The topic of clean and unclean animals arose during a recent conversation. The question proposed was whether the Biblical mandate forbidding the eating of unclean meats in the light of the new covenant, and as it currently appears in the church’s doctrinal statements, is still valid.
The first question we can perhaps ask, is why clean animals? Does the differentiation between clean and unclean possess any religious, theological or health values? The first record of clean animals is when Noah was instructed by God to take pairs of unclean animals aboard the ark, as in contrast to taking seven pairs of clean animals. Was this only about food or was it also about sacrifice?
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