Why do Christians get to eat pork?

[seashale76]

So black pudding = blood intentionally cooked, or cooked into food. What does "things strangled" mean? I mean the last time a flock of geese decided to attack me I challenged it's leader, threatening to wring it's neck and eat it for dinner. It took the hint and they chilled out. Is that what this pertains to?

As far as I know. It has to do with the way an animal is slaughtered.

 

[pgp_protector]

Q. Why do Christians get to eat pork?
A. Because they know how to cook it.

 

[seashale76]

Q. Why do Christians get to eat pork?
A. Because they know how to cook it.

Ham baked with cloves, honey glaze, and a little bit of mustard. I'll even eat a little, and I'm not a big fan of the pork products!

 

[zaksmummy]

I dont eat pork or anything else derived fro a pig, because I am convinced in my own mind that Jesus did not get rid of the dietary laws, in fact he didnt get rid of any of Gods laws.

However, most Christians would disagree with me, because they read the new testament from a gentile POV and cant or wont find out things from a Jewish POV. (Jesus was after all Jewish through and through). Also many go by church tradition and what they have been taught, rather than what is written.

That said, although many of them dont realise it, they keep quite a bit of Gods law (torah in the Hebrew) without even realising it.

 

[MattRose]

I dont eat pork or anything else derived fro a pig, because I am convinced in my own mind that Jesus did not get rid of the dietary laws, in fact he didnt get rid of any of Gods laws.

However, most Christians would disagree with me, because they read the new testament from a gentile POV and cant or wont find out things from a Jewish POV. (Jesus was after all Jewish through and through). Also many go by church tradition and what they have been taught, rather than what is written.

That said, although many of them dont realise it, they keep quite a bit of Gods law (torah in the Hebrew) without even realising it.

Whoa there Zaksmummy! You don't follow all the laws in the OT I hope. I pray thee that thouest son is not stubborn and rebellious, and that he doest obey your voice. Otherwise the village elders will need to start gathering some pointy rocks.

On a side note, I was working in Israel last year and I was warned (half jokingly) not to go to certain areas on the Sabbath. They said that there are places that are blocked off to the public on the Sabbath. These areas house communties that follow the torah to the letter. I was warned that they would stone me if I did manage to get in while driving my car (due to the working on the Sabbath law). They even had one elevator in my hotel that automatically stopped at all floors (just on the Sabbath) so that the observant Jews could use it on the Sabbath.

 

[zaksmummy]

Whoa there Zaksmummy! You don't follow all the laws in the OT I hope. I pray thee that thouest son is not stubborn and rebellious, and that he doest obey your voice. Otherwise the village elders will need to start gathering some pointy rocks.

On a side note, I was working in Israel last year and I was warned (half jokingly) not to go to certain areas on the Sabbath. They said that there are places that are blocked off to the public on the Sabbath. These areas house communties that follow the torah to the letter. I was warned that they would stone me if I did manage to get in while driving my car (due to the working on the Sabbath law). They even had one elevator in my hotel that automatically stopped at all floors (just on the Sabbath) so that the observant Jews could use it on the Sabbath.

My son hardly ever follows my voice, (he is only 5 and still in the process of learning) but have no fear, the ancient rabbis believed that any Sanhedrin that put a person to death was murderous.

Often when God gives an instruction like the stoning of disobedient children and the like, you need to read between the lines of what he is saying - if as a parent you dont discipline your child, it would be better for them to die at your hand than by the trouble which will no doubt befall them because of their rebelliousness - think teenagers who go off the rails, get into drugs and overdose.

The problem you have is that you are reading the Torah (law) without its context of how the Jewish people have implemented it (made legal rulings), so what you see is just a set of cruel rules and regulations, instead of what it actually is, a joy, thats why you see Jewish people dancing with a Torah scroll. The Torah is God loving instruction to his children. How it is put into practice can be found in the Talmud. "Everymans Talmud" by Abraham Cohen is a really good book if you want to see how the Torah has been implemented into Jewish culture.

 

[MattRose]

Often when God gives an instruction like the stoning of disobedient children and the like, you need to read between the lines of what he is saying - if as a parent you dont discipline your child, it would be better for them to die at your hand than by the trouble which will no doubt befall them because of their rebelliousness - think teenagers who go off the rails, get into drugs and overdose.

Well that is quite logical I must say. So why don't you apply the same logic to eating pork? Why were the dietary laws estabished? Are there advances today that undo the reasons for not eating "unclean" animals? Not to split hares (pun), but if you follow the Jewish dietary laws, do you only eat kosher beef or will any USDA (British equivalent?) beef do?

 

[zaksmummy]

Well that is quite logical I must say. So why don't you apply the same logic to eating pork? Why were the dietary laws estabished? Are there advances today that undo the reasons for not eating "unclean" animals? Not to split hares (pun), but if you follow the Jewish dietary laws, do you only eat kosher beef or will any USDA (British equivalent?) beef do?

The kosher laws were established by God to set Israel apart as holy "Be holy as I am holy". Often he is explicit, sometimes you need to read between the lines

I am actually not Jewish, but I follow the Torah as much as I can. Unfortunately where I live there are very, very few Jewish people, I can count the ones I know on one hand! Therefore there are no Kosher butchers here. So instead, we choose to eat clean meat ie no pork or shellfish or other foods not considered by God to be clean. That said, the meat in Britain is killed in the prescribed manner - throat cut, hung upside down and the blood drained.

Its not ideal, but we have come to understand that it is what God has asked us to do, so we do what we can in obedience to him and only him. It isnt going to get us to heaven, we need salvation through Jesus for that, but we are obeying what God has asked us to do.

If you want to see what Jesus' Apostle suggested as the minimum requirements for non-Jews read Acts 15 - it discusses food there - abstain from foods offered to idols, dont eat blood or the meat from strangled animals. Then as an add on they say that "Moses ie the Torah, is taught every Sabbath in the synagogues". In other words, this is what we want you to do to start, go find out what God says about the rest through reading and studying the Torah.

 

[John_Galt]

I understand that burnt sacrifices are no longer required because of Jesus dying on the cross, but when did the cloven-hoofed animal ban get lifted?

Simple answer: when Jesus died and fulfiled the law.

But, like with most things, there's a little more to it than that.

The first thing you have to look at is why God institutes the dietary restrictions in the first place.

God's purpose for the dietary laws was merely one of the laws and requirements God instituted to differentiate the Nation of Israel from pagan nations that surrounded it. The most obvious other one is circumcision.

Because the Old Covenant ended with Jesus' ministry, He fulfilled the law, and Israel was no longer God's evangelism team, so to speak, Jesus declared all foods clean (Mark 7:19) and the deitary laws fulfiled.

We can also point to Peter's vision, in which God gave Peter a vision in which He declared that formerly unclean animals could be eaten: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean” (Acts 10:15). When Jesus died on the cross, the temple veil rent in twain and the Old Testament laws were fulfiled (Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:24-26; Ephesians 2:15). This includes the dietary laws.

The entire book of Hebrews talks about this in great detail, so if you have about an hour, you might want to sit down and go through that book.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

We can also point to Peter's vision, in which God gave Peter a vision in which He declared that formerly unclean animals could be eaten: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean” (Acts 10:15).

Actually, even Peter didn't understand the vision until the men sent by Cornelius arrived with his request to see him. He then understood that the gentiles would now be accepted by God. The voice told Peter not to call unclean what God had cleansed, meaning men, not animals. Unclean animals, including swine, are still unfit for human consumption........ There's a humorous tongue-in-cheek description of that event: Peter baptised Cornelius, then they sat down for a nice ham dinner.

 

[John_Galt]

Actually, even Peter didn't understand the vision until the men sent by Cornelius arrived with his request to see him.

Peter's understanding isn't the issue. The issue is God's declaration that the dietary laws are no longer in effect.

Unclean animals, including swine, are still unfit for human consumption

I suppose you could make that argument if this were the only verse that stated that the dietary laws were no longer in effect, but it isn't, as evidenced by the verses I cited in my post.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Deleted post.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Because the Old Covenant ended with Jesus' ministry, He fulfilled the law, and Israel was no longer God's evangelism team, so to speak, Jesus declared all foods clean (Mark 7:19) and the deitary laws fulfiled.
The OC didn't end until the destruction of the temple and the Levitical priesthood. Jesus placed himself under the law while he was alive. The disciples kept the law even after Jesus' death.......Mark 7:19 refers to spiritual defilement. The foul 'things that go into the belly' are purged (cleansed) by 'excretion' FROM the body, not purified within the body as proper food. The origiinal subject was 'unwashed hands', not unclean food. To carry this permissive thought even further, did Jesus then mean it was ok to eat after going to the bathroom with unwashed hands (remembering that they ate their food with their hands)? Or was he saying that if you ate something that would make you sick your body would remove it through the natural processes, even though it might be unpleasant?

 

[Merlin]

Laws to follow Acts 15:

In the early church, discussion of which laws to follow came up

Acts 15:5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and
said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses."

6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question.
7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some
time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message
of the gospel and believe.
8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them,
just as he did to us.
9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.
10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that
neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?
11 No!
We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."

The consensus was:

Acts 15:28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond
the following requirements:
Acts 15:29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of
strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Laws to follow Acts 15:

In the early church, discussion of which laws to follow came up

Acts 15:5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and
said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses."

6 The apostles and elders met to consider this question.
7 After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some
time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message
of the gospel and believe.
8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them,
just as he did to us.
9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.
10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that
neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?
11 No!
We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."

The consensus was:

Acts 15:28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond
the following requirements:
Acts 15:29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of
strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.

These verses don't have anything to do with abolishing dietary laws. The final judgement was a compromise made to 'ease' the Gentiles into the church without any undue 'culture shock'. Even so the few restrictions placed on them were quite dramatic.

 

[he lives]

Folks its not that complicated gentiles are allowed to eat whatever they want because of the new covenant. But really why would you want to? You can be certain Jesus living under the old law never ate what was unclean. No baby back ribs for this guy. amen.

 

[pgp_protector]

Folks its not that complicated gentiles are allowed to eat whatever they want because of the new covenant. But really why would you want to? You can be certain Jesus living under the old law never ate what was unclean. No baby back ribs for this guy. amen.

Jesus never posted on a forum either.

 

[Taliee]

Many Seventh Day Adventist don't eat unclean meats...some are vegeterian or vegan too.

 

[lone soldier]

Because some christians say the old testament is God's word, yet we can completely disregard all of it because we're christians, not Jews. (?) I don't get it either...

 

[razeontherock]

I don't get it either...

Well that's the Truth! It's not that hard. France has laws. They don't apply to you.