Idolotite

IDOLOTITE. - Meat sacrificed to idols (biblical noun εἰδικόθυντος, synonym of ἱερόθυτον)

of the Greeks), which was consumed by the faithful offerer within the sacred precinct, or was brought to the market for sale.

Already Ex. 34:15 forbade eating the flesh immolated to idols, so as not to incur the "impurity" (zānāh) of idolatry (cf. Apoc. 2:14, 20); a supposed relationship was established between the idol and the one who ate idolothytes (cf. Ex. 23:32). For IV Macc. 4:26 and 5:2, the use of idolothytes is practically an abjuring of religion. The rabbis would prohibit their sale (even to pagans) and any use or profit from them. At the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:21, 23, 29; 21:25) the Gentile Christians of Antioch, Syria and Cilicia were committed to abstain from idolothytes, out of regard for the Jewish Christians.

In I Cor. 8:1-11:1 St. Paul poses and resolves the moral case: the faithful are often invited to table by pagans; how should they behave, faced with idolothytes served at table? At Corinth the controversy was raging: "the strong," through a cleverness that abused the principle of Christian liberty (10:2; cf. 6:2) and the knowledge of idolothytes, rightly understood the eating of them as a thing in itself indifferent (chaps. 1-3): and, at the cost of scandalizing "the weak," they even attended sacred banquets (8:10). "The weak," on the contrary, attributed a certain accursed reality to the idol (10:19) and came to exclude even that use of idolothytes which fell outside any act of worship. They lacked (fortunately, not many: 8:7) a strong and enlightened faith, which would preserve them from scandal and sin. St. Paul recalls "the strong" to the charity that avoids the scandal of "the weak" (8:1-13); but he condemns the use of idolothytes when it is part of an idolatrous ceremony, putting the one who eats idolothytes in relationship with the demons, because of the meaning then given to the act of eating idolothytes (10:14-22). To this the Apostle adds a practical casuistry (10:25 ff., 27, 28), not without having first followed the appeal made to "the strong" with a confirmation drawn from his own example and from the history of ancient Israel (9:1-10:13).

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