Ways of Christ

Additional pages with
Questions/ Answers
concerning secrets of life:
Here: Jesus Christ and human nourishment.
The preceding events: The 1st Book of Moses (Genesis), 1,29 says: 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". This corresponds to the insight that man has mainly the teeth and
digestive organs of a "fruitarian" being - eating fruits - (and not
"omnivorous" - eating everything - as one might think, if one only
knows the categories of animals "eating meat", "eating
everything" and "eating grass").
However, after the Flood - archeologically known, e.g. in the middle-east - (Genesis
9,3-4) to Noe: "Everything that lives and moves will be food for you;
... But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it." Up to
here everything relates to an era before that of today; so it did not only
concern the later Jews - presuming it has been handed down correctly.
After the exodus from Egypt it became acknowledged and further details were
added in the 5th Book of Moses (Deuteronomy)14,3-21. It seemsthat after
the flood, the principle was to allow everything and to exclude only the most
unsuited foods. Some of these points can be found in dietetics too.
Nevertheless, there were still cases in which the special value of vegetable
food was stressed - without any binding regulations , see Daniel 1,8.
There often seemed to be a relationship between the many extensive rules
concerning sacrifices and the eating of sacrificed meat - which is hard to
understand today. The Prophet Hosea (6.6) already passed on the message:
"I desire mercy, not sacrifice - and recognition of God rather than burnt
offerings." With reference to this passage, Jesus said: "But go and
learn what it means: ' I desire mercy, not sacrifice'" (Matthew 9,13 and
12,7). Concerning Luke 22,11, where Jesus asks, where he may eat the
Passover (meat) – which does not occur during the following Last Supper at all
- there are early Christian "apocryphal" scriptures (which were not
included in the biblical canon around 400 after Christ) like the "Gospel
of the Ebioneans". Here he says, answering: "Would I happen to
desire to eat meat (of a lamb) with you this Passover?" The Aramaic
language used fewer words for sentences like this, thus allowing various
interpretations if the original intonation was not known. This led to various
translations, destined to conflict with each other.
The former Judeo-Christian communities - later
most of them were islamized - were a true part of
Early Christianity; in spite of the fact, that there were some differences
between them and other developing churches.
Acts 15,19 reports the judgement of Jacob, leading the Early Community,
that "We should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who turn to God
(taught by Paul). Instead we should write to them, only telling them to abstain
from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled
animals and from blood." But the early church's historian Eusebius, and
apocryphal Apostles' acts and so on lead to the view, that Jesus, John, Peter,
Jacobus ... themselves usually lived without meat.
According to Matthew 15,11-20 and Mark 7, 17-21 Jesus stressed more
"things that come out of the mouth", than "whatever enters the
mouth"; however this was more related to questions of Pharisees concerning
washing the hands before eating. The same relation of values is given in Jesus'
wording about the "beam in one's own eye" and the "splinter in
the eye of someone else". That means, it is better to start with one's own
weak points, instead of with the fear of influences from outside. Anyway, the
said passage does not say that one must eat meat.
In Luke 10,8 Jesus recommended the disciples to eat whatever is offered
by their hosts during their travels. That does not automatically mean that this
is an indifferent question. Still today, e.g. in the Arabic countries, a guest
refusing offered food or drinks can produce the most incalculable reactions if
he/she is not very skilled. Furthermore, the original disciples had been given
the special ability not to be harmed by even very harmful substances (Mark
16,18.). So it is of no use to generalize about such bible quotes without
limits outside of the context.
The body is a tool and a tool needs dealing with responsibly and ethically.
And animals – in the biblical view - are creations of the same God; so they are not "things", as they are often still treated as today (limited by modern laws for the protection of animals.)*) Who is seeking Informations
about today's vegetarian forms of diet, finds it for example here: http://www.ivu.org
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