
Christian dietary laws vary between denominations. The general dietary restrictions specified for Christians in theNew Testament are to "abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meat of strangled animals".[1][2] Some Christian denominations forbid certain foods during periods offasting, which in some cases may cover half the year and may exclude meat, fish, dairy products, and olive oil.[3]
Christians in theCatholic,Lutheran,Anglican, andOrthodox denominations, among others, traditionallyobserve Friday as a meat-free day (in mourning of the crucifixion of Jesus); many also fast and abstain from consuming meat on Wednesday (in memory of the betrayal of Jesus). There are various fasting periods, most notably theliturgical season ofLent.[4][5][6][7] A number of Christian denominations forbid alcohol consumption, and many Christian churches condemndrunkenness as being asin.[8]
The only dietary restrictions specified for Christians in theNew Testament are to "abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meat of strangled animals" (Acts 15:29), teachings that theearlyChurch Fathers, such asClement of Alexandria andOrigen, preached for believers to follow.[9][10][11]Paul the Apostle, in a notable contrast, told the Christians in Corinth not to worry about eating food sacrificed to idols, since "an idol has no real existence" (1 Corinthians 8:4). However, while liberating the Christian from this common dietary restriction, he did recommend using discernment, because it would be better to never eat any meat than to cause another Christian to stumble (1 Corinthians 8:4–13).[12]
TheCouncil of Jerusalem instructed gentile Christians not to consume blood, food offered to idols, or the meat of strangled animals, since "the Law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath."[13] In Judaism, Jews are forbidden from consuming (amongst other things) any mammals except those with cloven hooves thatchew their cud,[14]shellfish (including all invertebrate seafood) and unscaled or finless fish,[14] blood,[15] food offered to idols,[16] or the meat of animals not killed humanely with a sharp knife by a trainedJewish slaughterer[17] or meat from a living animal.[18] TheSeven Laws of Noah, which Jews believe all people, both Jews andgentiles alike must follow, also forbid consuming the meat of living animals.[19][20]
InChalcedonian Christianity, includingCatholicism,Eastern Orthodoxy,Lutheranism,Moravianism,Anglicanism, andReformed Christianity, there exist no dietary restrictions regarding specific animals that cannot be eaten.[21][1] This stems fromPeter the Apostle's vision of a sheet with animals, described in theBible, inActs of the Apostles, Chapter 10, whenSaint Peter was told that "what God hath made clean, that call not thou common".[22]

TheSeventh-day Adventist Church follows the Old Testament'sMosaic Law on dietary restrictions, which is also the basis for theJewish dietary laws. They only eat meat of a herbivore with split hooves and birds without a crop and without webbed feet; they also do not eat shellfish of any kind, and they only eat fish with scales. Any other animal is considered unclean and not suitable for eating. All vegetables, fruits and nuts are allowed.[23]
In theEthiopian Orthodox Church, anOriental Orthodox Christian denomination,washing one's hands is required before and after consuming food.[24][25] This is followed byprayer, in which Christians often pray toGod to thank Him for andbless their food before consuming it at the time of eating meals.[25][26] Slaughtering animals for food is often done in Ethiopia with thetrinitarian formula.[27][28]
TheArmenian Apostolic Church, as with otherOriental Orthodox Churches, have rituals that "display obvious links withshechitah, Jewish kosher slaughter."[29] TheEthiopian Orthodox Church andEritrean Orthodox Church maintain dietary restrictions on a traditional basis.[30]
With reference to medieval times, Jillian Williams states that "unlike the Jewish and Muslims methods of animal slaughter, which require the draining of the animal's blood, Christian slaughter practices did not usually specify the method of slaughter" though "the Christian method of preparation largely mirrored the slaughter methods of Jews and Muslims for large animals".[31] "The Christian methods of slaughter follow the Jewish way of draining the blood of the animal".[32] David Grumett and Rachel Muers state that the Orthodox ChristianShechitah and JewishKosher methods of slaughter differ from the MuslimHalal (Dhabh) method in that they require the cut to "sever thetrachea,oesophagus and thejugular veins of the animal" as this method is believed to cause minimal suffering to the animal.[33][needs context]
According toSikhism,Jhatka meat is meat from an animal that has been killed by a single strike of a sword or axe to sever the head, as opposed to ritualistically slow slaughter (kutha) like the Jewish slaughter (shechita) or Islamic slaughter (dhabihah). It is the method preferred by manyHindus,Sikhs, andChristians.[34]
Thejhatka method of slaughtering animals for food (with a single strike to the head to minimize pain) is preferred by many Christians,[34] although theArmenian Apostolic Church, among otherOrthodox Christians, have rituals that "display obvious links withshechitah, Jewish kosher slaughter."[29]

SomeChristian monks, such as theTrappists, have adopted a vegetarian policy of abstinence from eating meat.[35]DuringLent some Christian communities, such as OrthodoxChristians in the Middle East, undertake partialfasting eating only one light meal per day.[36] For strictGreek Orthodox Christians andCopts, all meals during this 40-day period are prepared without animal products and are essentially vegan.[36] Abstaining from animal products during Lent occurs by many Christians for this period, though some believers practiceChristian vegetarianism as a way of life.[37][38]
InWestern Christianity, fasting is observed during the forty-day season ofLent by many communicants of theCatholic Church,Lutheran Churches,Anglican Communion,Methodist Churches and theWestern Orthodox Churches to commemorate the fast observed byChrist during his temptation in the desert.[39] While some Western Christians fast during the entire season of Lent,Ash Wednesday andGood Friday are emphasized by Western certain Christian denominations as especially important days of fasting within the Lenten season.[40][41] In many Western Christian Churches, including those of the Catholic, Methodist and Baptist traditions, certain congregations have committed to undertaking theDaniel Fast during the whole season of Lent, in which believers practiceabstinence from meat, lacticinia and alcohol for the entire forty days of the liturgical season.[42][43][44][45]
According toCanon Law,Roman Catholics are required to abstain from meat (defined as all animal flesh and organs, excluding water animals) onAsh Wednesday and all Fridays ofLent including Good Friday.[46] Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are also fast days for Catholics ages 18 to 60, in which one main meal and two half-meals are eaten, with no snacking.[46] Canon Law also obliges Catholics to abstain from meat on the Fridays of the year outside of Lent (excluding certain holy days) unless, with the permission of the local conference of bishops, another penitential act is substituted.[46] Exceptions are allowed for health and necessity like manual labor and not causing offense when being a guest.[46] The restrictions on eating meat on these days is solely as an act of penance and not because of a religious objection to eating meat.[46]
MostChristian denominations condone moderate consumption of alcohol and beverages, including the Anglicans, Catholics, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Reformed and the Orthodox.[47][48] TheAdventist,Baptist,Methodist,Latter-day Saints, andPentecostal traditions either encourage abstinence from or prohibit the consumption of alcohol (cf.teetotalism).[49][50][51][52] In any case, all Christian churches, following variousBiblical passages, condemndrunkenness assinful (cf.Galatians 5:19–21).[53][8]
The main legally enforced prohibition in both Catholic and Anglican countries was that against meat. During Lent, the most prominent annual season of fasting in Catholic and Anglican churches, authorities enjoined abstinence from meat and sometimes "white meats" (cheese, milk, and eggs); in sixteenth and seventeenth century England butchers and victuallers were bound by heavy recognizances not to slaughter or sell meat on the weekly "fish days," Friday and Saturday.
Of the Eating of Meat: One should abstain from the eating of meat on Fridays and Saturdays, also in fasts, and this should be observed as an external ordinance at the command of his Imperial Majesty.
In the Orthodox groups, on ordinary Wednesdays and Fridays no meat, olive oil, wine, or fish can be consumed.
For most of Christian history, as in the Bible, moderate drinking of alcohol was taken for granted while drunkenness was condemned.
Christ came for the Gentiles as well as the Jews (the real meaning of that vision in Acts 10:9;16) but he also calls us to look out for each other and not do things that will cause our brothers and sisters to stumble. In 1 Corinthians Paul urges the believers to consider not eating food that onlookers assume has been offered to idols: 'Food will not bring us close to God,' he writes. 'We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block for the weak.' (1 Corinthians 8:8-9)
Clement of Alexandria and Origen also forbid eating meat dedicated to idolatry and partaking in meals with demons, which, by association, are the meals of fornicators and idolatrous adulterers. Marcianus Aristides merely testifies that Christians do not eat what has been sacrificed to idols; and Hippolytus only notes the interdiction against eating such food.
Nevertheless, toward the end of the chapter, Paul suggests that even Christians with strong faith may want to abstain from eating food offered to pagan deities if any chance that their example will tempt fellow Christians of weaker faith into inadvertent idolatry. He concludes by saying, "Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble." (1 Corinthians 8:13)
Before Christianity, they could not eat certain things from certain animals (uumajuit), but after eating they can now do anything they want to.
In the meantime, Peter in Joppa has a midday vision in which he sees a sheet containing animals of every description lowered from the sky. He hears a voice from heaven telling him to "kill and eat." Peter is naturally taken aback, because eating some of these animals would mean breaking the Jewish rules about kosher foods. But then he hears a voice that tells him, "What God has cleansed, you must not call common [unclean]" (that is, you do not need to refrain from eating nonkosher foods; 10: 15). The same sequence of events happens three times.
All the faithful should strive to pray seven times a day & at the following hours: Upon rising from bed in the morning & before eating & commencing any task. Wash your hands & pray standing.
The Christians do "Basema ab wawald wamanfas qeeus ahadu amlak" [In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit of the one God] and then slaughtered. The Jews say "Baruch yitharek amlak yisrael" [Blessed is the King (God) of Israel].
By contrast, the most common mode of slaughtering four-legged animals among Christians in the nineteenth century was through the deliverance of a stunning blow to the head, usually with a mallet or poleax.
The Armenian and other Orthodox rituals of slaughter display obvious links withshechitah, Jewish kosher slaughter.
The Christian methods of slaughter follow the Jewish way of draining the blood of the animal.
Halal is the method preferred by Muslims and jhatka by the Hindus/Christians/Sikhs, etc.
Traditional Hindus and Trappist monks adopt vegetarian diets as a practice of their faith.
The vegan lenten fast of Egypt's native Christian community
In many Lutheran churches, the Sundays during the Lenten season are called by the first word of their respective Latin Introitus (with the exception of Palm/Passion Sunday): Invocavit, Reminiscere, Oculi, Laetare, and Judica. Many Lutheran church orders of the 16th century retained the observation of the Lenten fast, and Lutherans have observed this season with a serene, earnest attitude. Special days of eucharistic communion were set aside on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.
The Protestant Episcopal, Lutheran, and Reformed churches, as well as many Methodists, observe the day by fasting and special services.
Special religious services are held on Ash Wednesday by the Church of England, and in the United States by Episcopal, Lutheran, and some other Protestant churches. The Episcopal Church prescribes no rules concerning fasting on Ash Wednesday, which is carried out according to members' personal wishes; however, it recommends a measure of fasting and abstinence as a suitable means of marking the day with proper devotion. Among Lutherans as well, there are no set rules for fasting, although some local congregations may advocate this form of penitence in varying degrees.
In some cases, entire churches do the Daniel Fast together during Lent. The idea strikes a chord in Methodist traditions, which trace their heritage to John Wesley, a proponent of fasting. Leaders in the African Methodist Episcopal Church have urged churchgoers to do the Daniel Fast together, and congregations from Washington to Pennsylvania and Maryland have joined in. For the fourth consecutive year, St. Mark's United Methodist Church in Charlotte, N.C., will observe Lent this year with a churchwide Daniel Fast. Young adults in the congregation tend to keep the fast more rigorously than older ones, according to Pastor Paul Milton.
Many parishioners at St. Philip Neri are participating in the Daniel fast, a religious diet program based on the fasting experiences of the Old Testament prophet Daniel. ... participating parishioners started the fast Ash Wednesday (Feb. 10) and will continue through Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday.
Our family and friends are encouraged to take this journey during the season of Lent. This is a time we as Christians mature spiritually the 40 days before Resurrection Sunday. The Daniel Fast begins Ash Wednesday, February 17, 2021 and ends on Resurrection Sunday, April 4, 2021. Our common practice is 6 days on and 1 day off.
Although the Jewish, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Episcopal, and Lutheran traditions generally allow moderate drinking for those who can do so, it is simply incorrect to accuse them of condoning drunkenness.
According to Scripture, all Christians must avoid drunkenness. Though abstinence from alcohol is a morally creditable choice, those who, in their freedom in Christ, choose to use alcohol moderately are not to be condemned.
Protestants who called themselves "fundamentalists" (they believed in the literal truth of the Bible--Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals) were dry.
We believe total abstinence from all intoxicating liquors as a beverage to be the duty of all Christians. We heartily favor moral suasion and the gospel remedy to save men from the drink habit. We believe that law must be an adjunct of moral means in order to suppress the traffic side of this evil. We believe that the State and the citizen each has solemn responsibilities and duties to perform in regard to this evil. We believe that for the State to enact any law to license or tax the traffic, or derive revenues therefrom, is contrary to the policy of good government, and brings the State into guilty complicity with the traffic and all the evils growing out of it, and is also unscriptural and sinful in principle and ought to be opposed by every Christian and patriot. We therefore believe that the only true and proper remedy for the gigantic evil of the liquor traffic is its entire suppression; and that all our people and true Christians everywhere should pray and vote against this evil, and not suffer themselves to be controlled by or support political parties which are managed in the interest of the drink traffic.
Drunkenness was biblically condemned, and all denominations disciplined drunken members.