It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor [any thing] ('nor to do anything') whereby ('wherein') thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak - rather, 'is weak.' These three words, it has been remarked, are each intentionally weaker than the other: q.d., 'Which may cause a brother to stumble, or even be obstructed in his Christian course; nay-though neither of these may follow-wherein he continues weak; unable wholly to disregard the example, and yet unprepared to follow it.' But this injunction to abstain from flesh, from wine, and from whatsoever may hurt the conscience of a brother, must be properly understood. Manifestly, the apostle is treating of the regulation of the Christian's conduct with reference simply to the prejudices of the weak in faith; and his directions are to be considered not as prescriptions for one's entire life-time, even to promote the good of men on a large scale, but simply as cautions against the too free use of Christian liberty in matters where other Christians, through weakness, are not persuaded that such liberty is divinely allowed. How far the principle involved in this may be legitimately extended, we do not inquire here; but ere we consider that question, it is of great importance to fix how far it is here actually expressed, and what is the precise nature of the illustrations given of it.