Food offered to Idols

Ken Fish, in his presentation “Occult Spiritual Warfare,” discusses eating foods offered to idols, drawing parallels to the practices in the early church and their significance for Christians today.

• Idolatry and Feasts: Fish explains that in the time of the early church, particularly in Corinth, it was common for people to participate in feasts and sacrifices dedicated to Greek gods. He states that the Corinthians, who were coming out of a pagan background where they worshiped many gods, were also converting to Christianity. This led to the problem of some Christians participating in pagan feasts, where food offered to idols was consumed. This was seen as problematic because it was associated with the worship of those idols.
• Paul’s Teaching on Idolatry: Fish references Paul’s letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 10) where he addresses the issue of idolatry and warns against partaking in pagan feasts. Paul argues that those who partake of the altar of an idol are engaging in the worship of that idol. In other words, the act of eating food offered to idols was not a neutral act but an act of participation in the worship of the idol.
• The Lord’s Supper as a Counterpoint: Fish explains that the Lord’s Supper was originally instituted as a meal where believers would come together, eat, and then take communion. This meal was intended to be the Lord’s meal, a meal that was set apart and dedicated to God. It is from this meal that the practice of taking communion emerged as a remembrance of Jesus’s sacrifice when he said “when you come together eat this bread drink this cup you show my death until I come again”. This practice was put in place to replace the pagan practice of partaking in meals that were associated with idolatry.
• Abstaining from Idol Food: Fish notes that the early church addressed this issue in Acts 15, where they determined that Gentile converts should abstain from things polluted by idols. This meant that Christians should not eat food that had been sacrificed to idols, because doing so was considered a form of idol worship. The apostolic council in Acts 15 gave four prohibitions to the gentiles. One of these was to abstain from things polluted by idols.
• Modern Implications: Fish applies this to modern contexts, noting that if a Christian is invited to a wedding where another god or gods are worshiped, they should not partake of the meat that is offered, because this would be considered participation in idol worship. He gives the example of an Indian wedding where food is offered to Hindu gods such as Shiva and Brahma.

In summary, Fish uses the historical context of the early church to draw a parallel with contemporary issues, explaining the dangers of engaging in anything that approximates idolatry and that eating food offered to idols is not a neutral act but an act of worship. He emphasizes that the Lord’s Supper is a meal set apart for the Lord, in contrast to the feasts of idols.

• Title: Occult Spiritual Warfare
• Speaker: Ken Fish
• Start Time: 50:05
• End Time: 53:25

Orbis Ministries – Link to Ken Fish’s Ministry material.