1 Corinthians 8:4 As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.
I recently read a classic called The Mystery Religions by S. Angus which details the religions that existed in the ANE just prior to the emergence of Christianity. It goes through all the baptisms, the cleansing of sin by bloody sacrifices, resurrection, and communion with the pagan diety by the eating of it's flesh and the drinking of its blood. Essentially every aspect of Christianity existed prior to its emergence. This came up this morning because Rose is readin The Alphabet and the Goddess; The Conflict between Word and Image by Leonard Shlain which is an application of the modern discoveries concerning the left/right brain physiology to the question of how religions have morphed to support the male dominance over women. So anyway, she was reading this morning about the Orpheus cult in which they drank the blood and ate teh flesh of the sacrifical bull representing Dionysus. They were commemorating his suffering, death and resurrection, and believed that they were absorbing the "divine essence." All this to say that Rose and I suddenly realized that this explains Paul's discussion of "eating the flesh sacrificed to idols." They were doing the pagan form of "communion" which predates Christianity. It's in the Bible. It's as plain as day, but I've never noticed it before.