Batali Gabriel Modi (Mondurute) is a South Sudanese citizen, commentator and advocate for peace, justice and national unity. He writes as a concerned son of South Sudan, calling for collective accountability and a recommitment to the founding values of the nation.
(OPINION/Batali Gabriel Modi)
In the Old Testament, God gave the people of Israel detailed dietary laws to set them apart as a holy nation. Among these, pork was clearly forbidden. Leviticus 11:7 – 8 says:
“The pig, though it has a divided hoof, does not chew the cud. it is unclean for you. You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses. They are unclean for you.”
For ancient Israel, disobeying this command was a sin because it broke God’s covenant. These laws were meant to maintain ritual purity and show faithfulness to God’s instructions. In that context, eating pork was considered spiritually unclean and sinful.
In the New Testament, however, the focus shifts from external rules to inner purity. Jesus taught that true defilement comes not from food but from what is in a person’s heart. Matthew 15:11 records His words:
“It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth. This defiles a person.”
The Apostle Paul echoed this message in 1 Corinthians 10:25–26, saying:
“Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for ‘the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.’”
Therefore, under the New Covenant, Christians are free to eat pork. The focus is not on ceremonial laws but on a clean heart and gratitude to God.
In Islam, the prohibition of pork remains strict and unchanging. The Qur’an repeatedly forbids its consumption, calling it impure. Surah Al-Baqarah (2:173) says:
“He has only forbidden to you dead animals, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which has been dedicated to other than Allah. But whoever is forced [by necessity], neither desiring it nor transgressing its limit, there is no sin upon him. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.”
Thus, in Islam, eating pork is a sin, except in cases of necessity such as survival.
Summary
| Faith Tradition | View on Eating Pork | Scriptural Reference | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Judaism (Old Testament) | Sinful | Leviticus 11:7–8 | Violation of divine law and ritual impurity |
| Christianity (New Testament) | Not sinful | Matthew 15:11; 1 Corinthians 10:25–26 | Purity is spiritual, not dietary |
| Islam (Qur’an) | Sinful (except in necessity) | Surah Al-Baqarah 2:173 | Forbidden as impure by divine command |
Whether eating pork is considered sinful depends on one’s faith and covenant in the end. All three Abrahamic scriptures, however, agree on one point: what truly matters is obedience to God’s will, not merely the food one eats.
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