Jesus Ate Meat, Why Shouldn't we?
Another common objection to vegetarianism is, "Jesus Christ ate meat, so why shouldn't we?" But vegetarian Christians point out that the ancient Greek, from which the New Testament was translated, does not support the contention that Christ ate meat. For example, Greek words like brosimos, prosphagion, and trophe, all of which mean simply "food, or "nourishment," were loosely translated as "meat. (except in the New English Bible). And, vegetarian Christians assert, where the Bible states that Christ was offered fish and a honeycomb and accepted ‘it’ (singular), it means the honeycomb. In the Old Testament a verse predicts this of the youthful Christ: "He shall eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the evil and to choose the good." (Isaiah 7:15) The purport would seem to be that to behave otherwise would lead to a brutish mentality, which cannot be accepted in the character of Christ.
In many more places the word ‘meat’ has been wrongly inserted. For example, in John (4.8) it states: "For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat." The word meat was taken from the Greek word trophe, which actually means nourishment. This is exactly the same case in Acts (9.19): "And when he had received meat, he was strengthened." When translated accurately it means that by receiving nourishment, he felt stronger.
In Luke (8.55) we find, "And her spirit came again and she arose straightaway: and he (Jesus) commanded to give her meat." The word meat in this case was translated from the Greek word phago, which translated correctly simply means to eat.
In I Corinthians (8.8) it states: "But meat commendeth us not to God, for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither if we eat not, are we the worse." The word for meat here is broma, which actually means food. Therefore, this verse signifies that eating or not eating food has little to do with our relationship to God and not, as some people think, that eating meat holds no wrong.
In Romans (14.20-21) the verses are: "For meat destroy not the word of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak." The word for meat here is broma, which actually means foods, and the word for flesh is kreas, which does mean flesh. Therefore, this verse makes it clear that flesh eating is unacceptable.
If the Bible explains that eating meat is wrong, then what is the proper thing to eat? Genesis (1.29) clearly states: "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." This makes it quite obvious that the food for human beings is herbs, seeds, grains, and fruits.
We also find in Isaiah (7.14-15): "Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a young woman shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good." The first verse is often quoted by Christians for proof that Jesus was the savior, but the next verse shows that he will be a vegetarian to know the difference between right and wrong.
In many more places the word ‘meat’ has been wrongly inserted. For example, in John (4.8) it states: "For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat." The word meat was taken from the Greek word trophe, which actually means nourishment. This is exactly the same case in Acts (9.19): "And when he had received meat, he was strengthened." When translated accurately it means that by receiving nourishment, he felt stronger.
In Luke (8.55) we find, "And her spirit came again and she arose straightaway: and he (Jesus) commanded to give her meat." The word meat in this case was translated from the Greek word phago, which translated correctly simply means to eat.
In I Corinthians (8.8) it states: "But meat commendeth us not to God, for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither if we eat not, are we the worse." The word for meat here is broma, which actually means food. Therefore, this verse signifies that eating or not eating food has little to do with our relationship to God and not, as some people think, that eating meat holds no wrong.
In Romans (14.20-21) the verses are: "For meat destroy not the word of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak." The word for meat here is broma, which actually means foods, and the word for flesh is kreas, which does mean flesh. Therefore, this verse makes it clear that flesh eating is unacceptable.
If the Bible explains that eating meat is wrong, then what is the proper thing to eat? Genesis (1.29) clearly states: "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." This makes it quite obvious that the food for human beings is herbs, seeds, grains, and fruits.
We also find in Isaiah (7.14-15): "Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a young woman shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good." The first verse is often quoted by Christians for proof that Jesus was the savior, but the next verse shows that he will be a vegetarian to know the difference between right and wrong.