Mosaic Dietary Laws Essay -- Moses Old Testament Christianity Essays

Mosaic Dietary Laws Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Mosaic dietary laws, the laws imposed by the directives of Moses on the Israelites, extended from earlier restrictions that had been placed on the eating habits of the human race. The Old Testament is full of directives regarding food consumption and God’s law, and even Genesis addresses limitations imposed on certain types of food consumption.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Primarily, the restrictions placed on the consumption of certain types of meat, a limitation that continues in rules for maintaining a Jewish kosher home, relates directly to what is viewed as the rules for the holy people of God. The people of God, then, are expected to recognize that â€Å"God is to be obeyed, concluding that circumcision and the prescriptions of Mosaic law are still obligatory† (1). In understanding the Mosaic dietary laws maintained in the books of the Old Testament, it is necessary to consider the early restrictions placed on certain types of food consumption, the restrictions outlined by Moses for the people of God, and the implications of these eating restrictions both then and in the modern era. What must be recognized is that â€Å"To this day, these rules—with variations, but always guided by Mosaic laws—are followed by many orthodox Jews† (2). Jewish religious practices, then, are based not only in their ancestral ordinances, but in the specificity of Mosaic law in terms of dietary limitations and circumcision (3). Relating the significance, then, of early restrictions and their application to Mosaic law, as well as an understanding of the role of Moses, are elements important in understanding Mosaic dietary laws. Early Restrictions   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Early restrictions prior to the initiation of Mosaic dietary laws related directly to the belief that the human race originally consumed just vegetable products, and that it was not until the Flood and the prescriptions relative to Noah’s animal ownership that individuals were pushed to consume animal flesh (Genesis 9:3-4). Initially, it was recognized that animal slaughter was an unclean process, and further, from a historical perspective, it can be argued that the consumption of some animals was just unsafe. The lack of refrigeration and the prevalence of bacterial infection in the flesh of animals determined a lack of safety and the people of this region often saw illness related to meat consumption as ... .... Paperback, New York. Green, J. (1999). Jesus and Moses: The Parallel Sayings. New York. Green, Peter. (1996). Hellenistic History and Culture. Paperback: New York. Grimm, V. (1996). From Feasting to Fasting, the Evolution of a Sin: Attributes to Food in Late Antinquity. New York. Kretzmann, N. et al (1989). The Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy : From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Disintegration of Scholasticism, 1100-1600. Paperback: New York. Leviton, Richard et al (2000). Outposts of the Spirit. Paperback: New York. Lobban, Richard, Jr. (1994, February). Pigs and Their Prohibition. International Journal of Middle East Studies 25(1), 57. Martin, R. (1996). Word Biblical Commentary Vol. 40, 2 Corinthians. New York. McAuliffe, J. et al (2003). With Reverence for the Word: Medieval Scriptural Exegesis in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. New York. Metzger, B. (1997). The Canon of the New Testament: Its Origin, Development, and Significance. New York. Reilly, Kevin. (1999). Worlds of History: A Comparative Reader: To 1550. Paperback: New York. Wittmayer, Salo (2000). Social and religious history of the Jews. Volume 5. New York.