If Jesus was on earth now would he be vegan?

[Sketcher]

There are the gospel accounts of Jesus feeding a multitude by miraculously multiplying 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes. (And remember that the disciple Peter was a fisherman.) So I assume Jesus had no problem with eating seafood. He wouldn't be a vegan, but he might be a pescetarian.

The Passover feast in his day included lamb, it does not now because there is no functioning temple in Judaism. There is no Biblical reason to believe that he did not partake of the lamb.

 

[jayem]

The Passover feast in his day included lamb, it does not now because there is no functioning temple in Judaism. There is no Biblical reason to believe that he did not partake of the lamb.

Good points. And I think it would be correct to assume that during his earthly life, Jesus would have observed the OT dietary laws. He wouldn't have eaten pork, or any unclean animal product, and wouldn't have mixed meat with dairy. But put him in any kosher deli, and he'd be a happy camper.

 

[Barney]

There are the gospel accounts of Jesus feeding a multitude by miraculously multiplying 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes. (And remember that the disciple Peter was a fisherman.) So I assume Jesus had no problem with eating seafood. He wouldn't be a vegan, but he might be a pescetarian.

If Jesus ate the Passover meal, he ate lamb. There's not a hint in the Bible that the only meat Jesus ate was fish. Further, the New Testament is clear about the acceptability of eating any kind of meat.

 

[Soyeong]

Hello everyone!

I'm not vegan but was wondering about it. I saw an activist recently and saw that due to the growing human population, animals suffer a lot to give us dairy and meat (confined spaces, infections, over-used). In the time of Jesus this would not have been the case.
So my question is, does the word of the bible that God gave us the animals to eat apply even when they suffer much more today?
Any advice would be appreciated as I am wondering whether to become vegan.

Thank you in advance.

Hello,

Veganism is not just a diet, but rather it involves a diet that is the result of a vegan philosophy against using animal products, even if it doesn't involve causing animal deaths, such as with being against eating honey. So if someone thinks it is acceptable to use animal products, then they are not a vegan even if they choose to eat a vegan diet for other reasons, such as out of health concerns, as I have done. There is no support for this philosophy in the Bible and there are in fact times when God commanded His people to eat meat, such as to eat the Passover lamb, which Jesus did, so there are no grounds that Jesus would have been a vegan or a vegetarian, though a case can certainly be made against supporting the unethical mistreatment animals. However, when you consider many animals die when land is cleared and plowed or due to pesticides, so a case can certainly be made that the diet that involves the least sentient animal deaths includes some meat.

 

[Soyeong]

Oops posted to soon.
I guess what concerns me a little is how Jesus kind of "updates" some advice because our hearts are not as hard as they were in the Old Testament. Eg advice on divorce (was kind of easier to divorce in Old Testament and much stricter in the New).

Sorry if this goes off topic, but I do not believe that Jesus sinned in violation of Deuteronomy 4:2 by adding or subtracting from what God had commanded. Whenever Jesus quoted Scripture, he always preceded by saying "it is written", but when he was quoting from what the people of his day had heard being taught about the Law, he precede it by saying "you have heard that it was said" as he did in Matthew 5. In other words, the emphasis was on what they had heard, not what was written, so Jesus was seeking to correct what was wrongly being taught about the Law and to teach the Law how it was originally intended to be understood. For example:

Matthew 5:27-28 You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’[e] 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart

This is nothing brand new, just the correct application of the 7th and 10th Commandments against adultery and coveting in our hearts.

Matthew 5:43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

While the Law certainly does say to love your neighbor (Leviticus 19:18), it does not say to hate your enemy, so that is what Jesus was correcting.

 

[Tallguy88]

Jesus kept the Law and ate the Passover, which requires the eating of the Passover Lamb. So at least in that regard, He could not be a vegan.

 

[durangodawood]

Jesus kept the Law and ate the Passover, which requires the eating of the Passover Lamb. So at least in that regard, He could not be a vegan.

What about the times when he pointedly violated the law in the interest of a higher value?

 

[RDKirk]

What about the times when he pointedly violated the law in the interest of a higher value?

Yes, to the point, He pointedly violated those laws.

He apparently did not pointedly violate the dietary laws.

 

[Tallguy88]

What about the times when he pointedly violated the law in the interest of a higher value?

What higher value would be gained by not eating the passover lamb?

 

[faroukfarouk]

What higher value would be gained by not eating the passover lamb?

In fact, 1 Timothy 4.3 would seem distinctly hostile to the idea of forbidding to eat meats.

'Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.' (1 Corinthians 5.7). His sacrifice was once for all; He was once offered; believers are perfected for ever by His one offering (Hebrews chapters 9 and 10).

 

[durangodawood]

What higher value would be gained by not eating the passover lamb?

Maybe if the passover lamb grew up in a dark box and was pumped full of antibiotics?

 

[Tallguy88]

Maybe if the passover lamb grew up in a dark box and was pumped full of antibiotics?

What does that have to do with being vegan? Get your meat from ethical sources if that's your concern.

 

[durangodawood]

What does that have to do with being vegan?

What did your question have to do with being vegan?

 

[Tallguy88]

What did your question have to do with being vegan?

The OP is about Jesus and veganism.

 

[Dave-W]

Matthew 5:43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

While the Law certainly does say to love your neighbor (Leviticus 19:18), it does not say to hate your enemy, so that is what Jesus was correcting.

Neither did the (now) known Jewish sages of the day. Scholars have been mystified over the "hate your enemy" phrase for centuries. But it was found as a teaching of the Essane community in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

 

[durangodawood]

The OP is about Jesus and veganism.

From the OP: "animals suffer a lot to give us dairy and meat (confined spaces, infections, over-used)"

Thats precisely what I was asking about.

 

[Sketcher]

What about the times when he pointedly violated the law in the interest of a higher value?

Was it the Law that he violated, or the traditions of the Jewish elders? See Matthew 23:2-3, Mark 7:6-13.

 

[Earatha]

Interesting.

My thought is no, he wouldn't be vegan. Jesus was a poor traveling Rabi, and vegan diets are cost and time prohibitive. it requires a lot of time and thought be put into food preparation and selection, as well as the purchasing of supplements.

Would Jesus support a vegan diet as a moral ideal even if he couldn't practice it? Maybe, but likely not from an animal welfare perspective. If he did I tend to think it would be due to his beliefs on asceticism.

 

[Radagast]

If Jesus was on earth now would he be vegan?

No.

 

[RDKirk]

From the OP: "animals suffer a lot to give us dairy and meat (confined spaces, infections, over-used)"

Thats precisely what I was asking about.

But as Soyeong points out in post #24, veganism isn't merely about animal welfare.