I don’t see anything wrong with eating meat, but I think that I could happily live in a world without meat. I do eat meat and fish, but I tend to like it best when it doesn’t look like meat. And I never like the notion of animals being slaughtered. I suppose that there’s a dread of death and violence built into us. But quick death isn’t unusual in the animal world. Someone could even argue that a swift death is less cruel than a long drawn out death. Still, it shocks me whenever I see a film of an animal being slaughtered. And I never saw it done in real life – apart from me killing spiders or flies 😀.
I remember once having a conversation in Cork with folk form the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), more popularly known as Hare Krishnas. They were vegetation, and I asked them what they thought of Jesus eating fish. They said that the Romans changed the Bible, and that he didn’t really eat fish. I never find the argument that “someone changed the Bible” convincing. You do get some textual variations in early manuscripts, but there are so many manuscripts, and so many quotations from early church fathers that we can be assured that we have the Bible as it was originally written. And, given that God’s word plays such a crucial role in God communicating with us, why would God allow it to be tampered with? No doubt, you could create your own copy of the Bible and add and subtract bits. I can’t see God stopping you from publishing such a Bible. But there would be enough external evidence to convince people that you did tamper with it. So, there’s no evidence to suggest that the early Christians stopped eating meat. There were some controversies about eating meat that pagans had sacrificed to idols. But meat itself wasn’t forbidden.
Many Christians believe that death, both in the animal world and in humans, only came into the world after the fall of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve appear to have been vegetarians:
Genesis 1:29: God tells Adam and Eve,
“I give you every seed-bearing plant… and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.”
And creation, which was perfect originally, went downhill after the fall. So, now we live in an imperfect world. After the flood, God seems to have approved of eating meat. Maybe it was becoming more difficult to survive in a broken world.
Genesis 9:3-4
God tells Noah, “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.”
As to the future, some Christians believe we will eat real food, possibly including meat, since Jesus ate fish after His resurrection (Luke 24:42–43).
Luke 24:42-43
37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” 40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence.
But then again, death will not longer exist in the New Heaven and New Earth. In eating fish, Jesus was emphasizing his physical resurrection. I don’t think that he was demonstrating what life will be like in the New Heaven and New earth.
Revelation 21:4
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
If we’ll live in a perfect world in the future, I think we can expect the animal world to change too. For meat lovers, why should food in heaven be much nicer than anything on earth? Even in earth, I could imagine a future where vegan food improves so much that everyone will eat it without being bullied into eating it.
Isaiah 11:6–8
The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
Matthew 10:29–31:
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care… So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
Hibernia Gospel 