What Is Civil Disobedience? When the sentries are sleeping soundly and an angel shows up, Peter doesn't leave a note on his way out of prison. He thinks he's seeing a vision, and he just goes. In doing so, not only has Peter defied the authorities by preaching the death and resurrection of Jesus, but he's now escaped from imprisonment. I'm not an expert on the law, but I'm pretty sure that escaping from prison is against the law. So why did Peter do it? Because we know that Christians don't always try to escape from prison. In fact, when an earthquake happens and Paul and Silas could have walked away without any issue, they stay put (see Acts 16). In Paul and Silas's case, they want to help the jailer believe in the merciful God they know, and eventually they want to make a point to the authorities about their unjust, illegal arbitrary arrests of people. But in Peter's case, he understands that he's not above the law, but he breaks it anyway. Why?
What Is Clean or Unclean? I have heard many bad explanations of the meaning of the Old Testament dietary laws. Why does God forbid his people from eating the meat of animals that do not "part the hoof and are cloven-footed and chew the cud." (Leviticus 11:3). Here are two of the claims I've heard most often: 1. This is proof that the Bible is not really the word of God. This is arbitrary and only unenlightened, ignorant people would obey this - we're more sophisticated today. Unfortunately for this argument, we know that one of these unenlightened, obedient people was Jesus - so I think we might have to seek a more serious answer. 2. This is a form of ancient FDA rules. Pork and pigs were more likely vectors for disease than sheep or cows, so banning their consumption helps keep people healthy. This probably isn't how the dietary laws are presented, but it might be right (I don't personally know anything about the relative safety of different meat products
