Leviticus 11 as a catholic

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This is from the commentary provided in the NABRE for Acts 15 on the USCCB Website:


“[15:13–35] Some scholars think that this apostolic decree suggested by James, the immediate leader of the Jerusalem community, derives from another historical occasion than the meeting in question. This seems to be the case if the meeting is the same as the one related in Gal 2:1–10. According to that account, nothing was imposed upon Gentile Christians in respect to Mosaic law; whereas the decree instructs Gentile Christians of mixed communities to abstain from meats sacrificed to idols and from blood-meats, and to avoid marriage within forbidden degrees of consanguinity and affinity (Lv 18), all of which practices were especially abhorrent to Jews. Luke seems to have telescoped two originally independent incidents here: the first a Jerusalem “Council” that dealt with the question of circumcision, and the second a Jerusalem decree dealing mainly with Gentile observance of dietary laws (see Acts 21:25 where Paul seems to be learning of the decree for the first time).”

“j. [15:20] Gn 9:4; Lv 3:17; 17:10–14.”

I’m fine with avoiding the blood-meat thing as I get sick seeing food made/cooked with blood…I have a little bit of a Middle Eastern heritage, & just the thought of it is repugnant to me… 😛
 
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Thanks for the information. It’s an interesting issue, I think.
 
What about the law that states homosexual acts are sinful? It’s in Lev, right?
 
Well, it’s not exactly so simple according to Jewish thinking. For homosexuality was also a CEREMONIAL practice of pagan nations, which the Jews were cautioned not to imitate. Hence the prohibition against lesbianism as well, although it is nowhere explicitly mentioned or forbidden in the Law. As I stated previously, Orthodox Judaism believes that all the laws are linked.
 
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However, this is a tired old “gotcha” setup question for Christians.

The further answer is the New Testament, in Acts, the law wrt foods was overturned. Teachings on homosexual acts were re-stated in the New Testament.
 
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As I understand it, along with baal worship, the drinking of blood was also a practice in the ancient world.
 
TheLittleLady said:
Teachings on homosexual acts were re-stated in the New Testament.
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Yes, but probably the best verses on it I’ve come across are in 1 Corinthians 6 NABRE (USCCB):


9 Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor boy prostitutes nor sodomites
10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God.
11 That is what some of you used to be; but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Can I get an “AMEN!” on verse 11? 😃

It continues:

12 “Everything is lawful for me,”* but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is lawful for me,” but I will not let myself be dominated by anything.
13 “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will do away with both the one and the other. The body, however, is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body;
14 God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power.
15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take Christ’s members and make them the members of a prostitute? Of course not!
16 [Or] do you not know that anyone who joins himself to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For “the two,” it says, “will become one flesh.”
17 But whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
18 Avoid immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the immoral person sins against his own body.
19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
20 For you have been purchased at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body.

This is the awesomeness of God…
 
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I don’t know what the answer is. I know that God is gracious and merciful and loves us in spite of our ignorance. I know that I have abstained from pork and shellfish for the last seven years and don’t really have a desire to eat those things, but I no longer condemn anyone for eating them. St. Peter gave the interpretation of his vision. It had nothing to do with food and was about going to minister to the Gentiles. Also, the phrase in the verse in Mark is widely recognized as having been added as it is not in the original manuscripts. That being said, I still do not know whether it matters to God what we eat, as much as how we treat one another. Are we loving one another? If I am weak because I do not eat things Lev. 11 says we are not to eat, then I am willing to be weak. And as brothers and sisters in Christ we should not make people feel bad because they do not eat pork or shellfish. Nor should we make our brothers and sisters feel bad because they do. I think for those like me who struggle whether for religious reasons or health reasons, it is loving to make an effort to not make anyone feel bad for the way they feel especially since it is not a matter of salvation.
 
Acts chapter 10. God told Peter He made clean those animals and that they could be eaten.
 
meltzerboy2 said:
Of course, although Judaism will deny this is the reason, there are certain health benefits to eating kosher food. With regard to meat, including beef and chicken, it is a requirement that the animal slaughtered be healthy, that is, have no disease, no punctured, torn, or scarred internal organs, no broken bones, and so on. Further, since the hindquarters of animals are discarded or sold to non-kosher meat companies, there is much less chance of E.coli contamination since the bacteria is found in the feces of animals (and humans).
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I have absolutely no doubt that this was the reasoning behind all of those dietary restrictions, as well as the methods of koshering, at that point in time. Every Law that God has ever given us has been for some practical purpose for our own good, whether we recognize God’s purpose at the time, or not. He gave them those laws to keep them safe from things that were invisible and completely unknown to them. I don’t understand why anyone would not want to recognize that fact, and celebrate how well God took care of His chosen people.
 
Of course NO ONE should be condemned by others for eating (or not eating) pork and shellfish, including Jews as well as Christians. It is not right for anyone to condemn another.
 
Inri1 said:
As a practicing catholic I have just come upon reading Leviticus 11, in which where it states: “The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2 “Say to the Israelites: ‘Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat: 3 You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud.”

To what extent should a catholic practice these teachings, if at all…
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Nothing. The Old Covenant. Been superseded by the New.
 
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