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Q: Pork in the bible ( Answered 5 out of 5 stars,   3 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Pork in the bible
Category: Relationships and Society > Religion
Asked by: arthurc-ga
List Price: $5.00
Posted: 10 Apr 2002 11:27 PDT
Expires: 17 Apr 2002 11:27 PDT
Question ID: 34
Does the bible prohibit the eating of pork? If yes then an exact quote would be
nice.
Answer  
Subject: Re: Pork in the bible
Answered By: dscotton-ga on 10 Apr 2002 14:21 PDT
Rated:5 out of 5 stars
 
Yes, it's at the beginning of Chapter 11 in Leviticus. I'm using the New 
American Bible because it's one of the more readable translations.

http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/bible/leviticus/leviticus11.htm
Leviticus, Chapter 11
1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, 
2 
"Speak to the Israelites and tell them: Of all land animals these are the ones 
you may eat: 
3 
any animal that has hoofs you may eat, provided it is cloven-footed and chews 
the cud. 
4 
But you shall not eat any of the following that only chew the cud or only have 
hoofs: the camel, which indeed chews the cud, but does not have hoofs and is 
therefore unclean for you; 
5 
2 the rock badger, which indeed chews the cud, but does not have hoofs and is 
therefore unclean for you; 
6 
the hare, which indeed chews the cud, but does not have hoofs and is therefore 
unclean for you; and the pig, 
7 
which does indeed have hoofs and is cloven-footed, but does not chew the cud 
and is therefore unclean for you. 
8 
Their flesh you shall not eat, and their dead bodies you shall not touch; they 
are unclean for you.
arthurc-ga rated this answer:5 out of 5 stars

Comments  
Subject: Re: Pork in the bible
From: rv-ga on 18 Apr 2002 14:17 PDT
 
Please note that this was required by God of His people in the Old Testament.  
He set up many laws to keep His people pure.  As pigs were seen as animals that 
ate garbage etc. God called them unclean.  Pigs/pork was not an acceptable 
sacrifice for the attonement for sins.  However, in the New Testament, this law 
was "lifted."  Because of Jesus' death on the cross (and resurrection), 
sacrifices were no longer needed as Jesus was the final sacrifice and faith in 
Him was the only way man could be pure before God.  It was no longer necessary 
for God's people to leave by these strict rules.  God declares this once 
unclean food clean in the following passage in a dream to Peter.
Acts 11:4-10
"4Peter began and explained everything to them precisely as it had happened: 
5"I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw 
something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, 
and it came down to where I was. 6I looked into it and saw four-footed animals 
of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air. 7Then I heard a 
voice telling me, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.' 
8"I replied, 'Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my 
mouth.' 
9"The voice spoke from heaven a second time, 'Do not call anything impure that 
God has made clean.' 10This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up 
to heaven again."
Subject: Re: Pork in the bible
From: mssever-ga on 13 Jun 2002 22:29 PDT
 
In response to rv-ga:

If you read the full context of Acts 11:4-10, you find out that the
vision is a symbolic command from God not to discriminate between Jews
and Gentiles, not a statement that pork is okay. Here is the rest of
the passage--Acts 4:11-18, NIV (
http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?passage=Acts+11:11-18&NIV_version=yes&language=english&x=17&y=10
):

"11'Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped
at the house where I was staying. 12The Spirit told me to have no
hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with
me, and we entered the man's house. 13He told us how he had seen an
angel appear in his house and say, "Send to Joppa for Simon who is
called Peter. 14He will bring you a message through which you and all
your household will be saved."
15'As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on
us at the beginning. 16Then I remembered what the Lord had said: "John
baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
17So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the
Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?'
18When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised
God, saying, 'So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance
unto life.'"

The real message is about exclusivity.

I would like to see proog from the Bible that this law was lifted.
Remember, it was enacted for health reasons, and 1 Corinthians 6:19
(NIV) says, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy
Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?" (
http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=1COR+6:19&language=english&version=NIV&showfn=on&showxref=on
)
Subject: Re: Pork in the bible
From: benjammin-ga on 14 Jun 2002 16:43 PDT
 
Hi rv-ga

In the New Testament, St. Paul's main message about the Old Testament
Law is that Law is sin. It is impossible for us to keep to all the 613
Mosaic Laws and so inevitably we sin. Therefore, Paul says, we must do
away with the written law and instead the law must come from our
hearts. He says that it doesn't matter what you eat, as long as you
have faith in God. There's nothing wrong with keeping the kosher food
laws, but it is not necessary. If you feel guilty eating pork, then
don't do it, because that is a sin. But if you do not feel guilty, and
this was true for the Gentiles who Paul was preaching too, it does not
matter what you eat.

This sentiment is backed up by Jesus in Matthew's Gospel (New
International Version)

Matthew 15:10-11
"Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand. What
goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes
out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.' " "

And again in Matthew 15:16-20
""Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them. "Don't you see that
whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the
body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart,
and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil
thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony,
slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed
hands does not make him 'unclean.' " "

Both Jesus and Paul said that it did not matter what you ate which
included pork. As has been said before, the Old Testament clearly
states that pork is forbidden under the kosher laws which is why some
Jewish people do not eat pork. Christian doctrine however, does not
accept kosher food laws for the reasons noted above.

Search Terms:

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Websites Used:

http://bible.gospelcom.net/

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