How many of you are aware of incorrect translation of 'meat' in many verses in New Testament? Most Christians don't realize mistranalation of 'meat' in the Bible and think that 'meat' means animal flesh but as you start reading part of the article below, you will find out how blind most Christians are about the word of God. Too many Christians justfy their cruel life style (www.meetyourmeat.com) by misinterpreting Bible. <<Despite these scriptural teachings, many so-called Christians will try and tell us "Well Jesus ate meat," but this is not a fact. A close analysis of the original Greek manuscripts of the New Testament shows the words translated as 'meat' are 'trophe brone,' which simply means food or nourishment, or eating in the broadest sense. Another example of poor translation of the Bible is in the Gospel of Saint Luke (8:55), in which we read that Jesus raised a woman from the dead and commanded that she be given meat. But in the original Greek text of this verse the word 'phago' is used which means only 'to eat.' There are other words in the Bible which are translated as being meat, which actually have no reference to meat. 'Broma' appears four times in the Bible and is translated as being meat, but in Greek actually just means 'food.' Similarly, 'Brosis' appears four times in the Bible and is translated as being meat, but actually means 'the act of eating food'; 'Brosimas' appears once and is translated as being meat, but actually means 'that which may be eaten.' 'Prosphagon' appears once also and is similarly translated as meaning meat, but actually means 'anything to eat.' The Greek word for meat is 'kreas,' which means 'flesh' and is never used in connection with Christ. >> You can read whole article above by typing www.apnabangalore.com/veggie/reli.html
That article looks like it just pulled out a lexicon and started looking up definitions. There is more to determining the meaning of a word from a source language to a receptor language. Anyway, how about Luke 24:36-43? While they were saying these things, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." But they were startled and terrified, thinking they saw a ghost. Then he said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; it's me! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones like you see I have." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still could not believe it (because of their joy) and were amazed, he said to them, "Do you have anything here to eat?" So they gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in front of them. So Christ ate fish as is explicitly stated. Also, there is Peter's experience recorded in Acts 10:9-16 About noon the next day, while they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted to eat, but while they were preparing the meal, a trance came over him. He saw heaven opened and an object something like a large sheet descending, being let down to earth by its four corners. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth and wild birds. Then a voice said to him, "Get up, Peter; slaughter and eat!" But Peter said, "Certainly not, Lord, for I have never eaten anything defiled and ritually unclean!" The voice spoke to him again, a second time, "What God has made clean, you must not consider ritually unclean!" This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into heaven. And the same story is repeated by Peter later in Acts 11:7. I bring this up simply to point out that eating meat is permissable according to scripture. Is it the BEST dietary paradigm? That's debatable (and hotly debated). Can a Christian be a vegetarian? Certainly. Is a Christian required to be a vegetarian? Not according to Scripture. Also, you said that some people justify their "cruel life style" using the Bible. I would have to point out that my desire for beef is not even a justifiable proximate cause for the unethical treatment of animals by slaughterhouses. Just because there is a market desire for a product does not justify any unethical behavior on the suppliers of said product. At the same time, the individuals that create the demand (meat eaters in this case) are not responsible, nor are even, themselves, a proximate or actual cause for the unethical behavior of the suppliers. So, in short, saying that meat eaters are living a cruel life style is simply a personal jab with no foundation. It creates the impression that meat eaters somehow enjoy or are, at best, uncaring about the treatment of animals. This is not necessarily true. As such, to claim that a meat eater necessarily lives a cruel life style is simply an unjustified personal slight against all meat eaters which has no grounds in reality.
Granted, Broma does mean food in general, however, upon reading the Bible, you will find numerous specific examples of faithful servants of God eating meat without implication of any wrong doing. Genesis 25:27,28; 27:1-4 - Esau was a skillful hunter. His father Isaac loved Esau because he ate what Esau killed. Genesis 43:16 - Joseph had an animal slaughtered for his brothers to eat with him. 1 Samuel 25:18 - Abigail brought sheep dressed to eat as a gift to David and his men. 1 Kings 4:22,23 - Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, ate oxen, sheep, deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fowl. 1 Kings 19:21 - Elisha slaughtered oxen to feed people. 1 Chronicles 12:39,40 - David and the people ate oxen and sheep when he was named king. Nehemiah 5:17,18 - Nehemiah provided for those who ate with him oxen, sheep, and fowl. Matthew 3:4 - John the Baptist ate locusts and wild honey. (Note that many of the people ate, not just fish or birds, but "red meat": cattle, sheep, oxen, etc.) Genesis 18:2,7,8 - Abraham showed hospitality to visitors by feeding them butter, milk, and a calf he had killed. Note that Abraham offered them - and they ate - not just dairy products (butter and milk), but also red meat (beef - veal) which he had killed. Exodus 12:3,6,8,46 - God commanded each family in Israel to kill and eat a lamb for the Passover feast. Deuteronomy 12:15,20-22 - When Israelites offered animal sacrifices, they and/or the priests ate much of the meat. This was God's blessing to them. (15:19-23; 14:26; Num. 18:9,10; Ex. 29:32; Lev. 7:15; 8:31) Leviticus 11:2,3,9,21,46,47 - Under the law God forbade eating unclean animals, yet He expressly authorized the eating of many clean animals: mammals, fish, birds, and insects. (Deut. 14:4,6,9,11,20) Leviticus 17:13,14 - Blood of an animal must be poured out before the animal was eaten. But with this provision, animals and birds may be hunted, caught, and eaten. 1 Kings 17:4,6 - God nourished Elijah by providing him bread and meat. Did God provide food that would be immoral to eat? Proverbs 27:23-27 - Flocks were not only a legitimate source of riches and clothing, they also provide milk for food. Acts 10:9-16; 11:5-10 - In a vision God commanded Peter to eat unclean animals. When Peter refused, God explained that he should not consider as unclean things that God had cleansed. 1 Timothy 4:1-5 - States that those people forbid the eating of meats were false prophets. Mark 6:35-44; 8:1-9 - Jesus himself fed the 5000 and later the 4000 by feeding them bread and fish Matthew 22:4 - Jesus told a parable of a king who killed oxen and fatted cattle for a wedding feast. Here eating meat is a symbol of partaking of the blessings of God's kingdom. Would God use something immoral to symbolize the blessings of the kingdom? Luke 15:23,27 - When the prodigal son returned, the father had the servants rejoice by killing and eating the fatted calf. This illustrates God's joy when people repent of sin. Mark 14:12,18 - Jesus ate the Passover with His disciples. We earlier learned that the Passover involved killing and eating a lamb. Therefore, Jesus ate meat. Did Jesus do something immoral? Luke 24:36-43 - After His resurrection (and after the Old Law had been removed), Jesus ate fish to prove to His disciples that He really had been raised from the dead. John 21:3,6,8-13 - After His resurrection the apostles again went fishing. Jesus repeated the miracle of providing the apostles with fish to catch. This time He also cooked fish and gave fish to them to eat.
Don't you think that Christians should at least attempt to be conscious of the impacts of their purchasing decisions? I don't think we can just shrug off all responsibility as consumers, especially when we often have the option of seeking out more ethical food suppliers: health food stores, food co-ops, local farmers' markets, etc. Instead, we're often driven solely by price and convenience. Considering all that the Bible says about wealth and injustice, I'm amazed at how our economic lives are so unaffected by our faith.
Yes, we should. We cannot shrug the responsibility of creating the demand, no. But to say that I, as a meat eater (specifically ground beef), am somehow directly responsible for the unethical treatment of pigs or chickens (which I may not like or abstain from eating) or even for all the mistreatment experienced by all cattle everywhere seems a little off. I understand what you are saying and I have a ton of respect for your opinions. On this one, though, I have to disagree with the scope. I am not advocating the mistreatment of animals at all. What I expressed disagreement with was the use of such a large brush on the subject of meat eaters and unfairly calling the lifestyle of meat eaters "cruel." It is surprising, isn't it?
Would you agree that "selfish, ignorant, and apathetic" generally describes the lifestyle of the American consumer? In this regard, Christians are sadly indistinguishable from our larger society.
I would say that it applies to the vast population of the world. But yes, it sadly does apply to the American consumer (and many, many Christians, unfortunately).
Not all Christians are unabashed carnivores. The majority of Seventh-day Adventists are vegetarian. I'm a Seventh day Adventist and therefore was raised vegetarian but I do eat meat on occasion. Some of the founders of the Adventist church were also some of the earliest advocates of vegetarianism. An Adventist doctor/nutritionist named John Harvey Kellog invented two well known food products. One of them is a favorite with hippies and the other is eaten by many Americans. The food products? Peanut Butter and Kellogs CornFlakes! On the flip side another Adventist started McKee Bakery which is the maker of Little Debbies. btw: I haven't touched veal since I discovered how it is raised. The way they treat those poor veal calves is down right cruel! They lock those poor calves in narrow stalls so they can't move. Then they pump 'em so full of antibiotics that they always have the runs. Since they can't move out of their stalls they stand in their own crap all the time.
did you know that cornflakes were created to satiate sexual desire? kellog beleived masturbation was "wrong" (bad for the body and soul i believe) so he created them to calm down horniness. basically. there were theories that spicy food led to arousal, and cornflakes is one of the most bland food items out there (graham crackers were created for the same reason) most animals raised for food are raised that same way... i'm sure you can find plenty of pics and stories of pigs being raised just like those veal calves.
Dr. Kellog was out to develope a cold breakfast cereal when he stumbled across cornflakes. He wasn't trying to "cure" horniness. Dr. Kellog was a world renowned, and widely respected doctor that used diet and natural rememdies to cure his patients. In those days many people believed the myth that masturbation was "bad" for you so if Dr. Kellog did believe that myth he was certainly not alone. Veal calves are raised in extremely narrow stalls and are feed milk and liquid antibiotics. Beef cattle aren't raised in this manner. I live right next to a cattle farm here in Kans-*ss so I do know a little aobut how cattle are raised.Most beef cattle are feed hormones and antibiotics but they aren't trapped in narrow stalls. Same goes for pigs. Pigs are filty unclean,unhealthy animals, which is part of the reason I don't eat any pork products at all.
To my knowledge, many corn-fed (midwestern) cattle do spend much of their lives in stalls. Many cattle grazed on public land in western states tend to trash the streams. On top of all this, after reading a few chapters of Fast Food Nation about the systematic abuse of workers in the slaughterhouse industry, I try to buy only free-range beef (and pork and chicken) from natural food stores. My main problem with pork is the environmental destruction caused by industrial-scale hog factories.
But meat eaters SUPPORT the unethical treatment of animals by giving the factories money. Of coarse, many don't know that they are doing so. God is certainly not happy about the treatment of his creations today. And I think he'd prefer a vegetarian lifestyle.
You don't know about the blood-sacrifice of the Jews? They needed the innocent blood of animals to cover their sins. In order not to waste the rest of it - they were to eat it. But now we've got the blood of Jesus- which washes away our sins. We don't need to kill anymore. Before Jesus' death, Jews went to a place called paradise, after Jesus' resurrection we went to heaven, - which was even better than paradise. After Jesus went back to heaven, paradise was destroyed.
