# To Eat Or Not To Eat ...



## amishrockstar (Apr 30, 2008)

I was recently introduced to the biblical "contradiction" of the Holy Spirit putting the requirements of abstaining from foods sacrificed to idols etc. on new believers in Acts 15:28-29 and the other portions of scripture that speak about how a Christian *can *and *should* eat things sacrificed to idols (sold in the market place; 1 Cor. 10:25; and 1 Cor. 8, etc.).
Any thoughts???
*Thanks,*
Matthew


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## PuritanCovenanter (Apr 30, 2008)

amishrockstar said:


> I was recently introduced to the biblical "contradiction" of the Holy Spirit putting the requirements of abstaining from foods sacrificed to idols etc. on new believers in Acts 15:28-29 and the other portions of scripture that speak about how a Christian *can *and *should* eat things sacrificed to idols (sold in the market place; 1 Cor. 10:25; and 1 Cor. 8, etc.).
> Any thoughts???
> *Thanks,*
> Matthew



(Act 15:28) For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things;

(Act 15:29) That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.


(1Co 10:19) What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?

(1Co 10:20) But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.

(1Co 10:21) Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.

(1Co 10:22) Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?

(1Co 10:23) All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

(1Co 10:24) Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth.

(1Co 10:25) Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake:

(1Co 10:26) For the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof.

(1Co 10:27) If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake.

(1Co 10:28) But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof:




I don't see the contradiction. 

We are not to go eat at the temples of idols on purpose. If something is set before us we can eat it knowing that there is only one God while we give thanks to God for the meat. But if it is revealed that the meat was sacrificed to an idol we are not to eat.


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## Pergamum (May 9, 2008)

It seems we can eat it even if we know, as long as it doesn't bother our cosnciences or is associated with false belief. It is just food. It is not the eating that is a problem but those extra things that go along with the eating. Do away with the paganism and enjoy the meal! If a stumbling brother is near, however, maybe order another dish!


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## Rev. Todd Ruddell (May 9, 2008)

The four prohibitions of the Synod of Jerusalem all have to do with Gentile Idol-Worship. The prohibition of fornication is moral, the other three (meat not handled in a way consistent with OT practice, i.e., not properly drained of blood, or strangled, and sacrificed to Idols) were temporary prohibitions having to do with Jewish sensibilities, and the break the gentiles were to make with their former lives. In other words, those dietary restrictions decreed by the Synod were all related to Idol-Worship. The prohibition of fornication, which is moral and abiding, was also given in that context, that of idol worship. The fourfold decree then amounts to telling the Gentiles to quit their former ways of worship as members of the Christian Church. While those dietary restrictions were not of themselves to continue in force, the idol worship, and practices related to it, were to stop.


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (May 9, 2008)

Well Said Rev. Todd.


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## TimV (May 9, 2008)

The prohibition against eating blood (and things strangled which still have the blood in them) seems more than cultural, as it predates Moses. Read the first for verses of Gen. 9



> 1 So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.[a] 2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.



So you have a situation where you can eat pork and shrimp, but you can't eat blood. Then under Moses some practices are prohibited that were originally OK, like not marrying your half sister or eating pork, and the prohibition against consuming blood is the same, as in Deut. 12:14-15



> 15 “However, you may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates, whatever your heart desires, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, of the gazelle and the deer alike. 16 Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it on the earth like water.



And then we have it in the NT as well.

When I was in South Africa I avoided some tasty Malay food when I thought Christians were around. The people I was with wouldn't eat it because it was Halal, i.e. meat prepared under a Muslim cleric. I didn't see the difference between eating that and eating something Kosher, and I thought the people were being inconsistant, but so as not to offend them I only ate the stuff when they weren't around. But blood seems not to fit into that category.

Food for thought (sorry, couldn't resist).


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