

Three Parts to the Question

Now, the issue here was whether they could eat meat sacrificed to an idol. And there are really three parts to that question.

The first part is whether they could eat food sacrificed to an idol, eating it in the temple of that idol. And that’s dealt with here in chapter 8. It’s also dealt with in chapter 10.

The second part was whether they could eat food they bought at the market if they did not know where it had come from. It could have come from an idol temple, but they didn’t know. Could they eat that food? That’s dealt with in chapter 10.

And the third part is: could they eat the food in the home of an unbeliever? If they didn’t know about it, or if they did know about it. And those are dealt with in chapter 10.

But the first part is the main part, and that is whether they could eat in the idol temple where they knew where the meat came from. They’re in the temple. They know exactly where that meat came from.

The Background Problem

Now, for the most part, the Gentile Christians in Corinth had probably attended these temple meals all their lives. All their lives. It was like the basic restaurant in antiquity. And every kind of occasion was celebrated there, like a birthday or a promotion or something. They would celebrate it by going to the idol temple, sacrificing to the false god, and then eating the meat that had been sacrificed. That’s how they celebrated things in the first century.

Now, the problem was likely that after their conversion, and most likely after Paul’s departure, some of them had returned to that practice of eating and celebrating things in that false God’s temple. It seems that Paul had prohibited it. But they had raised some objections to Paul’s teaching on that subject after Paul left.

The Corinthians’ Three Objections

The first objection they seem to have raised is that, look, Paul, we all know we have knowledge about idols. They know, they say, that an idol is nothing. So, how can Paul possibly accuse them of idolatry when an idol is nothing? And they know that. They have that knowledge. That was their first objection.

Their second objection was similar to it. They said, Paul, we have knowledge about food. We have knowledge that all food is clean. So it doesn’t matter what we eat. We can eat meat sacrificed to an idol, or we can eat meat that’s not. All food is clean, Paul. You’ve even told us that. So, how can it matter what we’re eating or where we’re eating it?

And the third objection they make is that, Paul, that sounds good, but you don’t have any authority to tell us these things. You do not have authority over us, is the third objection they make. And why do they say that? Well, they say it’s because he didn’t accept support from them when he was there. In other words, Paul wasn’t on the staff, so he didn’t have authority over them. And they also say that, you know, Paul, you would compromise with food sold in the marketplace. They said, and so therefore, why don’t you compromise with this issue also? Most of that objection is dealt with in Chapter 9.

Paul’s Three Responses

Now, to answer these objections, Paul responds with three main arguments. The first one, he’s going to tell them that their attitude and their behavior on this subject portrays a basic misunderstanding of Christian ethics and what those Christian ethics require. And it portrays a basic misunderstanding of the interplay between rights and knowledge and love, and he’s going to address that in chapter eight.

But he’s also going to make other arguments. He’s going to also tell them that their objections portray a basic misunderstanding about Paul’s apostolic authority. And he’s going to vigorously defend his apostolic authority in chapter 9.

And his third argument is he’s going to say they have a basic misunderstanding about what idolatry is. And he’s going to address that in chapter 10.

You know, for such knowledgeable people, these Corinthians have a lot of basic misunderstandings, don’t they? And they saw themselves as incredibly knowledgeable and incredibly spiritual. And look how Paul is dealing with them here.

What Chapter 8 is NOT About

Well, what is Chapter 8 not about? Well, first, Chapter 8 is not about offending someone in the church. That’s dealt with elsewhere. It’s not dealt with in chapter 8 of 1 Corinthians.

Instead, chapter 8 has to do with conduct that another person would follow, and that that person would then follow to his own ruin. The weak here in chapter 8 are not at risk of being offended. They are at risk of being led astray and destroyed.

The issue here is not of peripheral matters of opinion. That is not what’s going on in 1 Corinthians 8. Idolatry is not a matter of opinion. No Christian has the right or the freedom to dabble in idolatry any more than a Christian has the right or the freedom to dabble in fornication.

Problems with the Traditional View

Well, there’s a traditional view of 1 Corinthians chapter 8. I call it traditional because you find it in most commentaries. It’s a pretty common view. And that is that there’s some group called the strong. And Paul agrees with this strong group here in chapter 8.

Under this view, Paul agrees with the strong that they are technically correct about being able to eat in an idol’s temple, but he reproaches them for using that freedom in an unloving manner. But loving or not, under this view, Paul agrees that this strong group has the freedom to eat in an idol’s temple. And not only to get that invitation we read earlier, but to accept that invitation and go and dine in that idol’s temple under this view.

Under this view, when Paul later says, “flee idolatry,” he’s just speaking to the weak, and he’s not speaking to the strong. How could he be if the strong were able to go and eat in the idol’s temple? That’s hardly fleeing idolatry to go and do that.

This view also suggests that Paul must have disagreed with that letter from Acts 15 because it said, “abstain from meat offered to idols.” Under this view, Paul is telling this strong group that they can go and partake of that meat in the idol’s temple.

Where is the “Strong” Group?

Well, one immediate problem with that view is that it revolves around a group labeled the strong when the word strong never appears in Paul’s discussions in chapters 8, 9, and 10 regarding food offered to an idol.

And in fact, 1 Corinthians mentions the word strong three times. In chapter 1, verse 27, “God puts to shame the things that are strong.” In 4, verse 10, Paul sarcastically refers to the Corinthians as strong. He says, “We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise. We are weak, but you are strong.” I think suggesting they thought they were strong, but they are not really strong. And in 16, verse 13, Paul tells them to be strong, again, suggesting they weren’t strong.

Weakness is mentioned throughout the letter of 1 Corinthians. In fact, the word weak is mentioned five times just in this one chapter. But the word strong is not found.

Was there a strong group in the church in Corinth? A group so strong that they could flirt with idolatry? Could there be a group so strong that you can flirt with idolatry? If so, where has that strong group been in our study of 1 Corinthians? They’ve been hiding, haven’t they?

Have we had any evidence that there’s been such a strong group of Christians in 1 Corinthians? The Corinthians certainly saw themselves as strong. They thought they were strong, but were they strong? Have we seen them as being strong at any point in this letter? Did God see them as strong?

Other Problems with the Traditional View

Well, there are a lot of other problems with that traditional view. One initial error with it is that it assumes that chapters 8 through 10 are Paul’s first words to the Corinthians on this subject. That he’d never talked to them about it before, and now he’s coming along and saying, “Well, I better address this problem. Let me tell you about it.”

That cannot possibly be the case. It is inconceivable that this letter was the first time Paul had ever addressed this issue with Corinthians. Idolatry was one of the earliest and most pressing issues in the early church. Acts 17:16 says Athens was full of idols, and that wasn’t just true of Athens.

One can hardly imagine Paul ever preaching a sermon that did not address idolatry. He sparked riots and persecution by talking about idolatry. He always talked about idolatry. We know he must have talked to them about this before.

And Paul had an uncompromising attitude when it came to idolatry. And in fact, back in chapter 6, he’d already said idolaters will not inherit the kingdom of God. He’d already told them that in this letter.

It must be the case that Paul had already addressed this with the Corinthians. And in fact, he’d already addressed it, I’m certain, in the previous correspondence that we’ve talked about with the Corinthians. But I’m sure he’d done it in person as well.

What that means is that chapters 8 through 10 are part of an ongoing discussion. He’d already talked to them about this, and now they’re coming back to him with reasons why they should be allowed to go ahead and practice this. We can also see that from Paul’s style here. He’s vigorous, he’s combative. He’s part of an ongoing discussion with them.

Not an Honest Inquiry

A second error with that traditional view is that it views these chapters as kind of an honest inquiry by the Corinthians. “I wonder what Paul’s opinion is on this subject. Like, we don’t know, but let’s go ahead and ask him.”

Everybody concerned here already knew Paul’s position on this. They already knew Paul’s view on this. The problem was they had rejected his view. They had rejected Paul as an apostle and they’d rejected his views on these.

And are we really going to then label someone as strong who had rejected Paul’s apostolic authority? Is that the strong group? They weren’t asking, “can we eat idol food?” They were asking, “why can’t we eat idol food?” And there’s a huge difference in those two questions.

Some of the Corinthians had probably constructed very clever arguments from bits and pieces of what Paul had told them in his earlier teaching on this and other subjects. You know, how could Paul be prohibiting this conduct? Wouldn’t that require them to leave the world completely, as we talked about in chapter 5, verse 10?

Or, you know, all this idol worship is just meaningless religious mumbo-jumbo, right? So it couldn’t really have an effect on truly spiritual people. And of course, they saw themselves as truly spiritual, the spiritual elite. And all food is clean, right? So, you know, we can eat whatever we want to. They had all sorts of arguments, probably bits and pieces. They were twisting what Paul had told them.

Paul Does Not Agree with Participation

Now, a third error in the traditional view is to view Paul as agreeing with them or anybody else that any Christian had the freedom to eat food in a temple dedicated to idol worship. That’s an error. That’s wrong to think that Paul thought that or taught that.

The theme of this entire discussion is “flee idolatry.” And he gets to that theme in chapter 10. It’s inconceivable that Paul would have sanctioned any participation in anything that was even nominally idolatrous if they were told to flee idolatry.

In chapter 10, verse 28, Paul will maintain that food takes on a religious quality if a person says that it does or thinks that it does. We’ll get to that in chapter 10.

A Commentary’s Confusion

Now one commentary wrote this, and it was taking the traditional view. So I disagree with this commentary, but here’s what it said. “The Jerusalem Council stipulated that Gentile Christians were to abstain from food sacrificed to idols.” That part’s right. “But in Corinth, Paul allowed Christians to enter a temple and participate in feasts held in one of its dining rooms. Paul’s consent in this chapter appears to be contradictory, especially because he forbade the eating of sacrificial meat in chapter 10.”

And the same commentator is the one who later says that when Paul said, “flee idolatry,” he’s just talking to the weak. That is just dead wrong. That is totally wrong. The word weak never appears in chapter 10, where “flee idolatry” is found. Nor does the word strong in chapters 8, 9, or 10.

And are we to believe that Paul’s command to flee idolatry applied only to the weak? Does that make any sense at all? Do we really believe there was a group of Christians so strong in Corinth or anywhere where they didn’t have to flee idolatry, and if we believe that, did that also apply to flee fornication?

Are we to believe that the strong group included these arrogant, loveless Christians in Corinth that we’ve been reading about? Is that the strong group?

Understanding “This Right of Yours”

And where is the verse where Paul allows anyone to enter a temple and eat idol food? The closest you get is verse 9. And we’re going to take a verse-by-verse approach, but let’s look down at verse 9 right now, where Paul refers to “this right of yours,” “this right of yours.”

But from the context of chapters 8, 9, and 10, it’s impossible to conclude that Paul thought they actually had that right. But let’s look at that verse briefly. The Greek word for right or liberty means power or authority to do a thing.

Now the Corinthians no doubt thought they had the power and authority to do this thing, and they had told Paul that. I’m sure they had told Paul, “we have the right to do this. Paul, you’ve told us about Christian freedom, and we have the freedom and the right to go into the idol temple and eat this meat.”

And I think Paul is quoting that back to them. There are no quotation marks in the original Greek. But if there were, I think we would see quotes around that word right, “this right of yours.”

An Analogy

The situation’s like this. Assume you’re a parent and you’ve got two sons. Older son and a younger son. The older son’s a teenager. The younger son is quite a bit younger. The older son arrives home about 2 in the morning. And you go up to him and express your displeasure. And that’s the older son. The older son arrives home at two in the morning, and you go up to express your displeasure. And that older son says, “it’s a free country. I have a right to come home any time I want to.”

Okay, how are you going to respond to that? One way to respond would be to tell that older son, “you have no such right. When you’re living under my roof, you follow my rules. You do not have a right to do that.”

But there’s another way you could respond too. You could tell the older son, “what sort of example—let’s assume you have that right. Let’s just assume you do. What sort of example is that setting for your younger brother when he sees you get home at two in the morning? What sort of example is that setting for him?”

In other words, assume they do have the right. Are they using that right correctly? I think that’s exactly what’s going on here. Paul is going to make both of those responses. When he gets to chapter 10, he’s going to tell them, “You have no such right.” But here in chapter 8, he’s saying, “okay. Let’s assume you do have that right. What sort of example are you setting for the weaker Christians?”

I think that’s what’s going on here in Chapter eight.

This is Not About Christian Freedom

The issue here is not one of Christian freedom. The Corinthians thought they had a freedom to eat in an idol’s temple, and they had taken some of Paul’s earlier teachings out of context to justify their actions and to claim they had that freedom. But Paul’s message in these chapters is that no one has the freedom to eat in an idol’s temple and to honor that false god. Instead, they must flee idolatry.

If Paul is agreeing that people can eat food in an idol’s temple while simultaneously fleeing idolatry, then what about this argument? Why can’t I go to a theater where a pornographic movie is being shown if all I want to do is just eat popcorn with my friends? Don’t we have that freedom?

No, we do not have that freedom. Why? Because the same Bible that tells us to flee idolatry also tells us to flee fornication. And you can’t be fleeing fornication while sitting in a pornographic movie eating popcorn any more than you can be fleeing idolatry while sitting in an idol’s temple eating meat that had been sacrificed to that idol.

Here’s another question. If it’s okay for anyone to eat in an idol’s temple, then why is Paul in chapter 10 going to tell them not to eat idol meat in any situation if someone tells them where it came from? How can there be any doubt where it came from if you’re eating it in the temple of the false God to whom it was sacrificed? You know where it came from.

No Ongoing Dispute Between Weak and Strong

Now, I think a fourth error is that there’s some sort of ongoing dispute among the weak and the strong here in Corinth. Paul never once refers to anyone as strong in chapters 8 through 10. And although he uses the term weak, he never addresses anyone from that group. He doesn’t mention the weak at all when he starts giving specific instructions in chapter 10.

Next Week

Next week, we’re going to start by asking, well, who are the weak and the strong here in Chapter 8? And a preliminary question we’re going to ask there is: who’s calling them weak? And we’ll pick up there next week. Next week, by the way, we’re going to finish chapter 8. We’ve got two times for chapter 8. Next week, we’ll finish.

Thank you very much for your attention. Let’s end with our closing prayer.