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1 Corinthians

About this book
Chapter 10

1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea,⁠ 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they were all drinking from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.⁠ 5 But God was not pleased with most of them, for they were cut down in the wilderness. 6 These things happened as examples for us, so that we will not crave evil things as they did. 7 So do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.”⁠ 8 And let us not be immoral, as some of them were, and 23,000 died in a single day.⁠ 9 And let us not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by snakes.⁠ 10 And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.⁠ 11 These things happened to them as examples and were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 So let the one who thinks he is standing be careful that he does not fall. 13 No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it. 14 So then, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15 I am speaking to thoughtful people. Consider what I say. 16 Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ?⁠ Is not the bread that we break a sharing in the body of Christ?⁠ 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all share the one bread. 18 Look at the people of Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar?⁠ 19 Am I saying that idols or food sacrificed to them amount to anything? 20 No, I mean that what the pagans sacrifice is to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons.⁠ 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot take part in the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Or are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we really stronger than he is? 23 “Everything is lawful,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is lawful,” but not everything builds others up. 24 Do not seek your own good, but the good of the other person.⁠ 25 Eat anything that is sold in the marketplace without questions of conscience, 26 for the earth and its abundance are the Lord’s. 27 If an unbeliever invites you to dinner and you want to go, eat whatever is served without asking questions of conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This is from a sacrifice,” do not eat, because of the one who told you and because of conscience— 29 I do not mean yours but the other person’s. For why is my freedom being judged by another’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I blamed for the food that I give thanks for? 31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. 32 Do not give offense to Jews or Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I also try to please everyone in all things. I do not seek my own benefit, but the benefit of many, so that they may be saved.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Corinthians 10:18 and Gospel of Philip 6:36

New Testament · Nag Hammadi

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Summary

The Gospel of Philip applies 1 Corinthians' warning about sharing an altar to the killing of people as well as animals. Calling God a man-eater questions whether treating Jesus' death as a sacrifice amounts to serving a false god.

Passages

1 Corinthians 10:18

New Testament
16 Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread that we break a sharing in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all share the one bread. 18 Look at the people of Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar? 19 Am I saying that idols or food sacrificed to them amount to anything? 20 No, I mean that what the pagans sacrifice is to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons.
55–57 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Corinthians

Gospel of Philip 6:36

Nag Hammadi
God is a Man-eater. Consequently, the Man was [sacrificed] to him. Before the Man had been sacrificed, animals were sacrificed, because those to whom they sacrificed were not gods. Glass vessels as well as pottery vessels come to be with fire. If, however, glass vessels get broken, they are refashioned, because they came to be with a breath. By contrast, if pottery vessels get broken, they are destroyed, because they came to be without breath. A donkey turned a millstone, finishing (the equivalent of) a hundred-mile walk. When it let loose, it found itself still in exactly the same place.
180–250 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Gospel of Philip

References

“... What does Paul mean when he warns against ‘‘Israel according to the flesh,” and connects this with a warning against idolatry in the Christian communion meal? Valentinian teachers offer various interpretations of the meal and of its elements. One interprets the bread as a symbol of “his body,” the ecclesia'** (cf. 6:17: “we, being many, are one bread, and one body’’). In the Marcosian sacrament, the wine symbolizes grace,’?” as the mingling of water and wine suggests the transformation of the human into the divine. The writer of the Gospel of Philip offers another interpretation: “his flesh is his logos, and his blood the holy spirit.’’'?* Valentinian teachers agree, however, that those who refer the bread and wine to Jesus’ sacrificial passion and death interpret the elements only psychically. The writer of the Gospel of Philip suggests ironically that “their God is a man-eater. Because of this they kill the man for him. Before they killed the man they were killing the animals. Those for whom they killed them are no gods.”’'?° Would not participation in such a psychic ‘‘sacrifice of the altar’ (10:18) involve the pneumatic in eating ‘'food offered to idols” (10:19), that is, to the demiurge and the cosmic archons? ...”
Elaine Hiesey Pagels, The Gnostic Paul: Gnostic Exegesis of the Pauline Letters (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1975), 73.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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1 Corinthians 10:18 and Gospel of Philip 6:36

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