1. Now in regard to meat sacrificed to idols: we realize that “all of us have knowledge”; knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up.
2. If anyone supposes he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.
3. But if one loves God, one is known by him.
4. So about the eating of meat sacrificed to idols: we know that “there is no idol in the world,” and that “there is no God but one.”
5. Indeed, even though there are so-called gods in heaven and on earth (there are, to be sure, many “gods” and many “lords”),
6. yet for us there isone God, the Father,from whom all things are and for whom we exist,and one Lord, Jesus Christ,through whom all things are and through whom we exist.
7. But not all have this knowledge. There are some who have been so used to idolatry up until now that, when they eat meat sacrificed to idols, their conscience, which is weak, is defiled.
8. Now food will not bring us closer to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, nor are we better off if we do.