Fear of Repercussions...

James J Rovira (jrovira@juno.com)
Fri, 11 Jun 1999 15:59:57 -0400 (EDT) 

I guess we need to clarify the subject here -- 

Why you can eat whatever with no qualms whatsoever is pretty much a
reflection of your own beliefs, whatever they are, and I sure can't
comment on those.

But do you want to examine the question in the light of Jewish and
Chrisitian beliefs?  These food issues were a really big deal in the
early church, when most Christians were Jewish and all these Gentile guys
started coming in to the church.  Early Jewish Christians generally felt
they should continue observing the practices of Judaism (including kosher
practices) while church leaders said that Gentile Christians had to
abstain from a limited number of things (see Acts 15), mostly for the
sake of maintaining fellowship with their Jewish brothers.

But all this is within the context of Christian theology, a theology that
views the practices of abstaining from different foods as part of the
"old" covenant, not applicable within the context of the "new" covenant. 
What this meant for Jewish Christians was always a matter of some
confusion for the early church, but it was clear that since Gentiles
didn't have to first convert to Judaism before converting to Christianity
they were never expected to follow kosher restrictions on eating most
foods.

If you want to view it from within the context of Judaism, that "old"
covenant is the "only" covenant and you'd darn well better watch what you
eat if you want to live with respect for the law of Moses :).

Jim  

On Thu, 10 Jun 1999 16:06:13 +1000 Camille Scaysbrook
<verona_beach@geocities.com> writes:
>Jim wrote:
>> The New Testament or covenant or contract, what have you, is based 
>upon a
>> personal relationship and focuses more upon the individual acting in 
>a
>> community of believers and is not centered around any piece of land 
>on
>> this earth.  So fhe focus is more on who you are inside rather than 
>on
>> what food you're eating, etc....
>
>Yeah - but that still doesn't explain why I chow down bacon sandwiches
>without fear of repercussion while my Jewish friends feel they might 
>be
>struck down if they do.
>
>Camille
>verona_beach@geocities.com
>@ THE ARTS HOLE http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/6442
>@ THE INVERTED FOREST http://www.angelfire.com/pa/invertedforest

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