Ask the Pastor: Forbidden Foods; Child of Adultery; Homosexuality; Transubstantiation
by the Rev. Walter Snyder
Religion Columnist

Q: God told the Jews not to eat certain animals. Yet in a vision to St. Peter, God cleansed all animals
and made them fit and lawful for human consumption. If this is the case, then why don't Christians
eat dogs, rats, vultures, or skunks? Please get back to me on this, thank you.

A: God never placed Gentiles under the Law he gave Israel. All people are under his moral Law, and
have it written in their hearts, but since the time of Noah, mankind was given to eat all that moved
on the earth, so long as its lifeblood was drained from it. Since the time of Christ and the fulfillment
of Israel in his person, the Gentiles were not bound to the rules of the old Covenant. This is seen not
only in diet, but in keeping Sabbath and in circumcision, to name but two.

As for why Christians don't eat certain animals, some of these you mention are not the most tasty or
healthy things to eat. This is especially true for scavengers like vultures and skunks, whose diet may
be all or in great part diseased and decaying. However, there are people, Christians included, who
eat these animals in certain parts of the world. A number of oriental Christians regularly eat dog. We
in the west don't, because we think of them as pets. A lot of it is in how we are raised.

Q: What's the view of the Bible and God on a child resulting from an adulterous relationship? Is one
supposed to forgive and accept the situation and continue on being married if you (the party that
didn't commit the sin) are a Christian?

A: Adultery is Biblical grounds for divorce, but it is not commanded, only allowed. We pray so easily,
"Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us," but when the time comes to
do so, we find out what a tremendous thing it is that we are asking. God wants forgiveness and
reconciliation. Yet if the adulterous spouse resists or persists in sin, God allows the marriage to end.

As for what happens with a child born under such circumstances, much depends upon how the
husband and wife deal with all the sin (not just the adultery, but any other problems in the marriage
that led to it and followed from it). There's all the emotional baggage and whether or not they are
able to forgive each other and themselves and truly be led by God. If a child is born of adultery, both
husband and wife must ask themselves, each other, and God what is best for the child and can they
truly forgive, forget, and go forward trusting in God to guide and protect them.

Q: Are homosexuals born so? If so what does the Bible say about this?

A: The Bible says that all are born sinful. It doesn't specify what particular sins we might be
predisposed toward. Homosexuality does receive special mention, however. It's not only a sin, but
Paul tells us that it is also punishment for being sinful, for turning away from God to false worship,
whether of self or of other people or things (see Romans 1).

Q: I was wondering if Martin Luther found it distasteful or blasphemous when Catholics worshiped
the host (which they did in the belief that Christ dwelled within the communion wafers). In other
words, was this one of his beefs with the concept of Transubstantiation?

A: The veneration of the host---especially in Corpus Christi festivals and parades---was one of
Luther's complaints. However, he never denied that it truly was the body of Christ. His problems
were that the doctrine of Transubstantiation was arrived at by philosophy rather than the plain words
of Scripture.

Luther didn't concern himself much whether the bread and wine were actually changed into the
body and blood of Christ and only the outward appearance remained (Transubstantiation) or if the
bread and wine were "vehicles" under which the body and blood were also fed to the
communicants. His complaints were more that unbiblical, speculative reasoning stood in the place of
Jesus' plain words. Christ said "eat" and "drink," not "save," "worship," or "parade around." Luther
and the Lutheran Church don't try to explain the words, "This is My body... this is My blood." We've
given them thankful acceptance and eat and drink as He bids us do.

To Ask the Pastor, please write Ask the Pastor, PO Box 12, Emma, MO, 65327 or send email to
askthepastor@aol.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

Walter Snyder is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri and coauthor of the book
"What Do Lutherans Believe."

Ask the Pastor is copyright (c) 2001 by Walter P. Snyder. It may be reproduced  in totality,
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