Eating of sacrifices oflfered to idols is not in itself wrong, vs. 1-7. But it should be avoided if it gave offence, vs. 8-13.
On eating of sacrifices. Vs. 1-13.
The second subject on which the Corinthians had requested the advice of the apostle was the lawfulness of eating of the sacrifices ofiered to idols. To the discussion of that question in its different aspects the eighth, ninth and tenth chapters of this epistle are principally devoted. At the council of Jerusa- lem it was decided by the apostles, elders and brethren, that the Gentile converts should abstain "from meat offered to idols, from blood, and from things strangled, and from forni- cation," Acts 15, 29 ; and this decree was referred to the Holy Ghost as its author, v. 28. Yet Paul, though present in that council, not only does not refer to it, but goes directly against it. That decree forbade the eating of meat offered to idols ; Paul, in ch. 10, tells the Corinthians that when exposed for sale in the market, or found on private tables, they might eat it without scruple. These facts do not prove any discre- pancy between the apostles gathered in Jerusalem and Paul ; nor that the decisions of that council were not obligatory on the church. They only serve to explain the true intent and meaning of those decisions. They show, 1. That there was no permanent moral ground for the prohibition of meat offered to idols. 2. That the ground of the prohibition being expe- diency, it was of necessity temporary and limited. It had reference to Christians in the midst of those to whom eating such meat was an abomination. It, therefore, ceased to be binding whenever and wherever the grounds of the prohibi- tion did not exist. It is analogous to Paul's condemnation of women appearing in church without a veil. The decisions of