So what about meat offered to idols?

Daniel David · Nov 5, 2002

Ransom, I understand all of that. In the 1 Cor. 10 passage that you have referenced several times, the qualification is to not ask questions.

It appears that if you know it has been offered to idols, you cannot eat it.

If you don't know where it came from, don't ask because you might defile your conscience and/or those around you.

I imagine it would be pretty awkward at the pot-luck supper in Corinth when the tables had meat offered to idols and "untainted" meat. Then some smart guy asks if the "untainted" meat happened to have been offered to idols also.

Ransom · Nov 5, 2002

So if we agree that this is one of those rare instances that ignorance is bliss, what's the problem?

Daniel David · Nov 5, 2002

Here is the relevance for all of this:

People today are always saying something like:

Well, that is just a meat-offered-to-idols issue. Some can, some can't.

This is used in just about every area that one wants to call gray. For example:

music, dress, entertainment, etc.

I am not trying to debate any of those things. My point is that it is an abuse of the Scriptures to say, it is a meat-offered-to-idols issue and write it off.

Here is an example:

A young girl gets saved. She is ignorant on alot of things as far as Christian behavior goes. She still wears revealing clothes. Not to debate length, it happens to be inappropriate. In other words, she is a distraction. She might not know what she is doing is wrong. She is ignorant. It is causing men to stumble. Once she becomes aware of the truth, it would then be wrong for her to take part in it. Does this make sense?

Ransom · Nov 5, 2002

Yes, it does make sense. That being said, it does bear noting that whether a particular cut of meat had been sacrificed to an idol or not was a matter of fact rather than opinion. Meat either was, or was not, sacrificed to idols.

For example, suppose I, a God-fearing Corinthian Christian, went to the local atheist butcher and bought some meat. Now, I know for sure that it was not sacrificed to any god.

So if someone comes along and says "That meat was sacrificed to idols," I have the facts on my side. I can say, simply, "No, it wasn't" and continue to eat with a clear conscience.

Distracting clothing, on the other hand, would appear to be more of a "Christian liberty" issue per Rom. 14 (differences of opinion over disputable matters) than a "meat sacrificed to idols" issue per 1 Cor. 10 (differences of opinion over objective matters). The stumblingblock is not something objective.

Daniel David · Nov 5, 2002

Ransom, I am sure you would agree, people are always confusing areas of disputable matters with areas of objective matters. This works on both sides. My point was to seek a correct understanding of 1 Cor. 8 & 10. People are always twisting the two.

zyzex · Nov 5, 2002

The only eating establishments that I SEE food offered to idols are found in Chinese restaurants. If you look on a high shelf, you might see a setting Buddha, with some fruit placed by the statue. Yet, if someone were to take, say, an orange, down from there, and cut it up then place it on your plate, how many in the restaruant would feel as though they are failing the faith? (Not many, and I doubt that most of the patrons would understand what is actually going on!)

Ben W · Nov 13, 2002

Halal Meat,

This type of meat is produced for the Islamic community. It is claimed to be sacrificed in a more humane way. Part of the ritual of it is to point the animals head towards Mecca as it is slaughtered. Which to me counts as meat that has been sacrificed to Idols.

In Australia and other countries there are Refugee camps. Most of these tend to be populated by Muslims. In Australia all detainees are required to eat the Islamic halal meat. This included all of the Christians who are reguarly beaten and intimidated inside these camps. Particuarly those who turn to Jesus Christ from Islam whilst detained.

Protests fall on deaf ears. Yet it is important that if somebody does not want to eat meat sacrificed to an Idol, they should not have to. Even though these christians have arrived illeagaly. The government should not be able to force halal meat on them. Maybe it would be better to be a Vegetarian in this instance.

LadyEagle · Nov 13, 2002

It helps to understand the culture of Corinth, Greece. From the Internet:

CORINTH
Ancient Greece's most important trade city . Ideally situated on the Isthmus of Corinth between the Ionian Sea and the Aegean Sea (see Map 7, B-2), Corinth was the connecting link between Rome, the capital of the world, and the East. At Corinth the apostle Paul established a flourishing church, made up of a cross section of the worldly minded people who had flocked to Corinth to participate in the gambling, legalized temple prostitution, business adventures, and amusements available in a first-century navy town <1 Cor. 6:9-11>.

Although the apostle Paul did not establish the church in Corinth until about A. D. 51 , the city's history dates back to 10,000 B. C., when ancient tribesmen first settled the site. Always a commercial and trade center, Corinth was already prosperous and famous for its bronze, pottery, and shipbuilding nearly 800 years before Christ. The Greek poet Homer mentioned "wealthy Corinth" in 850 B. C.

The city soon became a melting pot for the approximately 500,000 people who lived there at the time of Paul's arrival. Merchants and sailors, anxious to work the docks, migrated to Corinth. Professional gamblers and athletes, betting on the Isthmian games, took up residence. Slaves, sometimes freed but with no place to go, roamed the streets day and night. And prostitutes (both male and female) were abundant. People from Rome, the rest of Greece, Egypt, Asia Minor-- indeed, all of the Mediterranean world-- relished the lack of standards and freedom of thought that prevailed in the city.

These were the people who eventually made up the Corinthian church. They had to learn to live together in harmony, although their national, social, economic, and religious backgrounds were very different.

In a city like Corinth, much of the meat offered at the butcher’s shop had been sacrificed to idols. Indeed, in ancient Greek, the same word was used for both “butcher” and “sacrificer,” and procedures for butchery were normally religiously prescribed. Had Christians been forbidden to eat meat sacrificed to idols, they would virtually have had to become vegetarians. And their vegetarianism would have been a form of political protest (much as it is today).

Paul did not urge Christians to become vegetarians, as we know. Since there is only one God, idols are nothing; so long as the Christians offered thanksgiving to God for the meat, they could accept it without any qualms of conscience, as a gift from the hand of the One who opens His hand to satisfy the desires of every living thing. Paul later reiterated this principle: “Eat anything that is sold in the meat market, without asking questions for conscience’s sake; for the earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains. If one of the unbelievers invites you, and you wish to go, eat anything that is set before you, without asking questions for conscience’s sake.” Freedom to eat meat sacrificed to idols was limited only by the demands of love: “Take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak,” lest your eating offend any brothers for whom Christ died.
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Hope this helps.

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