Vegetarians
Summary
The Bible indicates that the original human diet was vegetarian, with permission to eat meat being given to Noah after the Flood, and vegetarianism remaining a matter of individual conscience in the church.
☩Biblical Teaching
Orientals have generally been vegetarians rather than flesh eaters, and there is reason to believe primitive humanity followed this pattern. Comparing Genesis 1:29-30 with 9:3-4 suggests that divine permission to eat animal flesh was first given to Noah after the Flood, and then only with the requirement to drain the blood properly. This forms the background for the kosher meat practices of Jews today. In Romans 14, Paul addresses the issue of those who eat only vegetables, urging that neither the vegetarian nor the meat-eater should judge the other, as each acts according to conscience before God.
