Homilies on First Corinthians — Homily 17

St. John Chrysostom

1. 0. Greeting
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5

All things are lawful for me, but not all things are expedient. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought into the power of any.

Here he glances at the gluttons. For since he intends to assail the fornicator again, and fornication arises from luxuriousness and want of moderation, he strongly chastises this passion. It cannot be that he speaks thus with regard to things forbidden, such not being lawful: but of things which seem to be indifferent. To illustrate my meaning: It is lawful, he says, to eat and to drink; but it is not expedient with excess. And so that marvellous and unexpected turn of his, which he is often wont to adopt; Cf. [[Romans 12.21]]; [[1 Corinthians 7.23]] bringing his argument clear round to its contrary, this he manages to introduce here also; and he signifies that to do what is in one's power not only is not expedient, but even is not a part of power, but of slavery.

And first, he dissuades them on the ground of the inexpediency of the thing, saying, they are not expedient: in the next place, on that of its contrariety to itself, saying, I will not be brought under the power of any. This is his meaning: You are at liberty to eat, says he; well then, remain in liberty, and take heed that you do not become a slave to this appetite: for he who uses it properly, he is master of it; but he that exceeds the proper measure is no longer its master but its slave, since gluttony reigns paramount within him. Do you perceive how, where the man thought he had authority Paul points out that he is under authority? For this is his custom, as I was saying before, to give all objections a turn the contrary way. It is just this which he has done here. For mark; each of them was saying, I have power to live luxuriously. He replies, In doing so, you are not so much acting as one who had power over a thing, but rather as being yourself subject to some such power. For you have not power even over your own belly, so long as you are dissolute, but it has power over you. And the same we may say both of riches and of other things.

Meats for the belly. By the belly here he means not the stomach, but the stomach's voraciousness. As when he says, [[Philippians 3.19]] Whose God is their belly: not speaking about that part of the body, but about greediness. To prove that so it is, hear what follows: And the belly for meats; but the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord. And yet the belly also is of the body. But he puts down two pairs of things, meats and gluttony, (which he terms the belly; ) Christ, and the body.

What then is the meaning of, Meats for the belly? Meats, he says, are on good terms with gluttony, and it with them. It cannot therefore lead us unto Christ, but drags towards these. For it is a strong and brutal passion, and makes us slaves, and puts us upon ministering to the belly. Why then are you excited and gaping after food, O man? For the end of that service is this, and nothing further shall be seen of it: bu