From the article:
The Case for Alcohol Based on Romans 14
Thoughts? (Mainly for those that have reservations about alcohol)
I guess you could make that same case for cocaine in Rom 14 and every other drug known to mankind.
That article is a bit bogus in terms of its guesswork.
"Here the Apostle Paul gives pastoral guidance to the members in Rome on food. Apparently, some members that ate meat were looking down on those that didn’t consume meat and vice versa. Paul identities the group that consumed only vegetables as
weak in faith. Paul isn’t using the term weak as a negative term but rather a descriptive one. The church in Rome included both Jewish and Gentile Christians. The weak faith probably refers to Jewish-Christians that only ate vegetables"
Interesting guess. but not what the Bible says about it.
1. Jews were required to eat meat at Passover and other services as part of their act of worship. They were not vegetarian.
2. In the letter to Corinth -
in 1 Cor 8 Paul points out that is the weak gentiles that having become Christian seek to avoid paganism to the point of fearing to eat meat offered to idols. Paul makes the case that Jews are used to the idea of no other gods but the One God and have no problem eating meat offered to "stones" that others think of as if they were actual "gods".
1 Cor 8
4 Therefore concerning the
eating of things sacrificed to idols,
we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one. 5 For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, 6
yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we
exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we
exist through Him.
7
However not all men have this knowledge; but
some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat
food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their
conscience being weak is defiled.
9 But take care that this
liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak
1 Cor 10
25 Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience’ sake; 26 for the earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains. 27 If one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience’ sake. 28 But
if anyone says to you, “This is meat sacrificed to idols,” do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed
you, and for conscience’ sake; 29 I mean
not your own conscience, but the other man’s;
The "weak" person is the gentile who is accustomed to serving idols "until now" until becoming Christian and now his/her conscience is "defiled" if they eat food offered to idols the way they used to do as pagans.
