Christian dietary laws

Peter's Vision by Henry Davenport Northrop, 1894.

In Nicene Christianity, there is no restriction on kinds of animals that can be eaten.[1][2] This practice stems from Peter's vision of a sheet with animals, in which Saint Peter "sees a sheet containing animals of every description lowered from the sky."[3] Nonetheless, the New Testament does give a few guidelines about the consumption of meat, practiced by the Christian Church today; one of these is not consuming food knowingly offered to pagan idols,[4] a conviction that the early Church Fathers, such as Clement of Alexandria and Origen preached.[5] In addition, Christians traditionally bless any food before eating it with a mealtime prayer (grace), as a sign of thanking God for the meal they have.[6]

In terms of slaughtering animals for food, many Christians prefer[7][8] to use a single strike to the head to minimize pain, often together with the speaking of the trinitarian formula,[9] although the Armenian Apostolic Church, among other Orthodox Christians, have rituals that "display obvious links with shechitah, Jewish kosher slaughter."[10] In addition, meat consumed by Christians should not retain any blood, a practice that both Jewish and Islamic methods of slaughter also prescribe,[11] and one that is done by most slaughterhouses throughout Christendom.[2][12]

In the Holy Bible, Paul of Tarsus notes that some devout Christians may wish to abstain from consuming meat if it causes "my brother to stumble" in his faith with God (cf. 1 Corinthians 8:13).[13] As such, some Christian monks, such as the Trappists have adopted a policy of Christian vegetarianism.[14] In addition, Christians of the Seventh-day Adventist tradition generally "avoid eating meat and highly spiced food".[15] Christians in the Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist, and Orthodox denominations traditionally observe a meat-free day, especially during the liturgical season of Lent.[16][17][18][19]

Some Christian denominations condone the moderate drinking of alcohol (moderationism), such as Anglicans, Catholics, Lutherans, and the Orthodox,[20] although others, such as Adventists, Baptists, Methodists, and Pentecostals either abstain from or prohibit the consumption of alcohol (abstentionism and prohibitionism).[21] However, all Christian Churches, in view of the Biblical position on the issue, universally condemn drunkenness as sinful.[22][23]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Wright, Professor Robin M; Vilaça, Aparecida (28 May 2013). Native Christians: Modes and Effects of Christianity among Indigenous Peoples of the Americas. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 171. ISBN 9781409478133. Before Christianity, they could not eat certain things from certain animals (uumajuit), but after eating they can now do anything they want to.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Geisler, Norman L. (1 September 1989). Christian Ethics: Contemporary Issues and Options. Baker Books. p. 334. ISBN 9781585580538. The eating of animals is not forbidden. The Scriptures do not forbid the eating and partaking of animals. This does not mean that all animals are to be eaten (Mark 7:19; Acts 11:9; 1 Tim. 4:4). It is clear in the Scriptures that we are not supposed to eat animals that are alive or with blood (Gen. 9:2-4; Deut. 12:16, 23-24).
  3. ↑ Ehrman, Bart D. (1 May 2006). Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend. Oxford University Press. p. 60. ISBN 9780199741137. Retrieved 2 May 2014. In the meantime, Peter in Joppa has a middday vision in which he sees a sheet containing animals of every description lowered from the sky. He hears a voice from heaven telling him to "kill and eat." Peter is naturally taken aback, because eating some of these animals would mean breaking the Jewish rules about kosher foods. But then he hears a voice that tells him, "What God has cleansed, you must not call common [unclean]" (that is, you do not need to refrain from eating nonkosher foods; 10: 15). The same sequence of events happens three times.
  4. ↑ "The Weaker Brother". Third Way Magazine 25 (10): 25. December 2002. Christ came for the Gentiles as well as the Jews (the real meaning of that vision in Acts 10:9;16) but he also calls us to look out for each other and not do things that will cause our brothers and sisters to stumble. In Corinthians Paul urges the believers to consider not eating meat when with people who assume that meat must be offered to idols before consumption: 'Food will not bring us close to God,' he writes. 'We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block for the weak.' (1 Corinthians 8:8-9)
  5. ↑ Binder, Stephanie E. (2012-11-14). Tertullian, On Idolatry and Mishnah Avodah Zarah. Brill Academic Publishers. p. 87. ISBN 9789004234789. Clement of Alexandria and Origen also forbid eating meat dedicated to idolatry and partaking in meals with demons, which, by association, are the meals of fornicators and idolatrous adulterers. Marcianus Aristides merely testifies that Christians do not eat what has been sacrificed to idols; and Hippolytus only notes the interdiction against eating such food.
  6. ↑ Deem, Rich (21 June 2008). "Should Christians Eat Meat or Should We Be Vegetarians?". Evidence for God from Science. Retrieved 2 May 2014. Later, laws were instituted that declared certain meats to be "clean" and others to be "unclean." The system provided a means of proving one's obedience to God and had some health benefits. After Jesus Christ came, God declared all meats to be clean. Current slaughterhouse practices comply with the dictate to remove the blood, so virtually all meat today is acceptable to eat according to God.
  7. ↑ Engineers, Niir Board Of Consultants & (2009). Medical, Municipal and Plastic Waste Management Handbook. National Institute of Industrial Research. p. 214. ISBN 9788186623916. Halal is the method preferred by Muslims and jhatka by the Hindus/Christians/Sikhs, etc.
  8. ↑ Efron, John M. (1 October 2008). Medicine and the German Jews: A History. Yale University Press. p. 206. ISBN 9780300133592. By contrast, the most common mode of slaughtering four-legged animals among Christians in the nineteenth century was through the deliverance of a stunning blow to the head, usually with a mallet or poleax.
  9. ↑ Salamon, Hagar (7 November 1999). Ethiopian Jews in Christian Ethiopia. University of California Press. p. 101. ISBN 9780520923010. The Christians do "Basema ab wawald wamanfas qeeus ahadu amlak" [in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit one God] and then slaughter. The Jews say "Baruch yitharek amlak yisrael" [Blessed is the King (God) of Israel].
  10. ↑ Grumett, David; Muers, Rachel (26 February 2010). Theology on the Menu: Asceticism, Meat and Christian Diet. Routledge. p. 121. ISBN 9781135188320. The Armenian and other Orthodox rituals of slaughter display obvious links with shechitah, Jewish kosher slaughter.
  11. ↑ Masri, Basheer Ahmad (1989). Animals in Islam. Athene Trust. ISBN 9781870603010. Both the Jewish and the Christian methods of slaughter fulfill the Islamic condition of bleeding the animal.
  12. ↑ Deem, Rich (21 June 2008). "Should Christians Eat Meat or Should We Be Vegetarians?". Evidence for God from Science. Retrieved 2 May 2014. Therefore, the Christian is free to eat or not eat meat according to his own conscience. However, all eating should be done giving thanks to God.
  13. ↑ Phelps, Norm (2002). The Dominion of Love: Animal Rights According to the Bible. Lantern Books. p. 171. ISBN 9781590560099. Nevertheless, toward the end of the chapter, Paul suggests that even Christians with strong faith may want to abstain from eating meat offered to pagan deities if any chance that their example will tempt fellow Christians of weaker faith into inadvertent idolatry. He concludes by saying, "Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble." (1 Corinthians 8:13)
  14. ↑ Walters, Peter; Byl, John (2013). Christian Paths to Health and Wellness. Human Kinetics. p. 184. ISBN 9781450424547. Traditional Hindus and Trappist monks adopt vegetarian diets as a practice of their faith.
  15. ↑ Daugherty, Helen Ginn (1995). An Introduction to Population. Guilford Press. p. 150. ISBN 0-89862-616-1. Seventh-Day Adventists are also urged, but not required, to avoid eating meat and highly spiced food (Snowdon, 1988).
  16. ↑ "What does The United Methodist Church say about fasting?". The United Methodist Church. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  17. ↑ Barrows, Susanna; Room, Robin (1991). Drinking: Behavior and Belief in Modern History. University of California Press. p. 340. ISBN 9780520070851. Retrieved 2 May 2014. The main legally enforced prohibition in both Catholic and Anglican countries was that against meat. During Lent, the most prominent annual season of fasting in Catholic and Anglican churches, authorities enjoined abstinence from meat and sometimes "white meats" (cheese, milk, and eggs); in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England butchers and victuallers were bound by heavy recognizances not to slaughter or sell meat on the weekly "fish days," Friday and Saturday.
  18. ↑ Lund, Eric (January 2002). Documents from the History of Lutheranism, 1517-1750. Fortress Press. p. 166. ISBN 9781451407747. Of the Eating of Meat: One should abstain from the eating of meat on Fridays and Saturdays, also in fasts, and this should be observed as an external ordinance at the command of his Imperial Majesty.
  19. ↑ Vitz, Evelyn Birge (1991). A Continual Feast. Ignatius Press. p. 80. ISBN 9780898703849. Retrieved 2 May 2014. In the Orthodox groups, on ordinary Wednesdays and Fridays no meat, olive oil, wine, or fish can be consumed.
  20. ↑ Scratchley, David (1996). Alcoholism and Other Drug Problems. Simon and Schuster. p. 298. ISBN 9780684823140. Although the Jewish, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Episcopal, and Lutheran traditions generally allow moderate drinking for those who can do so, it is simply incorrect to accuse them of condoning drunkenness.
  21. ↑ Conlin, Joseph (11 January 2008). The American Past: A Survey of American History, Enhanced Edition. Cengage Learning. p. 748. ISBN 9780495566090. Protestants who called themselves "fundamentalists" (they believed in the literal truth of the Bible--Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals) were dry.
  22. ↑ Domenico, Roy P.; Hanley, Mark Y. (1 January 2006). Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Politics. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 18. ISBN 9780313323621. Drunkenness was biblically condemned, and all denominations disciplined drunken members.
  23. ↑ Cobb, John B. (2003). Progressive Christians Speak: A Different Voice on Faith and Politics. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 136. ISBN 9780664225896. For most of Christian history, as in the Bible, moderate drinking of alcohol was taken for granted while drunkenness was condemned.

Further reading