ACC ~ 1 Corinthians 10 v23 - 29

OVERVIEW:

We come to the altar of sacrifice with fear and trembling (TERTULLIAN). Paul is concerned for the conscience of one who sees somebody else buying food that has been sacrificed to idols and thinks that it is wrong (SEVERIAN OF GABALA). Suppose someone finds out that the food has been sacrificed to idols and then decides to abstain. If one does so out of aversion toward the idolatry and not out of fear, that is acceptable in God’s sight (CHRYSOSTOM). Believers are asked to consider whether what they do will benefit their brothers and sisters or cause them to stumble (AMBROSIASTER, OECUMENIUS). Nothing is unclean except by our unworthy intentions (CHRYSOSTOM, NOVATIAN, AUGUSTINE). We may eat what is set before us but must not take advantage of the statement “all things are lawful” (CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA).

10:23 | What Is Helpful

WHAT IS PERMITTED. TERTULLIAN: It is much easier for one to dread what is forbidden if he has a reverential fear of what is permitted. THE APPAREL OF WOMEN 10.6.

TAKING ADVANTAGE. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: Those who take advantage of everything that is lawful rapidly deteriorate into doing what is not lawful. CHRIST THE EDUCATOR 2.1.14.

10:24 | Seeking Another’s Good

NOT DOING WHAT WE WANT TO DO. AMBROSIASTER: It is true that anyone who is an idolater will seek what pleases him alone. He will place scandals in the way of the weaker brother’s conscience. This is why we ought to be quick to resist doing just what we want to do, for the love of Christ and for the salvation of our neighbors. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

HAVE A CONSCIENCE THAT BENEFITS OTHERS. OECUMENIUS: The question is not merely whether you are eating with a clear conscience. It is whether what you are doing is of benefit to your brother. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

10:25 | The Ground of Conscience

THE BLESSING OF CREATION. NOVATIAN: Accordingly, it is evident that all these foods enjoy again the blessings they received at their creation, now that the law has ended. JEWISH FOODS 5.6.

EAT WITH A GOOD CONSCIENCE. CHRYSOSTOM: Ignorance is bliss. The food is not unclean in itself; only human intentions might make it unclean. Those who do not know what those intentions are can therefore eat it with a good conscience. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 25.1.

EAT WITHOUT SCRUPLE OF CONSCIENCE. SEVERIAN OF GABALA: The conscience referred to here is not the conscience of the one who knows that idols do not exist but the conscience of the one who sees somebody else buying food which has been sacrificed to idols and thinks that it is wrong for that reason. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

10:26 | All Is the Lord’s

THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S. CHRYSOSTOM: Nothing is unclean, unless we make it so by our intentions and our disobedience. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 25.1.

GOD’S FRUIT. AUGUSTINE: One does not sin who afterward unwittingly eats food which he had previously refused as belonging to idols. Vegetables and any kind of fruit grown in any field are God’s who created them. LETTER 47.

10:27 | Raising No Questions

EAT WHAT IS SET BEFORE YOU. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: We must shun gluttony and eat only what is necessary. But if some unbeliever invites us to a banquet and we decide to accept, the apostle tells us to eat what is set before us. We do not need to abstain from rich foods completely, but we should not hanker for them either. CHRIST THE EDUCATOR 2.10.

10:28 | Considering Others

ABSTAINING OUT OF AVERSION TO IDOLATRY. CHRYSOSTOM: Notice Paul’s balanced approach. He did not order Christians to withdraw from associating with unbelievers, but neither did he forbid it. People who make scrupulous inquiries do so out of fear, and that is wrong. On the other hand, if someone happens to find out that the food has been sacrificed to idols and then makes a conscious decision to abstain, he does so out of contempt and aversion toward the idolatry, not out of fear, and that is acceptable in God’s sight. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 25.1.

10:29 | Balancing Liberty and Scruples

LIBERTY NOT BOUND TO ANOTHER’S SCRUPLES. CHRYSOSTOM: What Paul means is this. God has made him free and put him beyond harm’s reach, but the Gentile does not understand his rule of life. He cannot see the nature of Christian freedom and will say to himself that Christianity is a lie, because although Christians shun demons, they are prepared to eat things which have been offered to them, so great is their gluttony. Such a judgment may be unfair, but it is better not to give the Gentile any room for judging at all. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 25.2.