both Jewish” and pagan.73 Beginning in 1 Corinthians 10:14, Paul argues that the reason Christians should shun the worship of idols is that “what pagans sacrifice [θυουσιν] they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons,” he exclaims (10:20). Pagan sacrifices are to be avoided because of a wider principle that Paul assumes: “Those who eat the sacrifices [θυσιας] [are] partners in the altar” (10:18). In other words, the communal eating of the animal meat that follows
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