Unclean Meats in Review

Some unclean meats per Leviticus 11 & Deuteronomy 14 (AI-generated)

There’s a claim that’s going around ── that it was ONLY within the last two generations that Sabbath-keepers should NOT consume unclean meats.

Well… that claim is FALSE!

Israeli scholar of Jewish and Islamic philosophy, Shlomo Pines, speaks of two Christian groups during the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132–135 AD) in Jerusalem. “The first Christian Community of Jerusalem from the death of Jesus till the flight of its members to their tribulations in exile,’ and a group improperly called “Christians.” A group that would come to abandon and betray the true Christians and replace the true Gospel with Greek notions and ways. He writes, “From the Jewish-Christian point of view, an outline of the events and tendencies which brought about (1) the flight of the original Christian community from Jerusalem (or from Palestine) and (2) the abandonment and betrayal of what is regarded as true Christianity and its replacement by Greek notions and ways” ──

(71a) ‘After him, [i.e., after the death of our Lord Jesus] his disciples (aṣḥāb) were with the Jews and the Children of Israel in the latter’s synagogues and observed the prayers and the feasts of (the Jews) in the same place as the latter. (However) there was a disagreement between them and the Jews with regard to Christ.

The Romans (al-Rūm) [this term may designate both the Romans and the Byzantine Greeks] reigned over them. The Christians (used to) complain to the Romans about the Jews, showed them their own weakness [i.e., that of the Christians] and appealed to their pity. And the Romans did pity them. This (used) to happen frequently. And the Romans said to the Christians: “Between us and the Jews there is a pact which (obliges us) not to change their religious laws (adyān). But if you would abandon their laws and separate yourselves from them, praying as we do (while facing) the East, eating (the things) we eat, and regarding as permissible that which we consider as such, we should help you and make you powerful [‘Azzaznākum, or: ‘should honor you’], and the Jews would find no way (to harm you). On the contrary, you would be more powerful [A'azzu, or: ‘more honoured’] than they.”

The Christians answered: [Literally: ‘said’] “We will do this.” (And the Romans) said: “Go, fetch your companions, and bring your Book (kitāb).” (The Christians) went to their companions, informed them of (what had taken place) between them and the Romans and said to them: “Bring the Gospel (al-injīl), and stand up so that we should go to them.”

But these (companions) said to them: “You have done ill. We are not permitted (to let) the Romans pollute the Gospel. (71b) In giving a favorable answer to the Romans, you have accordingly departed from the religion. We are (therefore) no longer permitted to associate with you; on the contrary, we are obliged to declare that there is nothing in common between us and you;” and they prevented their (taking possession of) the Gospel or gaining access to it. In consequence a violent quarrel (broke out) between (the two groups).

Those (mentioned in the first place) went back to the Romans and said to them: “Help us against these companions of ours before (helping us) against the Jews and take away from them on our behalf our Book (kitāb).” Thereupon (the companions of whom they had spoken) fled the country. And the Romans wrote concerning them to their governors in the districts of Mosul and in the Jazīrat al-‛ Arab [In the context this geographical term might—exceptionally—designate the Jazira region in North-Eastern Syria, rather than the Arabian Peninsula]. Accordingly, a search was made for them; some (qawn) were caught and burned, others (qawn) were killed.

(As for) those who had given a favorable answer to the Romans they came together and took counsel as to how to replace the Gospel, seeing that it was lost to them. (Thus) the opinion that a Gospel should be composed (yunshi ‛u) was established among them. … (In this manner) a certain number of Gospels were written. 1

The above apparently took place during the second century AD (from AD 101 to AD 200) during the Bar Kokhba Revolt. It shows us that two groups professed our Lord Jesus Christ at that time. One group (the faithful ones; dubbed “companions”), and the other group, that are improperly called “Christians.” It was the “companions” who were properly keeping the holy Sabbath and continuing to keep the LORD’s food laws, and who would no longer associate with the compromisers and had to eventually flee because of persecution.

So, to be allowed back into Jerusalem after the Bar Kokhba Revolt, the Romans ordered that any professors of Christ Jesus had to eat the things they ate, i.e., unclean meats. Those compromisers of God’s living word, those who followed Marcus of Jerusalem, the sixteenth bishop of Jerusalem (served 135 – died 156), did so to be able to worship in Jerusalem. The LORD God’s faithful NEVER COMPROMISED! They did not eat unclean meats.

Notice this from Theophilus of Antioch (who did not support the false concept of the trinity and who appears to support the doctrines of the true and original Church of God) wrote in roughly 180 AD ──

“Consider, therefore, whether those who teach such things can possibly live indifferently, and be co-mingled in unlawful intercourse, or, most impious of all, eat human flesh, especially when we are forbidden so much as to witness shows of gladiators, lest we become partakers and abettors of murders.” 2

So, of course, true Christians never believed that they could eat human flesh ── which is, absolutely, unclean meat.

The consumption of unclean meats was certainly not part of the true Christians original faith. Now … those who truly believe that the New Testament is also the glorious word of God, should consider ──

“Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 4) For CERTAIN MEN have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God [God the Father] and our Lord Jesus Christ.” – Jude 3-4.

There’s also a report from a Lutheran historian, Johann Moshein, who noted a Sabbatarian group in the 12th century, which he called a “religious faction of less importance, which arose in Italy, and more especially in France, though they seem to have expired soon after their birth,” concerning two of their tenets ──

“In Lombardy, which was the principal residence of the Italian heretics, there sprang up a singular sect, known (for what reason I cannot tell) by the denomination of Pasaginians, … The first was a notion that the observance of the law of Moses, in everything except the offering of sacrifices, was obligatory upon Christians; ... abstained from those meats, the use of which was prohibited under the Mosaic oeconomy, and celebrated the Jewish sabbath. The second tenet that distinguished this sect was advanced in opposition to the doctrine of three persons in the divine nature; …” 3

So, this sect that arose in Italy and France for a short time kept the Lord's Sabbath, and they abstained from eating unclean meats, as well as being opposed to the false doctrine of the Trinity.

The following is from a very early 2nd century AD document that is falsely titled “The Epistle of Barnabas” ── it was not written by our beloved Barnabas (whose birth name was Joseph or Joses, was a Levite from Cyprus (Acts 4:36) and a member of the early Jerusalem Church of God), it is not accepted as inspired Scripture by the Church of Jesus Christ Online Ministries ──

“ x.] Why did Moses say, “Ye shall not eat the swine, nor the eagle, nor the quick-of-wing, nor the raven, nor a fish which hath not a scale on itself”? He took three doctrines in his mind. Moreover he says in Deuteronomy, “And I will establish my ordinances with this people.” Is it not, then, God’s command that we should not devour? Moses spoke in spirit. As to the swine, about this he meant, Thou shalt not join thyself, saith he, to such men as are like swine.

That is, when they live riotously they forget the Lord, but when they come to want they remember the Lord; as also the swine while it devours, knows not its master, but when it is hungry it cries out, and on receiving [food] is again silent.” 4

Now, as to his false statement, “As to the swine, about this he meant, Thou shalt not join thyself, saith he, to such men as are like swine” ── that is not what the Prophet Moses meant! The LORD God inspired Moses to write, clearly ──

“’ Also the swine is unclean for you, because it has cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud; you SHALL NOT eat their flesh or touch their dead carcasses.’” – Deuteronomy 14:8.

Truly, it couldn’t get much clearer than that.

And while a large majority likes to speculate or argue why the LORD God made such an ordinance ── there’s an old phrase by Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem that says something to the likes of, “Ours is not to reason why, ours is to do and die.” Well … ours is certainly not to question an all-wise and all-knowing Creator God!

It should also be added here that religious groups are claiming that all animal meat is considered food. However, nowhere in all of God’s living word is it claimed that all animal meats are considered good to eat. Some claim that the Book of Isaiah is not viable to professing Christians ── but, of course, early true Christians never accepted those claims. When people who truly and reverently fear the LORD God read the following prophecies in the living word of God, they do not want any condemnation from the LORD God ──

“’ A people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face; Who sacrifice in gardens, And burn incense on altars of brick; 4) Who sit among the graves, And spend the night in the tombs; Who eat swine’s flesh, And the broth of abominable things [such as cannibalism] is in their vessels.’” – Isaiah 65:3-4.

“’ He who kills a bull is as if he slays a man; He who sacrifices a lamb, as if he breaks a dog’s neck; He who offers a grain offering, as if he offers swine’s blood; He who burns incense, as if he blesses an idol. Just as they have chosen their own ways, And their soul delights in their abominations, 4) So will I choose their delusions, And bring their fears on them; Because when I called, no one answered, When I spoke they did not hear; But they did evil before My eyes, And chose that in which I do not delight.’” – Isaiah 66:3-4.

“’ Those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves, To go to the gardens After an idol in the midst, Eating swine’s flesh and the abomination and the [rodent], Shall be consumed together,’ says the LORD.” – Isaiah 66:17.

Like what AI tried to reason when I told it that even within a 50-mile radius of me, there are no church organizations with the same religious faith as the Church of Jesus Christ Online Ministries, it said, “Even though you might not find people with your exact beliefs nearby, sometimes connecting with others who value spirituality or deeper meaning can help bridge that gap.” And this is the foolish thinking that many people have ── and they also tend to believe that any Sabbatarian Church of God group is acceptable in the eyes of God. Which is not the case.

So, showing here some texts regarding the fact that early true Christians did not eat unclean meats, where did the consumption of unclean meats come from ── why did it become common?

Well … besides the Gnostic writings (which are almost always in opposition to God’s living word), the answer could certainly be revealed to us in a Roman Catholic document, the LIBER PONTIFICALIS (The Book of the Popes) ──

“XIV. Eleutherius. Eleuther, by nationality a Greek, son of Habundius, from the town of Nicopolis, occupied the see 15 years, 3 months, and 2 days.

He was bishop in the time of Antoninus and Commodus until the year when Paternus and Bradua were consuls (A.D. 185).

He received a letter from Lucius, king of Britain, asking him to appoint a way by which Lucius might become a Christian. 5

He also decreed that no kind of food in common use should be rejected, especially by the Christian faithful, inasmuch as God created it; provided, however, it were rational food and fit for humankind.” 6

The New Advent Online Catholic Encyclopedia says this about Eleutherius ──

“The ‘Liber Pontificalis’ ascribes to Pope Eleutherius a decree that no kind of food should be despised by Christians (Et hoc iterum firmavit ut nulla esca a Christianis repudiaretur, maxime fidelibus, quod Deus creavit, quæ tamen rationalis et humana est). … Pope Eleutherius, says this writer, received from Lucius, a British king, a letter in which the latter declared that by his behest he wishes to become a Christian (Hic accepit epistula a Lucio Brittanio rege, ut Christianus efficerentur per ejus mandatum).” 7

So, according to Dr. Looms in the book Liber Ponticalis (which I researched myself using Library Archive), this Eleutherius “was bishop in the time of Antoninus and Commodus until the year when Paternus and Bradua were consuls (A.D. 185).”

Well … no one who was called by God the Father in the Old Testament is ever shown to have consumed any unclean meat. So, the Roman Catholic Church (and her daughter churches, the Protestants that follow her edicts) are going on a possible pronouncement of a bishop of Rome for their justification of eating unclean meats.

Now, it certainly should be added here: that this Liber Ponticalis, which was composed in the 5th or 6th centuries, does have a reputation, even amongst some Roman Catholics, for arbitrarily assigning events to certain “popes.” Notice this from the Advent Online Catholic Encyclopedia ──

“The unsupported assertion of the ‘Liber Pontificalis’, a compilation of papal biographies that in its earliest form cannot antedate the first quarter of the sixth century, is not a sufficient basis for the acceptance of this statement. By some it is considered a story intended to demonstrate the Roman origin of the British Church, and consequently the latter’s natural subjection to Rome.” 8

Emperor Constantine II “called a gathering of Christian monks with a view to the formulation of obligatory religious beliefs, deviation from which would be punished by death. Approximately two thousand religious leaders assembled 9 and composed a text which came close to the symbol of faith. … In this way, people who professed the religion of Christ came to do all that is reprehensible: they worshipped the cross, observed the Roman religious rites, and ate pork. Those who did not eat it were killed.” 10

As I’ve been saying, there were (and are TODAY) two basic groups ── those who were (ARE) true and faithful Christians, and those who were (ARE) not. This has been the case since the very beginning, AD 31.

So then, over a millennium after the Greco-Roman confederation began, a 16th-century religious movement began that led to the establishment of Protestantism. Yet, instead of ‘contending earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints’ (Jude 3), they took it upon themselves to continue with the traditions and doctrines that they had accepted from the Roman Catholic Church. And since they could no longer refer to papal decrees, they came up with their own views of God’s word ── and certainly to be in favor of consuming unclean meats.

Brethren, here in this 21st century, like our spiritual brethren before, we in the Church of Jesus Christ Online Ministries continue to keep and observe the LORD’s holy Sabbath, we avoid the consumption of unclean meats, and we continue to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” □

Bibliography & Notes:

1 Pines S. The Jewish Christians of the Early Centuries of Christianity according to a New Source. Proceedings of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Volume II, No.13; 1966. Jerusalem, pp. 14-15.

2 Theophilus of Antioch. To Autolycus, Book III, Chapter XV. Translated by Marcus Dods, A.M. Excerpted from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2. Edited by Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson. American Edition, 1885. Online Edition.

3 Mosheim JL, Coote C, Gleig G. An Ecclesiastical History, Ancient and Modern: In which the Rise, Progress, and Variations of Church Power, are Considered in Their Connexion with the State of Learing [as in the Quality Learing Center in Minnesota] and Philosophy, and the Political History of Europe During that Period, Volume 1. Translated by Archibald Maclaine. Plaskitt & Cugle, 1840. Original from Ohio State University, Digitized Aug 8, 2013, p. 333.

4 Apostolic Fathers, Epistle of Barnabas, 10:1-3, 1885 translation by Charles H. Hoole.

5 The source of or ground for this extraordinary statement is quite unknown. It appears first here in the Lib. Pont. Bede and other medieval English chroniclers built up considerable legend upon it.

6 The apostle Paul had already prohibited the classification of certain foods as unclean. Romans, xiv; Colossians, ii. 16, 17; / Timothy, iv. 3, etc. Our author may have had in mind the Manichean practice of condemning wine and meat, of which much was heard in Rome in the fifth century. The Book of the Popes (Liber Ponticalis) I To the Pontificate of Gregory I, Translated with an Introduction by Louise Ropes Looms, PH.D., New York: Columbia University Press, 1916, pp. 16-17.

7 The New Advent online Catholic Encyclopedia, Pope St. Eleutherius (Eleutheros), Retrieved 6 May 2026.

8 ibid. 7. (underlining for emphasis).

9 The assembly referred to may have been the Synod of Antioch in 325, which immediately preceded the Council of Nicaea.

10 ibid. 1, pp. 30-31.

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