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Many who resist the fact that human beings were created as an herbivorous
species point to the bible for their support of carnivorism. They quote the
scripture which says that God gave humankind dominion over the animals as
"proof" that the eating of flesh was sanctioned by the Creator.
 Behold,
I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of the earth...
to you it shall be for meat
But the dominion that was to be exercised by those made in the image of God
was one of stewardship; of caring for the nonhuman beings who, like themselves,
were created as nefesh chaya--living souls. There is no logical correlation
between any kind of dominion and the consumption of the flesh of other beings.
That is man's self-serving interpretation of dominion. The bible, itself,
refutes this argument for dominion/carnivorism.
The verse of scripture immediately following the appointment of humans as
caretakers for the rest of creation is followed by strict dietary instructions
that limit all food consumption to non-flesh foods.
"..God said unto them....have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And
God said, ' Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the
face of the the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing
that moveth upon the earth. And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every herb
bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which
is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." (Genesis
1: 28,29)
Having decreed the kind of food that was to sustain life on earth, the bible
does not discuss diet again until the ninth chapter of Genesis. And by then the
known world had already been destroyed by the great Flood. The scripture
juxtaposes the report of that catastrophe with the information that the world
had been defiled by the human beings to whom stewardship of the earth had been
given. "Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence.
God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had
corrupted their ways." (Gen. 6:11)
A world that could no longer support the degeneracy of its inhabitants was
washed away by the Flood. But the bible reports that there was a man who escaped
the common fate. His name was Noah and the Lord said of him: "I have found
you righteous in this generation." (Genesis 7:1) This is a very qualified
endorsement of Noah's character: he was the best that could be found in the
midst of a depraved and violent society. And although there was to be a new
beginning after the Flood, it was hardly a return to Paradise.
Just as life after the Fall in Eden was lived at a much lower level of
existence, life after the Flood had deteriorated even further. The violence of
the pre-Flood world reached the point where earth's inhabitants had begun to
feed on the flesh of each other. And Noah and his family, conditioned by that
society, continued its carnivorism.
In one of the most telling passages in the bible, the extent of human
depravity is plainly stated. When its inhabitants first leave the Ark, they are
told that the earth will not be washed away again although "the imagination of
man's heart is evil from his youth." This is followed by a summation of the
state of affairs that now exists in the world: "The fear of you and the dread of
you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every conditioned by that
society, continued its carnivorism.
The fear and dread of man shall be upon every beast and every
fowl and upon all the fishes of the sea
In some of the most chilling passages in the bible, the extent of human
depravity is plainly stated. When its inhabitants first leave the Ark, they are
told that the earth will not be washed away again even though “the imagination
of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” This statement is followed by a
summation of the state of affairs that now exists in the world. “The fear of
you and the dread of you shall be upon every fowl of the air, upon all that
moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea." (Gen. 9:2)
All creatures will fear and dread mankind, because human beings will abuse
them. Obviously, the God of creation is not commending humans for their violent
and abusive behavior. The bible is simply stating that there was no miraculous
imposition of a higher state of development on earth's inhabitants. The
imagination of man's heart would continue to devise evil, and violence would
remain a hallmark of life on earth.
This perversion of God’s intent would also be apparent in man’s continued
carnivorism. "Every living thing shall be meat for you; even as the green herb,
have I given you all
The phrase have I given in the above-quoted scripture should read have I
made. "Even as the green herb, have I made all things." This is the way it is
translated in other parts of the bible, and in this instance it would make it
plain that God is not "giving" his creatures to man for food. Rather, the bible
is reiterating that the Lord "made" all things: the green herbs of the fields as
well as all living creatures. It is man who decided that he had a right to
consume the bodies of other creatures. And in order to further bolster this
claim for the right to eat other beings, mankind introduced sacrificial religion
into the world.
Human beings have depicted God as enjoying the smell of burning flesh. The
bible is replete with passages that describe the pleasure He took in the smell
of animals being roasted on the altar. Of course it was the priests, not God,
who consumed things. (Gen. 1:29) This scripture is not an approval of
carnivorism. It is a statement of fact: human beings will continue to consume
the flesh of other creatures. But human chauvinism has prompted scholars to
interpret this as God's blessing on man-turned-carnivore. Even their translation
of this scripture tries to obscure its meaning.
 “The
Lion shall eat straw like the ox”
The words have I given in the above-quoted scripture should read have I made.
"Even as the green herb, have I made all things." This is the way that phrase is
translated in other parts of the bible, and in this instance it would make it
plain that God is not "giving" his creatures to man for food. Rather, the bible
is reiterating that the Lord "made" all things: the green herbs of the fields as
well as all living creatures. It is man who decided that he had a right to
consume the bodies of other creatures. And in order to further bolster this
claim for the right to eat other beings, he introduced sacrificial religion into
the world.
Human beings have depicted God as enjoying the smell of burning flesh. The
bible is replete with passages that describe the pleasure He took in the smell
of animals being roasted on the altar. But of course it was the priests, not
God, who consumed their flesh.
Reaction against the travesty of animal sacrifice did not gain strength until
the eighth century B.C. with the advent of the Latter Prophets of Israel (See
Humane Religion, Vol 1, #2: Animal Sacrifice: Animal Abuse.) Not only did these
prophets inveigh against sacrificial religion, they also reminded their people
that a world which enjoyed the peace of God, and the kind of prosperity that
comes from such peace, was a vegetarian world.
Isaiah spoke of the time when "the cow and the bear are friends" and "the
lion eats straw like the ox." He also told how "the wolf will live with the
lamb...and a little child will lead them."
This vision of a nonviolent, vegetarian world was always present in the
consciousness of the Israelites. From the beginning, the Promised Land had been
described as a place "flowing with milk and honey." This was a peaceful,
pastoral, image. Unfortunately, fallen human nature took control and made a
mockery of that promise. "I brought you into a fruitful land to enjoy its fruits
and the goodness of it, but when you entered upon it you defiled it and made the
home I gave you loathsome." (Jer.2:5-7 JB)
Although strongly repressed, people are aware of the violence entailed in the
killing and eating of animals. The most horrendous crimes against humanity are
referred to as "butchery." And in our own time, the violence of slaughter is
hidden from the view of an urban society. The public is further protected from
the reality of this process by the media. In a society where freedom of
expression is taken for granted, no pictures of the slaughter process are ever
shown. No investigative report ever details the way in which still-living
animals are hoisted on huge hooks, with parts of their body already hacked from
them. No documentary records the frenzy, the fear and the suffering of these
creatures, doomed to such torment by the human lust for flesh.
 In
this world of lusts and hatred, greed and anger, force and violence,
vegetarianism holds forth a way of life which, if practiced
universally, can lead to a better, juster, and more peaceful
community of nations.
U Nu, former Prime
Minister of Burma |
But even more perverse is the failure of people of faith to confront a
violent world with the reality of what it is doing. The Judeo-Christian
community has as its heritage the biblical record of a past in which all beings
lived at peace in a nonviolent and vegetarian society. Its heritage also
includes the promise of a millennial world in which the peace of a nonviolence
that includes vegetarianism is promised to those who look to the God of
compassion, goodness, and love for their salvation.
And the world for which Jesus Christ taught his followers to pray is also a
nonviolent world in which goodness rules. It is a world in which God's will is
done on earth, as it is in heaven. Even the most recalcitrant human beings do
not claim that in God's kingdom, animals are mutilated and killed in order to
fulfill human lust.
The prayer that says "thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is
in heaven" is a continuing prayer for God's love, goodness and compassion to
rule the world and overcome the lust, cruelty, and selfishness that
characterizes the rule of man on earth. #
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ALPHA AND OMEGA
Christ Jesus
You are the beginning and the end.
In you all things were created
and in you all things are redeemed
Take now to your open arms
our grief for your creation;
for your wildlife, struggling against extinction;
for the hunted and the trapped;
for the abandoned and the homeless;
for your animals, unnaturally imprisoned,
transported and slaughtered in terror;
for your animals cruelly used
as laboratory tools.
Christ Jesus
In us you live as Risen Lord.
Our hearts plead with you now to carry the pain
of your suffering creatures,
even to the least of these.
The darkness of the world binds them
as it binds us, O Lord,
and only your love can free us to live in your light.
This prayer was written by May Tripp, a founder
of Animal Christian Concern founded in England in 1988. The group
actively works and prays for animal rights. and for the churches and
Christians, in general, that God’s Spirit will touch the hearts and
minds of those who have not yet accepted the sinfulness of our abuse
of God’s nonhuman creatures. |
View the Publisher's Statement
Return to: July - August 1996 Issue
Return to: Humane Religion Magazine
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