Lately, many vegetarians have stepped up their encouragement to others to adopt a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle and they have begun to use the Bible in defense of their position. Following are a couple of the quotes used by Stephen Knapp in order to support the idea that God is against the consumption of meat: “The Bible has many quotations against meat-eating as can be seen from the following: ‘But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it.’ (Genesis 9.4-5) Certainly we can see in this verse that no one was meant to live by eating the flesh and blood of others. If one did so, then he would have to pay with his own blood, as it says, ‘your blood of your lives will I require.’ This is merely a reference to the law of karma: for every animal who suffers because of you, you will also similarly suffer: ‘at the hand of every beast will I require it.’”
Mr. Knapp goes on with this passage: "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? Saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of goats. When ye spread forth your hands, I will hide Mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear, for your hands are full of blood." (Isaiah 1.11,15)
Knapp concludes with this statement: From these verses and others not included here, we can certainly see that God's law, as set down in the Bible, was against the eating of flesh and blood and the killing of other entities.”
As I have done every New Year for the past several years, I read the Bible cover to cover. Actually, right now, I have just finished Deuteronomy and have begun reading Joshua. The argument that Knapp makes is the most rubbish I have ever heard foisted by the vegetarian camp. Throughout the Old Testament, God is talking directly to Moses, who is telling the Israelites to slaughter bulls, heifers, lambs, etc. for meat and for offerings. While the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years before entering the Promised Land, they began to crave meat, which God provided. In Deuteronomy, the Lord says through Moses that, “Nevertheless, you may slaughter your animals in any of your towns and eat as much of the meat as you want, as if it were gazelle or deer, according to the blessing the LORD your God gives you.
“When the LORD your God has enlarged your territory as he promised you, and you crave meat and say, ‘I would like some meat,’ then you may eat as much of it as you want. If the place where the LORD your God chooses to put his Name is too far away from you, you may slaughter animals from the herds and flocks the LORD has given you, as I have commanded you, and in your own towns you may eat as much of them as you want.” (Deuteronomy 12. 21-22)
That seems like pretty strong support for meat-eating, although pork was specifically prohibited in the Old Testament. This was rectified in the New Testament however, when Jesus spoke to the crowd on Mt. Sinai. In Mark 7:14-19, it says: “Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, ‘Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.' After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18’Are you so dull?’ he asked. ‘Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'? 19For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body.’” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.")
This simple passage allows consumption of pork with all the other meats promoted in the Old Testament. I have heard a lot of arguments over the years for vegetarianism – from moral to ethical – but to use the Bible to support this lifestyle is ridiculous, with all the slaughtering of animals for feasts, occasions and for offerings. I am going to stay with my interpretation of the Biblical teachings on this subject.
Editor’s Note: Dr. Meisinger is the Executive Director of the U.S. Pork Center of Excellence. To contact Dr. Meisinger, e-mail him at: drdave@iastate.edu or call him by phone at: (515) 975-3557.
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