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

Actually, pagans did not eat a lot of meat. They probably ate less meat than Jews--or Christians. First off, the overwhelming majority of people were poor and did not eat meat on a daily basis because they just couldn't afford it. Second, taking of life for no reason was a taboo thing among some pagans--such as the ancient Romans. Animals couldn't just be killed for food; they had to be sacrified to a deity. Ordinary people mostly only got to eat meat on "feast" days when animals were sacrificed to one or another deity. The priests were the butchers. Because the ancient Hebrews could not eat meat offered to "idols" and pagan deities, they had to set up their own butchers. I am not aware of a vegan or vegetarian history regarding the early Church but I wouldn't doubt that, among the very many early Christian groups that were out there, vegetarianism was a trend among some of them but probably as a form of a renunciative and stoic lifestyle rather than something that had to do with ethical concerns about animals. Some also were celibate and lived like monks and nuns because they thought there was no point in procreating because the end of the world was coming. That meat eating came with Constantine's official acceptance of Christianity as the State religion or the standardization of Christianity or that Christians who didn't eat meat would be persecuted is highly unlikely and a misinterpretation of the literature you cite.

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

That is pure crap! It is historically and theologically inaccurate! There may have been weird sects of one kind or another that may have been the forerunners of the nutters we have on V&V, but certainly Chrisitanity never prohibited either meat eating and the Bible never had a "meatless" version.

Answer 4

just a question to those answers above - wasn't jesus around in the time of the romans - thus AFTER they took over, not before as the question posed?

Answer 5

Fish is meat. The Bible says Christ not only ate meat, he distributed it miraculously.

Answer 6

Good grief. People will twist everything into "religon".

Answer 7

fish is a type of meat so that is not true

Answer 8

That's total crap. The bible is fiction. Humans evolved as omnivores. What do you think "hunter-gatherers" ate? The wild bush cranberry?

Answer 9

NO ITS OKAY TO EAT MEAT WE HAVE BEEN KILLING/SACRIFICING ANIMALS SINCE ADAM AND EVE