Are All Christians Allowed to Eat Pork or Bacon?

Especially in the dispute with other religions, the issue of pork is an important one. In this article we will look at why Christians are allowed to eat pork and bacon – and almost without restriction.

For this reason, all Christians are allowed to eat pork and bacon: The dietary commandments that forbade pork (and bacon) were for keeping believers clean. Through the death of Jesus Christ, this is no longer necessary. However, Christians should be considerate of the practice of other Christians.

But let’s start at the beginning. To understand why it is allowed, we should look at why it is forbidden.

Table of Contents

Pork in the Old Testament (Or: Why Some Christians Don’t Eat Pork Or Bacon)

Many laws of the Old Testament were not only to regulate people’s dealings with each other, but to maintain reliable communication with God.

This was done through two things: 1. keeping one’s body and conscience “pure” 2. through sacrifices to and for God. “Pure” in this case means: to refrain from or do certain things in order to maintain this state.

Part of this keeping pure was the proper diet for the Jews. Why certain foods (specifically animals) were considered unclean or clean is a question better asked of God Himself. Among other things, the meat of pigs was declared unclean.

So anyone who ate pig was not allowed near God. The only access at that time was the appropriate temple or tent. God could not be approached “just like that” at that time. The corresponding believer had to be pure.

In principle, it was not essential for survival that a believer was pure all the time. There was a possibility for almost everything to become pure again. If there was a possibility to become pure again by eating unclean animals is not handed down and therefore probably not possible.

Therefore it was for Jews (to whom the old testament is addressed) of all highest duty absolutely pure to remain! Because if they were not pure, they could not speak with God.

Why it is allowed for Christians to eat pork and bacon?

Why is it permissible for Christians to eat pork? Jesus Christ came and took away the burden of the laws from us. These are the same laws that governed the dietary laws in the Old Testament and made believers unclean.

When we accept Jesus’ sacrifice, we are declared holy before God. That is, we can come before God at any time – precisely because He no longer sees us as unclean! (Strictly speaking, he sees Jesus when he looks at us… but that is the theologically, complicated expression).

This sanctification is the reason why we can come before God without any further preparation and at any time.

That is the simple explanation. Now we come to a controversy.

Why are there Christians who say you should not eat pork?

There are Christians who say that as a Christian you are not allowed to eat pork or bacon. They justify this with the fact that Jesus did not abolish the law – on the contrary: Jesus himself says that the law remains! The law remains also through the death of Jesus Christ!

But: Jesus’ death ensures that Christians are no longer bound to it and do not gain their salvation through deeds (fulfillment of the law), but through trust in Jesus Christ.

If you want to put it in a simplified way: The law is still in force, but the believer is no longer bound to it and does not have to feel any consequence if he transgresses it;- because Jesus bore this consequence.

Now Paul, an important author of the Bible, writes that one should nevertheless please observe the law and not – by its replacement – do what the head is after. Does this mean that Christians are not allowed to eat pork after all?

But now there is 1 Corinthians 10,23 – 11,1. There Paul writes quite generously that one may basically eat everything as long as it does not burden one’s own conscience or the conscience of others. Whereby this passage is primarily about possible meat that could or should be sacrificed to false gods.

In Romans 14:2-17 we find the solution. The short version goes something like this: Through Jesus, it doesn’t matter what you eat. But if you grieve a brother or sister in the faith by doing so, you contradict the highest commandment – love your neighbor.

How to put this into practice is best found out in prayer.

The role of pork for Christians and why the question is relevant.

In the Bible, not only is pork alone declared unclean (not kosher, to experts), but many different meats from certain animals as well. That the focus today is especially on pork, I attribute to a) the general culture (which is fond of pigs) and b) the fact that many other religions refuse to eat pigs.

For these other religions, it must seem like an absurdity that Christians eat meat. And it becomes quite strange for these people when they open the Old Testament. In Genesis 11, everything that has cloven hooves is declared unclean. There camels count just the same to it, like pigs. So yes: The Bible knows a food commandment that forbids to eat pigs.

And this food commandment was not invented and written down by humans, but directly by God! How can it be that then nevertheless many followers of this God do not keep the commandment?

…because they are following the Son of God, who has greatly changed the meaning of the old laws. In a later section, you can read why this commandment, of all things, became one of the most important in bringing the Gospel to the unbelievers.

But first, let’s take a look at the meaning of the laws of the Old Testament to understand how the prohibition of pork is to be understood.

Role of the laws in general

The laws in the Old Testament had several meanings: First, they were meant to show how flawed a person was. It was through comparison with an optimal condition that man could recognize his defectiveness. So the laws like “Thou shalt not kill” or “Thou shalt not steal” are a clear indication that God definitely did not intend this for man. (These two examples belong to the 10 commandments. Those who want to learn more about them can do so in this article.)

Secondly, the laws provided a way to get in touch with God. If you read through the books of Moses, you will notice that many commandments are less about the direct living together of humans, but more about the contact between humans and God. There are written commandments like “What must I sacrifice?”, “How must I sacrifice?”, “How must I behave to be allowed to come before God”.

And an important aspect of this was the cleanliness of people. Not only washing with soap was meant, but also a kind of inner purity. This purity could be disturbed by sick and dead people – and also by wrong food. There was always the possibility to restore his purity (because God wanted to have contact with his people), but it was very costly and it is considered bad life to violate the (purity) laws.

What does the bible say about pork and bacon in the Old Testament?

Abolition of the food commandments in the New Testament (Aka why do christians eat pork?)

Then Jesus Christ came and changed everything. Even during his lifetime, he relativized many commandments that were considered firm and unshakable in Jewish tradition. For example, working on the Sabbath (a day off from work). He relaxed the static laws of the Jews, which turned God-given laws into exaggerated human regulations – For example, Jews were not allowed to do superfluous handshakes.

Much more interesting than the less strict interpretation of the laws was the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His death made all sacrificial rites absolutely superfluous. His sacrifice was the ultimate sacrifice for all people. (Hebrews 10) As a result, people no longer needed complicated sacrificial rituals to wash themselves clean.

Jesus’ sacrifice declares us pure. Thus, the way is open for every human being to communicate directly with God without having to create a path through a human priest. This, however, also removes the meaning of all laws that can make us pure – since we already are through Jesus.

By the omission of these laws Christians can eat pork, because the actual sense of the law (or the law itself) is no longer given.

The removal of these rules, in which God declared animals to be clean, was also the turning point for the spread of evangelism. In Acts 10:9-16, God shows, through the omission of these very dietary rules, that His Word and salvation through Jesus Christ is open to every person.

Are the food commandments abolished or are they just ignored?

It is not clear whether the food commandments are abolished today. There are many theological opinions on this. Some say Jesus fulfilled the law and others say he abolished the law.

One thing is clear: by accepting the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we are declared clean by Him – it is no longer necessary to keep the dietary laws in order to communicate with God. This is the role that Jesus Christ has taken for us.

In any case, whether abrogated or fulfilled, a Christian no longer has to keep the laws, but acts according to other standards

How and When Christians May Eat Pork And/Or Bacon

Let’s keep in mind: Christians are basically allowed to eat anything they want without being separated from God. The sacrifice of Jesus has changed the “rules of the game” in the direction of God’s relationship (technical term: “New Covenant”). The dietary laws have been largely abolished – however, these have been replaced by the individual Christian’s own morals (which are shaped by the Holy Spirit).

1 Corinthians 8:7-13 describes how this should best be done: Consider your neighbor in your eating and support his faith in your food choices. If it turns your brother away from faith in Jesus Christ, then refrain from eating certain things. This includes pork.

At this point, of course, it is debatable whether abstaining from pork will help a former Muslim come closer to Jesus or further (unintentionally) strengthen his Muslim roots is a clear question of the situation. But perhaps the next principle from the above passage will help:

If you eat pork, or food and dishes in general, that are dedicated to an idol, you should not eat those dishes. By doing so, you could consciously or unconsciously strengthen others around you in their false beliefs. However, there is no obligation to ask….

To keep it short: As a Christian you are allowed to eat everything in principle, but not everything is good for you. Listen to your heart and follow your conscience in choosing your food. If you have a bad conscience (for whatever reason): Then you should leave it alone (for now). The Holy Spirit will guide you in the right direction.

Which Christians do not eat pork?

Are there Christians who no longer eat pork today? Sure. However, I have not found any Christian community that generally adheres to the dietary laws.

There are Christians who think that the dietary commandments have not been abolished. The new interpretations of the above mentioned passage from the New Testament are then not always very meaningful (from my point of view). At the end of the day, the same applies here: If it troubles one’s conscience not to keep them, then one should keep these commandments.

Besides the “there-is-keep-this-commandment” there are also Christians who do not eat pork because they are vegetarians or vegans. Or for some other -personal reasons – do not eat pork.

Summary: Does Christianity allow pork?

Christians are allowed to eat pork because pork can no longer make a Christian unclean. The purity commandments from the Old Testament were fulfilled (some say abolished) by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and man is no longer bound by them.