Although often overlooked today, whether or not to eat food that had been sacrificed to idols was a major issue in first-century Christianity, especially in urban centers like Corinth. The city was teeming with temples, idols, and smaller shrines. Divinities abounded and devotees made offerings regularly from a little wine poured out at a home shrine to full animal sacrifices amid the pomp and circumstance of a city-funded celebration in the main forum. It’s hard for us to imagine the immense social pressure, especially on elite Christians, to attend state sacrifices, eat meals at temple dining rooms, and accept invitations to banquets at which meats from animals sacrificed to the gods would be served. Join me to see what the idolatry landscape was like in Corinth and how Paul instructed the Christians there to navigate the situation with fidelity and grace.
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1 thought on “592 1 Corinthians in Context 9: Food Sacrificed to Idols”
Hi there, I am enjoying your corinthians context series. Very good to have so much tightly packed information which gives us an idea about how different the roman world was from our own.
I did want to comment a little on this one, about taking part in ceremonies which were dedicated to idols. You make the argument that it was to be avoided because there really are evil entities that lay behind the idols which are worshipped. The weakness in that position is that it doesn’t really apply in the case of dead members of the royal Roman family. These specific idols are merely objects, since I think you don’t believe in immortal souls, they are just like our statues of heroes etc.
When God punished the people for worshipping the golden calf, it wasn’t because they were worshipping an evil Egyptian spirit. They made it clear that their worship was of Yahweh who brought them out of Egypt.
Our father speaks against any form of worship of anything which is not himself, or instructed by himself, Planets, animals, bits of stick or clay. Because it’s all a denial of Yahweh being the one and only God. One therefore shouldn’t participate in the worship rituals associated with things that are bowed to instead of the one God. (I could do some verses if you’d like, but just now I’m on my mobile). In other words, it’s not because there really was a Baal/Thor god, but because acceptance or participation in the veneration of such an idol is a personal denial of the total power of Yahweh himself.
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Hi there, I am enjoying your corinthians context series. Very good to have so much tightly packed information which gives us an idea about how different the roman world was from our own.
I did want to comment a little on this one, about taking part in ceremonies which were dedicated to idols. You make the argument that it was to be avoided because there really are evil entities that lay behind the idols which are worshipped. The weakness in that position is that it doesn’t really apply in the case of dead members of the royal Roman family. These specific idols are merely objects, since I think you don’t believe in immortal souls, they are just like our statues of heroes etc.
When God punished the people for worshipping the golden calf, it wasn’t because they were worshipping an evil Egyptian spirit. They made it clear that their worship was of Yahweh who brought them out of Egypt.
Our father speaks against any form of worship of anything which is not himself, or instructed by himself, Planets, animals, bits of stick or clay. Because it’s all a denial of Yahweh being the one and only God. One therefore shouldn’t participate in the worship rituals associated with things that are bowed to instead of the one God. (I could do some verses if you’d like, but just now I’m on my mobile). In other words, it’s not because there really was a Baal/Thor god, but because acceptance or participation in the veneration of such an idol is a personal denial of the total power of Yahweh himself.