{"id":5865,"date":"2015-03-05T22:00:04","date_gmt":"2015-03-06T04:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/giveusthisdaydevotional.com\/?p=5865"},"modified":"2017-12-03T17:25:20","modified_gmt":"2017-12-03T22:25:20","slug":"1-corinthians-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/giveusthisday\/1-corinthians-8\/","title":{"rendered":"Love or Knowledge?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Blowfish\"1 Corinthians 8<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cKnowledge puffs up but love edifies\u201d (verse 1.)\u00a0 This is Paul\u2019s main message for today, and the example of the weaker brother is an illustration of this principle.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowledge puffs up but love edifies.\u201d \u00a0The Greeks had a problem with putting too much confidence in human knowledge, and so one of Paul\u2019s major themes to the Corinthians is to not be proud on account of the human knowledge but to be concerned about the holy things of God.\u00a0 The Greeks idolized knowledge, and Aristotle seemed to think that a life of philosophy and gaining knowledge was the chief end of man.<\/p>\n

The Greeks believed that \u201cTo know the good is to do the good,\u201d meaning that if you know what is right, you will do it.\u00a0 Such a philosophy shows little understanding of sin or man\u2019s bondage to it.\u00a0 In some ways the \u201cRenaissance,\u201d followed especially by the \u201cEnlightenment,\u201d was a turn back toward the philosophy of the Greeks.\u00a0 While not denying the good things that may have providentially come from these movements, they were at heart turns towards man and his knowledge.<\/p>\n

These beliefs are still embedded in our culture, along with Christian beliefs.\u00a0 Though two World Wars and the bloodiest century in the history of mankind have produced a postmodern reaction to such an exalted view of man\u2019s knowledge, the belief is still with us.\u00a0 If it didn\u2019t have such devastating consequences, our ignorant views of sex education are a case in point.\u00a0 We assume that if you just educate kids about how to have safe sex and to avoid the dangers of unsafe sex, then they\u2019ll be O.K.\u00a0 Not only does this reveal an ignorance of the human heart (it echoes the belief that if only kids knew what was right they would do it) but such a statement is blind to its own assumptions that sex outside marriage is good for people and society and capable of being rendered safe by man and his knowledge.<\/p>\n

As Christians, our fundamental beliefs are radically different than the Greeks or their heirs.\u00a0 Our belief may be stated not as \u201cTo know the good is to do the good\u201d but \u201cTo know God is to love like God.\u201d\u00a0 At the heart of Christianity is the love of God, and not the knowledge of man.\u00a0 While the Corinthians, Greeks, and moderns focus on man and self, Christians are focused, in love, on God and others.<\/p>\n

In fact, true knowledge comes through love because it unites us to God, who in love gives Himself to us through knowledge (intimate, spiritual knowledge) of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 For St. Paul, here is how knowledge and love relate: \u201cIf anyone loves God, this one is known by Him\u201d (verse 3.)\u00a0 Likewise, to know God is not to know simply\u00a0about<\/em>\u00a0Him, something that an Enlightenment Christianity has believed and that many of us are heirs to, but involves\u00a0loving<\/em>\u00a0Him and\u00a0obeying<\/em>\u00a0Him and participating in His life through the life of His Son.\u00a0 Theologically speaking, we are experiential learners, and not just cognitive ones.<\/p>\n

Paul\u2019s example of the stronger and weaker brothers, then, is an illustration of love in action.\u00a0 \u201cTherefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble\u201d (verse 13.)\u00a0 Notice how the emphasis is not on what the stronger brother knows about the fact that idols are nothing but is instead on how he does or does not show love toward his weaker brother.\u00a0 Giving up what I have a legitimate right to \u2013 food sacrificed to idols \u2013 for the sake of another is an act of love.<\/p>\n

Though not many of us have problems with food sacrificed to idols, there are still stronger and weaker brothers with us.\u00a0 For example, there are a lot of alcoholics who are Christians.\u00a0 And then there are those of us who like our scotch or Guinness Stout.\u00a0 What are we to do?\u00a0\u00a0 If there is any chance that my imbibing would cause a brother or sister to stumble, then I can make do without the beverage of my choice for a little while.<\/p>\n

Or think of the child who knows things that another child does not or can do things that another child cannot.\u00a0\u00a0 The more gifted child\u2019s bragging can easily hurt someone less gifted.\u00a0 The great irony is that what the child is boasting about is all a gift of God anyway, and yet he\u2019s claiming the credit and in the process hurts one created in the image of God.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure you can think of even better examples.\u00a0 St. Augustine extended the meaning to those who are weak not because of ignorance but because of moral failings, saying that: \u201cIf you love the weak person less because of the moral failing that makes him weak, consider the One who died on his behalf.\u201d\u00a0 And again, St. Augustine says: \u201cIt is the very law of Christ that we bear one another\u2019s burdens.\u00a0 Moreover, by loving Christ we easily bear the weaknesses of another, even him whom we do not yet love for the sake of his own good qualities, for we realize that the one whom we love is someone for whom the Lord has died.\u201d<\/p>\n

In all of our relationships with other Christians, remember always that \u201cknowledge puffs up but love edifies.\u201d\u00a0 This is the law by which Jesus Christ lived, and it\u2019s a good thing.\u00a0 If He judged me or any of you based on our knowledge or goodness . . . .\u00a0 Well, you know where I\u2019m going with this.<\/p>\n

Therefore, love.\u00a0\u00a0 Be ready to give up yourself for others, as Christ gave up Himself for you.\u00a0 For it is in loving that we truly know God, and it is in loving that we are most made like Him.<\/p>\n

Prayer:\u00a0 Father, I thank You for the love with which You first loved me, even when I was ignorant and blind and sinful.\u00a0 Help me to know You better by being more loving to those You have put in my life.\u00a0 By Your grace, enable me to seek the good of others above my own.\u00a0 Amen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Point for Meditation:\u00a0 Meditate on what it might mean to be a weaker brother.\u00a0 If you were a weaker brother, how would you like your stronger brothers and sisters in Christ to treat you?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Resolution:\u00a0 I resolve to consider one relationship where I may not be acting in love.\u00a0 I resolve further to find a practical way to remedy my lack of love in this situation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Blowfish<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Which does our culture value more: love or knowledge?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2856,"featured_media":9035,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[236,2890,1364,1443,1450,1886,2427],"class_list":["post-5865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-give-us-this-day","tag-bear-one-anothers-burdens","tag-knowledge","tag-knowledge-of-god","tag-love","tag-love-of-god","tag-relationships","tag-the-weaker-brother"],"yoast_head":"\nLove or Knowledge? - Give Us This Day<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Knowledge puffs up love edifies, To know the good is to do the good, To know God is to love like God, If anyone loves God, bear one another\u2019s burdens\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/giveusthisday\/1-corinthians-8\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Love or Knowledge? - Give Us This Day\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Knowledge puffs up love edifies, To know the good is to do the good, To know God is to love like God, If anyone loves God, bear one another\u2019s burdens\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/giveusthisday\/1-corinthians-8\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Give Us This Day\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-03-06T04:00:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-12-03T22:25:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/731\/2015\/03\/Blowfish.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"782\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"412\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fr. 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