Did God Say We Should Be Vegan? 🙏 A Theological Deep Dive

Here in Finland, there is no celebration more cherished than Midsummer, or Juhannus.

As the country tips towards the longest day of the year, people flock to the countryside to light massive bonfires (kokko) that burn long into the white night. It’s a tradition steeped in ancient pagan history, meant to ward off evil spirits and ensure a good harvest, now seamlessly blended with Christian tradition. It’s a perfect picture of how we live today: modern people navigating a world of science and progress, yet still deeply connected to ancient stories and traditions that give us meaning. We look to these old ways to understand our place in the world.

This naturally leads us to the oldest story in the Western world, the Bible. We look to it for moral guidance, spiritual truth, and answers to life’s biggest questions. So, as we wrestle with the very modern, very urgent questions about our food system, it’s only natural to wonder what guidance might be found in those ancient pages. This brings us to a question of profound theological weight: Did God say we should be vegan?

The Ultimate Question: Seeking Divine Dietary Guidance ❤️

To even begin to answer this, we must understand that the Bible is not a single, flat rulebook. It is a sprawling library of books—history, poetry, law, prophecy, and letters—written by dozens of authors over thousands of years, recording the epic story of God's relationship with humanity. The dietary instructions within this story are not static; they evolve and change along with the narrative arc.

The question of whether God intended for us to be vegan is, at its heart, a question about God's perfect will versus God's permissive will. What was the ideal design for humanity in a perfect world? And what has God allowed in our fallen, imperfect world? The answer lies in following the story from the very beginning.

In the Beginning: The Original Diet in the Garden of Eden 🌱

The starting point for any biblical discussion on diet is Genesis, in the Garden of Eden. After creating a world described at every stage as "good," God creates humanity and gives them their first-ever dietary instruction. The text is unambiguous.

In Genesis 1:29-30, God says:

"Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food."

Let's break this down. In God's original, perfect creation—a world without sin or death—the diet for both humans and animals was 100% vegan. There is no mention of eating animals. There is no violence, no predation, no bloodshed. The "food chain" as we know it did not exist. Lions did not hunt gazelles, and humans did not hunt anything. This is the "Edenic Ideal," and it is the cornerstone of the theological argument for veganism. Christian vegans see this as a clear revelation of God's original and ultimate will for creation: a world of peace, harmony, and plant based nourishment.

A World Remade: The Great Flood and a New Dietary Law 🌊

The story, of course, does not stay in Eden. Humanity falls, sin and violence enter the world, and things get so bad that God hits the reset button with a great flood. After the waters recede, a new chapter begins for Noah and his family, and with it comes a new, radically different dietary instruction.

In Genesis 9:3, God tells Noah:

"Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything."

This is a seismic shift. For the first time, God explicitly gives humanity permission to eat animal flesh. This verse is the cornerstone of the argument that eating meat is biblically permissible. The theological question, and this is where we enter the true theological manuverse, is why the change?

• The "Concession" View: Many theologians, especially those sympathetic to veganism, see this as a divine concession to a now fallen and violent world. The peaceful ideal of Eden was shattered. In a world where humans had proven themselves capable of violence against each other, God permits the "lesser" violence of killing animals for food. It is an accommodation to a hardened human heart, not a joyful declaration of a new, better way.

• The "New Order" View: Other theologians see this as simply a new phase in God's plan. The world is different now, and the rules are different. This permission is seen as a legitimate and permanent part of God's provision for humanity in the post-Eden world.

Regardless of the interpretation, the fact remains: the Bible itself documents a clear permission from God for humans to eat meat.

Laws, Feasts, and Sacrifices: Diet in the Old Testament 📜

After this permission is granted, the rest of the Old Testament operates under the assumption that meat eating is a normal part of life. However, it is not an unregulated free for all. The Law of Moses, particularly in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, introduces the complex system of kosher dietary laws.

These laws created a strict distinction between "clean" and "unclean" animals. They regulated which animals could be eaten and how they were to be slaughtered and prepared.This served a few purposes:

1. Public Health: Some of the forbidden animals (like pigs and shellfish) were more likely to carry disease in the ancient world.

2. Holiness and Distinction: The dietary laws constantly reminded the Israelites that they were a people set apart for God, different from the surrounding pagan nations who ate anything.

3. Respect for Life: The laws around blood (which had to be drained) were a reminder that the life force of the animal belonged to God.

Crucially, the Old Testament Law also established a system of animal sacrifice as the primary means of atoning for sin.⁴ Animals were killed at the altar as a substitute for the sinner. This is a complex and difficult topic for modern readers, but it demonstrates that the killing of animals was woven into the very fabric of Israel's religious life. This system makes it very difficult to argue that the Old Testament promotes a vegetarian ideal after the Fall.

Questions from the Internet: "So, is eating meat a sin according to the Bible?" 🧐Based on the biblical text, the answer is a clear no. The act of eating meat itself is never classified as a sin. God gives explicit permission in Genesis 9, and the Law of Moses regulates it. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul spends a significant amount of time in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8 discussing food. His primary point is that believers should not judge each other over dietary matters. He says, "The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord... The one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord" (Romans 14:6). For Paul, the heart attitude and the refusal to judge one's brother were far more important than the food itself.

The Prophetic Hope: A Vision of a Peaceful Kingdom 🦁

The Old Testament narrative does not end with laws and sacrifices. The prophets, looking forward to a future messianic age, often described it as a time when creation would be restored to a state of perfect peace, a vision that sounds remarkably like a return to Eden.

The most famous of these passages is Isaiah 11:6-9:

"The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat... The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox...⁵ They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain."

This "Peaceable Kingdom" is a world where the natural order of predation and violence has been healed. The lion, the ultimate carnivore, returns to eating straw. For Christian vegans, this is a powerful confirmation of their theology. They see the biblical story as a three act play:

1. Act I: Eden. A perfect, peaceful, plant based world.

2. Act II: The Fallen World. A world of violence where meat eating is permitted as a concession.

3. Act III: The Kingdom to Come. A restored world where peace and the plant based diet of Eden are reestablished.

In this framework, choosing veganism today is an act of eschatological hope. It's a way of choosing to live in "Act III" right now, bearing witness to the coming kingdom of peace that Jesus inaugurated.

Questions from the Internet: "What is the 'Dominion Mandate' and how does it relate to veganism?" 🤔The "Dominion Mandate" is found in Genesis 1:28, where God blesses Adam and Eve and tells them to "fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth."⁶

• Traditional Interpretation: For much of history, "dominion" was interpreted as "domination"—a right to rule over and use nature and animals for human benefit.

• Modern "Stewardship" Interpretation: A growing number of theologians and laypeople now argue that "dominion" should be understood in the way a good king has dominion over his subjects. It is a sacred trust, a responsibility to care for, protect, and nurture creation as God's representative. This is often called a "servant-king" or "stewardship" model. From this perspective, modern factory farming is seen as a gross abdication of the dominion mandate, a tyrannical abuse of power rather than loving stewardship. For these believers, veganism becomes the most faithful way to exercise true, benevolent dominion.

Biblical Mentions of Diet: A Chronological Look 📖

Era/Book	Key Scripture	Dietary Implication
Creation (Eden)	Genesis 1:29	"Behold, I have given you every plant... You shall have them for food." The original, ideal diet is explicitly vegan. 🌱
After the Flood	Genesis 9:3	"Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you." Meat eating is explicitly permitted for the first time. 🥩
The Law of Moses	Leviticus 11	"These are the living things that you may eat..." Meat eating is regulated, not forbidden. ⚖️
Jesus's Ministry	Luke 24:42-43	Jesus eats broiled fish after his resurrection. Confirms non vegetarian practice. 🐟
The Early Church	Romans 14	"The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord..." Warns against judging others on dietary choices. ❤️
Prophetic Vision	Isaiah 11:7	"...and the lion shall eat straw like the ox." A future hope of a return to a peaceful, non-violent, plant based world. 🕊️

Modern Plates, Ancient Faith: Applying Principles Today ✨

So, after this journey through the scriptures, did God say we should be vegan?

The direct answer from the text is no. There is no verse that commands all people to be vegan. In fact, there is explicit permission to eat meat.

However, the Bible also presents a powerful and consistent ethic of compassion, mercy, and stewardship, along with a picture of a perfect, plant based world in Eden and a restored, plant based world to come.

For the modern Christian vegan, the argument is not based on a direct command. It is based on applying timeless biblical principles to a modern context. The argument is simple:

• If we are called to be compassionate...

• And modern factory farming is unarguably cruel...

• And we have access to abundant plant based foods that allow us to thrive without causing this suffering...

• Then is the most Christ-like choice not to abstain?

It is a choice made not out of legalism, but out of love. It is an attempt to align one's plate with the prayer, "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." And that is a motivation that lies at the very heart of the Christian faith.

Sources:

• The Holy Bible, English Standard Version.

• "The Biblical Basis for Vegetarianism." The Christian Vegetarian Association. http://www.all-creatures.org/cva/theology.htm

• A Rocha International. "A Christian-based conservation organisation." https://arocha.org/en/

• Society of Biblical Literature. https://www.sbl-site.org/

• Clough, David L. On Animals: Volume I, Systematic Theology. T&T Clark, 2012.