Were we created to be Vegan?!

The short answer is Yes I’m afraid, 😊 but that’s not the end of the story, and you may recall the account
when Jesus fed 5,000 people with 2 loaves and 5 fish – was that a Vegan meal?!

Let’s dive in and take a quick look at what’s going on here.

Genesis tells us about God’s creation of man (and the earth, animals etc). The prevailing Christian view is
that the way we were created was God’s perfect ideal, and indeed logically and based on the account of
Genesis, that makes a lot of sense.

“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created
them.” Genesis 1: 27

And on the ‘foody front?’

“And God said, ‘See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and
every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.” Genesis 1: 29

Although there is no specific command against meat, it seems reasonable to assume that meat was ‘not on
the menu’ for ‘mankind’ at that point, and of course this is also supported later in that book when the
animals came to Noah and entered the Ark without fear.

So what changed then? How do we get from nuts and berries to McDonalds and a big Mac with fries?

After the flood, God specifically allows Noah and his descendants to kill and eat animals, Genesis 9: 1 – 4

“So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the
air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand.
Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green
herbs. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood”

I have marked the fear and dread section in bold type to contrast it with the way the animals came
willingly to the Ark, but it also sits well with the increasing unease regarding animal cruelty and the
questioning of whether meat is really so essential to our health. Even in India, millions of vegetarians
(not vegans – they still enjoy milk and dairy!) have thrived for generations following their spiritual beliefs.

But it is clear that after the flood God did allow ‘mankind’ to eat meat and this was a change from the
original ‘design’ he clearly had in mind. We also read of Jesus and his disciples eating fish, lamb and
other meats throughout the New Testament, so for now at least a Big Mac doesn’t seem to be a
one-way ticket to an unfortunate future somewhere on the extreme side of hot!

That said, few of us enjoy the idea of animals suffering, and the realities of modern meat production can certainly give us pause. How we navigate this is ultimately a matter of personal conscience and conviction.

There isn’t a clear right or wrong here – at least not scripturally. I think we can probably say however,
that if God created us as plant-eaters originally, then our bodies are almost certainly capable of thriving
on that diet – but whether we choose that path is a matter of personal conscience.

Arguably the more we love animals, the less of them we’d want to eat!

       

Why do I still crave a KFC then?!!😊