Food Laws and Customs
In the first century AD, Jews and Romans followed an ancient Mediterranean diet consisting mainly of grain, olive oil, and wine, with fruit, vegetables, and animal products playing a smaller role in their diet. Both cultures ate mostly with their hands (hence the practice of ritual handwashing) and consumed meat in a ritualistic context. Regarding the Romans, food taboos were uncommon with the exception of a concern surrounding eating meat raw, in excess, or without manners and other food. In contrast, the Jews were given numerous food laws in the Torah which overtime became known as kashrut, or kosher. Most prevalent to their daily lives were the laws prohibiting the consumption of pork, unclean foods (even ones made unclean by the hands of others), and the thorough draining of blood from an animal before it was eaten.
During the diaspora, concerns arose surrounding the cultic use and preparation of food by Gentiles which resulted in Jews avoiding dining with Gentiles. As the church increased in number, the issue of Jews and Gentiles communing rose to the forefront, reflected in the letters of Paul. In order to mitigate this problem, Paul urges believers to abstain from consuming meat if a weaker brother might stumble because of it, for while eating meat from the market that may have been offered to idols is permissible, the cultic association apparently still troubled some (likely Jewish) believers. This practice of vegetarianism in Judaism was utilized throughout the diaspora to avoid defiling oneself as seen in Daniel, Judith, and Esther. Paul also addresses an apparent issue regarding the table fellowship of the Corinthians. As DVP points out, Paul could have urged believers to come together fasting to avoid this issue, but he desires for them to dine together as a unique social expression of unity, representing their common identity as believers at the same table, of the same status in Christ. Overall, Paul’s letters show Jews that it is good and acceptable for them to break bread with their Gentile brothers, for all are cleansed through the blood of Christ.
“Food Laws and Customs, Jewish and Roman.” In Dictionary of Paul and His Letters: A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship. edited by McKnight, S., Cohick, L. H., & Gupta, N. K. InterVarsity Press, 2023.
Two Streams of Expectation
While the church’s Christology has largely been formed through the Apostle John’s writings, James Ware highlights Paul’s secret: his high Christology largely revealed through his use of Old Testament passages. While he uses the term “God” to refer mainly to the Father, and “Lord” to denote Christ, Ware points out that he mirrors the Shema, “hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deut 6:4) in his phrase “one God and one Lord”, indicating the deity of the Son (Ware 2019,46). Many other instances in which Paul uses Scripture that talks about YHVH to refer to Jesus which reveal his Christology.
Another important theme which Paul addresses in his writings and preaching is the two themes of Jewish expectation, namely that there would be a king (the Messiah) from the line of David who would deliver Israel (Isa 9:1-7, 11:1-10, Ps 2 etc.), and that the Lord God himself would come to dwell among his people to restore all things and fill creation with his glory (Isa 35, Ps 96, Ezek 37:21-28, Zech 14:1 etc.). These hopes were very unique to the Jews who were surrounded by Gentiles who viewed history as one event after another in an endless cycle (Ware 2019, 47). While this ontology was of a circular nature, the Jews had a linear understanding. In his exegesis of the Scriptures, Paul shows Jesus to be that Messiah who came to deliver his people, but he proves that the Scriptures predicted a suffering Messiah who would save them from their sins before returning to physically rule over the nations. The Messiah’s first coming inaugurated the kingdom and his second will consummate it (Ware 2019, 48). Through his second advent he will fulfill the expectation of God coming and restoring all things so that he can tabernacle with his creation, thus maintaining his promises to Israel and bringing the rest of the nations in as his children as well.
Ware, Bruce. Paul’s Theology in Context: Creation, Incarnation, Covenant, & Kingdom. Eerdmans, 2019.
