Why are Christians allowed to eat pork and Jews are not?

Answer 1

Many Jewish people eat kosher food. A pig is not considered a kosher animal. For an animal to be kosher it has to have split hooves and be able to chew its own cud (Deuteronomy ch.14). Although a pig has split hooves, they cannot chew their own cud.

Additional Comments:

Not all Christians eat pork as they continue to follow the Dietary Rules found in the Law of God. It would be fair, however, to state that the majority of Christians do not follow these rules as they have interpreted them to no longer be required.

Answer 2

The general source used in Christianity to abrogate the Old Testament Law as concerns the laws of Kashrut is the Vision of Peter, discussed in Acts of the Apostles 10:9-16 (below). The Vision of Peter is seen as a justification that all animals are clean for Christians. The second source is that Jesus debated with the Pharisees on whether or not washing was requisite for eating in Matthew 15:1-20 (relevant extracts below). He claimed that "what goes in does not defile" which implicitly denies the values of kashrut as well as washing. There is often the general "rule" that the New Covenant replaced the Old Covenant. However, the rule is slipshod since it only applies when it is convenient that the Old Covenant be replaced and is not used consistently.

However, this directly contradicts Jesus during his life as Jesus did keep kosher. The strongest evidence of this is an indirect proof. In the Gospel of John 8:46, Jesus asks: "Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me?" If he had not been keeping kosher, this would have been obvious and his Jewish detractors would have told him that he was not keeping kosher. This also contradicts the famous line of Matthew 5:17-19 (below), when Jesus makes clear that all of the laws are to be followed.

Relevant New Testament Verses
Matthew 5:17-19: (NIV): 17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 15:1-2, 10-11, 17-20: (NIV): 1 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!"... 10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone's mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them."... 17 "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person's mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts-murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them."

Acts 10:9-16: (NIV): 9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat." 14 "Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean." 15 The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." 16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

Answer 3

Biblically speaking, no one is to eat 'unclean' food which includes pork - not Jew, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, etc. The law of clean/unclean meats aka the dietary laws were given to the Hebrews who were to be an example to the whole world eventually teaching all mankind to follow the laws of God and not man.

Peter's vision in Acts 10:9-16 is often used as the main argument for the abrogation of the dietary laws. But read in context and in its entirety, Peter's vision was for allowing Gentiles into the Church of God and had nothing at all to do with the dietary laws. It was Rome who officially changed this law as to appear 'less Jewish' in practices but The Bible was never changed in either Testament. Jesus, the Apostles after His Ascension back to the Father, and the early Church disciples all adhered to the dietary laws as many 'Christians' still do though the majority do not adhere to them.

Jesus did not come to change a single letter or mark in the Law of God (see Matthew 5:17-19). He came to give us its full intentions which include the spiritual aspects of it (see a good explanation of this in Matthew chapters 5 through 7). The dietary laws are still in force as are the other Commands of God for all people which includes the Sabbath rest beginning Friday sunset to Saturday sunset and no other day (except the 7 annual Festivals/Holy Days commonly called High Sabbaths falling on various days each year).