ACC ~ Romans 14 v20

EVERYTHING IS CREATED UNBLEMISHED. ORIGEN: Cleanliness and uncleanness inhere not in the things themselves but rather in the minds and thoughts of those who use them. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

THE TRUE BANQUET OF THE WORD. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: It is the mark of a silly mind to be amazed and stupefied at what is presented at vulgar banquets after having enjoyed the rich fare which is in the Word of God. CHRIST THE EDUCATOR 2.1.

FOOD MADE FOR HUMAN LIFE. AMBROSIASTER: Man is the work of God by creation, and again by his renewal in regeneration, and food is God’s work as well. But man was not made for food; food was made for man, which is very different! COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THE WORK OF GOD DESTROYED BECAUSE OF FOOD, NOT UPBUILT. CHRYSOSTOM: Here “the work of God” means the salvation of a brother. For these people were so far away from building others up that they were prepared to destroy what God had made, and not for any great matter but for something very trivial.

It is not the eating which is unclean but the intention behind it. If you have not put that right but forced him to eat anyway, you have done it to no purpose and have made everything worse. Thinking that something is unclean is not as bad as tasting it when you think it is unclean. In that case you are committing two errors: first, by increasing his opposition by your quarrelsome attitude, and second, by getting him to taste what to him is unclean. As long as you have not persuaded him, do not try to force him. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 26.

THE WORK OF GOD. PELAGIUS: The “work of God” means “a human being, created by God.” Paul repeats what he said above [in verse 14], lest it appear that he is condemning creation. What is clean in itself becomes wrong if someone else takes offense on his account. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

OECUMENIUS: God did his work on the cross, but now you are destroying it. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

Rom