Did the Jews forbid pork because eating it was killing people?

Question:

Why does the Old Testament say certain foods are prohibited? My teacher said it was because people saw that their friends were dying from pork, so they wrote that it was a sin to eat it. We know now it is from undercooking that meat. This makes me scared because it seems like something that could happen.

Answer:

Your teacher is wrongly assuming that men created the law. What we know is that many Gentiles ate pork, so to claim that one small nation noticed something that no one else noticed is stretching credibility.  Pork was forbidden because pigs will eat dead animals. All scavengers were not allowed in the Hebrew diet. See Uncleanness.

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