The Issue of Eating Food Sacrificed to Idols in Light of the First Letter to the Co-rinthians

Christians belonging to the community in Corinth struggled with quite a moral issue: were they allowed to eat foods that had previously been sacrificed to pagan deities or not? The issue was important from a familial and social point of view. Refusing to partake of such meals could have meant the severing of family and social ties. Paul tries to give an answer to this dilemma in two passages in the First Letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 8:1–13; 10:18–28). In analyzing this answer, the author of this article concludes that it is extremely important, but theologically incomplete.