figuer

Though the Jews certainly did not consider them holy (but the contrary), it could be that the origin of the dietary law prohibiting pork did lay in their sacred or taboo status in some pre-Jewish time. Adonis (= Adonai, "the lord"), a Greek God of probably Phoenician (Semitic) origin, was slain by a wild boar. His Phrygian equivalent, Attis, was also slain by wild boar, and his followers are credited as not eating pigs for this reason, although it is not clear if they considered them holy or cursed. Thus it could be that the Jews inherited the custom from ancient pagan practices whose origin they did not remember.

Cheerful Charlie

Many of the animals forbidden by the laws of Moses were scavengers. I strongly suspect that is why pigs were also banned.

CC

Gamera

Exactly.

And as to the prohibition of pork in Judaism, it is part of well known anthropological pattern of food prohibitions relating to outsider groups. The Hebrews were pastoral people and hence didn't raise pigs. They associated pigs with their (hostile) urbanized neighbors.

There is example after example of this worldwide. It's not mysterious. It's why the English call the French "frogs" and we called the Germans "Krauts" during the war. It's why frankfurters became hot dogs during WWI. It also explains why we don't eat horseflesh. Horse was commonly eaten in northern pagan culture, and was associated with pagan rituals. When Christianity came to England and northern Europe, it was more or less banned for that reason. Indeed, Pope Gregory banned it in 732 ad. Many anthropologists think that the meat eating prohibitions of Buddhism and Hinduism was a result of a kind of "arms" race in India, where the competing religions tried to prove each was more pious than the other.

Food is a discursive territory where interethnic hostility is often played out.

Anduin

"Romanes Eunt Domus" :devil1:

Steven Avery

David Hindley helpfully gave you some references for this question.

And there was actually a spirited debate over a century ago between William Gladstone (Britain's prime minister) and T. H. Huxley (evolutionist) on this very matter.

Sample - from Gladstone.

"Some commentators have alleged the authority of Josephus for stating that Gadara was a city of Greeks rather than of Jews, from whence it might be inferred that to keep swine was innocent and lawful."

Quote:

Originally Posted by RED DAVE beyond all the fact that Gadara is some twenty miles from the nearest body of water.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jackal5096 Gadara and/or Gerasa were located to the east or southeast of the Sea of Galilee, not in Judea but in the region known as the Decapolis (ten cities). This region was predominantly Hellenistic/Gentile/Pagan, but did have a sizeable Jewish minority.

Let's unravel this geography.

Gadara was a city six miles away from the southeast part of the Sea of Galilee, with harbor access on the sea. Today only some IIDB skeptics try to argue against Gadarene reach to the sea, real scholarship is essentially settled on this issue. Read up on Mendel Nun and other references for the info, some references are in an earlier IIDB thread. And notice that Luke and Mark refer to the country of the Gadarenes, not the city of Gadara, as the locale where the healing took place. And notice that the swine were "nigh unto the mountains" (Mark) which fits the Gadarene region.

Gerasa was far away, about 35 miles deep into Jordan (halfway to Amman) and home of the famous swine marathon of the modern versions. 'Gerasa' is only a corruption that is not in the historic Bible (Textus Receptus, Tyndale, Geneva, King James Bible). Since Origen discusses the issue of the location it is worthy of special attention.

Gergesenes (Kursi), from which the Gerasa corruption came, is on the northeast region of the Sea of Galilee.

Gadara was part of the Decapolis, as referenced in Luke, while Gergesenes was not. Gerasa, as jackal points out, was also part of Decapolis and was very well known (Gergesenes was not). Both of which could have contributed to the 'Gerasa' corruption in Luke and Mark that we have in a small minority of extant Greek manuscripts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by otis The pigs in the Bible story is explained in Hitchen's god is Not Great.

Bertrand Russell bemoaned the fate of the swine much earlier, as well. Although Hitchens likely expresses more depth of concern for the swine, for Russell it is a bit of an afterthought.

As for not eating pork, the Bible proscribes scavenger animals in general, as they are here for cleanup, not food. True, swine is also used in pagan worship, although that could be seen as simply a rebellion against the Godly wisdom and direction. The study by David Macht at John Hopkins about the nature of the scavenger meats remains today an excellent read. You might also notice how frequently outbreaks of diseases like cholera are connected to scavenger 'foods'.

Shalom,
Steven Avery
Queens, NY
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Messianic_Apologetic

youngalexander

I was going to suggest Ibn Warraq's "Why I Am Not a Muslim", pg332 Pigs and Pork.

However, I see that both you and Hitchens have beaten me to it.:Cheeky: