Peter Ditzel has a new article about Armstrongism's fascination with unclean meats. When you look on-line you can find huge lists of forbidden meats that UCG and others put out to regulate people's lives. Yet, this is just one of many list of rules and regulations that Armstrongism pick's and chooses from. It's ok to live in homes with mold, wear mixed fabric's, stone your rebellious children, not kick your wife out of the home during menstruation, etc., etc.,.
The Real Poison of Biblical Dietary Laws and "Health Secrets"
Peter Ditzel
Is the Bible a health manual? Are the dietary laws found in the Bible God’s ways of telling us what is healthy and unhealthy to eat? Or did God have an entirely different reason for putting these laws in the Bible? What’s more, do these laws given to ancient Israel have anything at all to do with Christians today?
Herbert W. Armstrong, the late founder and "apostle" of the Worldwide Church of God, taught that Christians must obey the laws of clean and unclean meats found in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. On page 18 of Principles of Healthful Living, he wrote: "This is a basic law—a revelation from God to man about which kinds of flesh will properly digest and assimilate in the human system, and which will not" (Principles of Healthful Living [Pasadena, CA: Worldwide Church of God, Chapter Three 1958, 1978; Chapter Four 1979], version 1.0, May 1990 printing).
As might be expected, most of the splinter groups of the Worldwide Church of God that continue to follow Armstrong’s teachings have their requisite publications on clean and unclean meats. More surprising, perhaps, is the number of others—including physicians, dieticians, and cooks—who have written popular books that claim to reveal the health secrets God has stashed into the pages of the Bible. And, being the narcissistic, health-crazed society we are, these books sell well. In fact, it has become common for many Christians who do not strictly follow the Old Testament dietary laws to nevertheless think of them as health guidelines. They believe the meats listed as unclean in the Old Testament are not as healthful as other meats, and they also think that the Bible contains many other health secrets.
Clean and Unclean Meats
One of the Apostolic Blowouts in the NT was between Paul and Peter. Paul said, (Gal 2:11-15) that Peter got freaky when men from James showed up and he wouldn't eat with the Gentiles. Some think they were eating unclean meat which is why Peter took offense.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that the real reason Peter withdrew from Paul was that when at the meal with Paul, Peter realized that Paul was NOT following the rules he had agreed to follow in Acts 15. I suspect that Paul was eating meat offered to idols which he agreed not to do. In I Cor we find Paul telling the Gentiles not to sweat the idol meat controversey because the idol was nothing and "in all men is not that knowledge."
He meant the Apostles. Paul could be a two faced liar when he needed to be. Peter was not probably at fault in this as we don't have Peter's story but I suspect he could see Paul was not doing what he agreed to do in Acts 15, so separated himself from the man who could be all things to all men, which would mean you could never really know what the guy believed personally.
Paul made light of anything Jewish and cared little for any of it. Peter, James and John, no doubt, remained in the Jewish Nazarene tradition and would never have eaten unclean meats in their lifetime.
The book of James is the Jewish church rebuttal on faith without works towards Paul's make it up as you go book of Romans saying faith was good enough.
However, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-lZehkDZXc
you still may not want to "Meet your Meat."
People Should listen to the things herbert armstrog wrote,it's clear that these foods are not good for the humane body os soooooooooooo many people would not be so sick americans are leading in bad health and all they eat is pig,crab,lobster snails catfish and all kinds of filth,if this food is ok to eat why are americans in such bad health.
ReplyDeleteYes, that is all we eat, Lisamarie. Pig, crab, lobster, snail, catfish and all kinds of filth.
ReplyDeleteAnd Twinkies.
Now, put your head back in the sand and calm down.