Apostolic Authority and Conduct

Lest a weak brother eat in an idol, so that he himself might be struck. He who thinks he knows something knows nothing; for he did not know that others were being harmed by this knowledge. Even if we think we know something, we do not yet know anything. But the blessed thing is to love God and to be known by him, which is to belong to him; for no one is truly ignorant, but the ungodly are said to be ignorant.

Having forewarned that there is no God but one, so that the Son might not be cast out from divinity, the Father brought him forth; for truly there is no other Father but one. Likewise, there is no other Son who is God but one. If one Lord is said of the Son, the Father is not lesser, which makes it clear that it is also as one God said of the Father. Neither is the God less, nor the Son. What is from him declares not the essence—for the creatures are not from the essence of God—but it declares that from which the will of the Father is shown.

Then, having said 'we in him' as well, he gives us to perceive what is lacking in the word: that 'but one God in us,' and we hope in him. Again, the word lacks 'and we through him'—for it lacks 'that we are called' or 'that we shall be saved'—for he does not say that through him we came to be, having said that all things encompassed him and us; but he says all things that came to be, while we speak of the things being dispensed and being saved. That which is made right for you is nothing, but that which harms the weaker is great.

What kind of knowledge? That one is God and there is no idol in the world. He who does not have this knowledge, that one is God and there is no idol in the world, thinking he eats something offered to idols, is struck. And your own knowledge harms the weak; for many even of those who have believed have not yet understood that there is no food offered to idols, and these are harmed by the believing one who eats. And that which is made right from eating is not great, but that which harms the weaker is heavy.

I do not say that I shall not eat food offered to idols, but not even meat, if on this account the brother is stumbled, for he did not have authority in those things, such as to write among them, to endure any weight. He prepares this through many things, and first he remembers his own command, to show the reasons why he took meat lawfully, and if he had wished to take it, just as with the others from whom they took. I also, he says, from...

I am an envoy and I possess my own authority, and I am not under anyone who forces me or prevents me from taking it; for even if the other apostles possess more than I regarding becoming with Christ, I am not deprived of this. Regarding those asking me if I am an apostle, this is my defense, which is your own seal and teaching. Do I not ordain as an apostle? Do I not legislate for the churches? Am I not taught by others? I indeed have authority, but I do not use it excessively, so that I might not cause some little-believers to stumble.

This is the confirmation and the proof. It shows that it has been legislated for those who serve, whether by altars or by the gospel, to live from these things. By mentioning a wife and adding a sister, he showed what is fitting, modest, and pure for one living in common, whether she was a wife or not, clearly showing that women also lived in common with Peter and others, desiring their teaching. He does not slander these things—may it never be—but shows the excess of his own precision regarding his life, warning the Corinthians not to live without caution, so that they might not become a stumbling block to others.

Was it forbidden to do these things only to us, which are also done to others? He placed Barnabas as a fellow-worker, so that he might not seem to magnify himself as the only one succeeding. I do not speak my own words; does not the law also say these things? I did not write this so that I might gain something from you, may it never be. It is nothing great, if an idol-sacrificed morsel is taken for the sake of your brother; for I also enslaved myself to things to which I am not subject, in order to benefit many.

He says Jews are those who are by nature of the Israelite race, but under law are those who are not of their race, namely those using the law of the Jews and having become proselytes. He says the Greeks are lawless, those who are not under the law of Moses. He did not say to the Greeks, 'I became a Greek,' because he could not endure pretending to be Hellenism. Therefore, he calls lawless those who turned from the Gentiles. I thought the Greeks were not under law and I held the opinion, in order to save them from the Jewish things. Thus he was giving to all the primary principle of bringing himself along, so that being caught with them, he might win a few to himself.