Why do christians eat pork

The Lord's displeasure at Israel for eating pork had nothing to do with pork itself. Just as the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden was not inherently sinful, neither is pork inherently sinful. In both cases, the problem wasn't the food itself, for as Paul says:. Rather, the problem in both cases was disobedience to God's word.

Adam received an instruction from God, which he disobeyed resulting in God's judgment against him. Likewise, Israel received a word to abstain from pork in the covenant, yet they disobeyed, provoking His anger against them. For more information on this issue, we invite you to read the following articles on the believer's relationship to the Law of Moses.

It is the property of the people's community. In Islam too. Within most of the culture of gentiles, pork was a common food. So, limitations in the Bible were canceled and justification was found through interpretation.

But there are Christian denominations where the whole Bible accepted. There are no contradictions like eating pork. Of course, they do not eat camels too. I think it's because of an incorrect interpretation of Acts These denominations believe it's talking about eating unclean meat. In fact, this passage clearly proves Peter long after the Jesus crucifixion, did not eat unclean meat as outlined in the laws of Moses.

The real meaning to this vision is not about clean or unclean meat laws upheld by early Christians. Its the vision true meaning is found just a few verses later Some of us Christians believe the Old Testament rules were for our own good. As new creatures in Christ we are not under the Law.

Eating pork is not a sin. It is however much like eating shellfish foolish. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top.

Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Why do most Christians eat pork when Deuteronomy says not to? Asked 11 months ago. Active 11 months ago. Viewed 14k times. Improve this question. Bil Bil 1 1 gold badge 2 2 silver badges 3 3 bronze badges. I hope this will be followed with questions about seafood and the wearing of mixed fibres. Interesting that all the unclean animals are carnivorous, I think.

And eating pig meat also has a high risk of trichinosis. MarkStewart rabbits are unclean, also most insects. MarkStewart nowhere in the First World is that true. Even more importantly This has been marked as a duplicate of another question. I'd agree that most of the answers here are duplicates, but that's because they answer a much more general question. But some in particular mine do directly address the specific question and from a position that is the exact opposite of the others.

Show 2 more comments. Active Oldest Votes. Why do most Christians eat pork? NWT Interestingly though when here on earth, Jesus was confronted with a situation that dealt with uncleanness in Mark Ultimately, Christians are no longer under the Mosaic Law. Improve this answer. It doesn't make sense intuitively. Whatever that symbol is supposed to represent, that isn't further explained.

Add a comment. When Christ came, he "fulfilled the Law". Romans KJV 14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean. JarWarren JarWarren 8 8 bronze badges. Peter Mortensen 3 3 bronze badges. You say the Jews are still under the old covenant. Sorry, they might still think they are, but they are not as far as their God is concerned, and they cannot not keep now ever since the Jerusalem Temple was destroyed in 70 AD.

The obligations of the old covenant finished when the Kingdom of God began, which is not about food and drink but about righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Rom Better to say the Jews think they are bound to the old law.

Because most Christians are Gentiles non-Jews. This group is more commonly known as Judaizers Judaizers are Christians who teach it is necessary to adopt Jewish customs and practices, especially those found in the Law of Moses, to be saved.

Machavity Machavity 1, 6 6 silver badges 19 19 bronze badges. This is essentially what is communicated by that book regarding your question: The Bible is made up of the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Panzercrisis Panzercrisis 6 6 bronze badges. Bajortski Bajortski 19 1 1 bronze badge. Note that despite how the sub-headings might make it appear, this answer is directly opposite to most of the other answers. Many Christians do abstain from pork and other unclean meat. Initially, the prohibition against pork was part of the Law given to Moses [so it's binding only on Jews] The distinction between clean and unclean meat existed long before Moses.

Notice God's instruction on what to take aboard the ark: You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female Noah was the ancestor of all mankind, so if he had to distinguish between clean and unclean meat, it's hardly only a Jewish thing.

Jesus declared all foods clean The Pharisees had accused his disciples of eating without first ceremonially washing their hands. More literal translations, such as the KJV, say: And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? But later he did realize its meaning: You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation.

Peter said that nothing is unclean People tend to quote the last sentence in this passage without considering the rest: Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. So let no one judge you in food or in drink So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths — Colossians Again, people that already believe that pork is edible use this verse to support their position.

Ray Butterworth Ray Butterworth 3, 1 1 gold badge 4 4 silver badges 24 24 bronze badges. Commandments Some say that Jesus extended the Israelites' commands to all believers aka Christians in Matthew when he says "whoever relaxes Here is a quick assortment: Luke mentions commandments and statutes.

Deut 6 mentions commandments, statutes, decrees, testimonies Num commandments, rules. So far this is subjective, but 1 Corinthians proves that not everything in the Law is a commandment : "For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.

Matthias Matthias 1 1 silver badge 7 7 bronze badges. Since many Christians now are not Israelites, they are not obligated to keep these laws, and indeed are especially prohibited from making these laws a requirement for entrance to discipleship, as Paul says For example: Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.

Ephesians is a rule for Christians. Conrado Conrado 5 5 bronze badges. Without changing a single word, this argument would similarly apply to murder, theft, idolatry, etc. Despite the content of my own answer, my comment above wasn't intended to disagree with you. I was pointing out that, as written, it is too simple to be considered a good answer on this site.

It doesn't specifically address the original question, and, by itself without further explanation, could be an argument against any law given in the OT. For instance, someone could use it to explain why Christians no longer need to honor their parents.

RayButterworth's logic is correct. To forbid murdering and stealing, etc, I don't think we need the Old Testament, just Jesus' words. I understand Conrado's take. The key part is «making these laws a requirement for entrance to discipleship», meaning that for salvation there's no works involved.

The firstborn son is the proper heir of his father though sometimes a non-firstborn becomes the heir, such as when selected by Yahweh, like Isaac. Deut Therefore the sanctity of the firstborn and firstling is a means not only of showing fertility and its control, but also of creating the special status of the firstborn son, who is redeemed so that he can become the heir of the father who offers him.

By extension, the offering of the firstling male animal is intrinsically related to the process of lineage and inheritance, which is a primary means of reckoning social status and of distributing wealth.

Furthermore, the ideology of the firstborn is related to Israel's priesthood, in which the Levites are the substitutes for the firstborn Israelites and themselves eat the donated firstling animals. More importantly, the firstborn ideology relates even to Israel's very self-definition as God's "firstborn son" Ex , whose own firstborn are saved in the Passover event. Firstborn ideology has fundamental social importance as well as ritual importance. Raising and eating pigs would not allow for this central cultural expression, or at least would require a significant adaptation of firstling rituals.

Another problematic aspect of pigs' reproduction also relates to ritual-cultural ideology. The Bible is a patriarchal and patrilineal text. It presents a culture based largely on paternity and paternal identity. Witness the long genealogical lists of males that are so distinctive of biblical style! The fertility of swine, in which one female bears many offspring at a time, would appear to highlight female fertility and motherhood instead of fatherhood. In fact, the rituals of many ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean cultures specifically use female pigs to represent female fertility.

For example, the Hittite ritual text "The Benedictions for Labarna" states, "Just as a single pig gives birth to many piglets, let every single branch of this vineyard, like the pig, bear many grape clusters.

This ritual was performed in honor of Demeter, the goddess of grain and mother of Persephone, who preferred pigs in most of her rites. While we have no evidence that biblical pork avoidance was a direct polemic against goddess worship, the image of fertility enacted in these rites opposes the biblical concept of fertility. In the Bible, female—and male—fertility is largely minimized and controlled. Sex, birth, and other evidence of reproduction is deemed impure and must be carefully controlled through ritual see especially Lev 12 ; In the Bible, the male deity controls the womb and what comes from it: he says, "every womb opener is mine" Ex Numerous biblical texts emphasize that Yahweh alone has the power to open and close the womb and to create its contents e.

Num The image of the female pig, reproducing abundantly, challenges the form of controlled, restrained and male-dominated fertility imagined in the Bible. In addition, as multiparous animals, pigs can further confuse and obscure paternity. Multiparous female animals are capable of bearing the offspring of different males simultaneously. When multiparous female animals conceive, they are in estrus for multiple days, during the course of which they release several eggs.

If they mate multiple times during this period, the eggs can be fertilized by the sperm of different males. Therefore, under the right conditions a female's litter can consist of many "half-siblings" with different fathers. In this case, the paternity of the offspring might be unidentifiable, and by extension even irrelevant. The offspring could be recognized only by its mother, not its father.

This scenario would be horrific for a society based on fatherhood and paternal identity, clashing with the fundamental biblical ritual perception of gender. Perhaps the exclusion of pigs from the Israelite diet, and systems of animal husbandry, intentionally prevents this model of gender construction and reproduction from becoming valued and upheld as part of sacred ritual. Ceremonial laws revolved around temple worship, which included sacrifice.

But the sacrifice pointed to the ultimate sacrifice Jesus would make at the cross. Once Jesus offered himself up as the sacrifice at the cross, there was no longer any need for temple sacrifice and all the ceremonies associated with it. I wanted to dig deeper, because while the answers I saw were good, I was never completely satisfied until I heard a really in-depth analysis by a gifted Bible teacher. Key Bible Verse Straight Ahead. This was when I discovered that special Bible verse that totally unlocked the door to understanding this point.

You must first place it in context with other chapters, verses and general Biblical principles. Peter objects to the scene in his vision where the Lord is telling him these unclean animals are now OK to eat.

Acts Chapter 10 opens up with gentile Cornelius seeing a vision of an angel telling him to look for Simon Peter, who has a message for him. For Jews in those days, it was against the Jewish law to associate with gentiles! It was quite a big change for Peter —a lifelong observant Jew- to suddenly learn that two major prohibitions had been redeemed by the Living Savior —1 the dietary laws from Leviticus 11 and 2 the law that Jews should not associate with Gentiles.

Did Peter know the verse you are about to see? At this point, Peter is still a young man, and a fisherman by trade. Jesus knew very nuanced details of the scriptures and understood them uniquely in context. When he answered his questioners, he did it with such wisdom that they could not reply —and he could dramatically turn the tables on the most sophisticated questioners so that they dared not ask him again. Luke , Matt This is the same nuanced way we need to consider this special verse:.

Lev , The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them. You see, the law of Leviticus was only delivered to the Israelites. It was only for them in the first place. When God gave them the law, it was to choose them, and to set them apart as his special people.

The law showed that no man could follow it completely. It revealed that we all fell short of the glory of God. It showed that we needed a Savior. This savior came to save us. When the Savior —Jesus Christ- came, he offered his life in place of ours and he fulfilled the law. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them.

The people he set aside as his chosen people? It is a wonderful, beautiful, law where the eternal living, loving God displayed how he is great, merciful, holy, just and righteous. The dietary law proved its worth to Israel over many generations and spared them from great harm through the centuries.

Here are some New Testament scripture references to contemplate as we finish the discussion:.