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1 Corinthians 8:1. We know about food sacrificed to idols because we all have knowledge; but knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. About “we are sacrificed to idols: for all the minds of the imams.” With some mockery, the Apostle testified about their intelligence. And what reason has not really attributed to them, makes it known after this. For he says: “If anyone thinks that he knows anything, he does not have the understanding as he ought to understand.” Therefore, he said this in mockery: “we are all the minds of imams.” Then he adds: “The mind boasts, but love creates.” Love is higher than knowledge. For knowledge often leads those who use it poorly to exaltation, but love provides for good deeds to one’s neighbor, for the Apostle expresses this with the word “creates.” This word accuses the Corinthians of not having love, because if they had acquired it, they would have been concerned about the benefit of the weak. 1 Corinthians 8:2. Anyone who thinks that he knows anything does not yet know anything as he should know. “If anyone thinks that he knows something, he has no understanding as he should understand.” The Apostle showed that the Corinthians not only lacked love, but were also deprived of knowledge, which, attributing to themselves, they thought highly of themselves. The accusation is expressed vaguely, because he wants to heal rather than strike. 1 Corinthians 8:3. But whoever loves God has been given knowledge from Him. “If anyone loves God, he is known quickly from Him.” We need a lot of knowledge, and in real life to acquire perfect knowledge is something impossible. Therefore, let us love God so that we may be counted worthy of His providence for us. And the Apostle expressed this with great accuracy, for he did not say: “Whoever loves God has come to know Him,” but: “to be known by Him,” that is, to be made worthy of His care. So blessed Moses said to the God of all Himself: “You... told me...: You have found grace before Me, and I know you above all others” (Ex. 33, 12, 17). So, this: “I was known quickly from Him” means God’s great care. 1 Corinthians 8:4. So, about eating food sacrificed to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but the One. About “eating things sacrificed to idols, as if there were no idols in the world, and as there is no one but one God,” I know, says the Apostle, what you are accustomed to say, because I learned to say it; I know that idols are inanimate and insensitive and that the Creator and Ruler of all things is one God. 1 Corinthians 8:5. For although there are so-called gods, either in heaven or on earth, since there are many gods and many lords. “Even so, the essence of the verbs is bozi, either in heaven or on earth: just as there are many gods and many lords.” The Divine Apostle intends to prepare otherwise. Because he said: “For there is no one God, but only One,” but he preached that Christ was God, as well as the All-Holy Spirit, among the Father and the Son; to those who had not yet learned accurate theology, this gave reason to doubt, as God is One, when there is both the Son of God and the co-counted All-Holy Spirit, then the Apostle, by the very same thing that opponents say, prepares his own teaching and makes it clear that the Hellenes affirm the existence of many gods, they are also called lords, but they do not exist at all, they are known by one name. For this he said: “Even if the verbs are gods, either in heaven or on earth, just as there are many gods and many lords”: because the same ones were called both gods and lords. And this: “either in heaven or on earth,” says Hellenic fable. For some gods were called heavenly, such as Dia, Apollo, Ira, Athena, and others were earthly, such as springs, rivers, the so-called Nymphs, Herakles, Dionysus, Asklipius and thousands of others. 1 Corinthians 8:6. But we have one God the Father, from whom are all things, and we are for Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we through Him. “But to us there is one God the Father, from whom are all things, and we are with Him: and there is one Lord Jesus Christ, by Him are all things, and we by Him.” So, the Greeks, engulfed in the darkness of ignorance, are mistaken, recognizing many, and, moreover, non-existent gods, but we know one God the Father and one Jesus Christ. And here the apostolic wisdom is worthy of surprise. For in what was said above, having shown that the name “Lord” is equivalent to the name God, the Apostle now divided these names and applied one to the Father, and the other to the Son, thereby healing the weakness of the Corinthians. And what repeatedly calls the Son God is not difficult for anyone who wants to find out from his messages. For he says: “Waiting for... the appearing of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13); and: “From them is Christ according to the flesh, who is God above all” (Rom. 9:5), and: “In the Kingdom of Christ God” (Eph. 5:5), and much like this. And here he called the Father God, and the Son Lord, so that those who had recently gotten rid of Hellenic delusion and learned the truth would not be given a reason to return to the deception of polytheism. If the followers of Arius and Eunomius say that what is said: “there is one God,” places the Son outside the Father’s Divinity, then let them listen to what follows: “and there is one Lord.” For if because there is one God the Father, the Son is not God, then the Father is not Lord, because there is one Lord - Jesus Christ. But let the blasphemy be directed at their head! For the divine Apostle proves equality, both of the Father and the Son, by equally using the expression “one” and showing that the word “Lord” is equivalent to the word “God”. So the Old Testament Scripture shows these names combined. For it is said: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt” (Ex. 20:2); and: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord your God is one Lord” (Deut. 6:4); and: “Lord my God, you are greatly exalted” (Ps. 103:1), and much like this. Therefore, the true God is, without a doubt, also the Lord: and the true Lord, without a doubt, is also God. Beyond this there is no other God the Father, because there is one God the Father; and there is no other Lord Jesus Christ, because there is one Lord Jesus Christ. And this: “and we are with Him” means: we must turn to Him, look at Him, and constantly praise Him. And the words “and we” mean not creation, but salvation, because by Him all things were created, and we, who believed, received salvation through Him. 1 Corinthians 8:7. But not everyone has such knowledge: some to this day, with a conscience that recognizes idols, eat things sacrificed to idols as sacrifices to idols, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. “But not everyone has intelligence.” Not everyone knows this, says the Apostle. From this it is clear that above he said in mockery: “we are: like all minds are imams.” “With an idolatrous conscience, some even hitherto eat something sacrificed to idols, and their conscience, being weak, becomes defiled.” It is not eating that defiles, but the conscience that defiles, not having received perfect knowledge, but being still possessed by idolatry. 1 Corinthians 8:8. Food does not bring us closer to God: for whether we eat, we gain nothing; If we don't eat, we don't lose anything. “It is evil that does not place us before God: if we are not in a pit, we are in abundance; if we are not in a pit, we are deprived.” The Apostle teaches those who think highly of this knowledge to serve God not by looking at idols with disdain, but by indifferently eating what is sacrificed to idols and neglecting the weakness of those who suffer harm from it. For this is shown by the words that follow. 1 Corinthians 8:9. Beware, however, that this freedom of yours does not serve as a temptation to the weak. “Take heed, lest this power make you weak.” Explains how harm occurs. 1 Corinthians 8:10. For if someone sees that you, having knowledge, are sitting at a table in a church, then his conscience, as a weak one, will not incline him to eat something sacrificed to idols? “If anyone sees you, having understanding, reclining in the tavern, will not his weak conscience create food sacrificed to idols?” He also showed the magnitude of the harm. 1 Corinthians 8:11. And because of your knowledge the weak brother for whom Christ died will perish. “And the weak brother in your mind will perish, for whose sake Christ died.” The apostle intensified the accusation in order to stop the harm. For this brother, he says, whom you neglect, Christ suffered death; and you, having received knowledge from Christ, with this gift kill the one saved by Christ. Again the Apostle used the expression “in the mind” in mockery, because he attributes to him not knowledge, but brotherly hatred, gluttony and the like. 1 Corinthians 8:12. And by sinning in this way against your brothers and wounding their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. “In the same way, when you sin against your brethren and beat their weak consciences, you sin against Christ.” For this is the word of the Master Himself: “Be careful that you do not despise only these little ones,” the least of those who believe in Me (Matthew 18:10). This word also makes it possible to understand something else, namely, that the weak brother also belongs to the body of the Master, because he partakes of the Master’s body; The head takes credit for the insult shown to the member. Then the Apostle sets himself up as a model of benefit and makes it known exactly what, although he could do it, he did not do for the benefit of others. 1 Corinthians 8:13. And therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I cause my brother to stumble. “In the same way, if he wickedly seduces my brother, I will not eat meat forever, lest I seduce my brother.” I will decide to renounce not only meat sacrificed to idols, but also all other meats, not only now, but forever, for the sake of saving my brothers. You might be interested in: