Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

During His earthly life, and although He adhered to all the Old Testament dietary laws, Jesus Himself indicated (as He said in Mark 7:14-23) that true spiritual defilement comes from within a person (that is, the heart), rather than from anything that a person consumes, or the manner in which he consumes it. In that regard, the gospel writer also included the explicit parenthetical note in Mark 7:19, "(Thus He declared all foods clean.)"

This was further reinforced by the vision (which was repeated three times for emphasis) that God gave to Peter in Acts 10:9-16, which figuratively dealt with the issue of the acceptance of Gentiles as Christians (despite the fact that they would have had no knowledge of Jewish dietary laws), but which also, on another level, reinforced the fact that, now that Jesus had fulfilled all of the Old Testament Law by His sinless life, His atoning death on the cross, and His resurrection, no animal sources of food were any longer to be regarded by Christians as unclean.

The only constraint now placed on Christians is respecting the views of others who still believe that eating certain types of food is sinful. They do this by voluntarily refusing to eat such foods while in the presence of those others, so as not to tempt them to sin against their own consciences (even though the Christian does not regard the eating of such foods as sinful) (Romans 14:1-23).

November 03 2018 • 2 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Aurel Gheorghe

According with the Bible, eating pig is not okay. Pigs are dirty animals and due to their scavenger lifestyle, they harbor large amounts of viruses and parasites. They are known to consume their own feces and cannibalistically eat their own dead carcasses, thus making them unsafe for human consumption. 

God who created all life (Gen 1:20-25) differentiated between two kinds of creatures: clean, and fit for food, and unclean - unfit to eat. 

An early distinction between clean and unclean animals is found in the Flood story (Gen 8). The clearest identification of which animals were clean for food and which were not is found in Leviticus 11. Land animals must "chew the cud" and have a split hoof (Lev 11:2). Water creatures must have fins and scales (Lev 11:9). All other animals are considered "unclean” - the pig is included in the unclean category. 

God who created our bodies knows best what is good for us and have a very good reason for forbidding the use of certain animals for food. As far as I can tell, all of the forbidden categories are so classified because God wanted His people to be healthy and unclean foods are not suitable for human consumption.

The human body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:20) and as such, "whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31).

"Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul” (3 John 2).

November 15 2018 • 2 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

ricardo s. mutuc

I believe in what the Bible said about categorizing food into clean and unclean since that point of view is from the Creator Himself. If he says some animals are unfit for humans, then He is to be believed and obeyed. In this matter He is the final authority. No matter whether Old or New Testament the physical condition of man, bodily systems and their limitations still apply the same way. Therefore the rules about our bodies still apply today. 

The vision to Peter is not about food as he himself explained it, but about walking away from racism so as to include all men in sharing the gospel of salvation by Jesus.

April 19 2019 • 2 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Al Mark

Food and dietary restrictions in the Bible were always directed to Jews and the nation of Israel. There are no general restrictions on food for Christians, and God had declared as early as Gen 9:3 that "every living thing shall be food for you". Laws in Leviticus are ceremonial laws and part of what made the nation of Israel distinct from their neighbors.

That said, an important principle to follow is not causing your brother to stumble. You may have the liberty to eat all things, but if another brother, referred to by Paul as the "weaker" brother in 1 Cor 10:27 thinks that eating such food is sinful, you should abstain from doing so where you will be seen by them. Do not cause your brother to stumble for the sake of food.

April 19 2019 • 5 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report