Can Christians eat pigs blood?

[Soyeong]

This is a question only YOU can answer as everyone is led by the Spirit in them differently.

In general you are free to eat as you wish,
1 Corinthians 10:25-30
but if you feel a conviction to not eat something... then you should stick to it as to keep your conscience clear.

It's a choice that only you can answer for yourself.

Paul was speaking in regard to the issue of whether it was acceptable to eat meat that had been offered to idols, not in regard to whether followers of God should obey what He has commanded.

 

[FireDragon76]

Why are you concerned with what VC has said when God has prohibited the eating of unclean animals and eating of blood? Does VC have more authority than God?

I'm not a Jew and my ancestors made no covenant with God to only eat certain foods. The covenant I have with God is based on faith alone in Jesus as a sacrifice for my sins.

 

[Gregory Thompson]

The dietary laws are useful when society is destroyed.

When technology is thriving, not so much.

 

[Jipsah]

"I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
7And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat.
8But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.
9But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
10And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven.

'Nuff said.

 

[mmksparbud]

The blood found in muscle is different from the blood found in veins, in regard to hemoglobin and myoglobin. It is impossible to remove all myoglobin from meat, but meat is drained of hemoglobin before it is sold. Often a red dye is added to make the meat appear more fresh. The Passover meal would have contained myoglobin, but they were commanded to eat of it, so it is not in violation of the prohibition against eating blood.

Do you know what was done to make meat as blood free as possible? The animal must be slaughtered correctly to begin with---must be done quickly by throat cutting and draining of the blood, Veins and vessels are prohibited, such as those in the forelegs, shoulder, lower jaws, tongue, neck, heart, and in the fat of the entrails, and other blood vessels and tissues must be removed before the meat is made kosher and cooked. The meat has to be soaked in water and salted to further remove the blood and washed again. Certain fat was not allowed--In fowl, the blood vessels in the throat should be removed or cut through together with the neck. It is also customary to cut between the knee joints in order to reach the blood vessels that are there.


What God has made an abomination He does not make clean later. He never has. The vision of the unclean animals was not about food---read it. The meaning of the vision is clearly detailed---it is about people! No one is considered unclean by God when He has blessed them. Nothing to do with food.
Act 10:15 And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.

At first Peter didn't know what the vision meant.

Act 10:17 Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made enquiry for Simon's house, and stood before the gate,

Act 10:28 And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.

Act 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
Act 10:35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

Never did Peter eat of the unclean meats in the vision and there is nothing that states after the vision that he said anything about food being clean. God has cleansed people from their sins, and what He cleanses is no longer unclean--He has not made all animals clean.

 

[mmksparbud]

I'm not a Jew and my ancestors made no covenant with God to only eat certain foods. The covenant I have with God is based on faith alone in Jesus as a sacrifice for my sins.

God's laws and ways were never meant for the Jews exclusively. It was always God's intention that they be a light unto all the world and a blessing unto all the world. Anyone who came into their faith was to obey all God's ways. They failed at this also, as they became exclusive instead of inclusive. God was meant for all humanity, not just the Jews. The only thing that changed at the cross was that the sacrificial laws no longer applied as Jesus was the sacrificial Lamb. We go through the blood Jesus now, not the blood of animals.

 

[FireDragon76]

God's laws and ways were never meant for the Jews exclusively. It was always God's intention that they be a light unto all the world and a blessing unto all the world. Anyone who came into their faith was to obey all God's ways. They failed at this also, as they became exclusive instead of inclusive. God was meant for all humanity, not just the Jews. The only thing that changed at the cross was that the sacrificial laws no longer applied as Jesus was the sacrificial Lamb. We go through the blood Jesus now, not the blood of animals.

Many of the Torah's laws have nothing to do with morality as we understand it and have to do with ritual purity for a specific people to commune with God. As such they are practically irrelevant to me as a Christian.

 

[mmksparbud]

Many of the Torah's laws have nothing to do with morality as we understand it and have to do with ritual purity for a specific people to commune with God. As such they are practically irrelevant to me as a Christian.

The laws pertaining to ritual animal sacrifices are no longer needed. If you wish to eat unclean food and do whatever you want---you are certainly free to do so. It is interesting to note how hard everyone tries to do as absolutely little as possible of what God says to not inconvenience themselves when Christ did everything for us.
2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

 

[FireDragon76]

The laws pertaining to ritual animal sacrifices are no longer needed. If you wish to eat unclean food and do whatever you want---you are certainly free to do so. It is interesting to note how hard everyone tries to do as absolutely little as possible of what God says to not inconvenience themselves when Christ did everything for us.
2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

What you are asking people to do is get obsessed about the most superficial aspects of OT law and declare that a superior way of life, to simply living out our vocation and loving our neighbor.

Jesus has already told us what the greatest commandments are. I find those difficult enough as it is.

 

[Soyeong]

I'm not a Jew and my ancestors made no covenant with God to only eat certain foods. The covenant I have with God is based on faith alone in Jesus as a sacrifice for my sins.

Following Jesus is not just for Jews, but for Gentiles too and we can't follow him by refusing to follow the Law that he followed and taught us to follow by word and by example. There is no sense in a Gentile wanting to become a followers of the God of Israel while wanting nothing to do with walking in His ways in accordance with His nature. Those who want nothing to do with God's instructions for how to walk in His ways want nothing to do with God. In Matthew 23:23, Jesus said that faith is one of the weightier matters of the Law, so if you have faith in God to guide you in how to rightly live, then you will obey His Law.

 

[Soyeong]

"I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
7And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat.
8But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.
9But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
10And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven.

'Nuff said.

It should be noted that Peter did not just object by saying that he had never eaten anything that was unclean, but also added that he had never eaten anything that was common. Furthermore, God only rebuked Peter for his use of the word "common" and not his use of the word "unclean. In other words, Peter had correctly identified the unclean animals as unclean and had correctly declined to eat them in obedience to Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, but he had incorrectly identified the clean animals as common and had incorrectly declined to eat them in disobedience to God's command to kill and eat. So his vision had nothing to do with a change in the status of unclean animals and he interpreted his vision three times as being in regard to wrongly identifying Gentiles, so you should not reinterpret his vision to mean something other than what he interpreted it to mean.

 

[Soyeong]

Do you know what was done to make meat as blood free as possible? The animal must be slaughtered correctly to begin with---must be done quickly by throat cutting and draining of the blood, Veins and vessels are prohibited, such as those in the forelegs, shoulder, lower jaws, tongue, neck, heart, and in the fat of the entrails, and other blood vessels and tissues must be removed before the meat is made kosher and cooked. The meat has to be soaked in water and salted to further remove the blood and washed again. Certain fat was not allowed--In fowl, the blood vessels in the throat should be removed or cut through together with the neck. It is also customary to cut between the knee joints in order to reach the blood vessels that are there.

The Passover lamb was eaten no long after it was slaughtered, so they wouldn't have had time to salt everything.

What God has made an abomination He does not make clean later. He never has. The vision of the unclean animals was not about food---read it. The meaning of the vision is clearly detailed---it is about people! No one is considered unclean by God when He has blessed them. Nothing to do with food.
Act 10:15 And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.

At first Peter didn't know what the vision meant.

Act 10:17 Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made enquiry for Simon's house, and stood before the gate,

Act 10:28 And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.

Act 10:34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
Act 10:35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

Never did Peter eat of the unclean meats in the vision and there is nothing that states after the vision that he said anything about food being clean. God has cleansed people from their sins, and what He cleanses is no longer unclean--He has not made all animals clean.

Agreed.

 

[Soyeong]

Many of the Torah's laws have nothing to do with morality as we understand it and have to do with ritual purity for a specific people to commune with God. As such they are practically irrelevant to me as a Christian.

The Bible does not distinguish between moral and non-moral laws. If there were non-moral laws, then there would be examples where disobedience to God was considered to be moral, but there are no such examples. Morality is in regard to what we ought to do and we ought to obey God, so all of God's laws are inherently moral laws and it is always sinful and immoral to disobey any of them.

 

[RDKirk]

This is what the Bible specifically says on the matter in the New Testament, you can read the whole chapters if you feel inclined to do so.

Act. 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.

Act. 15:29
That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

Act. 21:25
As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.

Strangling the sacrifice, drinking the blood, ritual fornication--these were all specific idolatry practices.

This is the difference Paul is drawing in 1 Corinthians 10 between merely eating meat that might have been sacrificed to idols as opposed to actually participating in the idol worship ceremony. The meat is just meat--nothing has happened to it, it has not been changed.

But actively participating in the ceremony exposes the person to the operation of demons, invites demons into your life. Participation in the ceremony does not change the meat, but it changes the Christian's relationship with God.

 

[Kaon]

It should be noted that Peter did not just object by saying that he had never eaten anything that was unclean, but also added that he had never eaten anything that was common. Furthermore, God only rebuked Peter for his use of the word "common" and not his use of the word "unclean. In other words, Peter had correctly identified the unclean animals as unclean and had correctly declined to eat them in obedience to Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, but he had incorrectly identified the clean animals as common and had incorrectly declined to eat them in disobedience to God's command to kill and eat. So his vision had nothing to do with a change in the status of unclean animals and he interpreted his vision three times as being in regard to wrongly identifying Gentiles, so you should not reinterpret his vision to mean something other than what he interpreted it to mean.

Following Jesus is not just for Jews, but for Gentiles too and we can't follow him by refusing to follow the Law that he followed and taught us to follow by word and by example. There is no sense in a Gentile wanting to become a followers of the God of Israel while wanting nothing to do with walking in His ways in accordance with His nature. Those who want nothing to do with God's instructions for how to walk in His ways want nothing to do with God. In Matthew 23:23, Jesus said that faith is one of the weightier matters of the Law, so if you have faith in God to guide you in how to rightly live, then you will obey His Law.

These.

 

[mmksparbud]

The Passover lamb was eaten no long after it was slaughtered, so they wouldn't have had time to salt everything.



Agreed.

It still had to be soaked in water and salted----just for less time if time was a problem. It was eaten as soon as it was ready after slaughter and proper preparation. Otherwise it would have been deemed unclean.

 

[mmksparbud]

Strangling the sacrifice, drinking the blood, ritual fornication--these were all specific idolatry practices.

This is the difference Paul is drawing in 1 Corinthians 10 between merely eating meat that might have been sacrificed to idols as opposed to actually participating in the idol worship ceremony. The meat is just meat--nothing has happened to it, it has not been changed.

But actively participating in the ceremony exposes the person to the operation of demons, invites demons into your life. Participation in the ceremony does not change the meat, but it changes the Christian's relationship with God.

Are you saying that fornication that was not in a pagan ritual was OK? Fornication is still a no-no---pagan ritual or not! And the same holds for blood---drinking or eating it. All anyone has to do is state a verse that states eating blood is acceptable to God.

 

[Jipsah]

The vision of the unclean animals was not about food---read it. The meaning of the vision is clearly detailed---it is about people!

Oh, "slay and eat" was about people. Dang.

 

[Gregory Thompson]

Following Jesus is not just for Jews, but for Gentiles too and we can't follow him by refusing to follow the Law that he followed and taught us to follow by word and by example. There is no sense in a Gentile wanting to become a followers of the God of Israel while wanting nothing to do with walking in His ways in accordance with His nature. Those who want nothing to do with God's instructions for how to walk in His ways want nothing to do with God. In Matthew 23:23, Jesus said that faith is one of the weightier matters of the Law, so if you have faith in God to guide you in how to rightly live, then you will obey His Law.

Jesus fulfilled the mosaic law because of the Father indwelling Him. Since the Holy Spirit indwells us, we have a different set of customs. As Joshua stated, our human bodies cannot handle the Father in raw form.

 

[mmksparbud]

Oh, "slay and eat" was about people. Dang.

Try reading and tell me where it says it was about food---Peter said it was about people. Peter never did slay and eat.