Scrutatio

Venerdi, 29 marzo 2024 - Santi Simplicio e Costantino ( Letture di oggi)

1 Corinthians 8


font

1Now about food which has been dedicated to false gods. We are wel aware that al of us haveknowledge; but while knowledge puffs up, love is what builds up.2Someone may think that he has ful knowledge of something and yet not know it as wel as he should;3but someone who loves God is known by God.4On the subject of eating foods dedicated to false gods, we are wel aware that none of the false godsexists in reality and that there is no God other than the One.5Though there are so-cal ed gods, in the heavens or on earth -- and there are plenty of gods and plentyof lords-6yet for us there is only one God, the Father from whom al things come and for whom we exist, and oneLord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things come and through whom we exist.7However, not everybody has this knowledge. There are some in whose consciences false gods stillplay such a part that they take the food as though it had been dedicated to a god; then their conscience, beingvulnerable, is defiled,8But of course food cannot make us acceptable to God; we lose nothing by not eating it, we gain nothingby eating it.9Only be careful that this freedom of yours does not in any way turn into an obstacle to trip those whoare vulnerable.10Suppose someone sees you, who have the knowledge, sitting eating in the temple of some false god,do you not think that his conscience, vulnerable as it is, may be encouraged to eat foods dedicated to falsegods?11And then it would be through your knowledge that this brother for whom Christ died, vulnerable as heis, has been lost.12So, sinning against your brothers and wounding their vulnerable consciences, you would be sinningagainst Christ.13That is why, if food can be the cause of a brother's downfal , I wil never eat meat any more, ratherthan cause my brother's downfal .