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Can Christians eat pork?

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Short answer

Most Christians eat pork, but not all, and the views are set out below without choosing between them. The Law of Moses plainly forbids it (Leviticus 11:7-8; Deuteronomy 14:8). The question is whether that law still binds Christians, and the New Testament passages usually cited are Peter's vision (Acts 10:13-15), Paul on food (Romans 14:14; Romans 14:20), and the list the Jerusalem council gave to Gentile believers, which does not mention pork (Acts 15:29). ⭐ The most-quoted verse, Mark 7:19, is the least settled of them: whether Jesus himself declared all foods clean depends on how one Greek word is read, and our own six Bible versions divide on it.

Question

Can Christians eat pork?

Analysis

What the text states plainly

1. The Law of Moses forbids pork.

"And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you." (Leviticus 11:7, BSB) "You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you." (Leviticus 11:8, BSB)

Deuteronomy repeats it (Deuteronomy 14:8), and Isaiah condemns those "eating the meat of pigs" as part of pagan worship (Isaiah 65:4, BSB).

2. Peter's vision. Shown unclean animals and told to eat, Peter refused, and a voice answered:

"Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." (Acts 10:15, BSB)

Readers differ on whether the vision is about food or about people: in the same chapter Peter concludes, "God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean." (Acts 10:28, BSB), and the vision is the reason he goes to the Gentile Cornelius.

3. The Jerusalem council's list for Gentile believers. When the apostles decided what Gentile converts must keep, they wrote:

"You must abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality." (Acts 15:29, BSB)

Pork is not on the list. This is a fact of the text, not an interpretation.

4. Paul on food.

"I am convinced and fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean." (Romans 14:14, BSB) "All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to let his eating be a stumbling block." (Romans 14:20, BSB)

See also 1 Timothy 4:4 and Colossians 2:16.

⭐ Mark 7:19, the verse is less settled than it looks

This is the verse most often quoted to say that Jesus himself declared all foods clean. Our six hosted versions do not agree on what it says:

VersionHow it renders the end of Mark 7:19Who does the cleaning?
KJV"…and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?"the body's digestion
LSV"…and into the drain it goes out, purifying all the meats."the body's digestion
WEB"…then into the latrine, making all foods clean?"inside the question, attached to the process
ASV"…into the draught? [This he said], making all meats clean."Jesus, and the brackets mark "This he said" as words the translators supplied
BSB"…and then is eliminated." (Thus all foods are clean.)Mark's own comment on Jesus' words
FBV"So all foods are ceremonially 'clean.'"a conclusion drawn from the saying

The Greek behind the split. The word is katharizōn (G2511), a masculine present participle. In the critical Greek text it is read as referring back to Jesus, who is the one speaking in the verse before (Mark 7:18), which is how BSB and ASV reach "all foods are clean" as a statement about Jesus' words. ⚠️ The Greek text behind the KJV has a different form of this word at exactly this point, which our tagged Greek marks as a variant, and the KJV and LSV read the cleansing as the work of the body.

So the verse can be read as Jesus' own declaration or as a description of digestion, and the difference is a textual and grammatical one, not a matter of preference. Both readings still have Jesus saying that food "does not enter his heart" (Mark 7:19, BSB), that part is not in dispute.

Where Christians divide

ViewThe readingWhere it is found
PermittedThe food laws were part of the old covenant and are fulfilled in Christ; Peter's vision, the Jerusalem council and Paul all leave Gentile believers free to eat it.The large majority of Christian traditions, Catholic, Orthodox and most Protestant churches.
AbstainThe distinction between clean and unclean animals is older than Moses (Genesis 7:2) and still reflects God's design for the body; the New Testament passages are about fellowship with Gentiles, not about pork.Seventh-day Adventists, who abstain from unclean meats.
Keep the law as a Jewish believerJewish followers of Jesus may keep the food laws as part of their identity, without requiring them of Gentiles (Acts 15).Some Messianic Jewish congregations; practice varies.

Common ground

All three agree that what defiles a person is what comes from the heart (Mark 7:20-23), that no one should be judged for what they eat (Colossians 2:16; Romans 14:3), and that a person should not act against his own conscience (Romans 14:14; Romans 14:23).

Sources, trace every one

Every cited verse, in full. Tap any reference to open it in the reader.

  • Leviticus 11:7bsb

    And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.

  • Deuteronomy 14:8bsb

    as well as the pig; though it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. It is unclean for you. You must not eat its meat or touch its carcass.

  • Acts 10:13bsb

    Then a voice said to him: “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!”

  • Romans 14:14bsb

    I am convinced and fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.

  • Romans 14:20bsb

    Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to let his eating be a stumbling block.

  • Acts 15:29bsb

    You must 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.

  • 1 Timothy 4:4bsb

    For every creation of God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected,

  • Colossians 2:16bsb

    Therefore let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or a Sabbath.

  • Mark 7:18bsb

    “Are you still so dull?” He asked. “Do you not understand? Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him,

  • Genesis 7:2bsb

    You are to take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate; a pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate;

  • Mark 7:20bsb

    He continued: “What comes out of a man, that is what defiles him.

  • Romans 14:3bsb

    The one who eats everything must not belittle the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted him.

  • Romans 14:23bsb

    But the one who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that is not from faith is sin.

  • Mark 7:19bsb

    because it does not enter his heart, but it goes into the stomach and then is eliminated.” (Thus all foods are clean.)

  • Leviticus 11:8bsb

    You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.

  • Isaiah 65:4bsb

    sitting among the graves, spending nights in secret places, eating the meat of pigs and polluted broth from their bowls.

On contested questions we show every major view, attributed and cited, and pick no winner. Answers are synthesized from primary sources, truth you can trace, not opinion.

Can Christians eat pork? · Bubble Bible