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1 Corinthians

About this book
Chapter 8

1 With regard to food sacrificed to idols, we know that “we all have knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.⁠ 2 If someone thinks he knows something, he does not yet know to the degree that he needs to know. 3 But if someone loves God, he is known by God. 4 With regard then to eating food sacrificed to idols, we know that “an idol in this world is nothing,” and that “there is no God but one.”⁠ 5 If after all there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we live, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things⁠ and through whom we live.⁠ 7 But this knowledge is not shared by all. And some, by being accustomed to idols in former times, eat this food as an idol sacrifice, and their conscience, because it is weak, is defiled. 8 Now food will not bring us close to God. We are no worse if we do not eat and no better if we do. 9 But be careful that this liberty of yours does not become a hindrance to the weak. 10 For if someone weak sees you who possess knowledge dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience be “strengthened” to eat food offered to idols?⁠ 11 So by your knowledge the weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed. 12 If you sin against your brothers or sisters in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13 For this reason, if food causes my brother or sister to sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I may not cause one of them to sin.

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 6:4 and 1 Corinthians 8:6

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

In 1 Corinthians 8, Paul reshapes the Shema in Deuteronomy 6 and applies it to both God and Jesus. Where the Shema identifies God as one, Paul distinguishes between one God and one Lord, placing Jesus within the confession of Israel's faith.

Passages

Deuteronomy 6:4

Hebrew Bible
2 and that you may so revere the Lord your God that you will keep all his statutes and commandments that I am giving you—you, your children, and your grandchildren—all your lives, to prolong your days. 3 Pay attention, Israel, and be careful to do this so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in number—as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, said to you, you will have a land flowing with milk and honey. 4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 5 You must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength. 6 These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind,
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

1 Corinthians 8:6

New Testament
4 With regard then to eating food sacrificed to idols, we know that “an idol in this world is nothing,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 If after all there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we live, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we live. 7 But this knowledge is not shared by all. And some, by being accustomed to idols in former times, eat this food as an idol sacrifice, and their conscience, because it is weak, is defiled. 8 Now food will not bring us close to God. We are no worse if we do not eat and no better if we do.
55–57 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Corinthians

References

"... Finally and most importantly, Paul applies to Jesus Christ, as well as to the Father, monotheistic language, which cannot be applied to any being other than the sole deity. Key elements of the monotheism schema of Judaism are present in the christological statement in 1 Corinthians 8:4–6. As we saw in chapter four, the monotheism schema was associated in Jewish sources with only the one God himself and certain hypostases, such as the wisdom and word of God, which were not clearly independent of God. Paul also calls Jesus Christ the ‘one Lord’, echoing the Shema ..."
Paul A. Rainbow, Monotheism and Christology in I Corinthians 8.4-6 (Queen's College, 1987), 173.

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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Deuteronomy 6:4 and 1 Corinthians 8:6

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