The Christianization of the Pig

Religious identity enters the pig’s history later than we’d expect. Although today the dietary avoidance of pork is a conspicuous feature of Judaism and Islam, in antiquity and for a good stretch of the early Middle Ages it was not a prominent symbol of religious difference. But over time, pigs became increasingly “Christianized,” in the sense that Christians used them as metaphors for elucidating complex facets of their culture, as well as to antagonize non-Christians.