Concerning Our Freedom in Messiah
8:1 to 11:1
Ordinarily the Greeks and Romans burned the less desirable portions of an animal in the course of their sacrifices and retained the choice parts for personal consumption at pagan temple banquets celebrating the sacrifices. If a sacrifice were made in connection with a state function, the meat which remained was frequently sold in the marketplace. The Corinthians’ questions apparently concerned (1) the acceptability of buying and eating meat from one of those sacrificial animals; (2) the acceptability of eating this meat as an invited guest in a friend’s home; and (3) the acceptability of attending one of these pagan temple sacrifices and enjoying the meal of celebration which followed in the temple precincts. Paul spoke to each of these issues.212 As with going to prostitutes in the pagan temples (6:12-20), the Corinthians argued that they had the “right” to continue those practices. Therefore, as we shall see, although the details relate to another era of history, the underlying principles are very relevant for life in today’s world.
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