Biblical Contradiction: There are or are not food restrictions:

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Biblical Contradiction Explained: There are or are not food restrictions:

Man can eat all kinds of animals:

Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant.

Genesis 9:3

I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.

Romans 14:14

Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience’ sake;

1 Corinthians 10:25

Some animals are prohibited for man to eat:

Nevertheless, you are not to eat of these among those which chew the cud, or among those that divide the hoof in two: the camel and the rabbit and the shaphan, for though they chew the cud, they do not divide the hoof; they are unclean for you. The pig, because it divides the hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh nor touch their carcasses.

Deuteronomy 14:7-8

Explanation:

The most obvious problem with this alleged contradiction is the inclusion of Romans 14:14 and 1 Corinthians 10:25. These passages are within the New Testament and fall under the New Covenant. With the New Covenant God removed the dietary restrictions imposed by Deuteronomy 14:7-8:

A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.” Again a voice came to him a second time, “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.”

Acts 10:13-15

Therefore we are only considering Genesis 9:3 when evaluating this alleged contradiction:

Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant.

Genesis 9:3

While it is true that Genesis 9:3 and Deuteronomy 14:7-8 conflict with each other; it is a perfectly reasonable conflict. The dietary laws were not established until Moses received the dietary laws during the Exodus. The statement recorded in Genesis 9:3 occurred long before the Exodus.

If a statement like Genesis 9:3 could be found after the Exodus and before the New Covenant (the time during which the dietary laws were in place), then one could make the argument that the Bible is contradicting itself.

However, because Genesis 9:3 precedes Deuteronomy 14:7-8 by thousands of years, to say that they contradict is dishonest.