Food?

[ozso]

Yes, but again, if worried about parasitic infections, cook well, problem solved. Fish can also be ridden by parasites, but it’s kosher.

Yes, but a scavenger is an unclean animal because they eat garbage and dead things. Pigs even eat poop as far as I know. God simply considered such animals unfit for His chosen people to eat. Also God had the Israelites do or not do things simply to separate their ways from everyone else's.

 

[James_Lai]

Yes, but a scavenger is an unclean animal because they eat garbage and dead things. Pigs even eat poop as far as I know. God simply considered such animals unfit for His chosen people to eat. Also God had the Israelites do or not do things simply to separate their ways from everyone else's.

There are herbivores in the list of the unclean animals that don’t eat garbage. But I do need to look at the unclean list from the healthcare prospective. Made me think.

To separate by food seams silly.

 

[mmarco]

Looking at what the ancients created, like some pagodas, temples, pyramids or paintings, sculptures, mosaics etc, or their literary or spiritual writings, I tend to think the people of 1500 years ago were superior to us

I totally disagree.

 

[James_Lai]

I totally disagree.

Well, the Bible was written by them, wasn’t it? If we are so much more forward-thinking, why not write the Bible 2.0?

 

[mmarco]

Well, the Bible was written by them, wasn’t it? If we are so much more forward-thinking, why not write the Bible 2.0?

Indeed, theologians over the centuries have sought to understand ever more deeply the truths that God has revealed through the Bible and there has been progress in theology;
the point is that the truths contained in th Bible are not an expression of the culture of the Jewish people, but divine revelations made to a few people chosen by God.

 

[James_Lai]

Indeed, theologians over the centuries have sought to understand ever more deeply the truths that God has revealed through the Bible and there has been progress in theology;
the point is that the truths contained in th Bible are not an expression of the culture of the Jewish people, but divine revelations made to a few people chosen by God.

There are other ancient literary and religious works from the same and other regions of the world that stood the test of time and became basis of faith or examples of highest classical written art. Hard to find anything compatible in our age..

 

[mmarco]

There are other ancient literary and religious works from the same and other regions of the world that stood the test of time and became basis of faith or examples of highest classical written art. Hard to find anything compatible in our age..

As I said, I totally disagree.

 

[James_Lai]

As I said, I totally disagree.

For example, Bhagavad Gita, written about 2,400 years ago. Foundation of Hinduism. Studied and adored in all of India and around the world in 2021. No literary work of man from the subcontinent comes even close

 

[mmarco]

For example, Bhagavad Gita, written about 2,400 years ago. Foundation of Hinduism. Studied and adored in all of India and around the world in 2021. No literary work of man from the subcontinent comes even close

This is only your opinion.

 

[James_Lai]

This is only your opinion.

It’s opinion of over one billion people today and many more in past centuries.

This ancient text from a foreign culture has been so enthusiastically received by Westerners. The Gita, like all truly great works of literature, can be read on many levels: metaphysical, moral, spiritual, and practical. That’s why it has such great appeal.

In Arabia, among nomad peoples, 1400 years ago came out a genius of Mohammed who created a book of Scripture that became foundation of life for a large part of humankind. The Arabic language in it is beyond anything that could be reproduced after. Fusha of the Quran is the golden standard of the classical language.

 

[mmarco]

It’s opinion of over one billion people today and many more in past centuries.

This ancient text from a foreign culture has been so enthusiastically received by Westerners. The Gita, like all truly great works of literature, can be read on many levels: metaphysical, moral, spiritual, and practical. That’s why it has such great appeal.

In Arabia, among nomad peoples, 1400 years ago came out a genius of Mohammed who created a book of Scripture that became foundation of life for a large part of humankind. The Arabic language in it is beyond anything that could be reproduced after. Fusha of the Quran is the golden standard of the classical language.

This does not change the fact it is only an opinion and that I am free to disagree.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Hello.

Why unclean food? I know Jesus said nothing is unclean that goes in, but in the OT, some types of food are unclean. Also in Acts it says we are to avoid food dedicated to idols, meat of strangled animal or blood.

How it matters to God? Food is food, just nutrients and energy source. Why divide clean and unclean?

They say unclean is not good for your health like Pork, but many people eat pork and remain so healthy and live pretty long. Muslim friends even don’t eat candy with gelatine made from pig parts.

I don’t know. The idea of unclean food doesn’t make sense to me.

The Jerusalem Council described in Acts ch. 15 was dealing with brand new converts to Christianity from Paganism. So the Apostles and Jerusalem fathers believed that a few provisions be included to help new converts avoid returning to Pagan practice: no eating food sacrificed to idols, no consuming of blood, etc.

St. Paul, in his epistles, tells us pretty plainly that eating food sacrificed to idols doesn't actually mean anything, and that one who eats food sacrificed to idols with a clear conscience does no wrong.

So there are no food restrictions in Christianity. When it comes to things like food, drink, how we dress, etc, these are purely matters of individual conscience.

The reason for the dietary rules for the Jews was part of the cultural-religious identity of the Jews as the Covenant People; one of the central roles they served was to distinguish the Jewish people as distinct from their Pagan neighbors.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[James_Lai]

The Jerusalem Council described in Acts ch. 15 was dealing with brand new converts to Christianity from Paganism. So the Apostles and Jerusalem fathers believed that a few provisions be included to help new converts avoid returning to Pagan practice: no eating food sacrificed to idols, no consuming of blood, etc.

St. Paul, in his epistles, tells us pretty plainly that eating food sacrificed to idols doesn't actually mean anything, and that one who eats food sacrificed to idols with a clear conscience does no wrong.

So there are no food restrictions in Christianity. When it comes to things like food, drink, how we dress, etc, these are purely matters of individual conscience.

The reason for the dietary rules for the Jews was part of the cultural-religious identity of the Jews as the Covenant People; one of the central roles they served was to distinguish the Jewish people as distinct from their Pagan neighbors.

-CryptoLutheran

Idol sacrifice aside, which is pretty self-explanatory, there remained blood and strangled animal meat.

So they lightened it up a lot, but didn’t cancel entirely.

To not eat some products for the sake of being different seems silly. What does food have to do with God worship? There’s plenty of difference right there in theology and temple rituals, why extend it. Seems unnecessary.

Why is it called clean and unclean if it’s merely for distinction? There were other unclean actions or things, such as a woman during her period or touching a corpse.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Idol sacrifice aside, which is pretty self-explanatory, there remained blood and strangled animal meat.

That's still part of the "pagan stuff" that they were wanting them to avoid.

So they lightened it up a lot, but didn’t cancel entirely.

What you eat is up to your conscience. God doesn't care.

To not eat some products for the sake of being different seems silly. What does food have to do with God worship? There’s plenty of difference right there in theology and temple rituals, why extend it. Seems unnecessary.

Israel wasn't a religion, but a people. The notion of religious identity being distinct from one's ethnic-social-national identity is a pretty modern idea. To be an Israelite meant to be an Israelite--a member of God's covenant people; a distinct nation of people from other nations of people.

If you're wondering why these very specific restrictions, well I haven't a clue.

Why is it called clean and unclean if it’s merely for distinction? There were other unclean actions or things, such as a woman during her period or touching a corpse.

Ritual purity. The external is connected with the internal, the unclean or impure renders what it contacts as also unclean or impure.

When Jesus said that it is what comes out of someone rather than what goes inside of them that makes a person unclean, Jesus was intentionally inverting the way people saw the concept of "purity". For Christians the former things served as symbols and signs pointing to bigger things. Purity, for example, isn't about the outward body, it's about a purity of heart and mind. The impure is the "dirt" as it were of ideas, beliefs--of the powers and principalities of the world--that taint us by leading us astray from the truth of God. Our idolatries that poison us by leading us away from the true God who shows Himself in Jesus Christ, and all of our myriad false views of the divine. I'm using "idolatry" very broadly. I'm not just talking about literal worship of idols, arguably more importantly I'm talking about our wrong views of God. Even further: When we sexually objectify another human being, or when we lie, or cheat, or cause injury, we are engaging in an idolatry of denying the full integrity, the divine likeness, of the human person. That's our idolatry.

Christianity reads the Old Testament through the New. Because the purpose of the Bible in the Christian religion is Jesus. The Bible isn't the Word of God, Jesus Christ is. It is for Christ's sake that we regard the Scriptures as the sacred and inspired word of God.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[James_Lai]

Thank you to all for your answers!!!

Leaving this site, good bye!

All the best to you all.