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What the Bible says about Vegetarianism
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Genesis 1:29-30

Critical scholars say that initially, God gave humanity a vegetarian diet (Genesis 1:29-30). If we follow this line of reasoning far enough, then we today should be eating kudzu, poison ivy, grass, tulip bulbs, and so on. This extreme idea is nonsense, of course. Many plants are poisonous to humans. Why would God have us eat daffodils, azaleas, nightshade, oleander, wisteria, mistletoe, or hundreds of other plants that can be fatal if eaten?

On the contrary, this verse simply means that God gave humankind certain foods to eat, and people quickly discovered—perhaps primarily through trial and error—what the good foods were. The Contemporary English Version translates this verse simply and clearly: “I have provided all kinds of fruit and grain for you to eat.”

A lot of people hold the belief that the pre-Flood world was vegetarian. However, we must be careful how we read Scripture. While telling us that God has provided food for us, it is not telling us, “Do not eat meat.” Advocates of vegetarianism often pay no heed to the fact that God had previously given humanity dominion over all animal life (Genesis 1:26, 28), which could include using fish, birds, cattle, and even insects for food.

The argument continues, however, claiming that, after the Flood, God finally permitted humans to eat meat, implying that God is indecisive or unsure: “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs” (Genesis 9:3).

To put it simply, some critical scholars say the eating of meat was unknown before the Flood. These “scholars” totally ignore Genesis 4:3-4, where Cain offers produce, which God disdains, yet He accepts Abel's offering of his firstborn lamb. This event occurs right at the beginning, long before the Flood! Animals were offered. Their blood was emptied, their bodies burned, and, in many cases the remains of the offering were eaten by those making the offering. These offerings were, of course, clean animals.

Mike Ford
Was Jesus a Vegetarian?

Genesis 18:1-8

Did Jesus Christ eat meat? In Genesis 18:1-8, the pre-incarnate Christ appears to Abraham, who hastens to fix the Lord something to eat. Did he have Sarah run over to Whole Foods and put together something from the salad bar? No, as we see in verse 7-8:

And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, and gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it. So he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate.

That “he hastened to prepare it” means the young man killed the calf! Its body was drained of its blood, the best parts of meat were cut out and cooked, and it was served to the Being who later died as our perfect sacrifice. So, it is evident in verse 8 that Christ, in His pre-incarnate state, ate meat, butter, and milk! This biblical fact no doubt comes as shocking news to some.

This incident is probably why critical scholars write things like, “Nowhere in the New Testament is Jesus depicted as eating meat” (emphasis added). This passage also counters the vegan argument against eating dairy. Despite claims that nowhere in the Bible is Christ seen eating or buying meat, we see Him doing that very thing in Abraham's day! Of course, these scholars probably do not believe that Christ was the God of the Old Testament (see John 1:1-3, 14; Colossians 1:16; John 17:5, 8; Isaiah 44:6; Revelation 1:7, 11; 2:8; 22:14; Exodus 3:13-15; Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8).

Some critical scholars will allow that Jesus was Jewish, and sacrifices and Passover lambs were a way of life for Him and His family, yet maintain that we do not have a specific verse saying He bought meat or ate it. Aside from others' washing His feet a few times, do we have any verses telling us that He bathed regularly? From this omission, are we to assume showers and baths are forbidden?

What we have seen is a common tactic of these so-called “biblical scholars.” They require chapter and verse to prove things they oppose, and if they cannot find one, they use the absence of a proof-text to peddle their pet theories. But the Bible tells us that the LORD, the One who became Jesus Christ, sat with Abraham and ate a meal of meat, butter, and milk. Later, as a man, He grew up with the Passover meal. Christ does not change (Hebrews 13:8; see also Malachi 3:6). Jesus ate meat.

Mike Ford
Was Jesus a Vegetarian?

Luke 24:36-43

Some today claim Jesus did not eat meat, including fish. But notice this account. After Christ's resurrection, He appears in human form to the disciples (Luke 24:36). The disciples and others had gathered in a secure room, and He appears right in their midst, an act that shook them. They believe they are seeing a ghost, a spirit, but He assures them that He is indeed Christ. He lets them examine His hands and feet.

Still, they do not seem quite convinced, so He asks, “'Have you any food here?' So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb” (verses 41-42). Fish and sweets made from the labor of bees? Oh, the horror of it all!

Then what happened? “And He took it and ate it in their presence” (verse 43; emphasis added). This concise statement is a tough one to get around. The Greek word translated “broiled” here means simply “cooked.” Most translations use “broiled,” “baked,” or “cooked.” If anything, this verse might be a good argument against sushi! But there is no getting around what verse 43 states: The resurrected Christ ate the fish and the honeycomb right there in front of them. He put it in His mouth, chewed it, and swallowed it.

This would have been a good time for Him to say, “Fellows, we're going to give up eating fish and anything made with honey.” But He did not. Despite Luke writing in verse 45 that “He opened their understanding,” Jesus neglected to cover vegetarianism.

A little later, Christ appeared to the disciples again (John 21:1-14). Peter and six other disciples decide to go fishing. Apparently, they had still not gotten the word that fishing was unethical. They fished all night and caught nothing. The next morning, Jesus, standing on the shore, asks if they have any food, and they reply in the negative. He tells them to cast the net on the right side of the boat, which they do, hauling in a net full of 153 “large” fish—so many that, by all rights, the net should have broken.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), of course, is against commercial fishing and says Christ would be too. Yet, is not what Peter and the other disciples did “commercial fishing”? By all accounts, they were returning to their pre-calling jobs. Instead of working against their catching any fish, Jesus helps them out!

Notice that Christ has a fire going before they have even made it to shore, and fish and bread are cooking (verse 9). He tells the disciples in verse 12, “Come and eat breakfast,” one comprised of fish and toast made by the Creator God Himself! John writes in verse 15, “So when they had eaten breakfast,” verifying that the disciples—and probably Jesus too—ate what He had provided (leaving the 153 they had caught for crass money-making, no doubt). He misses another excellent opportunity to announce that Christians should be vegetarian.

These people pose additional spurious arguments, such as saying Christ was an Essene, who were vegetarians. Neither of these assertions is true. They also claim that Jesus' teachings, especially His love for those whom society has marginalized, would make Him a vegan, a stricter regimen than vegetarianism. Somehow, in their minds, animals are “marginalized” but not unborn humans!

The Bible supplies so much more evidence that Christ was not a vegetarian and certainly not a vegan, but the proof offered here should be enough. We may have gone down the rabbit hole as a society, but that does not mean we have to be taken in by these obvious deceits.

Mike Ford
Was Jesus a Vegetarian?

Romans 14:14

In Romans 14, the subject is not clean and unclean foods but eating meat versus vegetarianism (verse 2). Paul admonishes Christians not to pass judgment on others for eating meat or for eating only vegetables (verse 3).

The question that confronted Paul was not that God's people were suggesting that somehow unclean animals had now been made clean, but the belief of some that no meat—even meat that had been created to be eaten with thanksgiving—should be eaten at all. The apostle points out that it would be wrong for the vegetarians to eat meat if they had doubts about it, as it would defile their consciences (verse 23). He concludes, "For whatever is not of faith is sin."

Verse 14 is a proof text used by the world to conclude that all meat is now fine to eat: "I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean." This is another verse that has been poorly translated to conform to preconceived notions.

The problem is with the word "unclean," which does not appear in the Greek text. To mean "unclean," Paul would have used akarthatos, but instead, the text reads koinos, which means "common," "ordinary," "defiled," or "profane (as opposed to holy or consecrated)." Peter uses both "common" and "unclean" to describe meats in Acts 10:14, so there is obviously a difference between the terms.

We know that the Bible defines "unclean" meat in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, but when is meat considered "common"? The only circumstances in which clean meats are common or defiled are when a clean animal dies naturally or is torn by beasts (Leviticus 22:8) or when the blood has not been properly drained from the meat (Leviticus 17:13-14; 3:17). Such animal flesh was called common because it could be given to strangers or aliens in Old Testament times if they wished to eat it (Deuteronomy 14:21). Similarly, in Acts 15:20, 29, the apostles forbade the Gentiles to eat the meat of a strangled animal or meat that had not been drained of blood.

In the case of Romans 14:14, it is likely that "defiled" would be the best term, as the meat under discussion was probably that offered to idols then sold in the marketplace for public consumption. To paraphrase, then, the verse should read: ". . . there is nothing defiled of itself; but to him who considers anything to be defiled, to him it is defiled."The meat was not defiled in fact, just in the minds of various church members, whom Paul had earlier called "weak" (verse 2). These "weak in the faith" Christians believed that, because the meat had been offered to a pagan idol, it had become spiritually defiled.

Paul explains in I Corinthians 8:4-7 that the demon behind the idol is nothing, for "there is no other God but one" (verse 4). Thus, there is no "spiritual" taint to the meat.

However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse. (verses 7-8)

So we see that in these verses that Paul is not in any manner doing away with God's laws concerning clean and unclean meat. The topic does not even come up! He is discussing meat defiled or profaned due to its association with a pagan idol.

John O. Reid
Did God Change the Law of Clean and Unclean Meats?


 




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