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." 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.

Is it ironic that Pagan Rome has had such an influence upon present day Christianity?

source: The Holy Bible and
http://www.ivu.org/history/christian/christ_veg.html

Answer 1

I don't know who is right or wrong..?But why to kill living being and eat their meat when we can survive on vegetables..!

Answer 2

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Please do not quote sections of the Bible out of context.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 3

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 4

Not true.
In the Acts of the Apostles, the new converts were told to abstain from blood, things strangled, and animals offered to idols - so, by implication, they could eat other meat. On the other hand, most meat in Greek and Roman times did come from sacrifices, so this prohibition did cut down on the amount of meat in their lives.
You have been slightly misled by 'meat' having the old meaning 'food' in the King James Bible.

Answer 5

Early Christians also refused to take baths, because bathing in Rome was communal, and bathhouses would be decorated with all sorts of tributes to the gods. In addition, early Christians considered it a sin to be exposed, even to yourself! I suppose that because the early Christians refused to bathe, modern Christians should do the same? (I really hope this doesn't become fashionable the way vegetarianism has!)

Early Christians were also vandals, smashing works of art that depicted genitalia. The habit of etching a fig leaf over genitals was created by artists to keep Christian mobs from destroying their work.

Early Christians also felt that Jesus the man was an exceptionally ugly person. Tertullian calls him a "wretched little thing", Byzantine scholars describe him as being short, balding, hunched over, dark skinned, thick eyebrows, and looking older than he was. This makes anthropological sense because in ancient times, being ugly was a sign that the gods had marked you as being destined for becoming a holy man.

And the influence of pagan Rome goes far beyond your pet project of vegetarianism. December 25th was a Pagan holiday (Ancient Roman pagans used to place a pine tree in their house and decorate it... remind you anything that we do around December 25th?). Transubstantiation (the act of eating bread and wine that had become the body and blood of a god) had been an element of Mithraism (a common religion in the Empire) for thousands of years. Walking on water was a popular pagan power. A halo was an accessory that comes from worship of the Roman sun god; Sol Invictus. The idea of mankind being a brotherhood, where everyone is equal, was a Stoic idea, not a Judeo-Christian one. The concept of light vs darkness, God vs the devil, comes from Zoroastrianism. The Christian religion is remarkably adept at copying local customs to attract new followers, and then conveniently forgetting the source of their customs.

And the worst enemy of Christians were not pagans (Paganism by its nature is tolerating of other religions) but other Christians! Arianism, among other Christian sects were savagely hunted down by their Nicean "brothers". You can't blaim the Romans on this one because Pagan Rome was tolerant of all religions providing that they did not disrupt civil order (and the persecution of the early Christians was precisely because they disrupted civic order)

Sorry if I won't let you pick and choose history in order to promote your political/religious ideas.

Answer 6

Yes, originally Human Beings were designed as vegetarians, but in Genesis 9:3 God permitted eating animals. However, care must be exercised because certain animals are not fit for human consumption. Leviticus 11 gives specific dietary laws and Leviticus 17 forbids the consumption of blood. Eating a strictly vegetarian diet is definitely healthier, but eating meat is allowed. In 1 Corinthians 8 Paul dwells on the issue of eating meat, in particular meat sacrificed to idols. For my personal position, I don't care what a person wants to eat, as Paul said in 1 Cor. 8, food doesn't bring us closer to God. My concern is are Christians living a life that will draw others to Jesus? Dietary habits are superfluous in light of eternity.

Answer 7

The earliest Christians were observant Jews, and they did eat meat prepared according the laws of Moses. It is recorded that Jesus ate the Passover (lamb) with his family and disciples, as well as often eating fish.
Saints Peter and Paul, in the Book of Acts and in the Epistles, also specify the conditions for eating meat. At first, followers of Christ were seen as Jews, and required to keep kosher. As more non-Jews joined, Peter received a vision from heaven making it clear that he could, and should, eat meat that was hot kosher as well.
However, neither in Judaism nor in Christianity is it mandated to eat meat. All vegetarian foods are kosher.
Peter and Paul ate whatever was offered them, in order not to discourage non-Jews who wanted to hear the gospel and follow Christ, so for them, eating non-kosher was a matter of conscience. However, Paul makes it very clear that nobody should look down on another based on his/her dietary choices.

Answer 8

Jesus said to the Pharisees: "It is not what goes into a man's body that defiles him, what he eats is easily eliminated, it is what comes out of his mouth from the heart that defiles a man."

Peter was sent to dine with a Roman and an angel appeared before him and opened a clothe with all sorts of living things and said, "Take and eat for it is good" and then he was told this 3 times and finally he sat and ate the food placed before him. He was able to minister to the entire household and they were saved. This is a paraphrase. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

I believe that a vegetarian diet is good for optimal health, I see that in action with my friends but I do not believe that the bible strictly commands it throughout the New Testament.

Answer 9

the chrristians were eating meat long before the romans. im sorry but i am christian and i am a meat eater.
as humans we need some of the vitamins and minerals that meat have.
yes the human race is carnivorious. we cannot go without some red meat in our diet.

Answer 10

If eating meat is wrong why did we evolve from meat eating chimps.If they hadn't there brain's wouldn't have developed into what we have today and you wouldn't be asking this question.
The treatment of animals should be Paramount that should get best treatment possible but as in all things cash comes first.