Brandon, Your Pork Study Makes You A Bigot!

So last Saturday, I published a Bible study titled, “Can Christians Eat Pork?”

I couldn’t believe the feedback on this one…

I received numerous emails from readers. Some were outraged, some were confused, and some were just curious. Today, I’m going to share some of the responses with you.

I have to warn you though, the first one is a whopper!

It’s nastygram extraordinaire…

Answer: Hey, thanks for writing in.

But come on now…

You may disagree with me, but I didn’t conceal anything.

In fact, I included 1 Timothy 4:3-4 in its entirety, and then I rewrote the verse in question once more to emphasis my point. That’s not being untruthful. You’re just upset with my conclusions. Look, there’s no reason to get upset, this site is about learning and treating each other with respect.

Let’s make sure we do that to uplift, not tear down.

So let’s talk about this like respectful brothers and sisters in Christ.

Roll the verse…

1 Timothy 4:4
For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving.

Now, let’s think this through for a minute.

Does this verse mean every poisonous creature is “good” for food, just because God created them?

Of course not.

Yet, with your rationale, you believe we can eat pigs, as this verse says, “every creature of God is good.”

So by the same token, since all of God’s creatures are “good” for food — as you state — than we can gorge on puffer fish, asian tiger snakes, sea turtles, poisonous frogs, blood clams, and more. As they’re all “good,” since the time of this Bible verse anyway.

I pray you don’t really believe that.

There’s lots of poisonous and dangerous creatures that you should never eat.

However, if you do, and if you eat one of the above “good” creatures, you’ll be deader then a doornail.

This is one of the biggest problems with Christianity…

We distort Scripture to make a verse fit into our pre-canned ideology, not what the verse actually means.

You said yourself, “EVERY CREATURE (not just some) of God is good” to eat. However, that’s not reality. That was just your interpretation of the verse, which is clearly wrong as I just highlighted.

Let me take this further…

Does 1 Timothy 4:4 tell us that God changed His creatures?

No, that’s not even the subject.

Instead, we’re being told that all of God’s creatures are “good,” that’s it.

Now, when did God create His creatures?

Way back in Genesis, and remember what God said in Genesis?

“God saw that it was good.”

Genesis 1:25

God saw that all of His creatures were good.

So then, God made pigs “good” way back in Genesis.

However, in Leviticus, God said don’t eat pigs, don’t eat swine, even though God created swine “good.”

Why would God say that?

Simply stated, pigs are “good” for their intended purpose, which is to clean up filth. However, they are not “good” for people to eat, as God explained in Leviticus. Moreover, pigs along with you and I were created for God’s “good” pleasure, (Revelation 4:11).

However, that doesn’t mean everything God created is “good” for slapping on our dinner table.

Now, to address your second point…

The only point of Acts 10 was to show that men are no longer unclean. That’s why Peter never ate prior to or after the vision that God showed him. Instead, Peter went to the unclean Gentiles to tell them, they were now clean. They didn’t have a pig roast afterward, right?

You said,

“Why didn’t God use a sheet with men on it?”

Great question!

Let me ask a few…

• Why does God use symbology?
• Why does God use figures of speech?
• Why does God use vague terms in Scripture?

Why not just come out with it?

We’ll have to ask God those questions when we catch up with Him.

Until then, that doesn’t give us an excuse to look past Scripture to our desired interpretation. Instead, we need to be like the Bereans, we need to analyze Scripture. Remember, Scripture interprets Scripture.

All right, let’s move on to the next email about eating pork…

Answer: Thanks for the note Stephanie.

Unfortunately, what you explained is not true at all.

First and foremost, where does it say in the Bible, the Old Testament is for “Jews” only?

Nowhere.

It’s made up Christian doctrine.

In actuality, the Old Testament concerns the 12 Tribes of Israel, not “Jews” as we think of the term today. Look, Abraham was not a Jew, Isaac was not a Jew, and neither was Jacob. Stephanie, there were 12 Tribes of Israel, not just one called Judah.

It’s important to remember, even in the Old Testament, non-Israelites could partake of God’s blessings, (Exodus 12:43-49). No one ever mentions that though. The fact of the matter is, the Bible, the Old and New Testaments are for all people.

Now, if we’re going to disregard those facts, and say some of the Old Testament is of no use, then why bother with the Book at all?

I mean, we should just throw out the 10 Commandments, not to mention the historical accounts of our faith, and all the prophetic utterances as “Those passages all apply to Jews only.” Remember, we can’t pick and choose, we can’t cherry pick.

Thankfully, there’s not a Christian alive who would cast out the entire Old Testament.

Yet, we cast out portions over a piece of meat.

Isn’t that something?

• We distort Scripture over a piece of meat.
• We lose our Biblical marbles over a piece of meat.

Why?

So we don’t become cognitive dissonant.

So we can feel better about eating bacon.

It’s outrageous.

Simply put, the New Testament fulfilled the blood sacrifice of the Old, that’s it. Everything else still applies. Pigs are still unclean to eat, just as it’s still a sin to murder and steal. Even science tells us, pork is unhealthy to eat, no wonder God said, don’t eat swine or shellfish for that matter.

One more thought, this one came from the Community.

Name: Bill Welch
Question: It matters not. You speak of Jewish Law, and we are no longer of the law but of grace. I argue that Jesus had already pointed the way, saying: ‘Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them’ Mark 7:15. So we have been made a new creature under a new “law” that far exceeds the laws the Jews had to keep to show their faith.

Answer: Bill, thanks so much for chiming in.

But here we have this “Jewish” bit again. I encourage you to read some of the topics I have on the Jews. They’re very enlightening.

Now, was the subject of Mark 7:15 about food?

No.

If we start from the top of the chapter, we read where the Pharisees came into the chow hall, and they saw the Disciples eating with “unwashed hands.” So the subject actually concerns “the tradition of the elders,” (Mark 7:1-3). It was tradition to perform a special hand washing ceremony at meal time.

Christians don’t do that.

From there, Jesus tells the Pharisees how they always placed their tradition above God.

Now, we arrive at the verse in question.

Mark 7:15
There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.

Notice what Jesus says next…

Mark 7:16
If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.

Why did Jesus add that?

To make it clear, He was providing a parable, Jesus wasn’t talking about food. Jesus wasn’t talking about pork chops.

Unfortunately, the Disciples couldn’t pick up on that either.

Let me prove that from another account in Matthew.

Matthew 15:15
Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable.

Let’s read what Jesus said next…

Matthew 15:16
And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?

Whoops!

The Disciples didn’t understand the parable either, so Jesus explains it.

Listen up…

Matthew 15:17-20
17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?

18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

There we have it.

The point, eating with unwashed hands will not defile us.

Notice,

• There’s no mention of food at all.
• There’s no mention of pork chops and apple sauce.

Not one.

Instead, the whole subject concerned the “tradition of the elders,” with respect to their ritual of hand washing. Jesus simply made the point,

‘Hey, Christians don’t need to wash their hands in a ceremonial manner before meal time, that’s not going to defile us. However, if we speak evil of others, that will defile us.’

My brothers and sisters in Christ, let this article be a reminder to be a Berean with everything in life, (Acts 17:11). Never stop learning, never stop striving, and last but not least, lift up, instead of tearing down.