Are we still supposed to follow Leviticus?

[sandalwood]

If not, then why not?

Are there certain verses we're supposed to follow and certain ones we aren't? I've been reading Leviticus (reading the Bible in order) and so many of the laws make no sense to me. Why would certain animals be "detestable?" I worked in a veterinary clinic and sometimes have to touch animals that have passed away. Does that make me unclean? Also, when a loved one passes away, I like to give them a kiss to say goodbye. Does that make me unclean? It just seems to cruel and insensitive, not at all like the God I thought I knew. Also, I'm a woman, and once a month I have my period. I can't just put my life on hold while I'm menstruating to keep others from becoming unclean.

I know there must be some reason we're not still sacrificing animals, quarantining fertile women, killing kids who talk out of turn, and "detesting" 90 percent of the earth's animals. But what is the reason? I'm confused, just please help me understand because I'm sick of people calling Christians evil and whatnot for "picking and choosing" what to follow and constantly quoting Leviticus as a reason not to be Christian. It's starting to get at me.

PS: Are these mega harsh laws really reflective of God's character? If so, then there's no hope for me, that's for sure.

[K. Ayato]

You need to understand the context and purpose for Leviticus. The Law was given to the people of Israel, and since Christ's death fulfilled the requirements of the Law (seeing NO ONE can follow all its commandments with 100% perfection in everything), we are not bound by it.

Personally, I believe God allowed Leviticus to be included in what we now know as the Bible to give us a glimpse into how He wanted the world to know that Israel was His chosen people and different from all the other nations. It also shows that it's impossible to keep every requirement of the Law, seeing we're human and have a sin nature. One thing that stands out to me is that repentance is costly.

[DaughterOfZion]

On the animal thing, there are scholars that believe the banned animals were banned for public health reasons, some of the animals were more likely to give the consumer food poisoning and transmit diseases to the consumer as well. Also, it's talking about eating the animals, not being around them.

[Atria35]

Also, it's talking about eating the animals, not being around them.

This is actually quite a valid point- for instance, shellfish (one of the things banned in Leviticus) even today is known to be more tricky and potentially poisonous than other foods. And kosher made sense when you lived in a desert, where mixing spoiled meat and spoiled milk (from the heat, which would get to it really quickly because *no refridgeration*) was a recipe for disaster.

[K. Ayato]

Plus God didn't want His people to catch diseases by eating animals that preyed on others, hence the outline for eating only animals that both chewed the cud and had cloven feet, and fish that had scales.

[mechana2015]

Also keep in mind that portions of leviticus are for the Levites, tabernacle priests, or are pertinant to the priesthood of the Tabernacle/Temple, not to lay people

[Xeno]

As has already been stated, the laws written in this book was for the Jewish people and priests. You have to understand the context of the time and area in which these people lived to get the laws. Atria and DoZ already explained the animals, as far as deceased people...well that again makes sense for similar reasons as animals. Decomposition in leads to diseases that can be easily spread. When it comes to issues surrounding women, well women were not regarded anything closely to highly in those days. They were essentially property, owned by their father and then by their husband. They had a duty to produce children and maintain a household, but were not allowed any kind of rights or authority like women are today.

As far as saying Christians pick and choose what to follow from the Bible and using Leviticus as an example of this, there are very specific reasons for this, but it's probably best that I not delve into them here.

[Nate]

I know there must be some reason we're not still sacrificing animals

This one is actually really easy to explain, the reason we're not sacrificing animals is because Jesus made the sacrifice for all sin on the cross. Even if you were to assume that all the laws in the OT must be followed (there are some Christian denominations who do believe that), sacrificing animals would still not be followed.

As far as "picking and choosing" what laws to follow, well, yeah. Christians do pretty much do that. It's kind of a necessity when you take the holy book of another religion and piggyback off of it.

[ClosetOtaku]

Not to mention that sticking to the laws on prohibition of usury and celebration of Jubilee would destroy Western economic structures completely. Which makes you wonder if Western economic structures are legitimate in the first place. But I digress...

[sandalwood]

As far as "picking and choosing" what laws to follow, well, yeah. Christians do pretty much do that. It's kind of a necessity when you take the holy book of another religion and piggyback off of it.

What?

I still don't understand how we justify not following all those laws - some of them, but not all of them. It's confusing, and it makes my friends and family attack me about my religion and I can't think of an apologetic argument in my defense.

[K. Ayato]

Because they don't apply to us. I know a lot of fellow Christians who love to take that one little isolated verse in Leviticus and say that we're not allowed to have tattoos. But again, take a close look. Here's what the insert in my Bible has to say about the book of Leviticus as a whole.

"Leviticus takes its name from the Latin word for 'book of the Levites' (the one tribe set apart strictly for serving God). The major concern of the book is the holiness of the community of Israel (emphasis mine). Holiness means to be set apart by God for a special purpose. Holiness is expressed in proper forms of worship and living out the love of God in the routine of daily life. The 'Holiness Code (chs. 17-27) is a good example of how worship and justice mingle together in the life of Israel."

[Nate]

What?

Just what I said. Leviticus is part of the Torah, the Torah is Jewish. We're not Jewish, it's not our book. Christianity "piggybacks" off of Judaism, but as we're not Jewish, the OT really doesn't apply to us. The only reason we read it is because there's references to it in the NT. And we still don't even get that right (there's references to Jewish mythology in some NT books, such as Jude, that we don't have in the bible).

I still don't understand how we justify not following all those laws - some of them, but not all of them.

As K. said, the defense is "We're not Israel." Seriously, that's it. The Law only applied to the Israelites, we don't follow it because we don't live in ancient Israel. One of the first things Christianity did when it started up was basically realize hey the Law isn't really important because we're not Israelites. * That's why you have things like the debate about whether Gentiles should be circumcised or not. Ultimately it ended up being that hey, we're not Israel, and what's in our hearts is more important than whether our junk is cut.

Things like "Don't murder, don't steal," and so on aren't really exclusive to Leviticus. Or even Judaism or Christianity for that matter. Practically all civilizations under all religions have laws against things like theft and murder. So, it isn't hypocritical to say that yeah, we should follow laws that say not to harm others, but stuff about food and tattoos and locking yourself in your room during your period are dumb laws and we don't need to care about them.

For Christians, really the two biggest "laws" are love God, and love your neighbor. Does getting a tattoo prevent you from doing either of those things? No, so it's perfectly fine. When you break it down like that, it becomes pretty obvious that there's no real reason to look to Leviticus to see what's wrong and right, and thus ignoring the laws of Leviticus is perfectly valid. We can read it to understand the cultural and historical context and understand the Jewish religion better, but as far as Christianity goes it literally doesn't apply to us.

* Paul does say that the Law can't be completely ignored, as "I wouldn't know what sin was without the Law," but he's not saying the Law needs to be followed (it doesn't), but rather it's important to look at it as a reminder that man cannot be justified by his own works.

[SierraLea]

All the laws from the Old Testament can be hashed into the one law Jesus gave us, to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself." That basically sums it all up.

[Nate]

Well, no, not all the laws from the Old Testament fit into that. For example, "Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material" has nothing to do with loving God or your neighbor. It's an archaic law that only makes sense in a historical context. Most of Old Testament law falls into that category.

[K. Ayato]

Most, but not all, I should point out. There are plenty of laws regarding proper worship and conduct with fellow human beings. Among those are pretty strict laws on how to mete out justice and the terms of letting a slave go after 7 years. Again, a lot ties into the Jewish culture of the time, but I'm sure we can still learn a few things, such as how God delivers justice to everyone with no favoritism, for example.

[Zeldafan2]

Most, but not all, I should point out. There are plenty of laws regarding proper worship and conduct with fellow human beings. Among those are pretty strict laws on how to mete out justice and the terms of letting a slave go after 7 years. Again, a lot ties into the Jewish culture of the time, but I'm sure we can still learn a few things, such as how God delivers justice to everyone with no favoritism, for example.

I agree with this. While many of the Old Testamant laws are purely cultural, there are many laws that reference how people should talk, and treat other people that can apply to Christans and people of today. Some of Leviticus' descriptions of killing animals, however, I find hard to read because of my destetment of gory descriptions in writing.

And Nate, on your first sentance, I think you meant Old Testamant, not New.

[Mithrandir]

I would say discussing the application of the Old Testament to modern Christians pretty clearly falls into the Theology Discussions category. That being said, everyone appears to be civil, so we're politely requesting that discussion continue via PM.