Eating pork in the New Testament can be a bit controversial, as some Christians follow the Old Testament dietary laws prohibiting the consumption of certain animals, including pigs.
However, the New Testament contains several verses illuminating the Christian perspective on eating pork. These verses offer insights into the cultural and historical context of the time and the importance of following God’s will over traditional practices.
Whether you’re curious about the biblical stance on eating pork or simply interested in exploring the nuances of Christian theology, these verses offer a fascinating glimpse into the role of food in the early Christian faith.
Contents
Bible verses about eating pork in the New Testament
1. Acts 10:9-16
About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
2. Mark 7:18-19
“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)
3. Romans 14:2-3
One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them.
4. 1 Corinthians 8:8
But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
5. Colossians 2:16-17
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
6. 1 Timothy 4:3-5
They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.
7. Hebrews 9:9-10
This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.
8. Acts 15:28-29
It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.
The Apostle Peter’s Vision of Unclean Animals
9. Acts 10:12-13
“And there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air. And a voice came to him: ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.'”
10. Acts 10:14
“But Peter said, ‘By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.'”
11. Acts 10:15
“And the voice came to him again a second time, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.'”
12. Acts 10:28
“And he said to them, ‘You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean.'”
13. Acts 10:34-35
“So Peter opened his mouth and said: ‘Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.'”
14. Acts 11:5-6
“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air.”
15. Acts 11:9
“But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.'”
16. Acts 15:7-8
“And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, ‘Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.'”
The Apostle Paul’s Teaching on Food and Freedom
17. Romans 14:2-3
“One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.”
18. 1 Corinthians 8:8
“Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.”
19. Galatians 5:1
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
20. Colossians 2:16-17
“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”
21. 1 Timothy 4:3-5
“They forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.”
22. Romans 14:13-14
“Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean.”
23. 1 Corinthians 10:23-24
“All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.”
24. Galatians 5:13
“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
The Council of Jerusalem’s Decision on Food Regulations
25. Acts 15:20
“But we should write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.”
26. Acts 15:29
“that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
27. Romans 14:1-3
“As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.”
28. 1 Corinthians 8:1-13
“Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God. Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—”
29. Galatians 2:11-14
“But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?””
30. Colossians 2:16-17
“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”
31. 1 Timothy 4:3-5
“who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.”
32. Hebrews 13:9
“Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.”
The Importance of Heart Attitude in Food Choices
33. 1 Corinthians 10:31
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
34. Proverbs 23:6-7
“Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies, for he is like one who is inwardly calculating. ‘Eat and drink!’ he says to you, but his heart is not with you.”
35. Matthew 6:21
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
36. Proverbs 4:23
“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”
37. 1 Samuel 16:7
“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.'”
38. Matthew 15:11
“It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”
39. Proverbs 15:17
“Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.”
40. Psalm 34:8
“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”
The Role of Cultural Context in Understanding Biblical Food Laws
41. Acts 10:14-15
“But Peter said, ‘By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.’ And the voice came to him again a second time, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.'”
42. Mark 7:18-19
“And he said to them, ‘Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?’ (Thus he declared all foods clean.)”
43. Leviticus 11:1-47
“And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, ‘Speak to the people of Israel, saying, These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth.'”
44. Romans 14:2-3
“One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.”
45. Deuteronomy 14:21
“You shall not eat anything that has died naturally. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.”
46. Acts 15:28-29
“For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
47. 1 Corinthians 8:8
“Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.”
48. Colossians 2:16
“Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.”
49. Acts 10:14-15
“But Peter said, ‘By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.’ And the voice came to him again a second time, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.'”
50. Mark 7:18-19
“And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)”
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Bible provides various perspectives on the topic of eating pork, especially in the New Testament. While some passages suggest that all foods are clean and permissible, others emphasize the importance of cultural context and personal conviction in making dietary choices.
Regardless of one’s stance on the matter, it is clear that the Bible encourages believers to approach food with discernment, respect for cultural differences, and gratitude for God’s provision. Ultimately, the biblical teachings on eating pork remind us to prioritize the state of our hearts over the contents of our plates, and to seek a deeper understanding of God’s will for our lives.
