Yes — the Gentile sacrifices were demonic because the pagans did not know the true God and their worship was a satanic counterfeit of the true God's worship.
Paul found the Athenians worshipping an altar 'to the unknown God' and told them they were 'too superstitious' and were worshipping ignorantly. Les Feldick explains that pagan sacrifices were Satan's counterfeit of true worship, and behind the lifeless idols was the dark spiritual realm of demons. Thus their sacrifices were not directed to the true God but were caught up in demonic influence.
Acts 17:23 — Paul identifies the altar to the unknown god and says the Athenians were worshipping him ignorantly, showing their sacrifices were not to the true God.
1 Corinthians 10:18 — Paul's principle that eating a sacrifice makes a person a partaker of the altar shows that sacrificial meals were not religiously neutral.
Acts 15:20 — The Jerusalem council called idolatry a pollution from which believing Gentiles were told to abstain.
Paul's encounter at Athens shows the condition of Gentile religion. The Athenians had altars and devotions, but Paul told them, 'Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious' (Acts 17:22). When he passed by their devotions, he found an altar to 'TO THE UNKNOWN GOD,' and he declared, 'Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you' (Acts 17:23). Scripture therefore describes pagan worship as ignorant worship of an unknown god, not true knowledge of the God of the Bible. The Apostle Paul also draws a principle from the sacrificial system: 'Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?' (1 Corinthians 10:18). By this principle, participation in a sacrificial meal joins the participant to that altar. The Jerusalem council's apostolic decree likewise told Gentile believers to 'abstain from pollutions of idols' (Acts 15:20), treating idolatry as a pollution from which believers were to be separated.
Les Feldick explains that Gentile idolatry did not happen in a vacuum. When the pagans set up their animal sacrifices, it was a satanic counterfeit of what God had established to be the right way, because Satan always establishes a counterfeit (Clip 0). For Les, this does not make the pagan gods real in themselves — the idols were lifeless, and the meat from pagan temples could not be affected by those gods (Clip 7). Yet idolatry was still dealing with the dark side of the spiritual realm, and pagans in Corinth were so conscious of 'the demons of the air' that they feared demons could enter through their meat (Clips 2 and 4). Athens is Les's clearest example. He describes it as a 'seat of learning' full of philosophers and intellectuals, yet the whole city was steeped in idolatry (Clip 1). Paul's heart sank when he saw it; the Athenians had philosophy, intellectualism, and gullibility, but they did not know the true God (Clip 6). Paul told them they were too superstitious and were worshipping an unknown God ignorantly (Clips 3 and 6). So for Les, Gentile worship was not genuine worship of the true God; it was a demonically influenced, satanic counterfeit based on ignorance.
Athens was not a backward, uneducated city. It was a 'seat of learning' filled with philosophers and writers. Yet the path up to the Acropolis was lined with idols of their gods and goddesses, and the whole city was steeped in idolatry (Clip 1). Paul stood in the middle of Mars Hill and said, 'Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious' (Acts 17:22). He had seen an altar inscribed 'TO THE UNKNOWN GOD,' and he told them that whom they ignorantly worshipped, he was declaring to them (Acts 17:23; Clip 3). Their intellectual achievements did not lead them to knowledge of the true God.
Les Feldick says that when pagans set up their animal sacrifices, it was a satanic counterfeit of what God had established to be the right way. That is what Satan always does — he establishes a counterfeit. The pagans copied the pattern of sacrifice and of eating the leftover meat, just as Israel did with priests and offerers partaking of the altar (Clip 0). So the problem with pagan sacrifice was not merely that the objects were lifeless; the whole worship system was a mirror of true worship created by the enemy.
Les describes idolatry as dealing in the realm of the spiritual, but on the dark side of the spiritual. Man has an innate desire to worship something, and pagan worship tapped into that desire. The pagans in Corinth were superstitiously aware of the power of 'the demons of the air.' They feared a demon could enter their body through the meat they ate, so they took meat to pagan priests to have a blessing put on it to keep demons off (Clip 4). Idolatrous worship was also attached to gross immorality — pagan temples like the temple of Diana were 'glorified houses of prostitution' in the name of religion (Clip 2). So even though the idol itself was a dead object, the demonic spiritual influence behind it was real.
Les follows Paul's reasoning that the pagan gods had no power. Many of the sacrificial sheep and goats ended up in the marketplace, and the meat was just meat. Paul had no problem with eating it, because those pagan gods could not affect the meat. But if someone thought the meat had been tainted by its connection to the pagan god, then the advice was not to eat it (Clip 7). Les also notes that in Paul's day 'everywhere they went, that's all it was, was paganism' — so this was a practical issue for every early believer (Clip 5).
Satanic Counterfeit of Sacrifice
Les teaches that pagan animal sacrifices were Satan's counterfeit of the true sacrificial system God had established, which is why Gentile worship could be demonic even when it copied Israel's pattern.
Athens: Learning Without God
Les shows that Athens was an intellectual center, yet all its philosophers and writers were still steeped in idolatry — proving intelligence did not lead them to the true God.
Idolatry and the Dark Side of Worship
Les explains that idolatry operates in the dark spiritual realm, exploits man's desire to worship, and in pagan temples was joined to gross immorality.
The Altar to the Unknown God
Les cites Paul's Mars Hill sermon where Paul said the Athenians ignorantly worshipped an unknown God, and Paul declared that God to them.
Demons in the Meat
Les describes Corinthian pagans' superstition that demons could enter through sacrificed meat, which is why pagan priests pronounced blessings on the meat — showing real demonic awareness.
Paganism Everywhere in Paul's Day
Les notes that Paul's world was dominated by pagan temples and animal sacrifices, and the Jerusalem council told Gentile believers to abstain from the pollution of idols.
Too Superstitious to Know God
Les explains that the Athenians had philosophy and intellectualism but were gullible and too tied up in religion; Paul told them they were 'too superstitious' and pointed them to the unknown God.
Pagan Gods Couldn't Taint the Meat
Les teaches that the pagan gods had no power to affect the sacrificed meat, so the meat was just meat; the only issue was the believer's conscience about its idolatrous connection.
1 Corinthians 10:18: Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?
Paul uses Israel's sacrificial practice to show that eating from an altar joins a person to that altar, a principle that also applies to pagan sacrifices.
Acts 17:22: Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
Paul's opening address to the Athenians shows that their religiosity was not true knowledge of God.
Acts 17:23: For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
This verse is the center of Paul's Mars Hill sermon — Gentile worship was directed to an unknown God.
Acts 15:20: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
This apostolic decree treats idolatry as a pollution that Gentile believers must avoid.
According to the transcript evidence, the idolatrous pagans were aware of the power of the demons of the air, but Les also says the pagan gods were lifeless and could not affect the meat that was sacrificed to them. The power connected with idolatry was demonic, not resident in the stone or wood image.
Paul's words in Acts 17:23 show that they were worshipping 'the unknown God' — but they were doing it ignorantly. Les says the city was steeped in idolatry and too superstitious; their religiosity was not true knowledge of the God of the Bible.
Les specifically says that Satan always establishes a counterfeit of what God has established. He points to pagan animal sacrifices as a satanic counterfeit of the right way God had set up for sacrifice.
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