What Does The Bible Say
About Eating Meat?
The “compassion movement,” which operates under the pretenses of veganism, has more than a few times claimed that every Christian should embrace a plant-based diet, because it’s what God wants. This is commonly accepted because one of the most repeated of the Ten Commandments is “Thou shalt not murder.” However, the Biblical definition of murder is that of manslaughter, whether intentional or non-intentional. Proverbs 22:13 is the only verse that uses the word killing in the context of humans and animals. However, in that instance, it means a lion killing a human. Not once does the Bible reference the “murder” of animals. However, using animals for food is referenced repeatedly in the Old and New Testaments. Let’s take a look at what God truly said regarding our diets:
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“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Genesis 1:26
“Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.”
Genesis 9:3
“As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.”
Romans 14:1-3
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.”
1 Timothy 4:1-3
The entire list of what animals are considered “clean,” meaning we are able to eat them, is located in Deuteronomy Chapter 14, starting in Verse 3.
That being said, I realize that there are other religions that do embrace a certain diet as dictated by their faith, many of them being strictly plant based. This blog post is in no way an attempt to criticize those religions, only to set the record straight about Christians eating animal products. As for myself, I am a Christian, and believe that how we live should be according to the Bible. If anyone would like to visit about what that means, head on over to my social medias and I’d be more than happy to discuss it.
At the end of the day, regardless of your diet or even your chosen religion, Jesus still loves you!
Sources/Further Reading:
Chavalas, Mark W. "Murder - Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology Online." Bible Study Tools. Bible Study Tools, n.d.
Web. 19 Mar. 2017.
"Was Jesus a Vegetarian?" GotQuestions.org. Got Questions Ministries, 04 Jan. 2017. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.