Is Eating Meat an Aspect of our Fallen Nature?

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Shakuhachi

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It would seem so since Genesis 1, after God created humans , animals and plants the command was:

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.” 29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.

No mention of eating animals yet.

I guess I get tired of people telling me that God gave us animals to eat, as if they were created for that purpose. The most healthy diets are very low in animal products. This has been an issue for me since I learned I have Coronary Artery Disease. I have discovered and try to live Lifestyle Medicine involving Whole Food Plant Based diet. Believe me, it is counter cultural.
 
No idea, but I do think if we weren’t supposed to eat them they wouldn’t be delicious. I literally have days where I eat nothing but meat for 3 or 4 days straight. I absolutely love flesh meat.
 
After the Resurrection, some of the disciples met Our Lord on the beach, and the meal prepared was fish and bread (John 21). There isn’t anything “fallen” about eating a sentient animal, then. It is not as if plants are not living things, too.

I don’t see any reason to defend eating meat as particularly praiseworthy in any way, in the spiritual sense. Over the centuries, the stricter monasteries and convents have put a strict limit on meat. There are several instances in which I’d say the Scriptures indicate that minding your own business about what other people eat but being willing to eat whatever people serving you have to put before you is a good practice. Our Lord didn’t think much of religious authorities who criticized both how strict John was and how free Our Lord was. St. Paul pretty much said that what we eat is a good opportunity to give in to what we discern is best for our brothers and sisters under their circumstances: that is, we should not eat what will scandalize them but shouldn’t refuse to eat what doesn’t. If it offends your conscience to eat something or other, though, I get the sense that St. Paul would tell you, “By all means don’t eat it, then. Just don’t go around being a busybody about what other people eat. Neither should you offend the weak busybodies, though, by eating what scandalizes them, when you can help it.”
Now food will not bring us closer to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, nor are we better off if we do. But make sure that this liberty of yours in no way becomes a stumbling block to the weak…if food causes my brother to sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I may not cause my brother to sin. (1 Cor. 8:8-9, 13)
 
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Good points. It is funny how I sometimes think I miss meat, perhaps take a piece at a party or something and then think “Yuk”. Sorry I did it. It still smells good cooking.
 
I like your insight. I’ve always found it disturbing that many life forms on earth must kill and devour other life form in order to survive. It makes life on earth quite a power struggle to say the least. The cycle life rising from death is certainly engrained in our very existence.
 
I was a bit of a jerk Friday. A woman expressed concern about a “poor” fish that looked like it might be stuck on a rock in the big aquarium. Sounded odd to me but I thought, “What about the poor fish you had cut up and fried for dinner tonight?”

I think many of us have a total disconnect between the living animal and the food on our plates.
 
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I must admit. I rather enjoy eating animals, especially with a good sauce, vegetables on the side and a tasty beverage.
 
I do hope Clarice will be in attendance. I so enjoy her quaint interest in my work.
 
Shakuhachi said:
The most healthy diets are very low in animal products. This has been an issue for me since I learned I have Coronary Artery Disease. I have discovered and try to live Lifestyle Medicine involving Whole Food Plant Based diet. Believe me, it is counter cultural.
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The TOS for the forum prohibits giving medical advice. Diets low in animal products are not necessarily “the most healthy” for all people; it depends on their doctor’s advice and a whole lot of other things about their metabolism, age, lifestyle etc.
If a particular person wishes to know what is healthy for them to eat, they should see their doctor and get advice based on their own individualized case.
Please kindly refrain from making health or medical generalizations in the Scripture discussion.
 
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Shakuhachi said:
It would seem so since Genesis 1, after God created humans , animals and plants the command was:

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.” 29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.

No mention of eating animals yet.
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So what do you make of the following?
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. (John 6:53-56)
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TheOldColonel said:
I like your insight. I’ve always found it disturbing that many life forms on earth must kill and devour other life form in order to survive. It makes life on earth quite a power struggle to say the least.
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Interesting, too, is the fact that after human beings hunted down and killed God, incarnated in Jesus, he offered to us his body and blood to eat and drink in order to give us strength for eternal life.

We might observe that God, omnipotent though he is, inverted the “power struggle” by permitting humans to “devour” him.
 
Exactly. I’ve long observed the Pascal Mystery visible in all of nature.
 
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