This is something that I posted in General Theology in response to a question someone had about eating shrimp, and I thought it would be an interesting subject for discussion on the Adventist Forum. The first quote is from someone on the other forum, and I am including it here just so you can understand the context of my response.
Acts 15 (The Council of Jerusalem) does address the issue of meat. The conclusion of the council was that Gentile Christians should not be forced to be circumcised but that there were some particular things they should avoid: "food polluted by idols, sexual immorality, the meat of strangled animals, and blood" (v. 20).
I belong to a church that officially teaches that we should not eat unclean animals (including pigs and shellfish), according to the Levitical requirements. I was raised eating meat but not unclean meat. However, I see the inconsistencies in this view since if we were to follow everything in Leviticus, we would, as some have stated, not wear mixed fabrics, not touch a football, etc. Personally, I am now a vegetarian for health reasons, but I don't believe that eating meat is a sin, and I don't believe that the clean/unclean distinctions apply to Christians.
One thing I would like to point out is that Acts 10 is really not talking about food at all but about Gentiles. The animals in the vision symbolize people. God was preparing Peter to go to Cornelius' house so that he could reach the Gentiles with the Gospel of Jesus. As a result, Cornelius and everyone else in his house who heard the message were filled with the Holy Spirit and baptized. Without this vision, Peter would never have considered inviting Gentiles into the house where he was staying or going to the house of a Gentile. In fact, when he returned to Jerusalem, he faced opposition from the Jewish Christians, who were horrified that he had gone to the house of Gentiles and even eaten with them (because they were "unclean" and not to be associated with by the very fact that they were not Jews).
Acts 15 (The Council of Jerusalem) does address the issue of meat. The conclusion of the council was that Gentile Christians should not be forced to be circumcised but that there were some particular things they should avoid: "food polluted by idols, sexual immorality, the meat of strangled animals, and blood" (v. 20).
I belong to a church that officially teaches that we should not eat unclean animals (including pigs and shellfish), according to the Levitical requirements. I was raised eating meat but not unclean meat. However, I see the inconsistencies in this view since if we were to follow everything in Leviticus, we would, as some have stated, not wear mixed fabrics, not touch a football, etc. Personally, I am now a vegetarian for health reasons, but I don't believe that eating meat is a sin, and I don't believe that the clean/unclean distinctions apply to Christians.
