The table of the Lord and the table of demons
Let us see what arguments Celsus uses when he urges us to eat things sacrificed to idols and to share in the public sacrifices at the public festivals. What he says is this: “If these idols are nothing, what is so terrible about taking part in the common feast? But if there are certain demons, clearly these too belong to God, and we must trust them, and offer acceptable sacrifices to them according to the laws, and pray to them, so that they may be well disposed.”
To answer this it is useful to take in hand and make plain the whole discussion of “things sacrificed to idols” (1 Corinthians 8:1) that Paul gives in the First Epistle to the Corinthians. There, meeting the claim that “an idol is nothing in the world” (1 Corinthians 8:4), he established the harm that comes from eating things sacrificed to idols. He shows those who are able to understand what is said there that the one who partakes of things sacrificed to idols is doing nothing short of what a murderer does, since he destroys his own brothers, for whom “Christ died” (1 Corinthians 8:11). And after this, laying it down that what is sacrificed is sacrificed to demons (1 Corinthians 10:20), he shows that those who partake of “the table of demons” become “partners with demons” (1 Corinthians 10:20–21); and he shows that it is impossible for the same man to “partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons” (1 Corinthians 10:21).
But since an exposition of what the Epistle to the Corinthians says on these matters requires a whole treatise, argued at greater length, we will be content with what has been briefly given. From it, anyone who examines it will see that even if the idols are nothing, it is none the less a terrible thing, even so, to take part in the common feast of the idols. We have also said enough on the point that even if there are certain demons to whom the sacrifices are offered, we ought not to partake of the offerings, since we know the difference between “the table of the Lord” and “the table of demons” (1 Corinthians 10:21). And because we know it, we do everything so that we may always partake of “the table of the Lord,” and guard ourselves in every way so that we may never become partners at the “table” of “demons.”
Greek
Ἴδωμεν δὲ οἷς χρῆται ὁ Κέλσος λόγοις, προτρέπων ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ τὴν χρῆσιν τῶν εἰδωλοθύτων καὶ τὰς δημοτελεῖς ἐν δημοτελέσιν ἑορταῖς θυσίας. ἃ δὲ λέγει τοιαῦτά ἐστιν· εἰ μὲν οὐδὲν ταῦτά ἐστι τὰ εἴδωλα, τί δεινὸν κοινωνῆσαι τῆς πανθοινίας; εἰ δ᾿ εἰσί τινες δαίμονες. δηλονότι καὶ οὗτοι τοῦ θεοῦ εἰσιν, οἷς καὶ πιστευτέον καὶ καλλιερητέον κατὰ νόμους καὶ προσευκτέον, ἵν᾿ εὐμενεῖς ὦσι. χρήσιμον δ᾿ εἰς ταῦτα ὅλον τὸν περὶ „εἰδωλοθύτων“ λόγον, εἰρημένον παρὰ τῷ Παύλῳ ἐν τῇ προτέρᾳ πρὸς Κορινθίους ἐπιστολῇ, λαβεῖν εἰς χεῖρας καὶ σαφηνίσαι· ἐν ᾧ καὶ πρὸς τὸ μηδὲν εἶναι „εἴδωλον ἐν κόσμῳ“ ἀπαντῶν τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ χρῆσθαι τοῖς εἰδωλοθύτοις βλάβην κατεσκεύασεν, ἀποδεικνὺς τοῖς ἀκούειν τῶν ἐκεῖ δυναμένοις ὅτι πάντως οὐ φονέως χεῖρόν τι πράττει ὁ τῶν εἰδωλοθύτων μεταλαμβάνων, ἀπολλὺς τοὺς αὑτοῦ ἀδελφοὺς. δι᾿ οὓς „Χριστὸς ἀπέθανε.“ καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο τιθεὶς δαιμονίοις θύεσθαι τὰ θυόμενα. παρίστησι „κοινωνοὺς τῶν δαιμονίων γίνεσθαι“ τοὺς μεταλαμβάνοντας „δαιμονίων τραπέζης“· παρίστησί τε ὅτι ἀδύνατόν ἐστι τὸν αὐτὸν „τραπέζης κυρίου μετέχειν καὶ τραπέζης δαιμόνων.“ ἀλλ᾿ ἐπεὶ ὅλης συντάξεως χρῄζει διὰ πλειόνων ἀποδεικνυμένης ἡ περὶ τούτων εἰς τὴν πρὸς Κορινθίους ἐπιστολὴν διήγησις, ἀρκεσθησόμεθα καὶ τοῖς ἐπ᾿ ὀλίγον ἀποδεδομένοις· ἐν οἷς τῷ ἐξετάζοντι αὐτὰ φανεῖται ὅτι, κἂν μηδὲν ᾖ τὰ εἴδωλα, οὐδὲν ἧττον καὶ οὕτω δεινόν ἐστι τὸ κοινωνῆσαι τῆς τῶν εἰδώλων πανθοινίας. εἴρηται μὲν οὖν ἡμῖν μετρίως καὶ εἰς τὸ, κἂν ὦσί τινες δαίμονες, οἷς τὰ θυόμενα θύεται, μὴ δεῖν ἡμᾶς αὐτῶν μεταλαμβάνειν τοὺς ἐπισταμένους διαφορὰν „τραπέζης κυρίου“ καὶ „τραπέζης δαιμονίων“ καὶ διὰ τὸ ἐπίστασθαι πάντα μὲν πράττοντας. ἵνα „τραπέζης κυρίου“ ἀεὶ μετέχωμεν, παντὶ δὲ τρόπῳ φυλαττομένους, ἵνα μηδέ ποτε κοινωνοὶ „τραπέζης“ γενώμεθα τῶν „δαιμονίων.“