Hi John,

Great to hear from you!

I would first have to take issue with the preface to you question.

While the Scriptures are inerrant and are the God-breathed Word of God, the one Church Jesus founded on St. Peter and His successors, has the full authority of Christian faith, the Catholic Church. Before 382 A.D. there was no compilation of books that we know today as the Bible.

The faithful, many of which could not read, learned about the faith by word of mouth.

It was Catholic bishops, guided by the Holy Spirit which chose which books to include and which books to exclude in 382 A.D. at the Council of Rome. Before then, the Gospel had to be transmitted by Oral Tradition, a biblical teaching. You may be interested in my Scripture Passages web page here:

https://www.AskACatholic.com/ScripturePassages

The specific question you have asked falls outside my expertise, so I'll let one of my other colleagues handle it.

Take care!

Mike

John —

Christians eat pork because the vast majority of them were never forbidden to eat pork.

If you read the Law of Moses in context, it was given only to the Jews, the descendants of Israel (Jacob — Exodus 1:1-9, 19:1-8), and specifically because they rebelled at Horeb — note that in Exodus 20-23, the first giving of the law before the Golden Calf episode, there is no such regulation. It's not until Deuteronomy ("second law") chapter 12 that the law against unclean food shows up.

Most Christians are Gentiles. The idea that the Gentiles are not bound by the Law of Moses was confirmed by the Church at a council in Acts 15. Also see Genesis 9:3 — this is the covenant that Gentiles are under, which says they may eat anything. Peter's vision in Acts 10:9-16, where he has a dream commanding him to eat unclean food, is cited as evidence that not even Jews are required to keep the law anymore. (See also Galatians 2:11-14.)

Eric