I agree. It’s interesting they note he lived on honey and locusts. He was a true bugman in diet but was wild and free - he was the voice in the desert. YET, these food items aren’t kosher. Idk, I prefer to follow the dumbed down law in Acts as I’m not as holy as the Forerunner so I’m the weak man eating vegetables.
I wouldn't want to eat shellfish on Mount Sinai in 1500 BC either. But later on the Israelites lived in coastal areas too, and shellfish is generally safe if fresh. So that's why I'm wondering if there isn't more to God's prohibition then pure health concerns.
I'd say there is undoubtedly more to it than health concerns. You can be reductionist and pragmatic about any commandment, this is the general mindset of Liberal Theology and for that reason I'd say its best to avoid looking at things from that perspective alone. When the Liberals want to invoke modern ideas about homosexuality for example, they will try to contextualize the prohibitions in a historical sense in which they no longer apply.
There’s seafood restrictions in the Torah. However I eat shellfish all the time. It’s a staple during lent for me. I think shellfish are even encouraged because of their lack of blood. They don’t have closed circulatory systems like quadrupeds.
Maybe my understanding is a bit off but from what I understand there was kind of a war in the early church between Jews and the Gentiles who came into the church. Peter and Paul probably would’ve kept kosher but others wouldn’t have. And there was an agreement between the former Jews and gentile converts - no blood, drain the blood from slaughtered animals, no eating and drinking at cook outs in the pagan rituals (that’s what they mean by eating food sacrificed to idols, a communal dinner was often made after a pagan sacrifice), abstain from sexual immorality. Even though we don’t keep Old Testament Kashrut, the above suffices according to the council at Jerusalem.
Old Testament dietary restrictions. It no longer applies
Simply don't eat it, just because your father said it's ok doesn't mean you have to, surely you can survive without it.