Preface
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We address the objection to veganism that the Christian God condones the harmful exploitation of animals and even put them here for our use.
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| Key Points | 8 |
| Counterclaims | 0 |
| Advocacy Notes | 3 |
| Footnotes | 11 |
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Summary
A concise summary of the briefing (see below for citations).
The relationship between Christianity (and other religions) and animal ethics is complex, with religious texts presenting conflicting views on dominion and compassion. Even so, the Bible does not mandate eating animal products, leaving the choice up to us. Also, historical dietary limitations differ greatly from today’s abundance, and just as other biblical practices have been reconsidered, so too could animal consumption. Some scholars even argue that biblical ethics ultimately support vegetarianism.
Context
Places this topic in its larger context.
Note: This briefing provides a Christian perspective as Christianity is the predominant religion in the countries of most of our readers. See the Further Study Section for Christian, Jewish, and Muslim initiatives supporting veganism and vegetarianism.
The idea that God condones exploiting animals has long been debated. Religious texts are often contradictory in their teachings on our relationship with other animals, leaving interpretations wide open to either side of the issue.
Religious texts sometimes reinforce the concept of human exceptionalism over other animals as a justification for exploitation and cruelty.1 At the same time, industrialization and large-scale agriculture have further distanced humans from the animals they consume.
Key Points
This section provides talking points.
Because the Bible does not require us to eat animal products, we are each free to follow our own conscience.
Even the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family, which supports a literal interpretation of the Bible,2 says that “the New Testament makes it abundantly clear that followers of Jesus are free to follow the dictates of their conscience when it comes to matters of dietary regimen.”3 Focus on the Family also states that the idea that “vegetarianism was part of God’s original purpose and plan for both man and the animals” is “not an unreasonable assumption.”4
Research reveals that most, if not all, Bible scholars who have addressed this issue (e.g., Rich Deem) believe that the Bible permits us to eat meat but does not require it.5
You would be hard-pressed to find a Christian scholar, philosopher, or cleric who believes that God requires us to eat animal products. If such people exist, they are outliers.6
Times were different then.
The Bible was likely written between 1400 BC and 100 AD, with much of the text centered around people living in the desert or semi-arid lands.7
The people in those times and places most likely did not have available to them the abundance of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, and grains that most of us enjoy today. Nor did they have the science we now have that clearly shows we do not need to eat the flesh of animals or products that come out of animals to be healthy.
It is not our intention to judge harshly the dietary choices of those whose circumstances differ from our own in the availability of foods or knowledge of nutrition, but for people today to use circumstances of a time or place entirely removed from them as a rationalization for making choices that result in unnecessary suffering seems, at a minimum, unjustified.
The Bible seems to condone many practices that we no longer deem acceptable.
It’s not difficult to find passages in the Bible that seem to support slavery, the subjugation of women, death for adulterers, and many other practices we now renounce,8 but Bible scholars have hermeneutically rejected the idea that Christianity is compatible with such beliefs.
The interpretation of the Bible’s stance on eating animal products can be viewed through a similar lens, as these practices were shaped by the cultural and historical context of the time.
Because the Bible seems to contradict itself on the topic of eating meat, it’s hard to draw conclusions from the Bible.
There are passages in the Bible that either seem to be for or against eating animal flesh—so many, in fact, that it’s hard to reach any definitive conclusion from them.
Verses that seem to be mostly against eating meat:
- Leviticus 3:17
- Leviticus 19:26
- Isaiah 11:6–9
- Acts 15:29
- Romans 14:21
Verses that seem to mostly support eating meat:
- Genesis 1:29
- Genesis 9:3
- Leviticus 11:1–47
- Deuteronomy 12:20
- Deuteronomy 14:1–29
- Acts 10:9–15
- Romans 14:2
- 1st Corinthians 10:25
The word dominion carries the obligations of stewardship and responsibility.
According to Genesis 1:26, “God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
Some believe Genesis 1:26 gives us permission to do whatever we wish to animals and the environment. But many Bible scholars believe that the word dominion, in the context of this Bible verse and in its original Hebrew meaning, carries with it the obligations of stewardship and responsibility.9
Today’s animal agriculture industry, it could be argued, is the opposite of stewardship and responsibility, both in its disregard for the lives and suffering of animals and its environmental destruction.
The Bible does not necessarily support the notion that animals were put here for us to eat.
In Genesis 1:29, God states that he gave humans plants to eat as food, with no mention of consuming animals. Since, according to the biblical timeline, animals had already been created when this statement was made, it is difficult to argue that the Bible explicitly supports the notion that God intended animals to be used as food for humans.
Some believe the Bible presents the vegan diet as an ideal.
Using Genesis 1:29, it could be argued from the Bible that God’s original plan was for leaving animals off the plate.
Genesis 1:29, which is before the fall, states that “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.”
Perhaps Isaiah 11:6–9 foresees a return to a meatless diet in depicting a world where carnivores coexist peacefully with herbivores, saying that “they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain.” Wolfs and lambs, leopards and goats, and calves and lions shall lie down with each other, and “the lion shall eat straw like the ox.”
There are Bible scholars who believe the Bible directly supports vegetarianism.
Although you would be hard pressed to find a Bible scholar who believes the Bible requires we eat animal products, it’s not difficult to find Bible scholars who believe that the Bible directly supports abstaining from animal products.
In his book Is God a Vegetarian?: Christianity, Vegetarianism, and Animal Rights, Richard Allan Young, who teaches the New Testament at Temple Baptist Seminary, uses biblical ethics to make an argument for vegetarianism.10
Counterclaims
Responses to some yes but retorts.
Counterclaims are often not included in objection-type briefings because the objection itself functions as a form of counterargument.
Supplementary Info
Additional information that may prove useful.
Quotes
- “A Christian vision of delighting in God’s world and living responsibly among the fellow creatures God loves will be an inspiration to many Christians either to adopt a vegan diet, or to move in that direction…” The Vegan Society11
- “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 the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” Genesis 1:29 Bible—King James Version
Further Study
Sources providing a deeper understanding of the topic or related topics.
Other Resources
In “Should Christians be vegan?” David Clough argues they have strong faith-based reasons to reduce or eliminate animal products in their diet.
The Wikipedia article on Christian vegetarianism discusses the practice and theological reasoning behind Christians adopting vegetarian or vegan lifestyles, examining biblical interpretations, historical perspectives, and ethical considerations within the context of Christianity.
The following organizations from varying religions may shed additional light on the topic:
Advocacy Resources
Information to help with outreach and advocacy.
Additional media and advocacy resources are on the way, though not every briefing will feature every type of media.
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Advocacy Notes
Tips for Advocacy and Outreach
It is not productive to challenge one’s religious beliefs during conversations on veganism and ethics.
Emphasize the overarching themes of compassion, stewardship, and care for creation align more closely with a plant-based lifestyle,
As always, aim to steer the conversation back to animal injustices and suffering as soon as the flow of the discussion allows.
Footnotes
Our sources, with links back to where they’re used.
- This article is a good example of trying to justify human exceptionalism while dismissing concerns about animals. Institute, Christian Research. “Thy (Animal) Kingdom Come, Our Will Be Done – Christian Research Institute.” Christian Research Institute, 3 July 2015. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025. ↩︎
- “How Do I Interpret the Bible?” Focus on the Family, April 27, 2009. ↩︎
- “Vegans, Vegetarians, and the Bible.” Focus on the Family, August 9, 2012. ↩︎
- “Vegans, Vegetarians, and the Bible.” Focus on the Family, August 9, 2012. ↩︎
- Deem, Rich. “Should Christians Eat Meat or Should We Be Vegetarians?” God and Science. ↩︎
- The author tried and failed to find such a scholar ↩︎
- “When Was the Bible Written?” The International Bible Society, July 28, 2016. ↩︎
- These include 1st Samual 15:2-3, Number 31:17-18, Deuteronomy 13:6-10, 2nd Chronicles. 15:13, Genesis 15:9-10, 1 Samuel 15:2-3, Deuteronomy 22:14-21, Numbers 15:32-36, Leviticus 20:13, Leviticus 25:444-46, Exodus 21:20-21,&7, 1st Peter 2:18, 1st Timothy 2:12, Ephesians 5:22-23, Deuteronomy 20:10-16, Exodus 20:5 ↩︎
- Bible Dominion Stewardship Responsibility”, Google Search. ↩︎
- Young, Richard Alan. Is God a Vegetarian?: Christianity, Vegetarianism, and Animal Rights. Open Court, 2012 ↩︎
- “Should Christians Be Vegan?” The Vegan Society, 25 Jan. 2019, www.vegansociety.com/news/blog/should-christians-be-vegan. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025. ↩︎
