"Milk Before Meat" revisited

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Please tell us what this phrase means to you and how you apply it in your daily life.

I’m really interested to know.

If you’re Mormon, don’t think I’m picking on you. I’m truly interested in how people of all faiths view this principle. Not JUST Mormons.

in Christ
Steph
 
I usually have some milk before I eat meat, because my lips are constantly dry. It’s a little cross I bear. 🙂
 
It’s from 1 Cor. Chapter 3:)

1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal. As unto little ones in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not meat; for you were not able as yet. But neither indeed are you now able; for you are yet carnal. 3 For, whereas there is among you envying and contention, are you not carnal, and walk according to man? 4 For while one saith, I indeed am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollo; are you not men? What then is Apollo, and what is Paul? 5 The ministers of him whom you have believed; and to every one as the Lord hath given.
 
tundramom said:
Please tell us what this phrase means to you and how you apply it in your daily life.

I’m really interested to know.

If you’re Mormon, don’t think I’m picking on you. I’m truly interested in how people of all faiths view this principle. Not JUST Mormons.

in Christ
Steph
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I’m sure the reference is to

Exodus 23.19

“Thou shalt not seethe the kid in its mother’s milk.”

Not kosher.
 
My understanding of Kosher laws is that on each day, one may start the day with milk, but after one begins eating meat, there must be no more milk products, lest they mix in the stomach.
 
AshleyBelle said:
It’s from 1 Cor. Chapter 3:)

1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal. As unto little ones in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not meat; for you were not able as yet. But neither indeed are you now able; for you are yet carnal. 3 For, whereas there is among you envying and contention, are you not carnal, and walk according to man? 4 For while one saith, I indeed am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollo; are you not men? What then is Apollo, and what is Paul? 5 The ministers of him whom you have believed; and to every one as the Lord hath given.
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Thank you for that! 🙂 I looked it up in my Bible and the footnotes indicate that milk is elementary doctrine whereas meat/solid food is more advanced teaching.

I don’t have an Old Testament to look up the other reference to Exodus.

In any event, I’m not sure I can contribute anything useful to this discussion so I’ll keep my 2 cents out of it. 😛

Thanks for the info.
 
I see it more as a reference to growing. As an infant, you can only take milk. Eventually, you are able to handle more and more until you can eat meat.

Spritually, you must start with the easiest to handle then move on to the harder things. Just as the Bible starts with there IS a GOd and ends with Jesus returning in Glory, our own growth as Christians must start with believing in God, then progressing to Christ and all that he and his followers taught.

I do not think that this means any teaching should be kept secret. I do think it ties to the passage about “when I was a child, I thought as a CHild.” We are expected to grow.
 
On some level, the principle of that verse is illustrated by the existence of the Disciplina Arcani (Discipline of the Secret) during the early years of the Church. You can read about it here: newadvent.org/cathen/05032a.htm

Basically, certain aspects of the religion and the teachings were kept hidden from the uninitiated until they were properly prepared. This practice is still customary in nearly every ancient religion in the world, and was evidently typical of early Christianity as well. The modern Catholic Church seems to have abandoned it, however.
 
White_Tree said:
On some level, the principle of that verse is illustrated by the existence of the Disciplina Arcani (Discipline of the Secret) during the early years of the Church. You can read about it here: newadvent.org/cathen/05032a.htm

Basically, certain aspects of the religion and the teachings were kept hidden from the uninitiated until they were properly prepared. This practice is still customary in nearly every ancient religion in the world, and was evidently typical of early Christianity as well. The modern Catholic Church seems to have abandoned it, however.
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That is a good article. It makes sense to abandon it once you get past the persecution stage and when you are not surrounded by pagans.

I wonder how non-Catholics answer the claim that this is the reason that certain doctrine are not discussed in the ECF writtings…
 
There’s three references I was looking at while I meditated on this. They are:

Hebrews 5
11We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.
12In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!
13Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.
14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

1 Corinthians 3
1Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ.
2I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.
3You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?
4For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men?

Exodus 23
19 "Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God.
"Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

I have been meditating on this for quite a while and praying about it. I’m trying to put together in words what I’ve learned from my study and meditation. I don’t think I’ve got it all sorted out in words, but I should be this evening. I’ll post it later, but please keep the other posts coming!

(thank you White Tree for providing the link to the new advent article! It’s a good one and that is part of what I have been pondering.)

in Christ
Steph
 
tundramom said:
Exodus 23
19 "Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God.
"Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
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I’m not sure this passage has anything to do with the other two, or else I haven’t figured that out yet. It’s been known to happen. :eek:

I have celebrated Pesach with both Hassidim as well as Messianic Jews. I find their celebration both inspiring and beautiful. I know that at it’s core it is a reminder of the flight out of Egypt. I also believe that the OT is a foreshadowing of the NT. Hassidim and Messianic both agree with the forward and backward “sight” of this celebration. That it is out of space and time and connects all generations.
As a Catholic I believe that we fulfill and participate in this celebration every single time we receive the Eucharist.

Still… not sure how or if this “fits” with the other passages.

More later…

in Christ
Steph
 
😃
I also know that the healthiest I have felt in my life was when my husband and I were in Israel and followed Kosher laws and walked a LOT around Jerusalem.

I’m pretty sure God knew what He was doing when He instituted those laws in the first place even if we never really understand them fully.

in Christ
Steph
 
ralphinal said:
That is a good article. It makes sense to abandon it once you get past the persecution stage and when you are not surrounded by pagans.

…
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That certainly makes sense. Isaiah 14 could have been misinterpreted against them without Matthew 4. As they tested more doctrines and false doctrines and rejected those which led to apostasy and immorality, they developed a sound apologetic.

Symbolically, one begins each day as an infant, and ends it as an adult. Keeps humility to keep that perspective.
 
They were immature Christians who were enslaved to worldly ways of thinking. A natural way of thinking may get milk but the supernatural gift of faith is needed for meat.

Other examples of flesh/spirit.

John 3:6, 6:61-63; 1 Cor 2:14,3:3; Rom 8:5; and Gal 5:17
 
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