Bible In Poetry: 1 Corinthians 8 Poem by Dr John Celes

1Foods sacrificed to idols all:
We know we all possess knowledge,
That puffs up, but love builds it up.
2 The man who thinks he knows something,
Does not yet know things he must know.
3He, who loves God, is known by God.
4 Of eating food sacrificed to idols:
An idol is nothing at all;
There is no God but one in world.
5 For ev’n if there are so-called gods,
Whether in heaven or on earth,
(Indeed there are many 'gods', 'lords') ,
6 Yet, there is but one God for us,
The Father, from whom all things came,
And for whose sake, we live on earth;
There is but one Lord, Jesus Christ,
Through whom all things had come to us,
Through whom we live, our lives on earth.
7But everyone does not know this.
Some people are so accustomed
To idols that when they eat food,
They think it was sacrificed to it,
And since their conscience is weak,
It is defiled when they eat it.
8 But food doesn’t bring us nearer God;
We aren’t worse off if we don’t eat,
And better not, if we do eat.
9 Be careful that your freedom then,
Does not become a stumbling block,
To your weaker brothers on earth.
10 If one with a weak conscience,
Sees that you have this knowledge then,
Eating in an idol's temple,
Will emboldened be, to eat what
Has been sacrificed to idols!
11 This weak brother, for whom Christ died,
Is destroyed by your knowledge thus.
12 And when you sin against brothers
This way and wound their conscience,
You sin against the Savior Christ.
13 If what I eat could cause therefore,
My brother to fall into sin,
I will not eat meat ever again,
So that, I will not cause his fall.

Copyright by Dr John Celes 8-1-2007