Discussion page 2

�Because it is an important �Public Health Issue� we have extracted the introduction, and ending to Arnold�s essay on clean and unclean foods to give you some material for your personal research into this important matter. It is obvious from the source material - the Bible - that the eating of unclean foods (pig meat being the major one) is not an option that we can fob off as just a religious belief, held by some ancient people who did not know better.�

CLEAN AND UNCLEAN FOOD - By Arnold Kennedy

Below is an excerpt on this subject, from a Bible Commentary, which excerpt is typical of most other commentaries. It embodies the traditional doctrine that most churches teach about the Commandments of God as being now set aside. A typical commentary comment is, �In the NT, however, such provisions for identifying �clean� and �unclean� animals were understood to have been set aside with the coming of Jesus (Mark 7:19; see also Acts 10:10-16)�. At least they are honest enough to say, �were understood� which shows they are not sure. If the argument was sure as is taught, it contains basic flaws, even if at first glance it appears to be reasonable, or even appears to be right.

FROM THE BIBLE KNOWLEDGE COMMENTARY.

�The precise meaning of these laws has been a source of debate since pre-Christian times. Perhaps the most popular modern explanation of the laws is that certain animals were prohibited for hygienic reasons. Commentators point out that pork may be a source of trichinosis and that the hare is a carrier of tularemia. However, several lines of evidence make this explanation improbable: (1) Jesus declared that all foods should be considered clean (Mark 7:14-23). This was reconfirmed in a heavenly vision granted to Peter (Acts 10:9-23) since the disciples seemed to have missed the point of Jesus� earlier declaration. It is difficult to believe that God was concerned about the health of His people in the Old Testament, but abandoned that concern in the New Testament. (2) Eating some of the �clean� animals may represent a greater danger to health than some of the �unclean� ones. (3) No hygienic reasons are given as motives for observing the law of the clean and the unclean. And the Old Testament does not state that the Israelites considered the unclean animals dangerous to their health.

A second popular interpretation of the prohibition of unclean animals for food is that they were used in pagan cultic rites. Evidence for this is that the unclean animals are said to be �detestable� (Deut. 14:3). The same Hebrew word is used elsewhere in Deuteronomy of idolatry and other pagan practices (7:25; 12:31). Also some unclean animals (e.g., pigs) were widely used in pagan rituals. However, this explanation clarifies so little of the data that it is not too useful. And one may adduce counter examples. For instance, the bull, a common symbol in the religions of the ancient Near East, was permitted as food for the Israelites.

A third explanation is that the clean and unclean animals were symbolic of good and evil in the human realm. This explanation became extremely subjective and even fanciful by earlier interpreters of the Old Testament. For instance, some held that chewing of the cud (14:6-8) represented the faithful believer who meditated on the Law. Others taught that the sheep (v. 4) was clean because it served as a reminder that the Lord is His people�s Shepherd. This symbolic interpretation should be rejected since it is divorced from the controls of grammatical historical exegesis, and therefore is impossible to validate. However, a symbolic interpretation may be essentially correct if it is applied comprehensively under strict exegetical controls to all the ceremonially clean and unclean animals here�.

But, commentaries and Bible footnotes, in general, gyrate in contradictory comments to try to establish the idea that heaven and earth has already passed away, thus giving the impression that the �Commandments of God� have been set aside. At least 90% of churches follow the conclusions of these commentators. Thus churchgoers have been taught to think that unclean foods are now clean.

Ezekiel 22:26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean�..
Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? GOD FORBID:
Galatians 3:21 Is the law then against the promises of God? GOD FORBID:

Paul did not agree with the commentators and neither should any of us. Those who have been redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb, outside of any works of the Law, then come into a new relationship where the principle, �Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it� applies. - Anybody for rat pie?

Food for thought?