What foods are prohibited to eat in Orthodox Christianity

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Jeremiah Branch said:
Here is a helpful post by Fr. John Whiteford on the question of blood. He cites various councils and canons (including the original Jerusalem Counsel described in Acts), as well as some commentary from St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain.

A summary of his (Fr. John's) conclusion is: You may not eat blood that has been specifically drained from the animal, or meat from an animal that was improperly killed, such as strangled, or roadkill, i.e. the blood was not properly drained from the meat. However, residual blood that is incidentally released from meat when cooked, such as juices from a steak, are not prohibited.

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yes, that's it, the article of his I was referring to.

Although he didn't specifically say undercooked meat was ok, he did say the following, which I took to mean it was ok


"This is not referring to the juice that may come from a piece of meat when it is cooked, but rather to the blood which is normally drained from an animal at the time it is butchered. And so such foods as "Blood Sausage," and "Black pudding," and some wines that have blood added to them should not be consumed by an Orthodox Christian."
 
Vasily Martian said:
Y

yes, that's it, the article of his I was referring to.

Although he didn't specifically say undercooked meat was ok, he did say the following, which I took to mean it was ok


"This is not referring to the juice that may come from a piece of meat when it is cooked, but rather to the blood which is normally drained from an animal at the time it is butchered. And so such foods as "Blood Sausage," and "Black pudding," and some wines that have blood added to them should not be consumed by an Orthodox Christian."
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What's interesting is that blood sausage has traditionally been served in Russia and Eastern Europe for centuries. Have they just been ignoring the canons on this all along?

That Swedish bloodpudding looks downright disgusting, don't know why anyone would want to eat that anyways.
 
analyst_green said:
What's interesting is that blood sausage has traditionally been served in Russia and Eastern Europe for centuries. Have they just been ignoring the canons on this all along?

That Swedish bloodpudding looks downright disgusting, don't know why anyone would want to eat that anyways.
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In a lot of the discussions, folks who eat this stuff were surprised, and yet it really is prohibited and they shouldn't be doing it. How it happened that they started or continued doing it, despite Church teachings, I couldn't say
 
Get2choppaaa said:
Ive never heard my priest go down the rabbit hole about blood pudding or blood sausage or medium rare steak....

I'd venture a better focus is just getting people who can fast to fast....

But I'm in the USA where blood sausage isn't really common ....
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I'm in Europe, and I specifically asked him about those foods because they are common here.
 
GoodShepherd said:
I have been following the diet God gave Moses in the scriptures for over a decade now, so no pork, shrimp, shell fish, rabbit etc etc
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Eastern Orthodox Christians do not follow the Old Testament / Noahide dietary laws.

Shrimp, clams, molluscs, etc. are allowed and are not considered meat, and can be eaten even when fasting on oil. Squid is often prepared in monasteries, among others on Mount Athos (Holy Mountain). As far as I know, one of the reasons is the different kind of blood (some of them don't have hemoglobin but another component (hemocyanin) that makes their blood blue), so they don't count as animal meat in this context.

We Orthodox eat almost vegan (aforementioned creatures excluded) for about half a year, while the other half we eat almost everything, except for meat (not counting fish) which we eat about ~50 days a year. You can find calendars with fasting rules on the web, so it's not that complicated to follow.

It is not advisable for someone who has never fasted to start 100% suddenly. Talk to a priest or monk/your spiritual father about what might be best for you. Moreover, your priest can ease your fasting rule depending on your circumstances, experience and health conditions (this is called Ikonomia).

Remember that fasting is not an end in itself (although it is required and should be respected) but a means for spiritual perfection (theosis) and mastery of the spirit over the flesh. Think of it as a spiritual endeavor or as a sportsman views training. There can be no improvement without training.
GoodShepherd said:
so what about meats that are halaal im guessing thats food sacrificed to idols too though?
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As a "cradle Orthodox" I have never heard nor read anywhere that halal food is considered "idol sacrifice".
(Orthodox) Christianity does not consider Islam a pagan religion, nor has it ever done so, so it should not consider halal food as a "sacrifice to idols" as well. Islam (in spite of everything) is considered a blurred take on monotheism (albeit a false and misleading one) regardless of how it originated. Some say that Muhammad was influenced by the Nestorians, others say that it was the Arians, and that Islam arose from those influences mixed with a hefty amount of Arab paganism, but that's another topic.
 
KulturedKaveman said:
He didn’t get revelation from an angel or like the Old Testament prophets - he got it from his Christian wife 😂. He was a caravan driver in the 600s Middle East and was very familiar with Christianity of both Orthodox and Arian varieties as well as the Mizarahim Jewish tribes. He pulled a lot of concepts from the religions he would have known. My conclusion on him is he either got the worst catechism on the planet or was essentially a cult leader whose thing blew up into a major world religion.

Like I said, the idea that Allah is not a bad revelation on god the father and in fact pagan, I would accept more if there was more proof. In the Iconoclastic controversy St. John of Damascus was living in the Islamic world. That’s how he became a big defender of imagery in worship. He was able to operate independently of the Empire - they were having a moment.

St. John of Damascus writes extensively about Islam. He calls Mohammad ridiculous but never calls him a worshiper of a false god from what I understand. If the moon god thing was true wouldn’t Middle Eastern saints like St. John waste no time jumping on that in their works? That’s just my take.

I would be interested to know what your priest says about halal btw.
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So asked my priest about halaal, he said its nothing to worry about, just pray over your food and bless it and eat it, haha, guess that answers my question, also he said we can eat everything but not blood or animals that have been strangled and obviously sacrificed to idols, so this got me thinking, would a church council ever arise over genetically modified foods and lab grown meats? As these are new things that didnt exist in Acts 15?
 
GoodShepherd said:
would a church council ever arise over genetically modified foods and lab grown meats? As these are new things that didnt exist in Acts 15?
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Food offered as a sacrifice to Mammon / Plutus depending on language. There’s objectively no reason for the nonsense but cheaper production cost to yield. Food for thought. (Heh punny in afterthought)
 
KulturedKaveman said:
Food offered as a sacrifice to Mammon / Plutus depending on language. There’s objectively no reason for the nonsense but cheaper production cost to yield. Food for thought. (Heh punny in afterthought)
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So with GMO they have mixed the genes of animals that would never be able to exist in nature, they breaking the natural barries that Gid made
 
Right, so, blood sausage is very common where I live, and my spiritual father told me that I can eat blood sausage, no problem at all, citing Matthew 15:11. Lord forbid that ever I wish to go against my spiritual father, but what should I do in this situation? Is it fine since my spiritual father allowed it?
 
Unending Powerhouse Match said:
Right, so, blood sausage is very common where I live, and my spiritual father told me that I can eat blood sausage, no problem at all, citing Matthew 15:11. Lord forbid that ever I wish to go against my spiritual father, but what should I do in this situation? Is it fine since my spiritual father allowed it?
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I would say yes, listen to your priest, but, as a matter of curiosity, you should ask him about the Council of Trullo, (posted by Jerimiah on the last post of page 1) as well as the passages in the Acts, Genesis, and such, which prohibit the eating of blood. For according to the Book of Genesis, the souls of living beings are contained within the blood of us, and therefore, eating a soul can corrupt or harm us. This is why the Apostles in Acts prohibited it, and this is what the council of Trullo reaffirmed.

At the same time, Christ taught that what goes in the mouth cannot defile us, so this is interesting; is it a contradiction?

One thing I will state, the prohibition against eating blood back in the day was a very good idea, because there were lots of blood-borne diseases that would be avoided this way. Many of ancient Jewish customs to wash hands and foods, or drain blood, actually protected them against tons of diseases. So even though Christ said these things were worthless without a pure soul inside, it did not mean Christ condemned them entirely; they were still to be followed as much as possible even though they could not lay the foundation for a Holy soul. And by doing so, people would be much healthier.

Thus, nowadays, we know how to eat blood without contracting disease, however, there remains the question of if there is a spiritually harmful dimension to eating blood as mentioned in Genesis.
 
Unending Powerhouse Match said:
Right, so, blood sausage is very common where I live, and my spiritual father told me that I can eat blood sausage, no problem at all, citing Matthew 15:11. Lord forbid that ever I wish to go against my spiritual father, but what should I do in this situation? Is it fine since my spiritual father allowed it?
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Your priest has blessed it. I would not give it any further thought.

If he's wrong about it (I'm not saying he is) then its his problem now
 
Samseau said:
I would say yes, listen to your priest, but, as a matter of curiosity, you should ask him about the Council of Trullo, (posted by Jerimiah on the last post of page 1) as well as the passages in the Acts, Genesis, and such, which prohibit the eating of blood. For according to the Book of Genesis, the souls of living beings are contained within the blood of us, and therefore, eating a soul can corrupt or harm us. This is why the Apostles in Acts prohibited it, and this is what the council of Trullo reaffirmed.

At the same time, Christ taught that what goes in the mouth cannot defile us, so this is interesting; is it a contradiction?

One thing I will state, the prohibition against eating blood back in the day was a very good idea, because there were lots of blood-borne diseases that would be avoided this way. Many of ancient Jewish customs to wash hands and foods, or drain blood, actually protected them against tons of diseases. So even though Christ said these things were worthless without a pure soul inside, it did not mean Christ condemned them entirely; they were still to be followed as much as possible even though they could not lay the foundation for a Holy soul. And by doing so, people would be much healthier.

Thus, nowadays, we know how to eat blood without contracting disease, however, there remains the question of if there is a spiritually harmful dimension to eating blood as mentioned in Genesis.
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They’re not mutually exclusive. Here’s an interesting thought exercise - Shellfish in a desert pre refrigerator. Just don’t do it. Plus there’s a certain way to cook pork to avoid parasites. This is a culture that roasts / grills everything

I just follow the acts rules. No blood or food offered to idols.
 
analyst_green said:
Is that really it though? After Christ it would be allowed, but they still didn't have refrigerators nor most of our modern food hygiene practices in the first century AD.
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People ate local. If you lived where the Torah was written you wouldn’t be eating shellfish. I live in the Midwestern United States. If it wasn’t for refrigeration and trucks that can get the fresh stuff from Mobile or Gulfport, I never would’ve had shrimp.
 
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