We seem to live in a civilized society. And we even more or less observe the 10 commandments: we don’t kill, we don’t steal, we don’t ... well, so on. But society, for some reason, is still irreconcilable in relation to many things. Let's say, not so long ago in St. Petersburg they adopted a law on the "prohibition of propaganda of homosexuality." They accepted it with very incomprehensible wording, after which it is just right to ban Boris Moiseev's concerts and withdraw Elton John's CDs from sale. The guardians for “morality” also referred to the Bible: “If anyone lies with a man as with a woman, then both of them have committed an abomination: let them be put to death, their blood is on them” (Bible, Leviticus 20:13). But in the Bible, written the devil knows when, there are still a bunch of prohibitions, for the violation of which it is just right to stone half the world to death. For example, under the death ban are ...

1. TATTOO

Yes, yes, death is also due for this. In general, a good half of civilized and not so civilized society has been sentenced for many years. Do you think that such a cute butterfly on the pope, or a formidable dragon on the shoulder? It’s just a beautiful picture, and you can always appeal to the fact that “look at the samurai”, but the Japanese Shintoists are generally different for them, and it’s said: “Do not make cuts on your body and do not prick letters on yourself. I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 19:28)

2. SHUTTERING OF MUSTACHES AND BEARDS (AND ALSO MODEL HAIRCUTS)

Tremble hipsters and rockers of all ages. Well, at the same time, and all male fashionistas. Being a true Christian is basically being a caveman, because the Bible often tells us that we should not care about the appearance, but about the soul. In the end, the same Leviticus, a book stern and generous with all sorts of prohibitions, says: “Do not cut your head around, and do not spoil the edges of your beard.” (Leviticus 19:27)

3. Fortunetellers and horoscopes

Well, just don't say that you never went to a fortune teller, or, okay, you didn't read a horoscope on the last page of a newspaper/magazine. Even if you don’t believe it, there is not a single person on earth who would not glance for a moment - and what will happen there next week at Aries / Gemini / Lions. However, Leviticus has its own rule for this: “Do not turn to those who call the dead, and do not go to magicians, and do not bring yourself to defilement from them. I am the Lord your God." (Leviticus 19:31)

4. DISABLED

Well, not all, but only with specific problems, similar to what happened to the hero of Hemingway's novel "Fiesta". This happens infrequently, but if suddenly some veteran of some war was torn off by an explosion of his manhood (or part of it), then he can no longer hope for the Kingdom of Heaven: “Whoever has a yatra crushed or a genital member cut off cannot enter into the company of the Lord." (Deuteronomy 23:1)

5. A WIFE HELPING A HUSBAND DURING A FIGHT

We know how women fight - they use all methods to win for sure: they grab hair, gouge out their eyes, beat them in the balls. Oops, but this is just - God forbid. If the next time you, inadvertently, fight in front of your missus, and she rushes to help you, keep her away from the causal places of your rival, for it is said: “When men fight among themselves, and the wife of one will come up to take her husband from the hand of the one who strikes him, and stretching out his hand, seizes him by the shameful ud: Then cut off her hand: let not your eye spare her. (Deuteronomy 25:11-12)

6. HAM, RABBIT (AND MUCH MORE)

What did you think? True Christians, like Muslims and Jews, should not eat pork and rabbit meat. Never! Firstly, it is delicious, and secondly: “Only do not eat these of those who chew the cud and have cloven hooves: a camel, because he chews the cud, but his hooves are not cloven, he is unclean for you; ... and a hare, because that he chews the cud, but his hooves are not cloven, he is unclean for you; and pigs, because her hooves are cloven and the cut on her hooves is deep, but she does not chew the cud, she is unclean for you; do not eat their meat and do not touch their corpses; they are unclean to you.” (Leviticus 11:3-8)

7. AND ALL SEAFOOD INCLUDING OYSTER, SHRIMP AND LOBSTER

Do you live in France/Spain/Italy/Portugal, in Sochi/Evpatoria, after all? Are you going to relax in Thailand, on the islands or in India? Congratulations! You will stay hungry! Actually, the same applies to those who are used to wrapping shrimp with garlic under a misted glass of beer, because: “all those who do not have feathers and scales, whether in the seas or rivers, from all those floating in the waters and from all living in waters, filth for you; they must be filthy to you: eat not their flesh, and abhor their corpses” (Leviticus 11:10-11) Instead, Leviticus suggests eating locusts. Well, frankly, this is very amateurish.

8. SECOND MARRY / GET MARRIED

Do you think an official marriage ever saved the day? Nevermind. In the Bible, in general, everything related to relations between the sexes is under a mass of strange prohibitions. Now, after several unsuccessful attempts at relationships, having finally met your one / only, and flying on the wings of love to propose, think carefully about whether you need it: “He said to them: whoever divorces his wife and marries another, he commits adultery from her; and if a wife divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” (Gospel of Mark 10:11-12) Well, you already know about adultery - a mortal sin.

9. MARRY A NON-VIRGIN

In fact, it's almost impossible to find a virgin bride these days. And who, to be honest, does she need such a thing? Marrying a “girl” is like playing roulette: lucky or unlucky. And, if suddenly, you are not lucky, then read the commandments of Moses, especially regarding adultery. And you, young ladies, be afraid, because: “If what has been said is true, and there is no virginity among the maiden, Then let the maiden be brought to the door of her father’s house, and the inhabitants of her city will stone her to death, for she has done a shameful deed in the midst of Israel, having committed fornication in his father's house; and [thus] cut off the evil from among you.” (Deuteronomy 22:21-22)

10. WORK ON SATURDAYS

Another law that Christians share equally with Jews. On Saturdays, that is, on Shabbat, work is prohibited. But is it realistic in our society, where everything is built on workaholism and a sincere desire not to lose a job? That is, do you seriously think that there are people somewhere who work only from Monday to Friday from 9 to 5? Now, if your boss is holding you back on a Friday night (yep, Sabbath comes at sunset on Friday) or, God forbid, on a Saturday to finish a burning project, you can safely declare that you want to live longer, because: “And keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you: whoever defiles it, let him be betrayed.

Pork in the Bible Clean and Unclean Food Law

QUESTION FROM SAVELY
In the Bible, in the Book of Leviticus, chapter 11, verses 7-8, it is said: “7 and pigs, because her hooves are cloven and the hooves are cut deep, but she does not chew the cud, she is unclean for you; 8 You shall not eat their flesh, nor touch their corpses; they are unclean to you." It turns out that we, like Muslims, cannot eat pork?

(BEGINNING. See continuation here and here)

Indeed, the service and sacrificial death of Christ canceled the ritual commandments of the law of Moses (sacrifice, service in the temple), since they were types of Jesus. The commandments relating to the theocratic state of Israel also ceased to operate, since the New Testament assumes the spread of faith in God in different countries. Jesus clearly defined the commandments that have lost their meaning - these are the commandments that have already been fulfilled:

Matt. 5:17 "Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle shall pass from the law until all is fulfilled.. 19 So whoever breaks one of these least commandments and teaches people so, he will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches, he will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven."

Onion. 16:17 But sooner will heaven and earth pass away than one line from the law will perish.

All other commandments that have not yet been fulfilled, including the commandments about unclean food, are still relevant for all believers.

Moreover, the unclean bird is mentioned in the text of the New Testament, by John in the book of Revelation, which dates from the end of the 1st century AD. This proves that even at the end of the 1st century, Christians still distinguished between clean and unclean animals.

Rev. 18:2 ... Babylon has fallen, fallen, the great [harlot], has become a dwelling place of demons and a haven for every unclean spirit, a haven for every UNCLEAN and disgusting bird...

It is worth noting that scientists have already proven that many of the animals listed in Leviticus 11 are actually harmful to eat. So, for example, pork is not given to children at school and kindergarten, and in the instructions for rescue in case of shipwrecks, written for the American Navy, it is not recommended to eat those aquatic inhabitants whom God forbade in the Bible.

As for Muslims, we should not do as they do... On the contrary, judging by the fact that the Koran was written more than 500 years after the last book of the Bible, it is most likely that the commandment about pork was taken by Muslims from Scripture, like many other rules reflected in the Holy Book of the Faithful.

There are several texts in the New Testament that advocates of unlimited eating point to. Jesus once said:

(Mark 7:15, Matt. 15:11).

Of course, from this phrase we can conclude that anything can be put into the mouth. However, it is important to understand whether this is what Jesus wanted to convey to us, or whether He was talking about something else.

At the very first reading of this whole story, which was told by the evangelists Mark and Matthew (7 Hebrews from Mark, 15 Hebrews from Matthew), it is clear that Christ with this phrase carried a completely different message to his listeners. It can be seen from the context of the narrative that the spiritual teachers of that time, the scribes and Pharisees, complained to Jesus that His disciples "They transgress the tradition of the elders, for they do not wash their hands when they eat bread"(Mat. 15:2, Mark 7:2).

In response to this reproach, Christ denounced his opponents, that by the traditions of the elders they canceled God's direct commandments (see Matt. 15:3-9, Mark 7:6-13). Jesus gave them as an example the commandment about caring for parents (Ex. 20:12), which the elders changed by their tradition so that it lost the meaning that God put into it. That is, while directly violating God's law, the Pharisees, meanwhile, paid a lot of attention to the religious rites they invented, including washing hands, washing mugs and bowls, and the like(see Mark 7:8).

In the chapter of my book it is explained that this is not about washing hands for reasons of hygiene, but about the ritual cleansing before the meal, which is valid among the Jews then and still is. Thus, to the reproach of the scribes and Pharisees for not washing their hands, Christ replied that He only does not observe the ritual invented by people, since it is not important for the spiritual life of a person. This is exactly what Jesus said in the famous phrase:

"Nothing that enters a person from outside can defile him; but what comes out of him defiles a person"(Mark 7:15, Matt. 15:11).

As we can now see, in Jesus' lesson there is no allusion to food, but to ritual, spiritual uncleanness, which the Pharisees associated with non-observance of the rite of washing hands. Jesus explained when a person is spiritually unclean:

Matt. 15:17 “Do you not yet understand that everything that enters the mouth goes into the belly and is thrown out? 18 But what comes out of the mouth comes out of the heart; false witness, blasphemies - 20 these defile a person; and eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person".

If we take the words of Jesus literally "Nothing that enters a person from outside cannot defile him", it turns out that the apostles then began to contradict their Teacher, since at the first council they forbade Christians, according to the law of Moses, to eat "offerings to idols, blood, and strangled"(Acts 15:29). However, we understand that the Bible cannot contradict itself, that is, the disciples could not contradict the Teacher ... Therefore, attributing the words of Christ exclusively to "unwashed hands" is the only possible one, since it corresponds to the context of the narrative and does not conflict with other texts of the Holy Scriptures.

Valery Tatarkin

Other

« Food should strengthen the body,
not cause disease»

Saint Basil the Great

It is indisputable that for a baby the mother's voice is more important than even the sonorous voice of a beautiful rattle. So we, in search of an answer to our questions, bypassing shallow half-truths, will fall with our infant hearts to the most dear and close to us parental God's voice.

The Triune Lord placed the Church on earth and, having sanctified Her by His personal presence, preserves and directs Her with His boundless love.

Orthodoxy is a mountain path ascending over the abyss to Heavenly Jerusalem. You can follow this path only with a firm step, on two legs - with two commandments: love for God and love for your neighbor. The steps from which these feet are repelled are Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, where much attention is paid to what we eat.

When we talk about meat, it can mean the following:

• meat- this is the muscle mass of the slaughtered animal, eaten;
• meat also called the dish itself, prepared from such muscle mass;
• to meat the muscular part of the fish also applies;
• meat may be called muscle tissue proper;
• and it can also be the pulp of the fruit surrounding the seed.

It is clear that we will discuss the attitude of Orthodoxy towards animal meat. Such meat is usually divided into beef, pork, lamb, horse meat, chicken, etc.

Is it wrong to kill animals for food?

In order to answer this question, it is necessary to turn to the Holy Scriptures, above which the Holy Church is never exalted.

In the book of Genesis () it is written that the Lord gives us “ every herb yielding seed that is in all the earth, and every tree bearing fruit of a tree yielding seed", and says that we " this will be for food". Here, for the first people, it is clearly stated that only vegetable food is intended for man.

However, after the global flood, when eight people left the ark on the bare ground, it is an undoubted fact that such barren soil could not feed them for a long time. Then the Lord allowed them to eat meat. That is, the Almighty Himself, the Creator of the entire universe, blesses the eating of meat food according to the prevailing circumstances. But even here He does not say: “I give you permission for a while.” He just blessed.

The Lord is Love, and everything He creates is a good care for all living things in our earthly life and, importantly, beyond it. Therefore, neither the killing of all people on the planet during the flood, nor the death of animals by God's blessing, does not contradict His good providence for all of us, no matter how terribly impressed we are.

« The one who thinks is wrong
that fasting is only abstaining from food.
True fasting is avoidance of evil...»

St. Basil the Great.

Reader Question: Will Vegetarianism Save the World?

Some people mistakenly believe that a complete abstinence from meat food will lead humanity to the highest moral point of its development and, as a result of this, the world will be saved. However, the pages of Holy Scripture say that such a law does not work. The Lord destroyed the entire vegetarian population of the earth with a flood. Yes, yes, before Noah, all of humanity ate only plant foods, and despite this, a complete corruption of morals reigned on the earth, a corruption of such baseness that the Lord had to take such a decisive extreme step.

« Beware of measuring fasting simple
abstaining from food.
Those who abstain from food
but behaving inappropriately
like the devil
who doesn't eat anything,
yet he never ceases to sin b".

Saint Basil the Great.

Is any meat for human consumption blessed by the Lord?

There is one important reservation that the Lord made when blessing meat food. He divided all animals into clean and unclean (Old Testament).

• CLEAN animal has only two signs - it should be:

1. artiodactyls and
2. ruminants.

• UNCLEAN FOOD are animals that lack at least one of these traits. This means that such meat is not suitable for human consumption.

Also, unclean food includes meat offered to idols, that is, the carcass left from the animal after it was sacrificed to an idol.

Reader question:« Help resolve a dispute within our family! Our aunt says that an Orthodox person should have many prohibitions regarding food and these prohibitions should not be limited to fasting. She says that an Orthodox person should cook meat food only on holidays, and the food of other peoples, Uzbek, Japanese, Korean, Tatar, is not allowed for us. And my mother answers her that, having prayed, you can eat any food. Who is right?!»

What is interesting about this dispute is that under certain conditions, both women can be right. It all depends on where the spiritual gaze of each of them is directed. " Strive not for food that perishes, but for food that endures into eternal life' says the apostle John. And if these women look at that food in this way, as a reinforcement of strength for the development of spiritual food, then this is simply a conversation of two angels calling each other to embark on the joy of their path.

For the first, apparently, abstinence is necessary from the fear of losing the once most precious feeling of God bestowed on her. Trying to save him, she clumsily, perhaps, worries about all her loved ones, who, in her opinion, do not cherish this feeling.

And for the second - it is quite possible that at the spiritual height of her heart, food is needed only in order to contemplate the luminous face of our Lord Jesus Christ for at least one more day. So once the Lord Himself, out of a hungry human need, blesses the apostle the eating of unclean food during his prayer work ().

The first type of people, for the peace of their conscience, needs to decide what, according to the Old Testament laws, a Christian is allowed to use and what is not. This is also useful for people who have inadvertently turned off the God-saved path to worship their belly or the food itself, about which, as the apostle Paul says, “ It is written: The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.(), or rather, Lopukhin corrects " dance", that is, to fornicate.

« Dominate the belly
until the womb prevails over you».
St. Basil the Great.

So "... the food of other peoples .. we are not allowed"?!

In continuation of the question from our reader, let's briefly define the differences in the food restrictions of an Orthodox person and representatives of other religions, close and not close to us in relation to the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament. To do this, it is necessary to briefly mention our general prohibition concepts in the field of nutrition.

Islamic food - conditionally allowed

« Halal” is the concept of what is permitted and permitted in Islam. The opposite concept is " haram". Usually, these words denote acceptable and unacceptable food.

To haram among Muslims include:

• pork and its derivatives,
• it is forbidden to consume meat with unreleased blood and carrion,
• as well as meat with released blood, but cooked without pronouncing the name of Allah.

*Muslims are allowed to eat meat that
was prepared only by the "People of the Book".
These include Christians, Jews and Muslims themselves.

Jewish food - allowed

« kashrut” is a set of Jewish laws on prohibitions in the field of food consumed. Food according to these laws can be kosher and non-kosher or fit and unfit for consumption.

*"D human mental sensitivity
eating non-kosher foods
goes down, his heart "closes"
for the perception of spiritual ideas».
Jewish wisdom.

You can not eat:

1. animal, unless it has a cloven hoof and does not chew the cud. These are, for example, such animals as horse meat, bear meat, wolf meat, dog meat, pork, hare meat, fox meat, etc.
2. birds: " eagle, vulture and sea eagle, kite and falcon with its kind, every raven with its kind, ostrich, owl, gull and hawk with its kind…"and others. Of the birds, you can eat only those who " there are lower legs above the legs to jump on the ground with them”, that is, these are chickens, turkeys, geese and other poultry.
3. an animal if it died by its own death (carrion) or was strangled or electrocuted, that is, the blood of the animal remained unreleased (do not release blood from a dead animal, since all movement through the vessels stops with cardiac arrest).
4. fish and all the inhabitants of the river, sea and ocean, which do not have fins and scales. That is, crabs, moray eels, sharks, whales, molluscs, crustaceans, crayfish and lobsters and much more can be attributed here.
5. fried with blood, including black pudding, steaks with blood and hematogen (see explanation below).

The difference between clean and unclean animals and the prohibition in the Old Testament to eat unclean animals had a special and temporary meaning: to teach Jews purity of life and heart, and was an external means of distinguishing and separating Jews from other peoples. With the advent of the Messiah, such a separation became superfluous: all nations that accepted the Gospel are sanctified and cleansed by the blood of Christ; therefore, in the kingdom of grace, Greeks or Jews carry circumcision and uncircumcision, but Christ of all and in all ().

« Meat can only be eaten that is slaughtered,
not electrocuted or strangled.
You can tell by the color:

light meat - with released blood;
dark meat - from unreleased (dead meat);

blue - strangled».

Father Daniil Sysoev

The stumbling block is the common principle of preparing meat among the Thais and some other related peoples. Before killing an animal, it is beaten for a long time in order to saturate the living meat with blood.

*« Christians would do better to create
their slaughterhouses and shops,
where it was sold
would be ritually clean meat ...».
Priest Oleg Stenyaev

Why can't you eat blood, including fried, blood sausage, steaks with blood and hematogen?

In the book of Genesis we read God's instruction: only flesh with her soul, with her blood, do not eat»(). These instructions the Almighty makes for Noah and his family after the flood. That is, it blesses the flesh, but forbids the soul. According to the word of God, the blood is connected with the soul of the one whom it feeds: the soul of the body is in the blood, and I appointed it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for this blood cleanses the soul»(). The word "soul" in this case means life. Here the Lord says that all blood should be used either for sacrifice to Him, or shed on the ground. Hence the ancient tradition among the "People of the Book", that is, among Jews, Muslims and Christians, to bleed an animal before consuming its meat for food.

And then, in the book of Leviticus, we find the result of the deviation from this commandment: I will set my face on that soul<..>and I will cut her off from her people” (), says the Lord. The people of the Old Testament zealously fulfilled the ritual rules. The Council of the Apostles, which took place around the year 50 in Jerusalem, approved a provision according to which unbearable Jewish rules were not imposed on Gentile Christians. At the same time, the need to refrain from strangulation and blood was indicated (). More details in the section.

*« The hematogen, although it is
a derivative of bovine blood,
however, taking it for medicinal purposes
can't be denied».

Father Oleg Stenyaev

Blood is not to be eaten, but how can it purify the soul?

In the indications that this blood cleanses the soul, speaks of the sprinkling of God's altar as a pledge for the sin committed (details in the book of Leviticus).

This bloody act at a superficial glance at the history of the Holy Scriptures seems senseless and cruel. However, everything remains difficult to explain until the Lord Jesus Christ is born. The Savior Himself became a “calf” for the altar and sprinkled the Altar-Cross with His Blood in order to cleanse our souls once and for all from the abyss of God-estrangement. This God's direction is a type of the Great future Sacrifice for our sins. " Christ<..>with His blood, once entered the sanctuary and obtained eternal redemption”(), says the Apostle Paul in a letter to the Jews.

This is how the God-Man reconciled man through His Blood with God the Father. So, through partaking of the Blood and Flesh of God, by step bypassing an insurmountable abyss, we become partakers of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Why are there food bans?

In the Apostolic Canons there are special indications of the attitude of Christians to the Old and New Testaments. It says there: Books, as it befits to honor the Old and New Testaments, are". Therefore, the Orthodox Church anathematized, that is, excommunicated from Herself, all those who doubted the holiness and inspiration of the books of the Old and New Testaments.

St. Ambrose of Milan called both Testaments "cups of wisdom" in our hands, because, he said, from " drink both of Christ».

God's Covenant with Humans

The word "covenant" means a contract. The "Old Testament" means an agreement with the ancient righteous patriarchs, that is, the fathers and representatives of the peoples of the earth - Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They can be imagined as precious seeds that fell into the hand of the sower during a worldwide drought. The goal of the Lord is to protect the life in these seeds from disease and death, that is, to preserve the purity of faith and the race in which Christ, the Savior of the world, should be born. Therefore, He makes strict demands of faith, devotion, and obedience. In return, he gives His blessing and promises to give salvation to the people of God.

The Almighty's care for His people was in His commandments, some of which were the commandments about careful attention to food. However, it is necessary to understand that now, when Christ was already born, lived among us, was crucified, resurrected and sits at the right hand of God the Father, this Old Testament agreement, strict for obvious reasons, has been carried out. And now the time of the New Testament is stretching for us, an agreement between people around the world without distinctions and distinctions, an agreement of "repentance-forgiveness", the main criterion of which is our personal conscience.

The criterion for abstaining from food is our conscience?

From what the Lord proceeded, establishing such divisions, it is difficult to say. Perhaps some sanitary considerations are reflected here, but most likely something that only God knows about, and we can only guess. One thing is clear, if a commandment is a path, then breaking a commandment is a swamp away from it - you can get stuck and never get out. Thus, the invisible boundaries of this saving path - God's "treaty", now fulfilled - inertially, like a untwisted bicycle wheel, stretch to our time. So, for example, the apostle Luke recommends “ abstain from things offered to idols, and blood, and strangles, and fornication, but immediately puts on this rough pedestal the commandment of a new height, the New Testament, the commandment of the judgment of one's own conscience: “Do not do to others what you do not want for yourself” ().

And the apostle Paul, confirming the abolition by Christ of the necessity of the Old Testament law, says that this law cannot " make perfect in conscience" fulfilling it, for it comes only "to the flesh" . These commandments were established, he says, "only until the time of correction." Only Christ, writes the Apostle Paul, “Who by the Holy Spirit offered Himself blameless to God, will cleanse our conscience from dead works, to serve the living and true God!” ().

The Apostle Peter also speaks of the blessing for breaking this commandment out of necessity. He had a vision in which, during hunger and prayer, descended from the open sky " some vessel, like a large cloth, tied at four corners and lowered to the ground. In this canvas were "every four-footed creatures of the earth, beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air." The Lord called Peter to eat, but Peter, frightened, replied that he "never ate anything bad or unclean." And the Lord answered him: “what God has cleansed, you do not call unclean” ().

So, at the "Apostolic" Council it was decided to limit this commandment by a decree to refrain from blood, strangled and sacrificial meat (), that is, brought to worship idols. But still, at the height of his God-loving heart, the Apostle Paul allows the tasting of everything, "what is sold at the auction,<..>without any investigation, for the peace of conscience" Christian heart. At the same time, he is already at such a height that his personality dissolves in the feat of infinite love. “For the weak, I was weak in order to gain the weak; for everyone, I became everything in order to save whom I can” (), says the Christlike Apostle Paul.

For the love that the apostle Paul loved, there is no limit, nothing pure and impure, no law, for he has become above the law. So for us this law is needed only for the purpose of acquiring such boundless and sacrificial love for the Lord and our neighbor. We who still confuse the passionate desires of our womb with vital truth.

Deacon Vladimir Rozhdestvensky,
physiotherapist NIDOI them. G.I. Turnera

The ban on the consumption of pig meat, according to the Bible, was imposed on the Jews in the days of the Old Testament. But can Christians eat pork today? Modern priests believe that pork dishes are quite acceptable, only this does not apply to the time of Great Lent.

Orthodox Christians eat pork calmly, because they know that God sees the need to eat it. In the New Testament, this law of Moses became an abolished dogma. There is an opinion that the ritual cleansing of food (prayer) makes pork meat suitable for preparing a varied menu. Although the debate about the relevance and necessity of the ban has not subsided so far.

Myths and legends about the creation of the universe that have come down to us testify that the first people ate plant foods. Then Adam and Eve lost paradise, and their stay on earth became much more difficult. It was then that he allowed them to consume all living things for food.

Another indication that pork was not a forbidden product at the very beginning is where the Flood is described. In his conversations with Noah, God directly points to the permission to eat all living things, except for humans.

The Jews, on the other hand, received a ban on pork, so that they could separate themselves from the Gentiles as much as possible. Their behavior, diet and rules should have been fundamentally different from peoples worshiping other gods. So God wanted to test his chosen people, but in the future such a need became irrelevant. And the restriction was lifted.

Subsequently, the refusal of pork became a tribute to tradition, and not a need. Therefore, the answer to the question of whether Christians can eat pork lies in modern interpretations of the Laws of God.

Why was the ban on pig meat lifted?

“Everything that is sanctified by God is cleansed” is the biblical wisdom. And an ordinary pig in this regard is no different from other animals.

Why do modern Christians eat pig meat? They do it for the following reasons:

• There is no direct reference to prohibition in the New Testament.
• Religion changes along with the natural change of the world.
• The mentality of Catholics and Orthodox is different from the mentality of the Jews.

All of the above helps the holy fathers to explain to their flocks that there is nothing special about pig meat dishes. You can also eat pork.

To eat or not to eat pork meat is up to you. Some people live in difficult climatic conditions and simply will not survive on a plant-based diet. Others are so accustomed to this style of eating that the removal of pork from their personal list will bring negative consequences for the psyche.

Can you eat pork? Let everyone decide for themselves. In any case, pork is not a food for daily consumption. Its properties and the level of fat in the composition can be a serious problem for an unprepared person. But sometimes it is very useful to include it in the diet.

Hello!
Please explain why Christians were initially forbidden to eat pork, and then in the New Testament it is allowed. Muslims have not changed. Who made these changes and why?
I read the New Testament and still did not find a specific permission to eat pork. I want to be a real Christian, and I would like to understand this issue. If it is forbidden, then so be it, but you don’t want to sin. Thank you.

Leonid

Priest Gregory Barashko answers

Let's immediately remember that the ban on eating unclean animals (including pork meat) was given by God to the people of Israel in the Old Testament through the prophet Moses. But what happened before that?

Before the fall of Adam and Eve, of course, there was no meat food at all.

“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is in all the earth, and every tree bearing fruit of a tree yielding seed; - this will be food for you; but to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to every creeping thing on the earth, in which there is a living soul, I have given all green herbs for food. And it was so” (Genesis 1:29-30).

After the fall, although nothing is specifically said about this, apparently, meat could already be eaten, which is evident from the fact that the son of Adam and Eve, Abel, was the shepherd of the sheep.

But only after the flood, the Lord pointed out to Noah directly: “Everything that moves, that lives, will be food for you; like green grass I give you everything” (Genesis 9:3). Here it is important to note that it was still possible to eat everything, that is, all animals, as food.

Further in chronology, you remember that from Noah the human race began to spread over the face of the earth and soon many of his descendants (mainly from the sons of Ham and Japheth) began to forget the True God, became pagans. Forgetting God, these peoples led a sinful way of life and all their deeds, for all time, were evil.

It was then that the Lord wanted to separate His chosen people (the one who kept the true faith) from the Gentiles by commanding them through Moses to strictly observe certain laws (one of which forbade the Jews to eat unclean animals).

Let's take a look at the text of Holy Scripture: “You are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be his own people out of all the nations that are on the earth. Don't eat any abominations. Here is the livestock you may eat: oxen, sheep, goats...” (Deut. 14:2-4), further listed and animals which can not be eaten. This relationship is clearly visible here - being chosen from other peoples and a selective approach to food.

This law, like many others, was supposed to protect Jews from close association with pagans, which always led to the corruption of morals and, as a result, the distortion of faith.

It must be pointed out that the symbolic side of the issue is also of great importance. The Old Testament is full of symbols: the burning bush represented the Mother of God, the son of Abraham Isaac - Christ Himself, the passage of the Jews through the Red Sea - the sacrament of baptism, etc., etc.

Unclean animals were types of pagan peoples.

Let's remember the vision of St. Peter, who saw “an open sky and a certain vessel descending to it, like a large canvas, tied at four corners and lowered to the ground; in it were all kinds of earthly four-legged animals, reptiles and birds of the air. And there was a voice to him: Get up, Peter, kill and eat. But Peter said, No, Lord, I have never eaten anything bad or unclean. Then another time there was a voice to him: what God has cleansed, do not call that unclean. It was three times; and the vessel ascended again into heaven” (Acts 10:11-16). This vision showed ap. Peter that the faith of Christ should henceforth spread among other pagan peoples. Which, subsequently, happened.

Unclean peoples, through the adoption of the true faith, were cleansed, and the ban on eating "unclean" animals was abolished, like many other laws and rituals of the Jewish people.

At the Apostolic Council (see Acts ch. 15), it was specifically determined that newly converted Christians, from believing pagans, would not observe any rituals and laws of the Jews, but only “so that they abstain from defiled by idols, from fornication, strangled and blood and not to do to others what they do not want to do to themselves.”

The following passage of Scripture may also be of interest:

“But the Spirit clearly says that in the last times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and teachings of demons, through the hypocrisy of false talkers, burned in their conscience, forbidding marriage and eating what God has created, so that the faithful and those who know the truth ate with thanksgiving. For every creation of God is good, and nothing is reprehensible if received with thanksgiving, because it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1 Tim. 4, 1-5).

Now, according to your question, we can conclude: the ban on eating pork was canceled by God Himself through St. apostles, canceled because it has lost its meaning and relevance.