1 Corinthians
8:1-13
Please consider your sponsorship or support
of The Text This Week.
- Reading the Text:
- NRSV (with link to Anglicized NRSV) at Oremus Bible Browser.
- Greek Interlinear Bible, ScrTR, ScrTR t, Strong, Parsing, CGTS, CGES id, AV.
- The Bible Gateway: NRSV, RSV, NIV, NASB, CEV, The Message, KJV, etc.
- The Blue Letter Bible. KJV, alternate versions, Greek text with concordance, commentaries.
- The World Wide Study Bible includes commentary, exposition and sermons.
- Historical References, Commentary and
Comparative Texts:
- Comparative World Scriptures from United Communities of Spirit:
- III.VI.5, III.XVIII.3, Adversus Haereses, Irenaeus of Lyons. (c. 180)
- Chapter XIII, De Spectaculis, Tertullian (c. 197)
- II.1, Paedagogus, Clement of Alexandria (c 200)
- I.11, II.11, II.15, IV.15, IV.22, V.3, VI.18, Stromata, Clement of Alexandria (c 200)
- Chapter XXVII, The Prescription of Heretics, Tertullian (c. 200)
- Chapter IV, Against Hermogenes, Tertullian (c. 205)
- III.15, Against Marcion, Tertullian (c. 209)
- Chapter X, On Idolatry, Tertullian (c. 211)
- Chapter XI, De Corona, Tertullian (c. 211)
- V.7, V.11, Against Marcion, Tertullian (c. 212)
- Chapter XIV, On Modesty, Tertullian (c. 217)
- I.34, Commentary on the Gospel of John, Origen. (c.228)
- IV.XXIX, VIII.IV, VIII.XXIV, VIII.XXVIII, VIII.XXIX, Against Celsus, Origen. (c.246)
- XI.12, XI.14, XIII.22, XIV.23, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Origen. (c.247)
- Epistle LXI -- Cyprian of Carthage (c. 249)
- Chapter V, Historia Calamitatusm: The Story of My Misfortunes, Pierre Abélard / Peter Abelard, c. 1140.
- From the Geneva Notes.
- "...unless our knowledge is tempered with charity, it does not only not avail, but also does much hurt, because it is the mistress of pride. Nay, it does not so much as deserve the name of godly knowledge, if it is separate from the love of God, and therefore from the love of our neighbour."
- From
Matthew Henry's
Commentary.
- "There is no proof of ignorance more common than conceit of knowledge."
- From
Wesley's
Notes.
- "Who will follow this example? What preacher or private Christian will abstain from any thing lawful in itself, when it offends a weak brother?"
- From the
Commentary on the Whole Bible
(Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, 1871).
- "And yet professing Christians at Corinth virtually tempted their brethren to their damnation, so far were they from sacrificing aught for their salvation."
- From The
People's New Testament, B.W. Johnson, 1891.
- "The Christian principle, the rule of love, is, 'If eating meat, or going to the theater, or going to a ball, or attending the fair, or drinking wine or beer, causeth my brother to offend, I will not do these things while the world standeth.'"
- Contemporary References, Commentary, and
Comparative Texts:
- Commentary, 1 Corinthians 8:1-13, Frank L. Crouch, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.
- "How does one bring out the contemporary relevance of an ancient debate over whether to eat food offered to idols?"
- "Where's the Beef?" Rick Morley, 2012.
- "Different Christians, who hold Christ in the highest regard and who faithfully participate in His Body, can disagree on things."
- Radical Gratitude, lectionary-based stewardship, Northwest United Methodist Foundation. (.pdf)
-
Commentary,
1 Corinthians 8:1-13, Arland J. Hultgren, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2009.
- "The message of Paul for the church of today is that one may well have freedom in Christ, but it must be used with discretion and, in particular, with care for the sake of the vulnerable."
-
"First
Thoughts on Passages on Year B Epistle Passages in the Lectionary,"
William
Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
- "The issue is always relationships, seen in the context of God's will of wholeness for people. It can never just be about being right or about getting people by hook or crook to do things our way."
- Comments (commentary) and Clippings (technical notes for in-depth study), Chris Haslam, Anglican Diocese of Montreal.
- "Food Offered to Idols," Rev. Bryan Findlayson, Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons, Pumpkin Cottage Ministry Resources. Includes detailed textual notes.
- 1
Corinthians 8:1-13, in Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary's An
Exegetical Study of the Common Lectionary, coordinated by Prof.
John E. Alsup, features rough translation, disposition, immediate
context, broader context, hermeneutical bridge, and contemporary
address.
- "(DR) does Paul's stress on "knowledge" indicate that he was arguing against a gnostic faction in Corinth? (CU) or is the content of his understanding of "knowledge" come out of the context here in ch. 8...being known by God etc.?"
-
"Strength
Revealed as Weakness," Susan B.W. Johnson, The Christian
Century, 1997. At Religion Online.
- "In the practice of this love, the presumed strong become the revealed weak, and God uses even that which is not to bring to nothing the things that are."
- "The Cause of Their Falling," Daniel Deffenbaugh, Seeds of Shalom, 2009.
- Commentary, 1 Corinthians 8:1-13, Frank L. Crouch, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.
- Articles & Background:
- "Meals, Food and
Tablefellowship." Jerome H. Neyrey, in The Social Sciences and New Testament
Interpretation, 159-82. R. L. Rohrbaugh, ed. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1996.
- "How can readers understand the particular ceremony of meals and table fellowship? Why are meals so important as symbols of broader social relationships? How can we peer below the surface and grasp the social dynamics encoded in meals and commensality, what anthropologists call "the language of meals"?"
- Oropeza, B.J., "Laying
to Rest the Midrash: Paul’s Message on Meat Sacrificed to Idols in Light of the
Deuteronomistic Tradition," Biblica Vol. 79(1998) 57-68.
Abstract
- "...the Deuteronomic tradition which Paul echoes in 8, 1?11,1 posits another reason why the literary integrity of his entire discussion on idol meats may be maintained. In this section of his letter Paul adopts the Deuteronomic motif of apostasy through idolatry which is prevalent in the Song of Moses (Deut 32). The language and ideas derived from this theme are integrated throughout the apostle's discourse."
- "Meals, Food and
Tablefellowship." Jerome H. Neyrey, in The Social Sciences and New Testament
Interpretation, 159-82. R. L. Rohrbaugh, ed. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1996.
- Recommended articles
from ATLAS, an online collection of religion and theology journals, are
linked below.
ATLAS Access options are available for academic institutions, alumni of
selected theological schools, and clergy/church offices. Annotated list of "starting place" articles at ATLAS for this week's texts (includes direct links).
- Castens, Kyle D., "Homiletical Helps on the LSB Series
A -
Gospels," Concordia Journal, 2005. (Section
on this text begins on page 448.)
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Craddock, Fred B.,
"Occasion-Text-Sermon: A Case Study," Interpretation, 1981.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Dawes, Gregory W., "The Danger of
Idolatry: First Corinthians 8:7-13," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly,
1996.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Fotopoulos, John,
"Arguments Concerning Food Offered to Idols: Corinthian Quotations and
Pauline Refutations in a Rhetorical Partitio," The Catholic
Biblical Quarterly, 2005.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Fotopoulos, John, "The Rhetorical Situation,
Arrangement, and Argumentation of 1 Corinthians 8:1-13: Insights into
Paul's Instructions on Idol-Food in Greco-Roman Context," Greek
Orthodox Theological Review, 2002.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Garland, David E.,
"The Dispute Over food Sacrificed to Idols (1 Cor 8:1 - 11:1),"
Perspectives in Religious Studies, 2003.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Johnson, Susan B.W., "Strength
Revealed as Weakness," The Christian Century, 1997.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Odell-Scott, David W., "Paul's
Skeptical Critique of a Primitive Christian Metaphysical Theology,"
Encounter, 1995.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Smit, Joop F.M.,
"The Rhetorical Disposition of First Corinthians 8:7 - 9:27," the
Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 1997.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Smit, J.,
"'Do Not Be Idolaters': Paul's Rhetoric in First Corinthians 10:1-22,"
Novum Testamentum, 1997.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Songer, Harold S.,
"Problems Arising from the Worship of Idols: 1 Corinthians 8:1-11:1,"
Review & Expositor, 1983.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Still, E. Coye, III,
"Paul's Aims Regarding EIDWLOTHUTA: A New Proposal for Interpreting 1
Corinthians 8:1-11:1," Novum Testamentum, 2002.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Thompson, William G., S.J., "1 Corinthians 8:1-13,"
Interpretation, 1990.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Willis, Wendell, "1 Corinthians 8-10:
A Retrospective after Twenty-Five Years," Restoration Quarterly,
2007.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials - Wright, N.T., "One God, One Lord, One People:
Incarnational Christology for a Church in a Pagan Environment," Ex
Auditu, 1991.
EBSCO ATLASerials, Religion Collection
EBSCO ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials
- Castens, Kyle D., "Homiletical Helps on the LSB Series
A -
Gospels," Concordia Journal, 2005. (Section
on this text begins on page 448.)
- Sermons:
- The Struggle For Freedom, Scott Suskovic, SermonSuite.
- "The Limitations Imposed by Love," the Rev. Dr. Laura Mendenhall, Day 1, 2003.
- Reviews:
- Review: John Fotopoulos, Food Offered to Idols in Roman Corinth: A Social-Rhetorical Reconsideration of 1 Corinthians 8:1 - 11:1. Mohr Siebeck, 2003. Review by Alex Cheung in The Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 2004.
- Phua, Richard Liong-Seng, Idolatry and Authority: A Study of 1 Corinthians 8:1 - 11:1 in the Light of the Jewish Diaspora. T&T Clark, 2005. Review by Scott McClelland, Review of Biblical Literature, 2008.
- With Children:
- "Children's Literature: A Resource for Ministry," January 29, 2012, Union Presbyterian Seminary. Connections: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 and Gluskabe and the Four Wishes retold by Joseph Bruchac.
- Worshiping with Children, Epiphany 4B, Including children in the congregation's worship, using the Revised Common Lectionary, Carolyn C. Brown, 2012.
- "Three In One," Charles Kirkpatrick, Sermons4kids.com.
- Drama:
- "Declaration of Dependence," Glenn A. Hascall, dramatix.
- "The Trial," Cleveland McLeish, dramatix.
- Graphics & Bulletin Materials:
- PowerPoint Slides for Epiphany 4B (1 Corinthians 8:1), Bulletin Cover Art for Epiphany 4B (1 Corinthians 8:1,3; Mark 1:24-25), Will Humes, Word & Table.
- Hymns and Music:
- Hymnary.org, hymns, scores, media, information.
- Fine Arts Images Linked at The Text This Week's Art Index:
- Movies and movie scenes with the following themes, at Textweek's Movie Concordance:
- Study Links and Resources for the Book of 1 Corinthians
