What Does the Bible Teach About Clean and Unclean Meats?

Many people have misconceptions about the biblical teaching on clean and unclean meats. What does Scripture really reveal on this subject?

God expects us to learn to properly understand and apply His Word.

Paul’s point is that the possible association of a particular food with idolatrous activity had no bearing on whether the food was suitable for eating.

Some people believe that certain New Testament scriptures remove all distinctions between clean and unclean meats. But what do these passages really say?

From cover to cover, from Genesis to Revelation, nowhere in the Bible do we find an example of a servant of God or follower of Jesus Christ eating the flesh of an unclean animal.

God reveals which animals—including fish and birds—are suitable and unsuitable for human consumption in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14.

Do science and medicine help us better understand why the Bible designates some animals as unfit for human consumption?

What about the common view that God forbade the Israelites from eating pork so they wouldn’t catch diseases, such as trichinosis, from undercooked meat? Does this view hold up under scrutiny?

Many people assume that Jesus Christ abolished the distinctions between clean and unclean meats, even though, as we have seen, no evidence for this exists in the Scriptures.