1 Corinthians 10:25Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

This is a matter of ignorance, not lack of self-control. He frees them not only from this fear, but also from another, granting them great independence and freedom. He does not permit them even to doubt, that is, to investigate and inquire whether it has been sacrificed to idols. He commands them simply to eat everything found in the market, without asking what is being offered. Therefore one who eats through ignorance remains guiltless. What has been sacrificed to idols is not evil by nature, but produces defilement by the disposition of the one who eats.

Another matter is eating at home whatever is sold in the market, even if something there happens to have been sacrificed to idols. There everything may be eaten without fear, by virtue of the moral and religious awareness, or conscience, that everything belongs to God and can serve for men’s benefit as His gift. One may be guided by the same awareness while at the table of unbelievers. But when someone there points to something as sacrificed to idols, one must then refrain from eating. This is not because one’s conviction changes about all things belonging to God. It is so as not to give a bad example to a weak Christian. It is also so as not to give a pagan occasion to think badly of Christian convictions and rules, thereby lowering the lofty dignity of Christianity in general. Chrysostom, as though bringing all these thoughts of the Apostle to their proper conclusion, interprets: “What do the words mean, ‘Why am I blasphemed for that for which I give thanks?’ I. He says, thank God that He has so exalted me and placed me so far above Jewish abasement, for among them there is ‘Do not touch,’ and the like, that nothing can harm me. But the pagans, not knowing my philosophy, will suspect the opposite and say: Christians desire what is ours. They are hypocrites. They revile demons and turn away from them, yet they flock to their tables. What could be more unreasonable than this? Therefore do not receive food when they tell you that it has been sacrificed to idols. Christ gave you grace, so exalted you, and placed you above every harm, not so that you might give occasion for evil report against yourself. Nor did He do this so that, by the very privileges for which you give thanks, you should so offend others that they may blaspheme.”

The Apostle says: whatever you buy in the market, eat it without questioning, μηδεν ανακινοντες. Here there seems to be no thought of testing and investigating whether it has been sacrificed to idols. Rather, one should eat it without any anxious thoughts, as simple food, pure and unstained by anything, in simplicity of mind. Our Slavonic translation expresses the Apostle’s thought exactly: “doubting nothing.” The phrase “for conscience’ sake,” δια την συνειδησιν, means according to the conscientious conviction that every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected. With this bright conscience, with this bright conviction, eat everything sold in the market. Therefore he also added the basis for such an ordinance: “For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” Chrysostom says: “The Apostle does not permit them even to doubt, that is, to investigate and inquire whether it has been sacrificed to idols. He commands them simply to eat everything found in the market, without asking what is being offered. What has been sacrificed to idols is not evil by nature, but produces defilement by the will of the one who eats. Therefore he says, ‘doubting nothing.’ For the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, and not the demons’. If the earth is the Lord’s, and so are the fruits and the irrational animals, then nothing is unclean. A thing becomes unclean through a man’s evil intention and disobedience.” Here are several more phrases from Blessed Photius, whose lengthy opinion Oecumenius cites. “Eat what is in the market without a divided mind, μηδεν δισταζοντες, with a pure and unwavering conscience. Eat what is in the market without inquiry, αζητητως, with a pure conscience, without anxious reflection, and requiring no other assurance than the conviction that the earth is the Lord’s. If the earth and what is on it are the Lord’s, what is left to hesitate over?”