is defiled. Deing Gentiles who till recently deum;" but Jews only of au" irlo!eum "-a hnd been i1lol11ters. the apparent participa- word which (like other Jewish designations tion in their old idolatry wore to them the of heo.then forms of worship) involved a semblance of 11post11cy. The thing which bitter taunt. For the very word eidolon they were eating w11s, in its own essence, meant a shadowy, fleeting, unreal image. indifferent or cle11n, but since they could Perhaps the Corinthian Christians might ex- not help esteeming it unclean, they defied 11 cuse their boldness by pleading that all the comcientious doubt, 11ncl so their conduct, most importo.nt feasts and social gatherings not being of fnith, becnme sinful (Rom. xiv. of the ancients were held in temples (cornp. 14, 2_3). St. _Po.ul admits that this was the 1 Mace. i. 4 7 ; x. 83). :Be emboldened; rather, -sign of" 11 conscience intellectually weak; be ed;Ji,ed. 'fhe expression is a very bold but the weakness was the result of past h11bit paronomasia. This "edification of ruin" and imperfect enlightenment, and it wo.s would be all the more likely to ensue be- ,entitled to forbearance and respect. cause self-interest would plead powerfully Ver. 8.-:Ba.t meat commendeth a.a not to in t\Je same direction. A little compromise -God ; rat\Jer, will not recommend us. God nncl complicity, 11 little suppression of would think none the better of them for opinion o.ntl avoitlnnce of antagonism to eating idol-sacrifices, even though they things evil, a little immoral 11cquiescence, asserted thereby a free,lom which was the would ho.ve gone very for in those clays to reward of clear insight. This verse will save Christi11ns from incessant persecution. serve to sho,v why "fasting" is nowhere Yet no Christian could be "edified" into rigidly enjoined on Christians. If fasting is o. more dangerous course tho.n that of defy- a help to our spiritual life, then we ~hould ing and defiling his own tender conscience. ! practise it, but with the distinct appre- Ver. 11.---Shall the weak brother perish. l1ension of the t:uth tlutt God will think The fact that he wo.s " weak " constituted o. none the better of us merely beco.uso we eat fresh o.ppco.l to pity. It made him more less, but only if the fusting be 11 successful ernpbo.tico.lly one of "Christ', little ones," meo.ns of making us more pure 11nd more and Christ h11d pronounced o. heavy mo.ledic- loving. If the Bible hncl been in the \Janda tion on o.11 who caused such to offend. But of the people during the Middle Ages, this if thcro is this "ruinous edification" upon verse woul<l ho.ve rendered impossible the the trembling nnd so.udy foundo.tion of n idle superstition tho.t to eo.t ruont in Lent weo.k conscience, whot could possibly follow was one of the deadliest sin~, or th11t there but a gmdnnl destruction? The tense is was o.ny merit whatever in tho Lenten fast tho present (the priesens f11fltrc:scens), "o.n,l except o.s o. means of self-improvement and he who is weak, in thy knowledge, is pe-ri,h- self-mastery. This verse says expressly, ing "-" tho brother for whose sake Christ ·" We Jose nothing. by not eating; we gain died." 'fhe order of the original often nothing by eating." gives o. force to the words, which it is clilli- Ver. !J.-Lest this liberty of yours become a cult to reproduce, ns here. The word " i, stumbling-block; rather, this power or right perishing" becomes very emphatic by being of ynurs. To lead o.ny one to do that which plnced first in tho seutonce. "Destroy not he thinks to be wrong is to pince o. stone him with thy meat for whom Christ died" of stumbling in his wo.y, even if we do not (Rom. xiv. 16). PcriBh; ten{fiwm vcrbum. think the net to be wrong. For we mo.ke ClariuB. Ho could uso no word whic\J would mon worso if by our cxo.mplo wo tea.eh them more efl'ectuully point hi, wnmiug. to net in contradiction of their conscience. Ver. 12.-And woUild their weak con- '' Let your w..otto be forbearance, not privi- soienoe; ro.ther, and in Bmiti11g their co11- lege, and your watchword charity, i1ot kno·w- scie11ce which iB toeal.. "Whnt," o.sks St. ledge. Never flnunt your knowledge, Chrysostom, "co.n be moro ruthless thcu1 11 seldom use your privilege" (Evans). man who strikes one who is sick?" Wns it Ver. 10.-Sit at meat in the [an] idol's not a cowo.r,lly exercise of liberty to strike temple. 'fl) recline at o. banquet in the tho conscicnco of the defenceless? It is temple of Poseidon or Aphrodite, especio.lly o.nothcr form of" ,lcfiling" (var. 7) tho con- in such o. pince us Corinth, wos certainly nu science, but brings out tho cruelty of such extro.vagnnt assertion of their right to conduct. Ye sin against Christ. Dccauso Christio.11 liberty. It was indeed 11 "bow- Christ lives o.ncl suffers in tho persons of tho ing iu tho house of Rimmon" whfoh could Jco.st of his Jittlo ones (l\lutt. xxv. 40, 45; hardly foil to bo misunderstood. 'fhe vory Rom, xii. 5, etc.). word "idoleum" shoul,I have wamc•d them. Ver. 13.-Make my brother to offend. It was a word not used by Gentiles, nncl " l\lnko to o1fcnd" is, in the original, the invented by believers in tho 0110 Go,1, to verb "scandalize." The word for "mcnt" 'llvoid the use of ''temple" (vabr) in connec- means any kin,! of food. Flesh. '!'ho par- tion with idols. 1'ho Greeks spoke of the ticulo.r subject of discussion hore. "I will," "Athenwum," or "Apolloneum," or "Posi- so.ys St. i'o.ul, ''abstilin from flesh alto- 266 THE FIIlST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [ea. vm. 1-13.
gether rather than bv eating it le11d a feelings. The reader will find tho whole· weaker brother into sin_;, While the world question argued in o. similar spirit in Rom. standeth. '.rue same expression is elsew hero xiv. 19-22. Lest; no.mcly, in the co.se sup- i-endercd "for ever." Litemlly it means to posed. In 1·eolity there was no need for the reon. St. Paul is often led into these taking so severe 11, pledge of abstinence. impetuous expressions of the depth of his