Incest

It is a religious and/or legal term. A simple definition  is "any sexual relations between people that are too closely related to marry". In most Religions and legal systems that will be a person closer than a first Cousin.

I believe only Christianity  forbids marriage between First cousins. In most US states it is legal to marry a First cousin. However Most if not all Christian denominations forbid it.

President Franklin Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor were cousins, But they may have been second cousins. Both  had the same family name of Roosevelt and Theodore Roosevelt was the uncle of Both.

Here is a list of famous people that married cousins  LINK

The simplest explanation is because He had not forbidden it. Often times we try too hard to find reason for what Allaah(swt) Permits or forbids.
We have no reason to know. we only need know what has been forbidden and avoid doing it. There is no need to make life difficult.

Still... God did give us a brain and He does want us to "reason" with Him as it says in scriptures.  So I think Nabilbb questions is an interesting one... and in trying to answer it... and understanding God in that process... I don't think it makes life difficult.  But that is  just my humble opinion.

With that in mind.... why would God not forbid something... and then later on, forbid it?  The answer to that question... or the attempt in answering that question... gives a bit of insight into God's "thinking".. and with that insight... it might help us to understand other things He says or forbids or permits in the bible.

For example... why would a good God permit horrible evil to exist?  Obviously God does not condone evil.. and yet He permits it or allows it to exist.  Why?

Anyway... my understanding of why God didn't forbid incest early on (before Moses)... (and it makes the most sense to me, for whatever that is worth)... is that incest at that time, didn't create the deformities, etc.. which we see today.  And to me, that makes sense since it would seem to be true that the farther away that humans are (in time) from the initial point of creation (Adam and Eve)... the more deficiencies and problems and degradation the body incurs... if for no other reason than because of the cumulative ravages of sin.

To me... (if we are to believe what the Bible narrates in the OT)...  it seems that the human body has gone through a change... from "best" to "worse" over the history of mankind since Adam and Eve... physically and genetically.

As one example... back before Moses... people were living a LOT longer.  Anyway... that is how I would answer Nabilbb's question.  God forbids incest (since Moses)... to protect people from the ravages and deformities that can occur because of incest.... especially if the incest occurs down the same family tree (like from father to daughter... then from that daughter to son...  etc etc down the line).

I could be wrong... completely wrong... but that is my opinion at the moment (which can change)

Best regards
Francis

Hi Nabilbb...

There are a lot of answers to that question... and some of them can be incredibly deep... and it might be true that God had multiple reasons for once prohibiting the eating of pigs.  So it's possible that multiple answers could be true.. and not just one answer.  I mean... it's conjecture at this point since the bible doesn't really tell us all the reasons why God prohibited it in the first place.

But in the interest of time... I'll give you a short answer...  one that is not a very deep answer because I am not able to give one at this moment.

While there might have been health reasons and other reasons why God prohibited the eating of pig... it also might be true that God wanted to make the nation of Israel separated and different than all other nations.  Indeed, i think the people of Israel... God's people... are referred to as peculiar in the bible.

Deuteronomy 14:2
For you are an holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a peculiar people to himself, above all the nations that are on the earth.

I think that is one of the reasons why God gave the people of Israel lots of rules and prohibitions.. back then...  that don't necessarily apply today.  God wanted the Nation of Israel to be above all the nations that are on the earth at that time... to be His chosen people.. to be different... to stand out... to be unique... to belonging exclusively to God.. to be unusual...  etc.

Also... it might be an example or a test of obedience for the Nation of Israel.  Sometimes God gives us "commandments" or "prohibitions" or asks us to do something... without a whole lot of explanations... for example: Abraham being asked to sacrifice his son... as  a test of obedience and faith.

Maybe pigs are very easy to raise and cheap to feed, etc... so it would be a real test of obedience to give up the eating of pork when raising pigs is so easy for a family to do. I don't know.

But now the whole world is "God's people" (so to speak).   With Jesus' death and resurrection... and with the Holy Spirit... God is not looking for one nation to be His people like in the OT times.   So the same rules wouldn't need to apply if they were meant to produce a "separateness" from other nations and people.

Anyway.. I'm sure there are probably better answers... but this answer I gave is off the cuff without doing any research... and I could be completely... or partially wrong.

Best Regards
Francis

Hello Nabilbb...

Well... we would have to understand what God meant when He said "unclean for you".  See? 

Was that a statement designed to test obedience... or was it stated by God because He wanted to create a nation that was different than other nations and separate from them... etc? See? 

Or did God make that statement because there something in the "blood" of pigs... or in the body of pigs... or in the DNA  and cells of pigs... that somehow was inherently and/or intrinsically and/or biologically "unclean" and thus dangerous for people to eat pork? 

Or maybe "unclean" meant something spiritual... maybe a spiritual metaphor or something like that?  And if that is the case, then when the spiritual stakes and landscape changed on earth (with Jesus' Resurrection)... then the spiritual metaphor of a pig being "unclean" wasn't necessary anymore.

See?  It all depends on what God meant when He used the word "unclean".

Maybe the Bible tells us what God meant and I will look into it when I have some time later on.  But I suspect that if God was more clear on the subject, then you wouldn't have needed to ask the question at all.  So it might be the case that the Bible is not all that clear.

And if the Bible isn't all that clear on the subject, then there is no  reason to rule that my answer is completely incorrect at first blush. I could be wrong of course, but I have not seen anything yet which shows or indicates that I am.

Anyway... I'll look into it more.  I'm curious now.

Best Regards
Francis

Hello Nabilbb...

I found the following entry in Wikipedia under "reasons" (for certain animals being considered as unclean)






So as you can see, the Bible is apparently not all that clear as to why pigs and other animals were considered unclean. The scholars themselves are not absolutely sure.

Also please note that one of the reasons given, was the same one I gave to you earlier... which shows that my answer is seriously considered by scholars as a possible answer to your question.

Best Regards
Francis

Hello Maggie...

Yeah... unfortunately God doesn't explain to Peter about the reason for the change.  Either that, or Peter didn't tell us.

In Peter's vision...  the way Peter hands it down to us.... God doesn't explain why the animals are "unclean" to begin with... or why they are "clean" now... or how God made an "unclean" animal "clean".  So we are left with conjecture.

Best Regards
Francis