Doctor X

For what it is worth, I had thought the sanitation issue--especially when I thought the Hebrews wandered about a desert for 40 years!!--was "da reason" for the dietary laws.

However--and I wish I could remember what scholar noted this--it appears that some may have been an artificial way to make "our group" distinct from the others.

Of course, by the time of the NT, a Greek would see little reason for such traditions.

--J.D.

SkepticBoyLee

Exactly how much did cooking/stove technology improve from the OT days as compaired with roughly 2,000 years ago shortly after the times JEsus supopsedly lived??

Lanakila

Probably not a hell of a lot. But the religion of Christianity needed to be a fullfillment of Judiaism to convince Jews to follow it. But to convince Greeks to follow it, they had to dump some of the legalism so that may be why those restrictions were canned. Jesus did break some of the laws himself for example he healed on the Sabbath, and his disciples picked grain on the Sabbath. This may have been later redactors trying to get rid of the Mosiaic law. But I am not sure, and only guessing here.

Llyricist

Actually I found an even more sensical reason for the ban on pork. Tis because Pigs eat human food, ie veggies that are just as good for humans. Doesn't make sense to breed food competitors in a desert.... and that IS where Judaism got kicked off.... and if ya notice... the Muslims still abide by that law.

Even being the most efficient meat for translating the nutrients it consumes to nutrients for us, it is still a net loss in a vegetation light environment, better to stick with animals that "chew the cud" ie, eat grass and other vegetation too fibrous for humans.

Amaleq13

Excellent point! I wonder if this is why humans are referred to as "long pig" in a cannibalistic context?(insert smilie barfing here )

offa

The true meaning of "eating pork" is having sex with Gentiles. Jews don't do it and Christians do. At least, that is the old law.

Doctor X

Okay, I will "bite."

What is the evidence for that interpretation?

--J.D.

rlcjhardesty

The law remains for those who reject Jesus as their Messiah. That's why it will not pass away until the end. It is the standard by which the unsaved will be judged. For those who are saved, the law is - suspended. Suspended, because Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the law in our place, then took the punishment for breaking the law upon himself. Basically, it's a simple matter of asking the judge for clemency.

The whole issue with pork comes from religious people (earning God's approval by works) claiming that they're more holy because they don't eat pork. True, there are benefits that come with abstaining from pork - especially before the medical knowledge of cysts was made available. But, Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is not about eating and drinking but rather - ["For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17)]. & ["Don't you understand either?" he asked. "Can't you see that what you eat won't defile you? Food doesn't come in contact with your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then comes out again." (By saying this, he showed that every kind of food is acceptable.) And then he added, "It is the thought-life that defiles you. For from within, out of a person's heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, eagerness for lustful pleasure, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you and make you unacceptable to God." (Mark 7:18)]

I love bacon too. And ham! (My dog really loves the ham bone!)

mike_decock

Paul is Jesus?

-Mike...

Amaleq13

Where does it say this in the Gospel?