" 'Every man in Norway shall have the right to worship as he sees fit, if he does not offer humans to the gods and does not raise his hand against Christians who have not harmed him, or against their halidoms.' " (p.341)
Superb. He says it of necessity because he needs heathens to support him against invaders but he has the sense to say it. Haakon had previously been more militantly evangelistic. I must read on to learn whether he is successful against the invaders and, if so, whether he keeps his promise.
Even this would not necessarily end the matter. His people had previously required him, their King, to honour their gods at Yule by eating sacrificed meat and by drinking with them without making the Sign of the Cross first. (One of his men fudges by calling it the Sign of the Hammer. Why not? Both Christ and Thor are worthy of honour, I suggest.)
4 comments:
Hi, Paul!
I remember the struggles King Haakon had trying to persuade most of his still pagan people to accept him being a Catholic Christian from MOTHER OF KINGS. But no Christian can possibly eat meat sacrificed to pagan gods in his presence without committing the sin of idolatry. I recall reading of one sacrificial banquet where one of Haakon's advisers or friends suggested he did not have to EAT the sacrificial meat but should SMELL it. Haakon agreed but nobody on either side was satisfied.
I also remembered how St. Paul discussed this or a very similar issue. That is, could Christians eat left over meat sacrificed to pagan gods whioh had been sold to the public as a butcher shop would do? St. Paul ruled that Christians should buy meat without worrying if it had previously been offered to false gods. Treat it like meat they KNEW had not been offered to pagan gods.
Sean
In ST PATRICK'S CONFESSION, he recounts that some escaping fellow slaves shared food after saying, "This is sacrifice." He comments, "Thank God I ate none of it!" I would want a god who did not mind me eating food offered to another.
I gladly accept free vegetarian meals distributed on the street or in their Temple by devotees of Krishna, knowing that they have offered it to the deity first, but I suppose my Christian and Muslim neighbours are obliged not to accept it. In Gurdwaras (Sikh Temples), they offer food to anyone who comes but that has not been offered to God first. (Sikhs are monotheists.)
Hi, Paul!
There are so many things I should read! Alas, St. Patrick's surviving writings have not been read by me. I do think the bit you quoted was ambiguous. It's not really clear what the other escaping slaves meant by saying "This is sacrifice." But I think you woudld say context indicates pagan gods were meant.
In your secound paragraph, I could eat without any taint of idolatry fool given or sold to me in public, as St. Paul advised his converts. But I could not participate in pagan rites. The Sikhs might make for a more difficult case, however.
Sean
You could eat food given by Krishna devotees? That's good.
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