1 Corinthians 8:4 Commentary and Bible Study

As in verse 1 of the chapter, it appears that the apostle is responding to specific questions which the Corinthians have asked him. The question which prompted his response in this chapter may have been something like this: ‘Is it right or wrong to eat food offered up to idols?’ because in the open markets, food would be sold, much of which would have been offered up to idols. ‘Is it right to ask no questions and just buy and eat?’ Or it may be the question had been put a little differently: ‘Most of us feel that since idols are nothing and have no significance, and since food is nothing, it is therefore perfectly all right to purchase in the marketplaces meat that may or may not have been offered to idols. But we have some among us who are very disturbed about this; and they behave as though the idols are still alive and living and significant, and so they won’t do such things. Can you say something to put their minds at rest?’ The chapter actually looks as though it was a loaded question, more along those lines. But although the question has been about idols, but Paul sees a more important lesson that the Corinthians need to learn first, and this has led him to speak about knowledge and the danger of pride in these first three verses. Now he comes back to their question again and elaborates it and answers it more directly, but he still he wants to talk about the wrong use of knowledge and the factor which they have not considered properly. We could call those with knowledge the strong, because the apostle Paul himself uses the term weak for the others. What the strong have not considered is the damage they will do to the weak if they parade their knowledge in a way that encourages the weak to follow their example against their own consciences. He seems in verse 1 and here again in verse 4 to be siding with the people who know and are certain that idols are nothing. There is indeed only one God and the gods of the nations, their idols are not real gods but are figments of men’s imaginations; they have no existence anywhere in the world. As such, they have no power to do anything: they cannot answer prayer, or guide, or predict the future, or bring blessing or cursing. The prophets mocked the pagan nations for their worship of idols, and emphasised the foolishness of worshipping them (1 Kings 18:27; Psalm 115; Isaiah 41, 44; Habakkuk 2:18-20). Every Christian has come to understand that there is only one God, and he alone is to be praised; that he alone can answer prayer, forgive sin, and redeem the soul. So the strong thought they had knowledge, but there were all kinds of things they were not considering. Their knowledge was nothing like as good as they thought it was.