To me, it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you or any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself, yet I am not by this acquitted: the one who examines me is the Lord. Therefore brethren, do not go on passing judgment before the time of Christ, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in darkness and disclose the hidden motives of men's hearts: then each man's praise or discipline will come to him from the Lord. For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? You received and yet you boast as if you didn't receive. All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me but I will not be mastered by any thing. Through your knowledge he who is weak in spirit is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. The apostle Paul, formerly Saul of Tarsus, the persecutor. Circa A.D. 51