The question of the morality of eating meat occasionally surfaces.  There are many in our society that argue against it.  Strangely, the people that say it is wrong oftentimes have no absolute standard of authority.  However, I know of instances when even Christians have tried to assert that it is morally wrong for a child of God to eat meat.  What does that Bible say about this?

Before the Flood, mankind and non-aquatic animals were apparently vegetarians (Gen. 1.29-30).  Because of the specificity of the verse 30 in Genesis 1, it would be implied that sea-life did not fall under this rule, for they would not have lived under the same type of environment that would have the abundance of plant-life that was found on the land in the antediluvian world.  This type of consideration would have an application in principle after the Flood for land-life and birds. After the Flood, God added the flesh of animals into the diet of humanity, and apparently into that of animal life as well (Gen. 9.2-3).  The reasons for this would most likely be connected to the changed environment that came about as a result of the Flood.  Geology, paleontology, and the Bible would all support a uniform, warmer climate before the Flood.  After the worldwide deluge, the climate would have been changed, and there were probably many species of edible plant-life lost in the Flood as well.  This would have made meat one of the primary sources of food in some parts of the world or during certain seasons.  Therefore, God in His grace allowed for this to be added as a part of the postdiluvian (post-flood) existence of man.

Under the Law of Moses, certain forms of meat were forbidden (Lev. 11; Deut. 14).  Based on the various requirements given to determine what animals could be eaten, certain things such as pork were taken off the menu for the Jews.  With some of these meats, there are some health benefits that can be shown to abstaining from them.  However, the primary reason given in the Law of Moses was not anything of this sort but was rather because the Lord commanded it (Lev. 11.44). 

Under the new covenant, there is no meat that is wrong to eat.  Those that would teach that it is wrong to eat meat are actually paralleled to those that would teach that marriage is wrong (I Tim. 4.3).  Teaching that meat-eating is wrong is a sign of a Christian that has departed from the faith (I Tim. 4.1ff).  Paul said further about this “For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving” (I Tim. 4.4). 

This is not to say that we should be bad stewards of our bodies or health (I Cor. 4.2).  There might even be some that have certain health problems that would require special consideration.  In addition, a Christian can choose to be a vegetarian as a matter of personal choice (Rom. 14.3).  They could choose to avoid certain types of meat.  However, to say that a Christian should not eat pork or that being a good steward of your body requires a person to be a vegan is to bind where God’s Word has loosed.  As Christians, we do not have the right to declare something as unclean, or as the Lord said to the apostle Peter “What God has cleansed you must not call common” (Acts 10.15).

Copyright © 2010 By Peter Wesson

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Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.