Ep 41 - Is eating fish on Good Friday Biblical?

Fish on Good Friday shows up like clockwork, but most of us were never told why. This conversation uncovers the real origin: it’s not rooted in Scripture or early faith, but in Roman Catholic tradition, which spread globally through colonisation, including into ethnic households. What started as a church-imposed practice of abstaining from meat on Fridays, with fish as a substitute, became normalised across many cultures. But here’s the key question: is it biblical? Scripture never commands believers to eat fish or avoid meat on Good Friday, and fish is still flesh despite how it’s often categorised. We also address whether this practice is pagant, but it can become an empty religious habit when followed without understanding. If you’re seeking truth rooted in Scripture rather than tradition, this conversation is for you. 

 

Transcript

Welcome And Good Friday Question

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Shalom, shalom saints, and welcome back to the Unfiltered Christian podcast. It's your girl Cece and we're about to drop another solo episode. As today is Good Friday, so I thought let's talk about why do we eat fish on a Friday? Lamb on a Sunday. Because I want to talk about it, because it's something that many of us grew up with and we never questioned. Um in a Caribbean house in a Caribbean household, because I'm Caribbean. This is something that you know if you were seen eating meat, you were crucified, like you know, you were looked upon like you committed a serious sin. So every year Good Friday comes and suddenly everybody's eating fish, no chicken, no goat, no beef, just fish, fried fish, steamed fish, salt fish, how however you desire your fish, and nobody really explains why. It's just that's what we do. But for us Caribbeans that like to claim things, it's not just a Caribbean thing. So today I want to ask some questions. We're gonna dive into where did it come from, who else practices it, is it biblical or tradition? Is it pagan if we still follow it? So let's talk about it honestly and biblically. So first thing first, the tradition of eating fish doesn't originate in the Caribbean. I just wanted to just make that clear for my Caribbean people. Caribbean people inherited it through canonization, slavery, but the practice itself actually comes from European Christianity, especially the teachings of the Catholic Church. So the same tradition eating fish on Friday is also observed in Spain, Italy, Portugal, France, Latin America, Philippines, and some parts of Africa that was influenced by Catholic missions or missionaries. So this is a global church tradition, not a cultural invention. In Catholic teaching, Good Friday is a day of mourning and fasting to remember the death of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, Yeshua, and over time red meat became associated with celebration, luxury, meat was avoided as a sign of sacrifice, and fish was considered a simpler or a more acceptable option. When Christianity was imposed on enslaved and colonized people, those rules came of it. So over generations it stopped being explained and it just became Christian culture. Because even people that is not even Christian or don't go to church, they'll be doing the same thing as well. So is eating fish on Good Friday biblical? I guess we know the answer. There is no scripture that commands believers to eat fish on Good Friday. No. You will not find eat fish to honour the Messiah's death or avoid meat on this day. That instruction comes from church authority, not scripture. And biblically speaking, fish is still flesh. It doesn't stop being meat because humans redefined it. So eating fish on Good Friday is not biblical obedience, it's just a religious tradition. And here's the important part: tradition itself is not automatically wrong, but tradition should be never replaced with the truth. So this is the next question. Eating fish on Good Friday, is it pagan worship? So I just wanted to just dive into that. So paganism involves worship of other gods, rituals tied to force, deities, I can never pronounce that word right, um, spiritual meanings rooted in idol worship. So eating fish on Good Friday does not fall into that category. However, it is also not commanded by Yahuwah. So it's not pagan, but it can become a religious habit without understanding. And scripture warns us about following practices just because they were handed down or without checking whether they align with the word. The issue isn't sin, the issue is unexamined tradition, if you want to call it. So I was thinking to myself, why do I eat lamb on Sunday? Or you got some people that don't do lamb, they will do beef. So when I was looking into it, I realized that biblically speaking, it makes more sense because the Messiah, Jesus Christ, Yeshua's death aligns with the Passover, not the modern Easter customs. In the book of Exodus, Passover includes a lamb being sacrificed, blood bringing deliverance, and the lamb being eaten, not just killed. Messiah is constantly referred to as the lamb. So in John 1 verses 29, it says, Behold the lamb of Elohim, which takes away the sins of the world. So while eating lamb is not a command, it does align symbolically with like redemption, deliverance, and the pass and passover. So then I was thinking, why did fish become the dominant tradition? And that's because church rules were rarely questioned back then. Connorized people were taught to obey, not to study, and many of them wasn't even allowed to read. And tradition was passed down louder than scripture. Eventually, fish on Good Friday became a routine within Christianity, and questioning it was often seen as rebellion, not discernment. But scripture actually encouraged believers to test everything. So this is where I really want to land today. As believers, we're called to question everything we do, whether it's tradition, church teaching, cultural Christianity, or something we've always known, not with rebellion, but with discernment. We cannot rely solely on what our parents did, what the church said, what feels familiar. We must read the word for ourselves. Because tradition can exist alongside the truth, but tradition should never replace it. So to answer the question plainly, Fish on Good Friday is a global church tradition. It comes from the European Christianity, not Scripture. It's not pagan but is also not a biblical instruction. Lamb aligns closely with Passover symbolism, and the Bible does not command a specific meal. What scripture does command is understanding, obedience, and walking in faith. So wherever you choose to eat, do it with knowledge and not just habit. Question everything, study for yourself, and read the word and not let it be tradition, be your final authority. So until next time, say stay rooted, stay discerning, and stay in truth. Shalom shalom. If you enjoyed this episode, please do share to your friends and loved ones and to people that might need to hear this word. And if you have a question or scenario, then please send it to our email address at unfiltered Christianumber1 at gmail.com. Thank you for always listening and thank you for your support.