In I Corinthians 8:1, Paul introduced another question or issue about which the Corinthians had written to him (cf. 7:1). Was it permissible for a Christian to eat the meat of an animal that had been earlier offered to an idol? (8:1-13) The answer was yes since an idol was nothing and the god it may have represented did not exist. There is only one God and those who possessed that knowledge had the liberty to eat meat offered to idols. They could do so with a clear conscience. However, some believers in the church at Corinth did not have this knowledge and their consciences would be defiled if they at meat offered to an idol. They believed it to be wrong, and so to them it was a sin (cf. Romans 14:14&22). Great harm might be done to those whose consciences were weak when they saw others exercising their liberty by eating meat offered to idols. They might themselves become emboldened to eat it also (vv. 9-12). Those who knew it to be permissible to eat meat offered to idols must in love limit their liberty and not eat it (vs.13), at least in the view of their weak brothers and sisters.
In our culture, eating meat offered to idols is not an issue with which we need to be concerned. However, there are certain practices which, though they are not prohibited in the Bible, have caused debate among Christians as to their acceptability. John MacArthur wrote in his commentary on 1 Corinthians, “Some of the key issues have been drinking alcoholic beverages, smoking, card playing, wearing makeup, dancing, Sunday sports, styles of music, and going to the theater or movies.” We might add the observance of Halloween.