JOHANNINE HOURS - August 95 - 1 Corinthians 8,1-13


1 Corinthians 8,1-13 


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[The "Johannine hours" are meant as a way of seeking God in silence 
and prayer in the midst of our daily life. During the course of a 
day, take a moment to read the Bible passage with the short commentary 
and to reflect on the questions which follow. Afterwards, a small 
group people can meet to share what they have discovered and perhaps 
for a time of prayer.] 

"Knowledge puffs up, love builds up." These words are still a rule 
of life, even if the problem that provided Saint Paul with the occasion 
to formulate them has long since given way to other questions. 

The Christians of Corinth had asked the apostle if they were allowed 
to take part in a meal held in a pagan temple. According to custom,
important events were celebrated in temples and, following the sacrifice 
itself, parents and friends were invited to a banquet. Other people,
still more prudent, wondered if they should not give up eating meat 
entirely, even at home, since one could never be sure whether the 
meat sold on the market came in fact from a pagan temple. 

Saint Paul takes the question very seriously, because it has been 
worrying believers and dividing the community. But he does not answer 
yes or no, for that might risk endorsing a partisan spirit. His mission 
as apostle is to bring people together and not to create divisions. 
First he appeals to the "knowledge" of all the members of the Church. 
He invites them to reflect with him and to decide for themselves 
(cf. 10,15). Then he goes further. In the Bible, all knowledge is 
for the sake of a communion. Whoever relies on their better understanding 
of a situation to distance themselves from others has not understood; 
"he does not know as well as he should." It is love that has the 
knowledge that builds communion. 

Knowing the content of the faith is important. In this way we know 
that "there is no God other than the One." God the Creator places 
everything at our disposition. But we only know this God, the One 
Jesus Christ revealed to us as Father, if we try with all our strength 
to avoid whatever would trouble other members of the Church or even 
lead to divisions. 


¯¯¯How does knowledge of our faith enable us to build a communion? 
¯¯¯
¯¯¯How can we deal with different ways of looking at things that arise 
¯¯¯in our Christian communities? 


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"Johannine Hours" - 8/95 - ©71250 Taizé-Community, France. 
taize@cpe.ipl.fr 




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file: /pub/resources/text/taize/johannine: jh9508.txt
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