Who made eating pork and swine flesh lawful for Christians?

The Law that God gave to Moses prohibited the eating of unclean meat like swine flesh/pork.

Jesus and his disciples did not eat unclean meat since they follow the Law of Moses.

The Muslims also do not eat unclean meat since it was prohibited by God in the Holy Qur'an.

I will quote some passages in The Old Testament and in Jesus' Gospel and the Holy Qur'an forbidding the eating of pork meat.

Torah

Leviticus

11:7 And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he [is] unclean to you.

11:8Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they [are] unclean to you.

Deuteronomy

14:8 And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it [is] unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase.

Isaiah

65:3 A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;

65:4 Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable [things is in] their vessels;

66:16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.

66:17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one [tree] in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.

Gospel of Jesus

5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach [them], the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Acts

10:12 Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.

10:13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.

10:14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.

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.

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.

Holy Qur'an

002.173 He hath forbidden you only carrion, and blood, and swine flesh, and that which hath been immolated to (the name of) any other than Allah. But he who is driven by necessity, neither craving nor transgressing, it is no sin for him. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

005.003 forbidden unto you (for food) are carrion and blood and swineflesh, and that which hath been dedicated unto any other than Allah, and the strangled, and the dead through beating, and the dead through falling from a height, and that which hath been killed by (the goring of) horns, and the devoured of wild beasts, saving that which ye make lawful (by the death-stroke), and that which hath been immolated unto idols. And (forbidden is it) that ye swear by the divining arrows. This is an abomination. This day are those who disbelieve in despair of (ever harming) your religion; so fear them not, fear Me! This day have I perfected your religion for you and completed My favour unto you, and have chosen for you as religion al-Islam. Whoso is forced by hunger, not by will, to sin: (for him) lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

016.115 He hath forbidden for you only carrion and blood and swineflesh and that which hath been immolated in the name of any other than Allah; but he who is driven thereto, neither craving nor transgressing, lo! then Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

016.116 And speak not, concerning that which your own tongues qualify (as clean or unclean), the falsehood: "This is lawful, and this is forbidden," so that ye invent a lie against Allah. Lo! those who invent a lie against Allah will not succeed.

002.168 O mankind! Eat of that which is lawful and wholesome in the earth, and follow not the footsteps of the devil. Lo! he is an open enemy for you.

005.005 This day are (all) good things made lawful for you. The food of those who have received the Scripture is lawful for you, and your food is lawful for them. And so are the virtuous women of the believers and the virtuous women of those who received the Scripture before you (lawful for you) when ye give them their marriage portions and live with them in honour, not in fornication, nor taking them as secret concubines. Whoso denieth the faith, his work is vain and he will be among the losers in the Hereafter.

042.021 Or have they partners (of Allah) who have made lawful for them in religion that which Allah allowed not ? And but for a decisive word (gone forth already), it would have been judged between them. Lo! for wrong-doers is a painful doom.

the link explains the medical benefits of not eating pork

www.islamicmedicine.org...

It has been mentioned in The Holy Qur'an that God transformed some men into apes and swines; Jesus also when he was casting off demons cast the evil spirits in a herd of swine.

005.060 Shall I tell thee of a worse (case) than theirs for retribution with Allah ? (Worse is the case of him) whom Allah hath cursed, him on whom His wrath hath fallen and of whose sort Allah hath turned some to apes and swine, and who serveth idols. Such are in worse plight and further astray from the plain road.

There were 6,666 demon spirits and the disciples were affrighted;

'Where is your faith? It is necessary that the demon should depart, and not I.' The demons therefore cried: 'We will come out, but permit us to enter into those swine.' There were feeding there, near to the sea, about ten thousand swine belonging to the Canaanites. Thereupon Jesus said: 'Depart, and enter into the swine.' With a roar the demons entered into the swine, and cast them headlong into the sea.

I just want to know who allowed the eating of pork to Christians? I used to be a Christian and used to eat pork until I became Muslim and learned that God prohibited it to his people. Never ate pork since.

Peace!

Read Acts chapter 10.

reply to post by Valhall


Valhall,

I read it, there was nothing there making eating of the pork lawful. Just a vision of Peter being shown a vessel of unclean meat, and the following message of the same vision with respect to men, that no one is unclean, showing no favoritism, God not being a respecter of persons.

To say that this passage annuls the Law of Moses is presumptuous.

There was an event though when Jesus was questioned by one of the scribes concerning the eating of pork.

Truly I say to you, that to eat bread with unclean hands defiles not a man, because that which enters into the man defiles not the man, but that which comes out of the man defiles the man." Thereupon, said one of the scribes: "If I shall eat pork, or other unclean meats, will they not defile my conscience?" Jesus answered: "Disobedience will not enter into the man, but will come out of the man, from his heart; and therefore will he be defiled when he shall eat forbidden food."

So, if it wasn't the teachings of Jesus, whose teachings is it?

Peace!

The Law that God gave to Moses prohibited the eating of unclean meat like swine flesh/pork.
No the law Moses SAYS God gave to him.
Many think of pork as a pig who lives in a stye.
Writheling around in its own excrement.
When in reality pigs come from the wild.
MAN put them in pens of excrement.
So how is a wild pig, who lives in the forest like a deer, and eats plants, filthy?
Cows eat there own excrement, they do it on the grass and then eat the grass.
So do sheep goats etc.So how is any animal more filthy than another?
Its just ignorant illogical banter made up by some freaks.

I just pointed it out to you. I thought you wanted the answer as to what scripture Christian theology bases their belief that eating pork is okay...that's what I gave you.

I didn't know you wanted me to point you to something you could accept for your own belief. Had I known that I wouldn't have wasted my time replying.


[edit on 7-23-2008 by Valhall]

there is non ,

no one gave the green light,

and youve broken the law,

As depicted in the scriptures below the pig is seen as a magical animal and is thus excluded from the "unclean" category

Homer: Are you saying you're never going to eat any animal again? What about bacon?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Ham?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Pork chops?
Lisa: Dad, those all come from the same animal.
Homer: Heh heh heh. Ooh, yeah, right, Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.

reply to post by spitefulgod


Lol, great story board.

It's not good to make fun of scriptures though. Seriously now, what if you find that it's still unlawful to eat pork, will you still eat it? Wouldn't that be tantamount to disobedience and hence defile you?

Peace!

Well said. Pork is tasty. People like eating it. So religious fanatics, who hate people having any fun, must immediately ban it.

Hear me, ye sinners. Thou shalt not eat pork. Come to think of it, thou shalt not eat anything tasty. No, wait, come to think of it...

THOU SHALT NOT EAT!

Its funny cause I don't believe in any unclean meat and I'm a Christian. My husband believes in acts 10. He seems to think its ok too cause of Peter's vision.

I tell him the vision is about men not meat. So anyways. He eats ham and etc and so does the kids.

I however feel God does not want us too, so I do not.

I was going to post this very subject today. You beat me too it. LOL> I was going to ask people what they felt that verse actually means.

Cause to me it’s talking about men and to others its talking about food.

I do not eat pork and I am a true Christian.

A true Christian is one that attempts to follow the religion by the books.. so to speak .. not by the newer teachings of the Roman Catholics.

For example, Saturday is the true sabbath. Sunday was made by Romans as the sabbath.

The pope is considered Jesus/God incarnate on Earth, and can change any law, decree or do anything, according to Vatican law.

They have a corrupted sacrament.. eating the flesh and blood of Jesus? No thanks, I'll burn a stick of incense and make a prayer quietly. That's my sacrament. They also idolize Jesus as God when Jesus himself said he was not literally God incarnate more-so than his fellow men. He was sent by God, or even a psuedo-Son to him, but he was not God himself. This is Arian Christianity, considered heretical by the Catholics.

There is nothing that states pork is okay for Christians to eat. The introduction of pork as a staple for Christmas dinners, such as cooking a hole big ham for the family, "Christmas Ham" you know .. w/the pineapples? That was an utter blasphemy performed by the Catholic Europeans before travelling to the New World. For even Jesus exorcised the demons of "Legion" from the man, sending them into the flock of Pigs, which then drowned themselves immediately. Why is this? lets take a closer look.

Legion pleads to not be thrown out, and begs to be placed into the pig flock. Jesus obliges, then they commit suicide. What would've happened had Jesus not had mercy on the demon? He wouldn't have placed it into the pig flock. This was an act of sympathy, because had Jesus not done this, Legion would have been utterly destroyed. But he allowed Legion to carry on, as one of God's creations, by sending it into the pigs. The pigs killed themselves to naturally free themselves, that is.. the spirit demon named Legion, so that they could take flight and possess and torment more human beings. Because pigs falling off a cliff into the water, this a natural occurence, and so by the rules.. the demon is freed from that flesh from which he was cast into.

But yes, pork = blasphemy

Christians are saved by grace through the suffering and resurrection of Jesus. They are not under the Law, they are under Gods grace.

reply to post by zerbot565


zerbot,

you're right, i did broke the Law unknowingly. growing up in a pork eating religion and too young to know.

Praise be to God, now I'm mending. Repentance and penitence was in order. Once I knew it was forbidden, no amount of tantalizing can make me eat it again.

003.135 And those who, when they do an evil thing or wrong themselves, remember Allah and implore forgiveness for their sins - Who forgiveth sins save Allah only ? - and will not knowingly repeat (the wrong) they did.

004.017 forgiveness is only incumbent on Allah toward those who do evil in ignorance (and) then turn quickly (in repentance) to Allah. These are they toward whom Allah relenteth. Allah is ever Knower, Wise.

033.035 Lo! men who surrender unto Allah, and women who surrender, and men who believe and women who believe, and men who obey and women who obey, and men who speak the truth and women who speak the truth, and men who persevere (in righteousness) and women who persevere, and men who are humble and women who are humble, and men who give alms and women who give alms, and men who fast and women who fast, and men who guard their modesty and women who guard (their modesty), and men who remember Allah much and women who remember - Allah hath prepared for them forgiveness and a vast reward.

Peace!

Thanks Shar for the question.

I believe it is referring to men. Peter needed to go out and spread the gospel to ALL men, so he had to set aside the old biases.

But I see no problem in taking the vision literally as well. The statement is clearly made there is nothing unclean made of God...so there you go - there is nothing unclean made of God.

At the same time - I don't care one way or the other if anybody (including myself) takes it literal to eating pork. What I find ludicrous - both of Judeaism and Islam is that they believe their connection to their spirituality is so tenuous that a slice of bacon can throw it off. I guess the Jewish/Muslim God connection is chemical. o_O

Serious - if you want to post a post as long as my leg about a subject so trivial and try to start an argument on the interpretation that one group uses that you don't agree with, then bacon must be an absolutely essential subject in your faith - right?

The Mosaic law was a law of living. The majority of the laws were clearly - to anyone who still has their head attached to their body - for the purpose of staying alive. They were hygienic and dietary in nature to keep a nomadic group of people alive during a period of time when they had no Igloo coolers and were not in an environment conducive to sanitary living.

I'm not against anyone strapping the book of Leviticus to their back and beating themselves silly when they find out they broke one of the laws of minutia - but don't assume the rest of us who think there might actually be matters of spiritual importance will be lamenting bacon bits along with you.

[edit on 7-23-2008 by Valhall]

reply to post by DarkStormCrow


Darkstorm,

Are you saying that Jesus dying on the Cross, make sinning against God by breaking the Law of Moses lawful? Did Jesus' death made Christian above the Law of God?

How will you explain Jesus' saying that he did not come to break the Law of Moses, if he made eating unclean meat lawful?

Peace!




[edit on 23-7-2008 by queenofangels_17]

Originally posted by Valhall
Thanks Shar for the question.

I believe it is referring to men. Peter needed to go out and spread the gospel to ALL men, so he had to set aside the old biases.

But I see no problem in taking the vision literally as well. The statement is clearly made there is nothing unclean made of God...so there you go - there is nothing unclean made of God.

I love that statement. Nothing unclean made by God. Never looked at it quite like that. I was looking at it as men and my husband as both. As do several others. Not once though has he explained it as clear as you did. Thanks for that.

I'm still not sure for myself though if I could actually eat it. However, I cook an awesome ham according to my family. I don't stop them just because of how I feel. So even though I don't eat it they all do.

I think it's a personal conviction of people in general. Its not a sin unless God tell's you not to do something and you do it. So I don't believe my family is sinning against God just because they eat ham.

reply to post by runetang

For even Jesus exorcised the demons of "Legion" from the man, sending them into the flock of Pigs, which then drowned themselves immediately. Why is this? lets take a closer look.

What was a flock of swine doing in Judea, where nobody ate pork?

And was Jesus being Godly towards the owner of the flock, by running his capital assets over a cliff?

reply to post by Valhall


Valhall,

Nicely put. You have free will thanks be to God, to eat anything you want. But to say that God didn't forbid anything is not true, a certain tree was forbidden to our first parents, but Satan deceived them into eating from it.

Peace!

[edit on 23-7-2008 by queenofangels_17]

reply to post by runetang


runetang,

thanks for a great contribution to the thread.

I can see you're widely read and have broken free from traditional Christianity.

You're following the true teachings of Jesus and I'm happy for you.

003.064 Say: O People of the Scripture! Come to an agreement between us and you: that we shall worship none but Allah, and that we shall ascribe no partner unto Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside Allah. And if they turn away, then say: Bear witness that we are they who have surrendered (unto Him).

God did not make eating of unclean meat lawful to anybody from the time of Adam until our generation, neither did Jesus nor any of his original disciples.
To say otherwise will be forging a lie and ascribing it to God.

Peace be upon you!

Most of what has been said covers anything I'd want to add to this discussion, but I wanted to point out a few things:

Originally posted by Valhall
What I find ludicrous - both of Judeaism and Islam is that they believe their connection to their spirituality is so tenuous that a slice of bacon can throw it off.

I'm not really sure this would be a valid way of thinking, as far as God goes. I mean....is one's connection to spirituality so tenuous that:
* a slight pressing action on a gun
* pushing one's organ into another's orifice
* just uttering an insult along the lines of "____ the holy spirit"

can throw it off?

Originally posted by Valhall
The Mosaic law was a law of living. The majority of the laws were clearly - to anyone who still has their head attached to their body - for the purpose of staying alive. They were hygienic and dietary in nature to keep a nomadic group of people alive during a period of time when they had no Igloo coolers and were not in an environment conducive to sanitary living.

This may be true, but where does it say that these laws are nullified? What has an igloo freezer got to do with anything? Jesus didn't have any of those. Neither did any other christians until about less than 200 years ago. Can we pick and choose which laws applied then because they helped living, and which are not needed to be followed now? If the sabbath was there to give us a break from a hard week's work, why should it matter whether it is on Saturday or Sunday?

It's not (exclusively) matter of (what we know of science) helping human's stay alive. It's God's law. Isn't it?