Irish Pork Problem

Pork has another problem:

Irish pork crisis may cost £1 billion and thousands of jobs

International Supermarket News – Dec 9, 2008

The crisis in Irish pork has already started to have major ramifications for workers within the entire pig industry. The SIPTU union said that up to 6,000 jobs in the industry were at risk.

Overall, 2,000 workers in the pig industry have been put on protective notice. Rosderra Meats has confirmed that it has placed 850 workers on protective notice ‘with immediate lay-off’ as a direct result of the contamination issue. The company said it had no alternative, because of the uncertainty in the industry caused by the recall of all Irish pork products.

The Association of Pigmeat Processors did not return to slaughtering yesterday as they insist they need a massive financial package to help them cope with the recall of pigmeat. The processors say they may need up to €1 billion from the Government because all of the recalled product will come back to them.

They say that legally they cannot buy a pig at the moment because they cannot quantify their financial exposure. The association was meeting the Taoiseach and the Agriculture Minister last night but no outcome is yet known…

IEA chief executive John Whelan said severe damage to the export trade was inevitable. He called on the Government and Bord Bia to support the industry and respond with ‘positive marketing’ in the aftermath of this incident. http://www.internationalsupermarketnews.com/index.php/the-news/221-irish-pork-crisis-may-cost-p1-billion-and-thousands-of-jobs

Of course, we in the Living Church of God follow the example of those in the Bible and do not eat pork. We will also not be persuaded to do so by the intended so-called “positive marketing” intended by those in Ireland who make their livings supplying unclean animals.

Contrary to the assertions of many, no one in the entire Old or New Testaments that was called of God ever is shown to have eaten any unclean animals (see also The New Testament Church and Unclean Meats).

According to Catholic sources, the consumption of pork became acceptable after Bishop Eleutherius declared it to be acceptable:

He dispensed with the obligations of Christians to follow dietary laws of Judaic origin (The Popes: The lives of the pontiffs through 2000 years of history. Futura Edizoni, Roma, 1997, p. 5).

The above book should have said the obligations of biblical origin as the dietary restrictions began with God and not Jews (the distinction between clean and unclean animals was known by at least Noah’s time, since God so declared in Genesis 7:2-3). Perhaps it needs to be stated that no one called of God in the Old Testament is ever shown to have consumed unclean meat. Hence the Catholics (and the Protestants that follow this edict) are relying on a possible pronouncement of a bishop of Rome for justification of eating unclean meats more than they may realize.

So how come consumption of unclean meat became common?

Well in addition to the Gnostic writings (such as the falsely titled Epistle of Barnabas), the answer might partially lie in a Catholic document titled Liber Pontificalis. Here is what the Liber Pontificalis ascribes to Bishop Eleutherius:

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 it was a rational food and fit for human kind (Book of the Pontiffs (Liber Pontificalis) 2nd edition. Translation by Raymond Davis. Liverpool University Press – Translated Texts for Historians, Liverpool, 2001, p.17).

Now, I should add that the Liber Pontificalis was composed in the fifth/sixth centuries and has a reputation, even amongst Roman Catholic scholars, for arbitrarily assigning events with certain “popes” (some of this is documented in the article What Does Rome Actually Teach About Early Church History?).

If Bishop Eleutherius did make this declaration (and it may have come later than this as Irenaeus also seemed to understand that unclean animals were prohibited for those who professed Christ, and he may have outlived Bishop Eleutherius–see The New Testament Church and Unclean Meats), it would have been about 150 years or more after Jesus was resurrected. If unclean meats were “nailed to the cross”, one would think that Christians would not have taken over a century to know this.

Some articles of related interest may include:

The New Testament Church and Unclean Meats Are foods considered to have been unclean in the Old Testament considered to be food in the New Testament? This article discusses this from the perspective of the New Testament. It also has a list of clean and unclean animals. It also contains scientific findings concerning a variety of problems associated with pork.
Which Is Faithful: The Roman Catholic Church or the Living Church of God? Do you know that both groups shared a lot of the earliest teachings? Do you know which church changed? Do you know which group is most faithful to the teachings of the apostolic church? Which group best represents true Christianity? This documented article answers those questions. Português: Qual é fiel: A igreja católica romana ou a igreja viva do deus? Tambien Español: Cuál es fiel: ¿La iglesia católica romana o La Iglesia del Dios Viviente? Auch: Deutsch: Welches zuverlässig ist: Die Römisch-katholische Kirche oder die lebende Kirche von Gott?
The History of Early Christianity Are you aware that what most people believe is not what truly happened to the true Christian church? Do you know where the early church was based? Do you know what were the doctrines of the early church? Is your faith really based upon the truth or compromise?
What Do Roman Catholic Scholars Actually Teach About Early Church History? Although most believe that the Roman Catholic Church history teaches an unbroken line of succession of bishops beginning with Peter, with stories about most of them, Roman Catholic scholars know the truth of this matter. This eye-opening article is a must-read for any who really wants to know what Roman Catholic history actually admits about the early church.
Nazarene Christianity: Were the Original Christians Nazarenes? Should Christians be Nazarenes today? What were the practices of the Nazarenes.
Location of the Early Church: Another Look at Ephesus, Smyrna, and Rome What actually happened to the primitive Church? And did the Bible tell about this in advance?