Eating meat question

[BlessedAngel]

So I got into a conversation with someone whom I later found out was a nonbeliever, he says it is murder to kill and eat animals. I have been told by many christians that God put animals on the planet to be consumed by the human race. I know I have read in the past that God put animals and plants on this planet to be looked after by humans, does it say in the bible anything about God putting animals on this planet to be eaten?

thanks,

-Angel

[qbee]

King James Version Genesis 9

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.

3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.


King James Version Genesis 18

1 And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;

2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,

3 And said, My LORD, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:

4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:

5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.

6 And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.

7 And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.

8 And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.

[Saved7]

Yah, what Qbee said...also, there is a scripture somewhere in genisis, not sure where that God calls it wrong for having killed an animal. But the reason He says it was wrong, was the reason for having killed the animal was just for the sake of killing it. If we kill an animal it is supposed to be for food ONLY. NOt for sport, or out of anger, or some sick pleasure, and not for "sacrifice" either. The sacrificing days are over and have been over since the time of Christ. All other sacrifices are useless, because Christ is our sacrifice, once for all.
BTW, God made the first sacrifice, in order to cover Adam and Eve after they sinned. So it is perfectly acceptable to eat meat.

[TEITZY]

So I got into a conversation with someone whom I later found out was a nonbeliever, he says it is murder to kill and eat animals. I have been told by many christians that God put animals on the planet to be consumed by the human race. I know I have read in the past that God put animals and plants on this planet to be looked after by humans, does it say in the bible anything about God putting animals on this planet to be eaten?

thanks,

-Angel

Killing an animal can never be classified as "murder" since animals were not made in the image of God like man was. This person is no doubt a New Age Greenie/enviromentalist that believes animal life is just as sacred as human life. At the extreme level you have those who also say the same things about trees and plants and advocate the death penalty for anyone who cuts down a tree (Yes, I'm serious). This person probably believes that all things (even trees) are 'god' or part of the god force (pantheism). So they worship the creature rather than the Creator (Rom 1:23-25). What they need to understand is that God is separate from His creation and that these things were created for mankind to use and enjoy appropriately (the Bible also teaches human stewardship with regard to the creation).

Of course the whole idea that man is no different (ie. he is not unique or special just a bit more evolved) to animals has been reinforced by the acceptance of Evolution as fact by most societies. After all, whether I'm a tree or a man we all started out as pond scum billions of years ago. Or so the story goes.

Cheers
Leigh

[Dawn74]

In the original creative order, only plants were given to man to eat (Gen. 1:29; Gen. 2:16). As previously noted, man was, however given permission to eat meat after the fall.

Still, man was charged from the beginning with the duties of caring for both plant and animal life. Old Testament laws were replete with instructions as to what sort of care was to be taken. Prov. 12:10 equates kindness toward animals with righteousness. At no point does God ever relieve man of his responsibility toward the world around him nor give license to use and abuse either living things or the environment.

Most of the Christian vegetarians I know choose to treat their dietary choices as just that -- choices (which the New Testament gives us full license to make). Those that do attempt to make vegetarianism a biblical mandate, however, are more likely to point to abusive, factory farming practices and the destruction they cause than to try to apply "thou shalt not kill" to animals.

[diffangle]

As mentioned by Dawn74, man 's original diet was veggies/fruits only. The beast also originally ate veggie's only and we can see in Isaiah 11:6&7 that it will be that way again...

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

Most of the Christian vegetarians I know choose to treat their dietary choices as just that -- choices (which the New Testament gives us full license to make). Those that do attempt to make vegetarianism a biblical mandate, however, are more likely to point to abusive, factory farming practices and the destruction they cause than to try to apply "thou shalt not kill" to animals.

That's exactly why I choose to abstain from meat is b/c of the factory farms and slaughter houses. After I saw the way these animals are treated all their lives and then slaughtered, my spirit knew this wasn't the way YHWH intended His creatures to be treated... imo,He did create them with feelings for a reason. I wouldn't be opposed to eating meat occasionally if it was raised and slaughtered like the animals back in the days of small independant natural/organic farms.

[Naphal]

Man was created to eat meat and so were animals. This concept of "original vegetarianism" isn't true.

Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.


Do you know what it means to have dominion over fish? It means to hunt and catch them to eat. It does not mean man captured fish and use them in farming or kept them for pets. A different type of dominion can be had over birds and land animals but in the matter of fish it is easier to understand that it was for hunting and killing for food. It was in the case of the other animals as well but not exclusively as it was for the fish.

God set forth various animals for various duties and purposes. Carnivores are an important aspect of the balance of nature and this is by God's design.

[Bing]

As mentioned by Dawn74, man 's original diet was veggies/fruits only. The beast also originally ate veggie's only and we can see in Isaiah 11:6&7 that it will be that way again...

Can I have your burger at the marriage supper of the lamb? (Isa 25:6)

Seriously...if we weren't supposed to eat animals, they wouldn't be made out of meat.

[Duane Morse]

Ge 1:28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
Ge 1:29 And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.
Ge 1:30 "Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so.

Actually, in the sixth 'day' all are herbivores - both man and beast.


It was not until after the flood:
Ge 9:3 "Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.
Ge 9:4 "But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.

that we were allowed to eat the flesh of another creature - and that, with the condition that we not eat the blood contained therein.

Having 'dominion over' does not necessarily imply (either implicitly or explicitly) the killing and eating thereof.

[Naphal]

Ge 1:28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
Ge 1:29 And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.
Ge 1:30 "Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so.

Actually, in the sixth 'day' all are herbivores - both man and beast.

Funny, not a word in those verses says anything about meat being forbidden.

If I told a child, "Here is some fruit for you to eat.", does that mean I have forbidden the child from eating anything other than fruit?

Having 'dominion over' does not necessarily imply (either implicitly or explicitly) the killing and eating thereof.

It is part of domination and does imply killing and eating as well as taming and using for labor and pets.

[Slug1]

There is also some scriptures in the NT as well:

1 Corinthians 10:24-26


24Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.
25Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, 26for, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it."


Or that it's just as OK not to but to give thanks for whatever you eat:


Romans 14:6
He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.


You also have this in Acts 10 when Peter had that vision:


Peter's Vision

9About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. 13Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat." 14"Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean."
15The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."
16This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

[Duane Morse]

Always something to argue.
Always something to nit and to pick.

I have given you... means, this is what I intend for you.

Perhaps I needn't post anything anymore.

[Sold Out]

So I got into a conversation with someone whom I later found out was a nonbeliever, he says it is murder to kill and eat animals. I have been told by many christians that God put animals on the planet to be consumed by the human race. I know I have read in the past that God put animals and plants on this planet to be looked after by humans, does it say in the bible anything about God putting animals on this planet to be eaten?

thanks,

-Angel

Not to get off topic, but it's so funny when non-Christians will pull something as stupid as this out of their hat to argue against Christianity.

[diffangle]

Man was created to eat meat and so were animals. This concept of "original vegetarianism" isn't true.

Says Naphal. The Scriptures say differently.

Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

When did the word dominion come to mean treat horribly then kill?

Then he made him that remaineth have dominion over the nobles among the people: YHWH made me have dominion over the mighty. Jdg 5:13

So the "him that remaineth" in this verse is suppossed to torture/kill and eat the nobles among the people?


To the only wise God our Saviour, [be] glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. Jude 1:25

Since He has dominion over us, does that mean that He treats us inhumanely, kills us, then eats us?

It is part of domination and does imply killing and eating as well as taming and using for labor and pets.

Naphal, have you ever seen the way animals are raised/treated in the factory farms and slaughter houses? If so, how can you possibly think that that's the picture YHWH had in mind when He said to have dominion over the animals? Do you really believe that we shouldn't be good stewards of the creatures He created? Maybe you could explain why they are equipped with feelings and emotions?

To reiterate, I'm not against meat eating in and of itself... it's the beast system we have in place today that I feel is wrong.

[BlessedAngel]

Not to get off topic, but it's so funny when non-Christians will pull something as stupid as this out of their hat to argue against Christianity.

Oh my GOODNESS I KNOW!!! it absolutely drives me insane!!! I was told that the bible says that it is murder to eat animals by someone who hasn't even read the BOOK!!! So what did I do? I brought in the bible today and I showed him the verses in the book, it felt so good to finally be able to show him something he would actually give me a chance to explain!!!

thanks for the posts!!

-angel