The Meat We Eat

  Rod has this interesting post today commenting on something I've been thinking about for the last few months: the moral status of meat eating.

The biblical understanding of the killing of animals for meat seems almost entirely neglected in most Christian circles, but there is in fact quite a bit in scripture about this issue.

For example, the killing of animals to eat is always a sign of the fall. That is why God gives permission for it only after Adam and Eve's expulsion from the garden. Before this, they are given the fruit of the trees to eat. Whether you take the early Genesis stories literally or not, the point remains.

Also, the cessation of predation of all kinds is a sign of the coming of God's eschatological kingdom. You know, all that lion lying down with the lamb business.

I'm not saying eating meat is immoral. But at least as far as the writers of scripture were concerned the killing of animals for food is a tragic consequence of man's rebellion.

"Conservatives" who think animals can and should be killed cavalierly are a long way from the biblical understanding of animal death. Their position is rooted more in libertarian self-assertion than in any real commitment to a scripturally-informed world view. If this were not the case, they would know that killing animals for food is a tragedy we must sometimes engage in, not an activity we are meant to celebrate.

Comments

[dawn]

What about Peter? Rise, kill & eat What God has called clean, do not call unclean.

[Dean]

Dawn,

What about Peter? I don't see what point you are making by pointing to this passages since nothing in it contradicts what I have said.

[Tertium Quid]

Industrial killing seems to be a slap in God's face doesn't it?

[Dean]

Indeed.

[Sunnyday]

I never thought of it that way. What mattered to me was the way these animals were being killed, and what purpose they served. Hunting for the purpose of putting something above the mantle, I don't agree with. But after reading your post, I see the relevance of Adam and Eve being told they could eat any fruit )of the trees in Paradise (except for one, of course.

But what really convinces me (and makes me chuckle) is when some say that people nowadays act like animals because they (we) drink cow's milk, eat beef and anything that comes from animals. So it's no wonder they (we) act more like animals than human beings =)