Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 8
The speaker claims “nobody in the early church” read 1 Corinthians as permission to eat idol-sacrificed meat and appeals to Revelation’s rebukes about eating things sacrificed to idols; what does this imply about how Scripture should interpret Scripture, and how does it confront the modern tendency to use Paul to relativize other apostolic or even Jesus’ commands?
Another way to ask: If early Christians didn’t read 1 Corinthians as permission to eat idol-meat, and Revelation warns about it, what does that teach about using Scripture to explain Scripture? How does that challenge the habit of using Paul to soften other apostolic or Jesus’ commands?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The transcript implies Christians should read harder passages (like parts of 1 Corinthians) in light of clearer texts (Acts 15 and Jesus’ words in Revelation), and in continuity with apostolic unity. It challenges the habit of using Paul as if he can cancel what “the Holy Spirit and… the apostles” established or what Jesus later condemns.
- He says, “Nobody, nobody in the early church understood First Corinthians” as permission to eat idol meat; they understood Paul as still forbidding it.
- He summarizes the early-church reading: meat from the market is okay “you don’t have to inquire,” but not knowingly eating idol-offered meat.
- He argues it would be “absurd” for Paul to cancel a law “handed down by all 12… more importantly by the Holy Spirit.”
- He cites Revelation where Jesus rebukes churches for tolerating teaching that leads people “to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality,” written decades after Corinthians.
- He leans on clarity: “First Corinthians is not crystal clear. This is crystal clear.”