lsrsohn@ucscc.ucsc.edu (23022000) (06/10/91)
Pardon me if this has been discussed here before; I haven't been reading long. I noticed in Romans 14:2, Paul writes: "People range from those who believe they may eat any sort of meat to those whose faith is so weak they dare not eat anything except vegetables." I know he says it is OK to be vegetarian, but even so, I'd like to know why he takes it as a sign of "weakness of faith." Does anyone know the justification for this? It occurred to me that he might have been referring to weakness of faith in Jesus' declaration that all foods were clean, but this doesn't seem right, since not all meat was considered unclean before that. I don't suppose this is a reference to Genesis 9:3, where God specifically sanctions meat-eating? Or am I totally on the wrong track? This passage also seems to contrast with 1 Corinthians 8:13, where Paul says "...since food can be the occasion of my brother's downfall, I shall never eat meat again..." From context, maybe this refers only to meat offered to idols, but even so... [Apparently in the ancient world, eating meat was much more of a cultic act than it is now. From what I've read in commentaries, a very large fraction of the meat a normal person would find in Paul's time would have been dedicated to some god or other. However C. K. Barrett's commentary on Romans (Harpers) says of this passage: "Who is this 'weak man'? Paul allows us to learn three things about him: (1) He eats vegetables and no meat; (2) he regards some days as having special importance; (3) he does not drink wine. It is impossible to pick out from the many examples of religiouos scrupulosity to be found in antiquity any single group of persons ... They were not orthodox Jews. Their scruples recall those of the Pythagorean Apollonius of Tyana, who avoided meat and wine. The closet parallel, perhaps is to be found in the heretics of Colossae ... it is probable that they arose out of some kind of fusion between Judaism and gnosticism. ... It is of course possible, and has been maintained, that Paul was speaking of the scrupulous in general, without reference to particular persons". In my view, Paul believes that all food is a gift from God, and thus that any scrupulousness in not eating or drinking indicates a weakness in faith. --clh]
belville@athena.mit.edu (Sharon Belville) (06/11/91)
This is just a brief address of the subject, not meant to be thoroughly scholarly :-) The Romans 14 passage is in the context of eating meat sacrificed to idols. Many new converts had participated in this idol worship before becoming Christians, and for them the meat was reminiscent of their old lives. If they could not handle these connotations, they should not eat meat. To make an application to our culture, let's look at drinking alcohol, given that the Bible teaches against drunkenness, but not against drinking wine. (And that's as far as I'll go on that subject.) Converts who are recovering alcoholics should not even touch a bit of alcohol, because it would be a struggle for them, given their past history of alcohol abuse. Some Christians will be able to handle alcoholic beverages, because they have the self-control to refrain from drinking too much. The context of Romans 14 is about judging each other in matters of opinion, and wanting to help each other be righteous, not putting stumbling blocks in your brother's way. Each Christian has his or her own responsibility to decide about issues such as vegetarianism or drinking, and then be fully convinced in his own mind. Romans 14:23 "But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin." Mark 7:18 "Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'? For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body."... "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' -- Sharon Belville
tas@pegasus.com (Len Howard) (06/14/91)
With regard to Paul's eating or not eating meat:
It has always been my understanding that the passages referred to
by our moderator were examples of Paul's consideration for the state
of belief of his comrads at the moment. The meat involved was, I
believe, meat that had been offered to pagan gods. The question asked
of Paul was "Is it OK to eat this meat that has been offered to pagan
gods?" Paul's answer was "Yes, if you are well educated in the faith,
you know that it is all right to eat such meat. But in consideration
of my brothers who may not be so far along in their development of
their spirituality, I do not wish to cause them any spiritual harm or
cause any misunderstanding, so I will NOT eat the meat. If it were to
cause harm to my brother it is better that I stay a vegetarian.
So the message of that passage is to be considerate of the state
of Grace of your brother and do nothing that, thru lack of
understanding, would cause him any harm.
Shalom...... /Len