Has anyone ever read Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan? I did as required reading in 2nd or 3rd grade ( I went to a private Christian school). Now my daughter is reading it for required reading in her 2nd grade curriculum (we use -mostly- Ambelside Online).
I keep saying to people, how much I learn by teaching my daughter. Well, as we are going through this book, I have come across certain things that make me question my own heart, but yesterday I came across this: (copied from a Gutenberg pdf file) ...
FAITH. This brings to my mind that of Moses, by which he describeth the beast that is clean. [Lev.
the tongue or voice of an angel.
What I am gathering now from that, is that, just as in all the rest of the Bible, the clean and unclean beast were a metaphor or parable for us. Just as it says in the New Testament, that all beasts are not unclean. God put animals on this earth for us to nourish our bodies.
Just as I posted the other day about lard, pigs are said to be "unclean" in the Bible, but there are so many health benefits to eating (in moderation) pork and lard.
This is just my interpretation of what I am reading. If you still believe that you should only consume "clean" animals, then that is between you and God to decide what is right for your family.
I keep saying to people, how much I learn by teaching my daughter. Well, as we are going through this book, I have come across certain things that make me question my own heart, but yesterday I came across this: (copied from a Gutenberg pdf file) ...
FAITH. This brings to my mind that of Moses, by which he describeth the beast that is clean. [Lev.
11:3-7; Deut. 14:6-8] He is such a one that parteth the hoof and cheweth the cud; not that parteth the hoof
only, or that cheweth the cud only. The hare cheweth the cud, but yet is unclean, because he parteth not the
hoof. And this truly resembleth Talkative; he cheweth the cud, he seeketh knowledge, he cheweth upon the
word; but he divideth not the hoof, he parteth not with the way of sinners; but, as the hare, he retaineth the
foot of a dog or bear, and therefore he is unclean.
CHR. You have spoken, for aught I know, the true gospel sense of those texts. And I will add another thing:
Paul calleth some men, yea, and those great talkers, too, sounding brass and tinkling cymbals; that is, as he
expounds them in another place, things without life, giving sound. [1 Cor. 13:1-3; 14:7] Things without life,
that is, without the true faith and grace of the gospel; and consequently, things that shall never be placed in the
kingdom of heaven among those that are the children of life; though their sound, by their talk, be as if it were
the tongue or voice of an angel.
What I am gathering now from that, is that, just as in all the rest of the Bible, the clean and unclean beast were a metaphor or parable for us. Just as it says in the New Testament, that all beasts are not unclean. God put animals on this earth for us to nourish our bodies.
Just as I posted the other day about lard, pigs are said to be "unclean" in the Bible, but there are so many health benefits to eating (in moderation) pork and lard.
This is just my interpretation of what I am reading. If you still believe that you should only consume "clean" animals, then that is between you and God to decide what is right for your family.
No comments:
Post a Comment