People who really believe the Bible will sometimes ask us if the Bible doesn’t say that pork is dirty and, therefore, if Christians should eat it. “Now that’s a good question,” as my brother-minister R. C. Sproul says. So let’s go to the Bible and ask, “is eating pork unclean?”.
One of the early names we considered for our ranch was “Thousand Hills Ranch. The idea comes from Psalm 50:10, which says, “All the animals in the forest are Mine, as well as the cattle on a thousand hills.” What a beautiful truth that is! The cattle on a thousand hills belong to God, not anyone else. He created them and they are His. A thousand hills’ worth of cattle belong to the Lord God. So do all the hills’ cattle in the whole world. He also owns all the horses, chickens, sheep, goats, pigs, and all the cattle. They are His, too!.
Of course, all animals and plants belong to God. The only reason we humans are allowed to eat them is because God gave us that right. If we read the Bible carefully, we can see that God did give people the right to eat, which is God’s property. At that point, when God made man, He told him, “Look, I have given you every plant on the earth that makes seeds and every tree whose fruit makes seeds. This will be your food” (Genesis 1:29). But, you may ask, I see that God did not give mankind permission to eat meat only plants. Maybe we’re supposed to be vegetarians!.
But let’s not be too hasty. It was only after Noah’s flood that God gave men the privilege of eating flesh. To Noah and his descendants God said, “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs” (Genesis 9:3).
So, starting with Noah, both good and bad people were allowed by God to eat flesh, such as meat, fish, and other foods. And not just some kinds of flesh. God said, “every moving thing that lives… all things,” no animals excluded. So, everyone, including Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the Twelve Patriarchs, and others, liked eating cows, sheep, goats, and even pork! Abraham eating pork?
A few hundred years later, during Moses’ life, God told the Jews they could no longer eat certain kinds of animals. You can read about these and many other Jewish ceremonial rules about what foods are clean and what foods are not clean in Deuteronomy 14 and Leviticus 11. In Leviticus 11:7, God’s people are told for the first time that they can’t eat pork: “…and the pig, though it splits the hoof, having cloven hooves, but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you.” ” This is where and when pork in all its forms (including ham, bacon, sausage, etc. was deemed unclean, along with rabbit and any seafood that doesn’t have fins or scales, like shrimp, lobster, crab, clams, and so on. Jews were to consider all these foods unclean and to totally abstain from them.
All of these ceremonial laws were given to govern the lives of all Jews. For how long? Until God would say otherwise.
God did indeed say otherwise. When Jesus, the Son of God, walked the earth, He said that God had thrown out the Old Testament rules about what foods were clean and what foods were not. In Mark 7:18–19, Jesus tells His disciples, “Do you not understand that whatever goes into a man from the outside cannot defile him? For it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is thrown out?” This is how He said that all foods are clean. )” (NAS).
This idea that “all foods” are clean because of Jesus’ work to save people is made even clearer to Peter in the Acts of the Apostles. You may remember that strange event where Peter is praying on top of a house and goes into a trance. He then sees a big sheet full of “all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things (!) and birds of the air” (Acts 10:12). “All kinds” of animals were included—clean as well as unclean. Then God startled Peter, who had always been scrupulously kosher. God commanded Peter to “kill and eat” (Acts 10:13). As I translated Peter’s answer, the Apostle who could get irritable says, “No way, Lord! I’m kosher!” (See verse 14). Peter is reminding God that, since the time of Moses and the ceremonial laws given at Mt. Sinai, it has been a sin for Jews to eat anything which God had declared to be unclean. As if God needed reminding. “What God has declared clean you must not call common” (Acts 10:15). This is a pretty harsh way for God to correct Peter.
That’s the answer to our first question: Is Eating Pork Unclean? It’s still the same answer that was given to Peter all those years ago. What God has declared clean let no man call unclean. And so pork is clean.
On occasion, it has been said that God sent this vision to show that He was calling both Jews and non-Jews to become Christians and cleansing them with the blood of Christ. Of course that is true, but the reason for that is that God has said that Gentile foods, including pork, are clean. And, in addition, God DID say, “kill and eat. ” He was not talking directly about Gentile, but about pigs!.
The Old Testament’s ritual laws have ended with Christ. There are no longer any sacrifices, priests, or rules about keeping things clean. Those “walls” (see Ephesians 2:14–16) that kept Jews and Gentiles apart have been taken down by Christ and His one-time sacrifice. Why would you keep the ceremonial shadows of Christ when the Real One has come? This is something that the author of Hebrews says over and over again.
So, through Christ, Peter and all Christians are free from the rules that the Jews had to follow for ceremonies until Messiah comes. It was okay for Noah, Abraham, and all of God’s people before the Law of Sinai to eat “every moving thing” (Genesis 9:3). Now, through Christ, God’s people have that same freedom again. Christians may eat pork because God has declared it once more to be clean.
Some foods, like pork, were made by God so that people who believe and know the truth would eat them with thanksgiving (1 Timothy 4:3).
When we Christians finally sit down at table with Abraham, pork may well be on the menu!
For many Christians today, ham, bacon, and other pork products are regularly enjoyed without a second thought However, there was a time when pork was considered taboo among believers The history of pork consumption in Christianity is complex, marked by shifting perspectives and practices over the centuries.
Early Christian Abstinence
In the early days of Christianity, many believers avoided pork due to its association with pagan rituals and prohibitions in Jewish dietary law. Some of the earliest references are found in the New Testament. In Acts 10, Peter has a vision telling him to eat foods considered unclean under Jewish law, including pork. This was seen by some as permission to eat pork, but many Christians continued abstaining due to connections with paganism.
Abstinence from pork was relatively common among early Christians, though temporary fasting was acceptable. Permanent rejection of meat was linked to fringe gnostic sects and condemned. Still, some early Christian writers argued for vegetarian diets on ethical grounds.
Spread of Christianity Softens Stance
As Christianity expanded throughout Europe and beyond, abstaining from pork declined Christians adopted local diets and customs which often included pork consumption While some denominations maintained restrictions, most Christians did not abstain from pork.
Influence of Jewish Dietary Laws
The Jewish prohibition on pork
Grass-fed beef, pastured pork, pastured chicken, pastured eggs, pastured turkey.
People who really believe the Bible will sometimes ask us if the Bible doesn’t say that pork is dirty and, therefore, if Christians should eat it. “Now that’s a good question,” as my brother-minister R. C. Sproul says. So let’s go to the Bible and ask, “is eating pork unclean?”.
One of the early names we considered for our ranch was “Thousand Hills Ranch. The idea comes from Psalm 50:10, which says, “All the animals in the forest are Mine, as well as the cattle on a thousand hills.” What a beautiful truth that is! The cattle on a thousand hills belong to God, not anyone else. He created them and they are His. A thousand hills’ worth of cattle belong to the Lord God. So do all the hills’ cattle in the whole world. He also owns all the horses, chickens, sheep, goats, pigs, and all the cattle. They are His, too!.
Of course, all animals and plants belong to God. The only reason we humans are allowed to eat them is because God gave us that right. If we read the Bible carefully, we can see that God did give people the right to eat, which is God’s property. At that point, when God made man, He told him, “Look, I have given you every plant on the earth that makes seeds and every tree whose fruit makes seeds. This will be your food” (Genesis 1:29). But, you may ask, I see that God did not give mankind permission to eat meat only plants. Maybe we’re supposed to be vegetarians!.
But let’s not be too hasty. It was only after Noah’s flood that God gave men the privilege of eating flesh. To Noah and his descendants God said, “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs” (Genesis 9:3).
So, starting with Noah, both good and bad people were allowed by God to eat flesh, such as meat, fish, and other foods. And not just some kinds of flesh. God said, “every moving thing that lives… all things,” no animals excluded. So, everyone, including Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the Twelve Patriarchs, and others, liked eating cows, sheep, goats, and even pork! Abraham eating pork?
A few hundred years later, during Moses’ life, God told the Jews they could no longer eat certain kinds of animals. You can read about these and many other Jewish ceremonial rules about what foods are clean and what foods are not clean in Deuteronomy 14 and Leviticus 11. In Leviticus 11:7, God’s people are told for the first time that they can’t eat pork: “…and the pig, though it splits the hoof, having cloven hooves, but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you.” ” This is where and when pork in all its forms (including ham, bacon, sausage, etc. was deemed unclean, along with rabbit and any seafood that doesn’t have fins or scales, like shrimp, lobster, crab, clams, and so on. Jews were to consider all these foods unclean and to totally abstain from them.
All of these ceremonial laws were given to govern the lives of all Jews. For how long? Until God would say otherwise.
God did indeed say otherwise. When Jesus, the Son of God, walked the earth, He said that God had thrown out the Old Testament rules about what foods were clean and what foods were not. In Mark 7:18–19, Jesus tells His disciples, “Do you not understand that whatever goes into a man from the outside cannot defile him? For it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is thrown out?” This is how He said that all foods are clean. )” (NAS).
This idea that “all foods” are clean because of Jesus’ work to save people is made even clearer to Peter in the Acts of the Apostles. You may remember that strange event where Peter is praying on top of a house and goes into a trance. He then sees a big sheet full of “all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things (!) and birds of the air” (Acts 10:12). “All kinds” of animals were included—clean as well as unclean. Then God startled Peter, who had always been scrupulously kosher. God commanded Peter to “kill and eat” (Acts 10:13). As I translated Peter’s answer, the Apostle who could get irritable says, “No way, Lord! I’m kosher!” (See verse 14). Peter is reminding God that, since the time of Moses and the ceremonial laws given at Mt. Sinai, it has been a sin for Jews to eat anything which God had declared to be unclean. As if God needed reminding. “What God has declared clean you must not call common” (Acts 10:15). This is a pretty harsh way for God to correct Peter.
That’s the answer to our first question: Is Eating Pork Unclean? It’s still the same answer that was given to Peter all those years ago. What God has declared clean let no man call unclean. And so pork is clean.
On occasion, it has been said that God sent this vision to show that He was calling both Jews and non-Jews to become Christians and cleansing them with the blood of Christ. Of course that is true, but the reason for that is that God has said that Gentile foods, including pork, are clean. And, in addition, God DID say, “kill and eat. ” He was not talking directly about Gentile, but about pigs!.
The Old Testament’s ritual laws have ended with Christ. There are no longer any sacrifices, priests, or rules about keeping things clean. Those “walls” (see Ephesians 2:14–16) that kept Jews and Gentiles apart have been taken down by Christ and His one-time sacrifice. Why would you keep the ceremonial shadows of Christ when the Real One has come? This is something that the author of Hebrews says over and over again.
So, through Christ, Peter and all Christians are free from the rules that the Jews had to follow for ceremonies until Messiah comes. It was okay for Noah, Abraham, and all of God’s people before the Law of Sinai to eat “every moving thing” (Genesis 9:3). Now, through Christ, God’s people have that same freedom again. Christians may eat pork because God has declared it once more to be clean.
“What God has declared clean you must not call common” (Acts 10:15).
Some foods, like pork, were made by God so that people who believe and know the truth would eat them with thanksgiving (1 Timothy 4:3).
When we Christians finally sit down at table with Abraham, pork may well be on the menu!
Is it a SIN to eat PORK? || What does the BIBLE say about eating PORK?
FAQ
When did God allow people to eat pork?
What does the Bible say about eating pork?
When did we start eating pork?
What religion doesn’t eat pork?
Does Christianity eat pork?
In the context of Christianity, the perspective on eating pork is primarily derived from the teachings and principles found in the New Testament. Unlike in certain religious traditions, such as Judaism, where there are specific dietary laws regarding consumption of pork and other unclean animals [^1] [^2], Christianity takes a different stance.
Did Jews eat pork?
The consumption of pork was not only prohibited but even touching the meat of swine made an individual ritually unclean. Early Christians, who emerged from Jewish communities, initially adopted the dietary restrictions found in the Old Testament.
Why did Jesus eat pork?
Jesus addressed His disciples in Mark 7:18-19 and told them that whatever they ate could not affect their hearts and so eating pork was okay because it was an external thing. The pork was introduced in the United States of America after Columbus’s second voyage in which he brought pigs to the continent.
When did Middle Easterners eat pork?
Even more importantly Middle Easterners ate LOTS of pork until chickens replaced them 3000 years ago. This has been marked as a duplicate of another question. I’d agree that most of the answers here are duplicates, but that’s because they answer a much more general question.