| This is an intriguing question. My facial hair is short and I shave my cheeks, thus leaving only a goatee, if such it might be called. I have pondered this issue in times past.
Regarding things strangled and blood, I would argue that this law is moral. A similar law was issued in Genesis 9 and was also repeated at the Jerusalem counsel.
When meat is butchered, the juglar vein is sliced and the blood is drained from the carcass. There is no sin in eating steak as God intended - medium rare. That red liquid seen on the plate isn't blood, it's water. Pagan cultures often ripped right into it, sometimes even before cooking it. Of course, blood has often been drank during pagan sacrifices. I would argue that it is sin to eat meat that has not had the blood drained out.
I do think the issue of the beard is ceremonial - it is not given elsewhere in the Scriptures and would seem to be packaged as laws pertianing to Israel as opposed to laws applied universally to all men. Thus my view is that if you don't desire a beard, shave the whiskers off to the glory of God.
bob |