1 Corinthians 8

Berean Standard Bible

Chapter summary

Paul addresses the question of food sacrificed to idols, noting that knowledge can cause pride while love builds up. He explains that an idol is nothing and that there is only one God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ. However, not everyone possesses this knowledge, and some people with weaker consciences still associate the food with idols, which defiles them. Food itself does not affect a person's standing before God, but Paul warns that eating in an idol's temple can become a stumbling block for those with weaker consciences. Wounding a brother's weak conscience in this manner constitutes a sin against Christ, leading Paul to declare that he will never eat meat again if it causes his brother to stumble.

Summary automatically generated from the Bible text.

Words of Jesus in red

¹Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. ²The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. ³But the one who loves God is known by God. ⁴So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one. ⁵For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many so-called gods and lords), ⁶yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we exist. And there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we exist. ⁷But not everyone has this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that they eat such food as if it were sacrificed to an idol. And since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. ⁸But food does not bring us closer to God: We are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. ⁹Be careful, however, that your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. ¹⁰For if someone with a weak conscience sees you who are well informed eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged to eat food sacrificed to idols? ¹¹So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. ¹²By sinning against your brothers in this way and wounding their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. ¹³Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to stumble.

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Louis Segond 1910 and Berean Standard Bible: public domain. Cross references: open-cross-ref, Creative Commons BY 4.0.