The Bible provides clear guidance on humanity's relationship with animals, including our permission to eat meat and fish, as well as our dominion over creation. However, it also emphasizes personal conviction and the importance of not imposing dietary restrictions on others. Let's examine the relevant verses and their implications.
Dominion Over Animals
God granted humans dominion over the earth and its creatures from the beginning. This authority includes stewardship and responsibility, not just exploitation.
- Genesis 1:26: "And God said, Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
- Genesis 1:28: "God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.'"
- Genesis 9:2: "The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands."
Permission to Eat Meat and Fish
After the flood, God explicitly allowed humans to eat animals. The New Testament affirms that all foods created by God are good when received with thanksgiving.
- Genesis 9:3: "Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything."
- Leviticus 11:9: "These you may eat, whatever is in the water: all that have fins and scales you may eat." (Regarding fish)
- 1 Timothy 4:4-5: "For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer."
- Acts 10:12-13: "It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.'"
Jesus himself ate fish after his resurrection, as seen in Luke 24:42-43: "They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence."
Personal Conviction and Not Judging Others
The Bible teaches that dietary choices are a matter of personal conscience. Those who choose to NOT eat meat should not despise carnivores, and vice versa. More importantly, we should not impose our dietary preferences on to others.
- Romans 14:3: "The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them."
- Romans 14:13: "Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister."
- 1 Corinthians 8:9: "Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak."
- 1 Timothy 4:3: "They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth."
So What Now?
According to the Bible, eating meat and fish is permissible and even part of God's original design for human dominion over creation. Not eating meat is also acceptable and not un-Christian, as dietary choices are a matter of personal conviction. However, asking others to abstain from meat—imposing dietary restrictions is un-Christian, as it can become a stumbling block and goes against the spirit of freedom in Christ.
Verses:
- Genesis 1:26
- Genesis 1:28
- Genesis 9:2
- Genesis 9:3
- Leviticus 11:9
- 1 Timothy 4:4-5
- Acts 10:12-13
- Luke 24:42-43
- Romans 14:3
- Romans 14:13
- 1 Corinthians 8:9
- 1 Timothy 4:3