“And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”
But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. — The weak who eat diakrino (doubt, judge, are uncertain) are katakrino (condemned, judged, found guilty) because their eating is not ek pisteōs (from faith, personal conviction). The principle is radical: ho ti ouk ek pisteōs (whatever is not from faith) is hamartia (sin, missing the mark). Not the act but the divorced-from-conviction act is sin.
Church Fathers on Romans 14:23
“And he that doubts is condemned if he eat.” Again, it is to exhort him to spare the weaker, that he says this. For what good is it if he eat in doubt, and condemn himself? For I approve of him, who both eats, and does it not with doubting. See how he induces him not to eating only, but to eating with a good conscience too. Then he mentions likewise the reason why he is condemned continuing in these words, “Because he eats not of faith.” Not because it is unclean, but…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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