General
Comment
This
is an odd short chapter really. I'm not too sure why the author wrote
it beyond the fact that he has come across the prohibition of pig
meat by various religious groups and wonders why because it seems
silly when you observe pigs.
There
are, in fact, only two references to the prohibition on eating pigs
in the Old Testament (Lev 11:7 & Deut 14:8). Because there are
no dietary requirements in Christianity it was purely a Jewish prohibition
that came about through the Law of Moses. The author doesn't seem
to try to tie down any of his negative comments to any particular
faith, just makes general comments about all the Eastern faiths that
encompass this prohibition.
For
the Jews, pig meat was just one of a number of prohibited foods called
“unclean foods”. Because no reason beyond the fact that they were
designated ‘unclean' was given, it is impossible to say of a certainty
why this prohibition was included. As the author comments there have
been some suggestions, but not wholly conclusive.
My
own take on the whole situation of ‘clean' or ‘unclean' foods is that
God is the Creator of the world and He knows what ‘works' and doesn't
work. There has been research on various of the cleanliness rules
and it has been shown that a number of them had clear health &
hygiene reasons behind them. My suggestion is, that until it becomes
obvious what the reason is, we would do well to keep quiet, lest we
eventually show ourselves up to be foolish.
Beyond
that, there is little to disagree with in this short chapter and we
will limit comment to what we have said already.