Is pork really unclean?

Question

Although I know in the Old Testament it refers to not eating unclean animals, does it really make sense that God would create an animal that he would consider unclean? I suspect that people decided for one reason or another that some things were good and some bad. What do you think?

Answer 1

Dietary laws go back to the pre-judaic notion of religion where religion was largely just custom and science. If you see people die from eating uncooked or improperly cooked pork (from trichinosis worms, not from bacteria or even cholesterol) you either incorporate the prohibition on eating pork into shamanic tradition or you find a way to cook it. Middle easterners opted for the prohibition, other cultures just cooked everything (possibly they lived in colder climates and hence cooking the crap out of anything was part of warming the house or cave). Except for wallowing around in mud holes pigs don't have markedly different eating habits or hygiene from goats which middle eastern tradition favors.

The same line of reasoning can be seen in shellfish prohibitions (hepatitis) and crustaceans (allergies) although your tribe would have to live near water long enough to actually figure out what's going on there.

Just remember, religion isn't or hasn't always been about invisible beings - the invisible being was as often as not just a carrier, the giver of knowledge or science. It's easier to say "we don't eat pigs because god does not favor them" or "because we don't" than to explain science that's really just been lost to time because a culture couldn't write it down when they discovered it.

Answer 2

The question is not really one of making sense. It is what really did God do and why. What he did for the Jews in the OT was to declare some animals unclean. There were various reasons that he may have done it: health issues, spiritual significance, even neighboring cultures. There were many other laws that he put into place as well. The two most important reasons for all these laws was to keep their bloodline pure since the promised Messiah would come from their race, and secondly to point to this Messiah through the ceremonies that accompanied the laws.

When Christ came, he fulfilled the laws and therefore nulified the concept of unclean things. Read Acts 9 - 10 for more on this. Also read Hebrews for how Christ fulfilled the OT laws.

Answer 3

god put certain animals on the earth to help keep it free of disease spread by rotting and decaying animals. These are the animals that will eat carrion. Examples, canine types, meat eating predators. Vultures,bears,wolverines, etc, etc. It also includes bottom feeding fish who eat rotted fish off of the bottoms of lakes, these fish also eat the excrement of other aquatic species. If these animal were allowed to become so few in number it could cause real problems. The only things eating the dead carcases would be fly larvae. The aquatic domain would turn into festering cesspools. What a mess. And considering what these animal eat , how then could it be good for you.The book of Leviticus tells us how to know what we should and should not eat. Some people quote the new testament as claiming all things are now OK to eat. they are mistaken. They don't read carefully enough. To eat unclean food is not a sin unto death. But the rules in Leviticus is just some good COMMON SENSE.

Answer 4

I'm glad I don't live in the mental state where I think that it's a sin for me to eat a certain type of food.

Cleanliness? Take a look at the countries where pigs aren't eaten, and ask yourself how clean those places are compared to other places?

I'd say Japan is probably the most cleanliness-conscious country in the world, and they eat pork, shellfish, and a lot of things that fundamentalists of whatever religion won't touch, AND they have some of the longest average lifespans in the world, if not the longest.

A lot of things in the Old Testament don't make sense. It's impossible to live your life in accord with those scriptures because you'd be dead by now. There's so much violence there, and I would imagine quite a lot of contradiction. Not to mention that most of the inspirational stuff has been warped by centuries of mistranslations, on purpose or otherwise.

Why someone will eat a chicken, but not a pig is beyond my comprehension. Why someone will eat tuna, but not crab is also beyond my comprehension. I think people just like to make rules to follow for fun.

The God that I believe in created all creatures clean. Every animal deserves respect.

Answer 5

there are certain things you have to understand about Israel....

1) God was to make Israel the prime specimen for the other nations to follow. Pork, besides coming from a "dirty" animal, isn't the healthiest meat. God commanded a strict diet to ensure optimum health.

2) God requires obedience and trust. Not all of us His rules make sense. Also, God can have several underlying reasons. Here's a theory: if the children of Israel, and some were quite greedy, were allowed to hunt and kill every animal, then the animal populations may have gone down, so there'd probably be about 4 species of pig still existing today.

I'm not saying YOU should or shouldn't eat pork, as I don't believe what a man eats defiles him, but what comes out of his heart.

So what do I think? I think God is an ABOVE average thinker...

Answer 6

There is scripture in the New Testamant where Jesus talks about unclean animals. He said that there is nothing that one can eat that would make a person unclean, it is from within that person that a person is unclean. If you have an evil heart, there is nothing we eat that will create that.

Answer 7

The "uncleanness" refers to being ceremonially unclean.
Any animal with a split hoof, or which is a carnivor, or is a crustatian (bottom feeding water animal) is considered to be unclean.

Answer 8

God created everything in a perfect world, but we ruined this world, making things clean and unclean. but Jesus came and fulfilled the law. alot of the laws in the OT are considered unpractical in the owrld we live in, so pigs, I believe aren't unclean anymore. now i think the Jews still believe that and I respect that. this doesn't really have anything to do with our salvation so i don't think that it is a high priority

Answer 9

Remember that at that time, they didn't know about proper food handling and didn't have much as far as refrigeration goes. Considering that, pork is pretty unclean. All kinds of bacteria and worms can be caught from eating it undercooked or if it's spoiled.

Answer 10

They wallow in their own mess. Many religions and beliefs feel that certain animals are not to be eaten or touched because they are unclean. Pork, cattle, goats. Just depends on what you believe.