<p>8:11 <i>For through your knowledge he that is weak perishes, the brother for whose sake Christ died- </i>This has been the whole theme of the section- knowledge as knowledge alone puffs up, but love builds up. Indeed, possession of knowledge, of 'truth' in this sense, can actually destroy others when that truth is used irresponsibly. And we likewise have all seen this kind of thing happen in conservative church life. We can build others up and we can also cause them to &quot;perish&quot;, and thus the death of Christ is made in vain for that brother- thanks to our selfish attitude to the truths we possess by grace. Knowledge or truth of itself cannot just be insisted upon in a vacuum. We are not to shrug and say that &quot;Well that's their fault, his problem, her lack of faith&quot; because an individual weaker in faith and understanding is made to stumble by our indulgence in &quot;truth&quot;. This is like the weak Corinthians who believed in 'gods out there' behind the idols being led to worship them- all by observing their 'stronger' brethren flaunting the truth / knowledge they held, in their freedom to eat idol food.</p>