Vegetarianism and Christianity
-
Food for thought (pun intended): http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-gilmour/christian-vegetarianism_b_1022172.html
-
This whole argument is messed up. It's based on a misunderstood verse in Genesis 1 which is somehow supposed to be taken tomean exploiting animals is ok. Complete rubbish. And in any case, in Genesis 1 and 2, humans are only given vegetables to eat: it's not until after the flood, in Genesis 9 that the concession comes that humans can eat meat as well. So according to the Biblical account humans were supposed to be vegetarian until long after things started going wrong. Exactly what to make of such ancient texts is of course wide open, but the people who argue based on them the most seem to have the most messed up view of them out of anyone.
-
Yes, indeed. It's all such a mystery. It's useless to argue---and unintelligent. Follow your conscience. Follow your heart; it's the seat of consciousness.
-
Paul - the founder of Christianity - did not like vegetarianism and thought it was "a weaker man" that did not eat meat. He also disliked men with long hair
-
PrettyLittleHead:
Paul - the founder of Christianity - did not like vegetarianism and thought it was "a weaker man" that did not eat meat. He also disliked men with long hair
No, you've got that hopelessly out of context. There weren't really "vegetarians" as such in those day anyway. What Paul was talking about in the bit I assume you're talking about is eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols. Most meat available in certain parts of the ancient world had been dedicated to some idol or divinity at some stage, and someone with a weak conscience would be too troubled to eat this. Whereas "a weaker man" might be worried about offending the true God by eating meat that had gone through some weird ritual, someone with a stronger conscience might just think the dedication to the divinity was meaningless since those gods don't really exist, and have no problem eating the meat. The men with long hair thing was just also a nod to the wider culture of the time, which considered it a big no-no.
-
PrettyLittleHead:
Paul - the founder of Christianity - did not like vegetarianism and thought it was "a weaker man" that did not eat meat. He also disliked men with long hair
for a minute there i thought you meant Paul McCartney
-
illwobble:
PrettyLittleHead:
Paul - the founder of Christianity - did not like vegetarianism and thought it was "a weaker man" that did not eat meat. He also disliked men with long hair
No, you've got that hopelessly out of context. There weren't really "vegetarians" as such in those day anyway. What Paul was talking about in the bit I assume you're talking about is eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols. Most meat available in certain parts of the ancient world had been dedicated to some idol or divinity at some stage, and someone with a weak conscience would be too troubled to eat this. Whereas "a weaker man" might be worried about offending the true God by eating meat that had gone through some weird ritual, someone with a stronger conscience might just think the dedication to the divinity was meaningless since those gods don't really exist, and have no problem eating the meat. The men with long hair thing was just also a nod to the wider culture of the time, which considered it a big no-no.
Hmmm, I wonder if that is correct. According to Wikipedia: "The earliest records of (lacto) vegetarianism come from ancient India and ancient Greece in the 6th century BCE.[16] In the Asian instance the diet was closely connected with the idea of nonviolence towards animals (called ahimsa in India) and was promoted by religious groups and philosophers.[17] Among the Hellenes, Egyptians and others, it had medical or Ritual purification purposes. " "Following the Christianisation of the Roman Empire in late antiquity, vegetarianism practically disappeared from Europe as it was in other Continents, except India" As for discriminating against long haired males - I think it unarguably originates from Christian fundamentalist ignorance and prejudice, though it is obviously true that both Christianity and Islam demand a very 'binary' appearance from men and women and are very strongly opposed to any perceived androgyny "running wild" through society. Have you noticed how Jesus has been now depicted as having short hair for the last 10-12 years?
-
I'm a vegetarian for ethical, not religious, reasons, though I will confess that now that I'm vegetarian I've thought about the ties between Christianity and vegetarianism. The basic thing I've gone to in this debate is that before "the fall" (before the 1st sin mentioned in Genesis), man lived together with the animals, and there is only mention of them eating plants. And I honestly can't rememer where I got this from, but I read somewhere that after "the fall" when Adam and Eve knew they were naked, God gave them the skin from an animal to cover up with. This shows some forshadowing as later animals would have to be used to cover (or atone for) the sin of man in the Old Testament. So to me, killing animals came as a direct result of Man making a mistake and violating the rules. I think we were created to be plant eaters, but then we went and effed everything up. Perfection creation was meant to be us co-existing with animals, not eating them.
-
The primary reason I rejected Christianity and Abrahamism in general was because of its dominionist attitude. Abrahamic religion is pure hogwash.
-
year40:
The primary reason I rejected Christianity and Abrahamism in general was because of its dominionist attitude. Abrahamic religion is pure hogwash.
-
erinluv182:
I'm a vegetarian for ethical, not religious, reasons, though I will confess that now that I'm vegetarian I've thought about the ties between Christianity and vegetarianism. The basic thing I've gone to in this debate is that before "the fall" (before the 1st sin mentioned in Genesis), man lived together with the animals, and there is only mention of them eating plants. And I honestly can't rememer where I got this from, but I read somewhere that after "the fall" when Adam and Eve knew they were naked, God gave them the skin from an animal to cover up with. This shows some forshadowing as later animals would have to be used to cover (or atone for) the sin of man in the Old Testament. So to me, killing animals came as a direct result of Man making a mistake and violating the rules. I think we were created to be plant eaters, but then we went and effed everything up. Perfection creation was meant to be us co-existing with animals, not eating them.
interesting post . i have a sister who has moved from veggie to vegan she and her husband our devout Christians- Pastors too.. in the more modern era..I would consider them pretty hip.. now I'm wondering if their converting to a extreme plant based diet.. is because of Bible writings ? It would seem to make sense if one follows the scriptures as written..
-
Vegetarianism dates back to early homo sapiens and other previous common ancestors/primates over 100,000 years ago. Studies have suggested that humans originally evolved to be herbivores due to our herbivorous prone structures, but culturally adapted into being omnivorous. Though these studies are not entirely conclusive, but does seem plausible if you look at the surrounding evidence.
-
Anyone who thinks people were meant to have dominion over animals has never lived with a cat. incidentally, cats are never mentioned in the Bible at all. Lions, leopards, yes, but not Felis Dosmesticus. What's even more ironic is cats originated at the same part of the world as the Bible did. (Forest aren't mentioned in the Bible either but that is another subject)
-
Cats were very popular in ancient Egypt, a culture whose rituals the early Christians did not want to emulate.
-
al Sabah:
Cats were very popular in ancient Egypt, a culture whose rituals the early Christians did not want to emulate.
Reminded me of this:
-
I don't believe the bible is the original truth. Full of prophecy full of wisdom. When Ezekiel saw the wheel the face of God changed into animal like beings a bird, a lion, a man, a bull. To say that God doesn't have the animal within his being is wrong. Now in Judiasm many do become vegetarians because their diets concerning meat are very strict. There is no message that Jesus ever ate any warm blooded animal. He ate fish. Much of scripture has been tampered with anyhow. So what if Peter claimed to have a vision that named all foods clean. Paul was a Jew that became a Christian that taught Jews. Naturally His teaching converted much back into Judiasm.
-
the four animals, a bird, a lion, a man, a bull come actually from the old interpretation of the zodiac. Imagine the earth in the center surrounded by the zodiac like a ring which was the old way or perceiving the universe. There are four constellations: Scorpio, Aquarius, Taurus and Leo. Each has four of the brightest stars making a cross with the earth in the center. Taurus is a bull with a star as his eye. Leo a lion with a star for his heart. Aquarius is a man pouring water into a fish's mouth (the bright star is his eye). Scorpio has a star for his heart but in the ancient zodiac, he was an eagle. all four stars are red giants incidentally. these are also the same four beast on the four thrones in Revelations singing 'holy holy holy'.
-
Kathryn O:
the four animals, a bird, a lion, a man, a bull come actually from the old interpretation of the zodiac. Imagine the earth in the center surrounded by the zodiac like a ring which was the old way or perceiving the universe. There are four constellations: Scorpio, Aquarius, Taurus and Leo. Each has four of the brightest stars making a cross with the earth in the center. Taurus is a bull with a star as his eye. Leo a lion with a star for his heart. Aquarius is a man pouring water into a fish's mouth (the bright star is his eye). Scorpio has a star for his heart but in the ancient zodiac, he was an eagle. all four stars are red giants incidentally. these are also the same four beast on the four thrones in Revelations singing 'holy holy holy'.
I'll go along with that. I think Revelations is the restoration of the heavens.