Christian Vegetarians?

Question

In all the scriptures how do you justify that eating meat is wrong? Is there scriptural bases? Please include Bible reference, Book of Mormon Reference, Doctrine and Covenant reference, or any other scriptural reference.

Answer 1

I have never heard that there is any reference in the bible prohibiting meat. Most veggies do so for personal reasons not religious ones.

Answer 2

Careful not to generalize and stereotype people. I was a vegetarian for several years and have been a Christian for many years. My decision was based on health concerns, however and not on any belief that eating meat is wrong. The scripture references I would give are those such as Romans 14 or Acts 10. Here we see that under the new covenant nothing is unclean, however we must be careful to live in harmony with one another and not allow an argument over what someone believes on this issue to hinder our fellowship with one another.

Answer 3

I hope this information will answer your question even though I will get multiple thumbs down. Please look up these verses.
Genesis 1:29, Gen 9:4-5, Isaiah 1:11-12, 15, Isaiah 66.3, Leviticus 3:17, Leviticus 17:10
Of course not to forget St. Francis of Assisi who is the Saint paton of animals.
In many verses when you see the word meat it refers to food, It is just the way it was traslated.
Emperor Constantine I (285-337) gave preferential treatment to the Christian Church, gave it freedom of religion and in the year 324 finally made it de facto a state religion. For this, the church even made him a saint. However, in obsession with power, despotism and cruelty, Constantine lagged behind his predecessors in nothing. He waged many wars. Under threat of torture, the Early Christians who wanted to remain true to their pacifist ideals were now forced to go to war for the emperor. It was said that under the orders of Emperor Constantine, melted lead was poured down the throats of those who did not want to eat meat.
Thus, original Christianity was nearly dissolved. “Christians were now officially forced into military duty, into eating animals and drinking alcohol.”
At the Council of Nicösia (325) Constantine forced through his ideas of Christianity.
Now the Gospel also had to be tailored to fit the spirit of the times then. So-called “correctors” were put to work for this. Deliberate falsifications are said to have been carried out particularly in the time following the Council of Nicösia. How much was also changed by Paul is unknown and can only be conjectured, based on several citations that have been passed down.
During the Middle Ages the persecution of Christians who lived as vegetarians and vegans continued.
Over whole centuries the Church persecuted Early Christians who were vegetarians and found no pleasure in the frills and furbelows of a pagan state church. For the most part they were stigmatized, slandered, persecuted and murdered as heretics and sectarians.
The philosophic basis for persecution during the Middle Ages was made by the church teacher, Thomas of Aquinas. According to his teaching, neither animals nor women have a soul. Free Christians “who at the time of the Inquisition refused to kill animals were forced to either publicly slaughter an animal or be hanged as a heretic. In 1051 several so-called heretics were condemned to death because they refused to kill and eat chickens.”
“During the Middle Ages there were many groups that wanted to turn back to an Early Christian way of living.” For example, the Bogumiles or the Cathars and the Albigensers. They lived a vegetarian or vegan life. The vowed “to kill no animal, to eat no meat and to live only from fruit.” (Walter ****) All of them were cruelly exterminated by the Church.

Answer 4

I would have to say my mother in law a Seventh Day Adventist claims that her religion does not allow them to eat meat. She says it is not allowed per scripture? Best help I can give, don't know which scripture or if it is true of all Seventh Day as I was told because I am not one. Have no care as to if a person eats meat or not, personal choice.

Answer 5

Hi Prince,
Kristina has already given you a good answer when it comes to the Bible verses... You mention "other scriptural reference".
I am sure that you are aware that one of Lord Buddha's main missions was to stop animal slaughter in the name of religion.
Here is some interesting facts. Hope it will serve you in a way.

"At the time of the Buddha, wicked minded Brahmins (so called Vedic priests) who were devoid of spiritual knowledge were engaging in wholesale animal slaughter in the name of Vedic rituals. Lord Buddha appeared to enforce this prohibition by preaching the dharma of non violence.
For this reason, the Buddha is glorified in the Vedic scriptures: Here is an ancient poem, reputed to be the only text ever written by the Buddha himself:
"Creatures without feet have my love. And like wise those who have two feet; and those, too, who have many feet. Let creatures all, all things that live, all beings of whatever kind, see nothing that will bode them ill. May no evil come to them." Even as a child, Gautama Buddha rescued wounded animals from cruel hunters. And later when preaching the dharma, he made total renunciation of meat eating a fundamental part of his prescription for humanity.
In the Mahaparinirvana sutra, the Buddha declares, "The eating of meat extinguishes the seed of maha karuna (great compassion)." In the Lankavatara sutra he says, "For the sake of love of purity, the enlightened Buddhist should refrain from eating flesh, which is born from blood and semen. For fear of causing terror to living beings, let the enlightened Buddhist, who is disciplining himself to attain compassion, refrain from eating meat." He is cited in the Surangama sutra as saying, "The reason for meditating and seeking enlightenment is to escape from the suffering of life. But in seeking to escape from suffering ourselves, why should we inflict it upon others?
But such false ideas are refuted in the scriptures. In the Lankavatara sutra the Buddha enjoins, "It is not true that meat is proper food and permissible when the animal was not killed by himself, when he did not order others to kill it, when it was not specifically meant for him...meat eating in any form, in any manner and in any place is unconditionally and once and for all prohibited...Meat eating I have not permitted to anyone, I do not permit, I will not permit...........!"

Answer 6

I'm not a Christian.

However, to answer your question:
The best reason I've heard from a Christian perspective is that in the time of the garden of Eden man did not eat animals, it was not until after to great flood that God allowed man to eat animals. It makes sense to strive to live as much like God first intended as possible. This includes not eating animals.

Answer 7

http://www.hacres.com/home/home.asp
I find this group's teaching very sound.
The ideal that Human did not originally eat meat & our bodies respond best to being Vegans. In the old testament after the flood humans were then given permission to eat meat.

Answer 8

I'm not a Christian but I am a Vegetarian. I know people who justify their meat eating by "God" putting animals on earth for us to consume, but yet at the same time we're suppose to honor all of God's creatures...how are you doing that when you slaughter them and contribute to their slaughtering? Like the Bible, and everything it, it's all contradicting.

I'm a Vegetarian out of my own personal morals and values.

Answer 9

Who says vegetarians claim that eating meat is wrong? Nobody asks you the question why you do eat meat, you never have to justify for that, right? There is no scriptural base, the same way there is no scriptural base that humans should eat animals. We are omnivores, I know that, but if there are replacements for meat these days, why shouldn't we eat them and stop breeding animals just to eat them. I wouldn't want to be a chicken, pig, horse, rabbit,... bred to be eaten, so do unto others as you would they should do unto you.

Answer 10

It's not possible
most Christians eat meat