Vegetarianism

This is the doctrine that one should not eat meat (animal flesh). Some go even further and refuse to eat animal products such as eggs, milk etc. These latter are called Vegans. If such persons seek to justify what they teach and practice by Scripture they go to Genesis and point to the fact that God gave Adam and Eve a vegetarian diet (Genesis 1:29/30). However, this edict was superseded by that in Genesis 9:1-4. This latter passage includes the statement: "Every moving thing that liveth shall be food for you: as the green herb I give you everything. Only, the flesh with its life, its blood, ye shall not eat". This passage is effectively maintained in the New Testament, Paul speaking severely of those who say that we should "abstain from meats, which God has created for receiving with thanksgiving for them who are faithful and know the truth. For every creature of God [is] good, and nothing [is] to be rejected, being received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by God's word and freely addressing [him]" (1 Timothy 4:3/4). Note the every in both quotations. Further, it should be noted that God's word sanctifies the food, probably a reference to God's edict in Genesis 9 quoted above. There is also the freely addressing him, pointing no doubt to the thanksgiving for food practised by Christ and his apostles. See for instance Matthew 14:19, 15:36, 26:26/27, Luke 24:30 and Acts 27:35. The giving of thanks for (or blessing) food before it is eaten appears to go back at least to the days of Samuel for we have it said then that before the people eat: "He blesses the sacrifice" (1 Samuel 9:13). It should also be noticed that the last part of the edict in Genesis 9 (see verse 4) was maintained by the apostles in the decrees of the so-called first church council: "Abstain ... from blood" (Acts 15:20; 21:25). The point is that the prohibition as to eating blood goes back to the injunction to Noah and was not something first introduced in the law of Moses, though it does appear there (Deuteronomy 12:16 and 23-25). (Similar reasoning applies to the other prohibitions decided upon by the apostles at the same council though it is rather beyond the scope of this article to go into detailed proof of that here).

Those who oppose the eating of meat often do so because they hate the idea of killing animals. Death entered into the world as a result of sin and the point that God is seeking to get across to us is that as a result of sin we can only be restored to favour with him as a result of the death of another (Hebrews 9:22). All the sacrifices in the Old Testament point to this and, in fact, point to the ultimate sacrifice, that of Christ (Hebrews 10:1-18). The former sanctify for the purification of the flesh; the latter, the eternal spirit (Hebrews 9:13/14). (This is not the Holy Spirit, but the spirit in contrast to the flesh; the former goes into dust but the latter survives death). God himself drew attention to the need for covering (see Psalms 32:1 & 85:2 for the spiritual meaning) when he made for "Adam and his wife coats of skin, and clothed them" (Genesis 3:21). Obtaining a skin normally involves the killing of an animal. From this we can gather that it is legitimate to kill an animal not only for food but also for clothing. It may also be necessary to kill an animal because it is a danger or a pest (Judges 14:5/6; 1 Samuel 17:34-36).

There is no question, but that Christ ate meat when he was on earth. He ate the Passover meal which involved the killing of a lamb (Exodus 12; Luke 22:14-16). Apart from the Passover, in resurrection Christ ate part of a broiled fish and of a honeycomb (Luke 24:41-43). Fish is flesh and a honeycomb is an insect made product. Further, Christ spoke approvingly of those who give fishes and eggs as well as bread to their children (Luke 11:11-13). After all, a number of Christ's disciples were fishermen and there is no suggestion in Scripture that Christ condemned their way of earning a livelihood. In fact, on more than one occasion Christ assisted them in getting a haul (Luke 5:1-11; John 21), and in one case told Peter to go and catch a fish (Matthew 17:27). Christ also spoke of the fatted calf being killed and eaten in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:23/24). It is therefore beyond reasonable doubt that Christ approved of the eating of meat.

However, we should not overlook the fact that in a day to come all creatures will be vegetarian (Isaiah 11:6-9). There will effectively be a return to conditions in Eden where, as we have seen, Adam and Eve ate fruit and herbs. In the renewed earth there will be plenty of such food for all, so that the eating of animals will not be necessary (Isaiah 35). The sceptic will probably say that this can never be because carnivorous animals have appropriate teeth and stomachs. However, God can overcome this (he can do everything - Job 42:2) and in fact he has not left us without witness, for the giant Panda has the teeth and stomach of a carnivore but lives almost entirely on bamboo.

What all this tells us is that Scripture does not support in any way an embargo on the eating of meat. Under the Old Testament economy there is no doubt that meat was eaten by the Israelites - the Passover lamb, if nothing else. However, under the New Testament economy it is clear that the eating of meat is not in itself a matter of any significance: "The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in [the] Holy Spirit" (Romans 14:17). Paul allows that a person who is weak in the faith may think he should not eat meat, as he says: "One man is assured that he may eat all things; but the weak eats herbs" (Romans 14:2). The whole of chapter 14 of Romans deals with this question of the weak brother. It is certainly not that Paul would approve of anyone teaching vegetarianism, but that he would allow that untaught or misinformed Christians who are