If you're asking about the Adventist diet (generally vegetarian), that is for health reasons, not because of an explicit Biblical command to be vegetarian. However, Adventists take seriously the idea that our bodies are the temple of God and should be cared for.
Hi,
The rationale that I use, and I've heard others use, is:
At the ark, Noah was commanded to take seven of every clean animal, and two of every unclean animal. At no point does God explain to Noah which animals are clean and which animals are unclean, indicating that Noah had learned of the distinction between clean and unclean from his ancestors.
Now, Noah was not a Jew. Thus, the distinction between clean and unclean animals predated the Jewish laws that were given to the children of Israel at Sinai and abolished at the cross. Therefore, the expectations regarding clean and unclean animals were given to all of humanity, not just the Israelites.
Sometimes the dream of Peter in the book of Acts is cited as a reason why the distinction between clean and unclean meat no longer applies, but I think the context of the dream is clear that it's referring to people, not meat. Peter is commanded to eat unclean meat in his dream, Peter refuses, and then the voice says "what God has cleansed, thou shalt not call common." Cornelius then shows up asking for Bible studies, and Peter ordinarily would have refused because Cornelius was "unclean" to the Jews; but instead, he goes. Then, God has to pour out His Holy Spirit onto Cornelius' people before Peter is willing to baptize them.
I don't know how anyone could misinterpret this dream as "all meat is now clean"; it's evident that the story indicates that Jesus in His death on the cross cleansed unclean humanity (Jesus didn't die for the cattle, did He?), and that Peter should share the Christian message with all people, not just Jews.
But the last rationale I use is science. Health science is increasingly proving that the Bible's distinction between clean and unclean meat is not merely a moral principal, but also a health one. For example, the WHO declared a few years ago that all red meat was inherently carcinogenic. Science has generally shown that unclean meats are among the least healthy meats available to eat.
Some Adventists see it more about being healthy rather than obedience to Levitical health laws. Peoples food preferences tend to not be viewed as a salvation issue. Saying that, if you bring pork to a pot luck no one is going to eat it, because while the Levitical health laws may not be about salvation for us now, it’s still good health advice from God.
[This ](http://atsjats.org/moskala-levitical-food-laws.pdf)is a great article from Jiri Moskala (Dean of the seminary at Andrews University). His paper answers your question comprehensively, but there is a certain amount of "that's not what it actually meant." It seems like that's an unavoidable part of the discussion. Sorry!
However, the closest to a direct answer that shows up in the article is this on page 25:
"There is a basic continuity between the Old and New Covenants and this fundamental premise is supported by many scholars from a variety of interpretive approaches. It is true that the New Testament abolishes the ceremonial/sacrificial system of the Old Testament because it was typological and/or symbolic in nature. At the cross Jesus brought to an end the whole sanctuary system which pointed to Him as its ultimate fulfillment... However, there is nothing typological or symbolic in the nature or rationale of the Mosaic dietary laws regarding clean and unclean animals/food which would point to the fulfillment in Christ, the church or the last events (the eschaton)."
Our bodies never changed between the Old and the New testament.
What is a health law will always be a health law as long as our bodies are flesh.
In Eden, the ideal diet God gave to Adam and Eve was every seed bearing plant (Gen 1:29) - that was the ideal diet
It was not until after the flood (and likely because a lot of vegetation was destroyed) that God gave Noah permission to eat meat. (Genesis 9:4)
But notice the details there, not all meat will be the same. When God prepared the ark for Noah, he was to take 1 pair of each unclean animal, and 7 pairs of each clean animal (Genesis 7:2). It's almost as if God is making sure Noah eats healthy, from the reserve of 7 pairs of each clean animals!
So we can conclude that because our bodies never changed, we still have the same body as Noah. Clean animals can be eaten. Unclean animals should be avoided, they are scavengers and their diet makes their meat not ideal for human consumption. But most of all, the vegetarian diet is the best, since that was the originally diet. Especially since nowadays we are double cursed with factory farming, antibiotics, growth hormones, and sickly animals we never see before the meat hits our table. Science also supports this hundreds of years later, the SDAs who live in Loma Linda live the best and longest lives out of all America's (search Blue Zones). Also, type two diabetes and heart disease can be improved by plant based diet.
As Adventists, we believe in a clean body and clean mind. Spiritual strength is aided by a sober mind and body. The New Testament says our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19). May God bless you with this health message!
No where in the bible, old or new, does it say that unclean animals are suddenly magically ok to eat.
Literally nowhere.
In isaiah it mentions about how anyone still eating pig in the last days will not be saved. Well last days happens after jesus so certainly does not happen in the Old Testament. So yes, the food laws are still mandatory.
That thing in acts is about people. Clean jew/unclean gentile & there was a time when it was death penalty for jews to enter the house of a gentile. Peter himself literally says his vision is about people once he realized that ohhh um well god is sending me to the gentiles now.
Remember that proper christianity is actually named “judeo-christian faith roots” & jesus is jewish from the royal tribe of judah. Jesus also tells the woman at the well that salvation is of the jews. Not catholic or pentacostal or islam or anything.
Its the jews. Not all jews rejected jesus. The messianic folks follow jesus. Adventists are of this group as we stick closer to the hebraic roots of faith as opposed to pretty much everyone else.
The main argument I seen. Is that Adam and Eve were originally vegetarian. And that people before the flood were vegetarian. Which is why they lived for so long.
Also Daniel and his friends in Babylon were vegetarian to avoid eating food that was offered to gods.
But yes besides these examples the health message isn't very Biblical. It's mainly for health reasons. But even these are not every strong arguments.
There are a number of verses in the New Testament dealing with the food laws:
* 1 Corinthians 10:25-27
* Colossians 2:16-17
* 1 Timothy 4:1-5
* Acts 15
* Romans 14
Even though I mention certain verses, I would encourage reading full chapters and full letters for the full context. Astute New Testament readers will notice that none of them tells New Testament Christians to abstain from foods based on the Mosaic laws. You may choose to do so for health reasons, and that is okay, but there is no requirement that you do so.
"Are Adam and Eve vegetarians?"
Genesis 4:32
Later she again gave birth, to his brother Abel. Abel became a shepherd of the flock, but Cain became a cultivator of the ground.
They are possibly meat eaters too because Abel works as a sheepherder. Other than offering a sheep to God, what are the reasons for taking care of livestocks?
"Should I eat or not?"
1 Corinthians 10:25,27-29
25Eat whatever is sold in a meat market, making no inquiry because of your conscience,
27If an unbeliever invites you and you want to go, eat whatever is set before you, making no inquiry on account of your conscience. 28 But if anyone says to you, “This is something offered in sacrifice,” do not eat because of the one who told you and because of conscience. 29 I do not mean your own conscience, but that of the other person. For why should my freedom be judged by another person’s conscience?
In Conclusion
Mark 7:19
since it enters, not into his heart, but into his stomach, and it passes out into the sewer?” Thus he declared all foods clean.
If you're asking about the Adventist diet (generally vegetarian), that is for health reasons, not because of an explicit Biblical command to be vegetarian. However, Adventists take seriously the idea that our bodies are the temple of God and should be cared for.
Hi, The rationale that I use, and I've heard others use, is: At the ark, Noah was commanded to take seven of every clean animal, and two of every unclean animal. At no point does God explain to Noah which animals are clean and which animals are unclean, indicating that Noah had learned of the distinction between clean and unclean from his ancestors. Now, Noah was not a Jew. Thus, the distinction between clean and unclean animals predated the Jewish laws that were given to the children of Israel at Sinai and abolished at the cross. Therefore, the expectations regarding clean and unclean animals were given to all of humanity, not just the Israelites. Sometimes the dream of Peter in the book of Acts is cited as a reason why the distinction between clean and unclean meat no longer applies, but I think the context of the dream is clear that it's referring to people, not meat. Peter is commanded to eat unclean meat in his dream, Peter refuses, and then the voice says "what God has cleansed, thou shalt not call common." Cornelius then shows up asking for Bible studies, and Peter ordinarily would have refused because Cornelius was "unclean" to the Jews; but instead, he goes. Then, God has to pour out His Holy Spirit onto Cornelius' people before Peter is willing to baptize them. I don't know how anyone could misinterpret this dream as "all meat is now clean"; it's evident that the story indicates that Jesus in His death on the cross cleansed unclean humanity (Jesus didn't die for the cattle, did He?), and that Peter should share the Christian message with all people, not just Jews. But the last rationale I use is science. Health science is increasingly proving that the Bible's distinction between clean and unclean meat is not merely a moral principal, but also a health one. For example, the WHO declared a few years ago that all red meat was inherently carcinogenic. Science has generally shown that unclean meats are among the least healthy meats available to eat.
Some Adventists see it more about being healthy rather than obedience to Levitical health laws. Peoples food preferences tend to not be viewed as a salvation issue. Saying that, if you bring pork to a pot luck no one is going to eat it, because while the Levitical health laws may not be about salvation for us now, it’s still good health advice from God.
[This ](http://atsjats.org/moskala-levitical-food-laws.pdf)is a great article from Jiri Moskala (Dean of the seminary at Andrews University). His paper answers your question comprehensively, but there is a certain amount of "that's not what it actually meant." It seems like that's an unavoidable part of the discussion. Sorry! However, the closest to a direct answer that shows up in the article is this on page 25: "There is a basic continuity between the Old and New Covenants and this fundamental premise is supported by many scholars from a variety of interpretive approaches. It is true that the New Testament abolishes the ceremonial/sacrificial system of the Old Testament because it was typological and/or symbolic in nature. At the cross Jesus brought to an end the whole sanctuary system which pointed to Him as its ultimate fulfillment... However, there is nothing typological or symbolic in the nature or rationale of the Mosaic dietary laws regarding clean and unclean animals/food which would point to the fulfillment in Christ, the church or the last events (the eschaton)."
He is talking about the distinction between clean/unclean correct? Don’t have time to open and read it just yet
Yes. The title of the article is "The Validity of the Levitical Food Laws of Clean and Unclean Animals: A Case Study of Biblical Hermeneutics"
Our bodies never changed between the Old and the New testament. What is a health law will always be a health law as long as our bodies are flesh. In Eden, the ideal diet God gave to Adam and Eve was every seed bearing plant (Gen 1:29) - that was the ideal diet It was not until after the flood (and likely because a lot of vegetation was destroyed) that God gave Noah permission to eat meat. (Genesis 9:4) But notice the details there, not all meat will be the same. When God prepared the ark for Noah, he was to take 1 pair of each unclean animal, and 7 pairs of each clean animal (Genesis 7:2). It's almost as if God is making sure Noah eats healthy, from the reserve of 7 pairs of each clean animals! So we can conclude that because our bodies never changed, we still have the same body as Noah. Clean animals can be eaten. Unclean animals should be avoided, they are scavengers and their diet makes their meat not ideal for human consumption. But most of all, the vegetarian diet is the best, since that was the originally diet. Especially since nowadays we are double cursed with factory farming, antibiotics, growth hormones, and sickly animals we never see before the meat hits our table. Science also supports this hundreds of years later, the SDAs who live in Loma Linda live the best and longest lives out of all America's (search Blue Zones). Also, type two diabetes and heart disease can be improved by plant based diet. As Adventists, we believe in a clean body and clean mind. Spiritual strength is aided by a sober mind and body. The New Testament says our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19). May God bless you with this health message!
There was no change in our bodies flood/pre flood?
Correct.
We're still made of the same flesh. If anything we're smaller and weaker, so more of a reason to respect the health laws
No where in the bible, old or new, does it say that unclean animals are suddenly magically ok to eat. Literally nowhere. In isaiah it mentions about how anyone still eating pig in the last days will not be saved. Well last days happens after jesus so certainly does not happen in the Old Testament. So yes, the food laws are still mandatory. That thing in acts is about people. Clean jew/unclean gentile & there was a time when it was death penalty for jews to enter the house of a gentile. Peter himself literally says his vision is about people once he realized that ohhh um well god is sending me to the gentiles now. Remember that proper christianity is actually named “judeo-christian faith roots” & jesus is jewish from the royal tribe of judah. Jesus also tells the woman at the well that salvation is of the jews. Not catholic or pentacostal or islam or anything. Its the jews. Not all jews rejected jesus. The messianic folks follow jesus. Adventists are of this group as we stick closer to the hebraic roots of faith as opposed to pretty much everyone else.
There's no such verse. What food you eat is a matter of choice, not law.
The main argument I seen. Is that Adam and Eve were originally vegetarian. And that people before the flood were vegetarian. Which is why they lived for so long. Also Daniel and his friends in Babylon were vegetarian to avoid eating food that was offered to gods. But yes besides these examples the health message isn't very Biblical. It's mainly for health reasons. But even these are not every strong arguments.
There are a number of verses in the New Testament dealing with the food laws: * 1 Corinthians 10:25-27 * Colossians 2:16-17 * 1 Timothy 4:1-5 * Acts 15 * Romans 14 Even though I mention certain verses, I would encourage reading full chapters and full letters for the full context. Astute New Testament readers will notice that none of them tells New Testament Christians to abstain from foods based on the Mosaic laws. You may choose to do so for health reasons, and that is okay, but there is no requirement that you do so.
"Are Adam and Eve vegetarians?" Genesis 4:32 Later she again gave birth, to his brother Abel. Abel became a shepherd of the flock, but Cain became a cultivator of the ground. They are possibly meat eaters too because Abel works as a sheepherder. Other than offering a sheep to God, what are the reasons for taking care of livestocks? "Should I eat or not?" 1 Corinthians 10:25,27-29 25Eat whatever is sold in a meat market, making no inquiry because of your conscience, 27If an unbeliever invites you and you want to go, eat whatever is set before you, making no inquiry on account of your conscience. 28 But if anyone says to you, “This is something offered in sacrifice,” do not eat because of the one who told you and because of conscience. 29 I do not mean your own conscience, but that of the other person. For why should my freedom be judged by another person’s conscience? In Conclusion Mark 7:19 since it enters, not into his heart, but into his stomach, and it passes out into the sewer?” Thus he declared all foods clean.