I have confronted Christians (real and pretend) at various times on this
subject. The argument basically goes like this: If God created
everything beautiful and peaceful in Eden and only permitted the eating
of vegetables and fruits, should we not today be much improved
physically and mentally if we returned to that Edenic diet? Is not the
eating of meat one of the chief evils that befell man after being cast
out of the Garden?
There are many good reasons why the eating of red meat should be limited
in our diets--maybe even eliminated--but no one can use scripture to
support it as a Christian doctrine. By this I mean that we must not
think that we would please God to become vegetarian.
I make the following points as scriptural proof that the *doctrine* of
vegetarianism is actually banned by God:
1. The first animal killed as a result of the Fall was killed by God.
(Gen 3:21) (Note that I did not say the first animal killed in earth
history.) I take this verse to mean that something so dramatically
changed as a result of the Fall that no return to the pre-death world
was possible. Like you cannot become a virgin again having experienced
sexual passions, you cannot become innocent again having been stained by
sin.
2. God himself gave us meat to eat. (Gen 9:3) God also gave the rules
to the Children of Israel as to which meats to eat and which to not eat.
(Lev 11)
3. The Jews could not lawfully be vegetarian because at least once a
year they were required to eat red meat (Ex 12, Lev 23). Moreover
according to Talmud and Mishnah, most of the sacrifices the people made
for sin, trespass, etc. they were required to eat. The priests
themselves (the holy tribe of Levites) were required to take a portion
of every sacrifice and eat it. (Lev 6)
4. Being a Torah observant Jew (Matt 5:17-19), Jesus could not have
been vegetarian because he would have had to eat red meat at various
times during each year. He most certainly did so at His last Passover
Seder.
5. Christians were told that "commanding to abstain from meats" would
be one of the great "doctrines of devils" of the last days. (I Tim
4:1-3)
6. In addition to being vegetarian in the Garden, man was "naked and
unashamed". If we should become vegetarians again to return to the
paradisical experience, should not we also go without clothing? This
would of course be a violation of other moral laws.
The various periods of time that God has dealt with men have come to be
known as dispensations. Although I am not a big advocate of
dispensationalism, I do believe that God has at various times changed
the rules so to speak and as man failed each test he had to live with
the consequences. We cannot undo those consequences.
If someone advocates the reduction in consumption of red meat--or
abstinance from it altogether--for purely health or personal preference
reasons, this is OK; but if they try to compel or convince others on the
basis of some contrived "Christian" doctrine, they are on dangerous
ground.
Russ
Russell T. Cannon
rcannon@usa.net