Are the Meat-Eating Christians Wrong? Is It True that Christians Did Not Eat Meat Until the Romans Took Over?

Question

“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat:
and it was so." Genesis 1:29-30

"The early Christian fathers adhered to a meatless regime...many early Christian groups supported the meatless way of life.

In fact, the writings of the early Church indicate that meat eating was not officially allowed until the 4th century, when the Emperor Constantine decided that his version of Christianity would be the version for everyone.

A meat eating interpretation of the Bible became the official creed of the Roman Empire, and vegetarian Christians had to practice in secret or risk being put to death for heresy.

Pagan Rome has such an influence upon Christianity.

Answer 1

Don't,t waste your time with these Christian, they will eat animals to all cost and they still think they are going to heaven.
Jesus could have ate fish in some circumstances, but was not his daily diet, and he never said maintain slaughterhouses, that is for sure.
In the Bible, after the Flood, we read:
"And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. 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 they are delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all these things."
When living conditions had changed, man was permitted to live by eating meat. However, in the earlier, abundant state, this was not allowed. Likewise in the Vedic texts, which were presented in the generally affluent lands of India, meat-eating is forbidden except under special circumstances. The like ought to apply, as well, to our affluent contemporary civilization.
Lord Jesus Christ taught, "Thou shalt not kill." If the Christians actually love Lord Jesus, then they should obey his commandments and refrain from slaughtering innocent animals simply to gratify their own tongues.
Jewish scholars argue that the commandment not to kill is actually one not to murder—not to kill a human being. However, the Jewish scholars also admit that God originally instructed Adam to eat only vegetarian foods. People began eating meat only later (after the flood), because they had become corrupt. So, ultimately, the Jews agree that slaughtering animals for food is not good, and that God originally prohibited it.
In the Vedic literatures we learn that all living creatures—not just humans—have souls. Since every soul is a spiritual particle of God (the Supreme Soul), all living creatures are God's children. Thus we are not meant to inflict pain on animals by slaughtering them. Rather, we should protect animals as our brothers. This is one of God's basic laws—and if we break it we can have no real religion.

Answer 2

Until the Romans came along? The Romans were already there long before Christianity came along.... and when Rome fell, it was the "Church" that took over.

"The early Christian fathers adhere to a meatless regime"..... where does that come from? Who said it?

There were no laws in Rome that stated people had to eat meat. lol They didn't have guards at everyone's house at dinner time to make sure people were eating meat. Where did you get this idea?

Hellenism influenced Christianity through doctrines.... not what food people ate. Vegetarianism is not Biblical.... especially when it lists Clean and Unclean animals.... and specifically tells you which ones you can or can not eat.

And another.... Constantine did not make Christianity the "version for everyone"... he merely made it a legally recognized religion and told the Christians to get their stuff together because, even then, they were killing one another over interpretations. Constantine never converted to Christianity, history shows he was Pagan till his death bed which he was baptized as a "just in case" measure. (Death Bed baptisms were common during that time as Christianity upheld the idea that Baptism could only be done once for the removal of sins and any sins committed afterward would be held against the "sinner")

Answer 3

Holy Smokes! It's the God Squad! No, the only meat they didn't eat before the Roman's was anything from a pig! Not surprising really as the original followers of Jesus were all Jews. Pig meat is hard to preserve in the holy land, which is why it was, and still is, a forbidden meat for Jews & Muslims. I suspect though when the Christians started spreading the word & got outside of the Holy Land & encountered other cultures who did eat pork etc they had to adapt their teachings so that eating pork would no longer be a no no. Otherwise how do you think they converted so many pagans. Please do not quote sections of the Bible out of context. This is the sort of thing that drives people away from Christianity, I know, as I am one such person.

Answer 4

wrong wrong wrong. it's all wrong. jews ate meat. jesus was a jew. he ate fish and of course the passover lamb. that's what the last supper was....the jewish passover. he would have eaten a kosher diet that existed at the time. the bible says, he even had some nice fish on the fire as his disciples came along the shore when he appeared to them after his death. and if jesus being god in flesh while on earth, ate meat then i am happy and secure that eating another animal was done, and was alright. (this idea has nothing to do with present methods of factory, commercial, agricultural animal harvesting).

there were some jewish sects that existed at the same time as early christians that were vegetarian. it's true that in eden, adam and eve were given all the plants and fruits to eat. however once they were expelled from there, they were given command to eat of the beasts and so forth.
most early christians were also mostly greek and other nationalities. very few were actually jewish converts. they were also very poor. this is a better reason for their not eating meat. they could not afford it. nor could they keep it perhaps. they might not have had a way to smoke it or cure it, to preserve it, since meat was not in abundance in those cultures like it exists today. actually, it's too much in abundance today, but that is a different debate.

Answer 5

Leviticus chapter 11 lists the dietary restrictions God gave to the nation of Israel. The dietary rules were never intended to apply to anyone other than Israel. Jesus later declares all foods clean (Mark 7:19). God gave the apostle Peter a vision in which He declares concerning formerly unclean animals, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean” (Acts 10:15). When Jesus died on the cross, He put an end to the Old Testament law (Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:24-26; Ephesians 2:15). This includes the laws regarding clean and unclean foods.

Answer 6

Untrue. It was right after the flood of Noah that God gave permission to eat meat. (Genesis 9:3, 4) Animals then began to be in fear of man, lest (I like that word) he become dinner for man.

When God gave the Mosaic Law, certain types of meat were forbidden. This had more to do with health aspects than anything else. For instance, there were rules on washing hands and bathing and disposal of bodily waste. Israelites knew nothing of germs and bacteria, but God did. They were kept healthy while the rest of the nations got sick.

We just have to remember that meat was valuable commodity back then. They grew their own without refrigeration or supermarkets or restaurants or drive-ins. They ate healthier as vegetables and grains were more abundant than meat.

Answer 7

Read later in Genesis after Noah. God gave the animals to eat as well. There were rules about "clean" animals and "unclean" animals in the Old Testament.

Answer 8

Go Back and read again, the Old testament people ate meat, in the book of Exodus, and also only certian types of meat. I think you really need to read it for yourself instead of listening to others, and as for people changing the Bible you are wrong.

Answer 9

Please read Mt.15:11. so after reading it, now you know that eating meat does not make anyone a sinner but what comes out of the mouth only like...saying bad words, deceit, lies, etc. and also, if God does not allow man to eat meat, then what do you think is the purpose why HE created the pigs? i don't see any other purpose of the pig except for man to eat it as one of their sources of food.

Answer 10

No, the assumption of people being vegans then is incorrect.

No. Pagan Rome had absolutely no influence on Christianity.