From: marlatt@spot.Colorado.EDU (Stuart W. Marlatt)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: First Killing of Animals (was Re: Meat and the Bible)
Date: 26 Jan 93 09:44:29 GMT
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder

In article <Jan.25.01.57.11.1993.11456@athos.rutgers.edu> mpaul@unl.edu (marxhausen paul) writes:
>jlong@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu (John Long) writes:
>
>>Can a Christian eat meat? (I mean *flesh*, baby, bloody, carnal, *flesh*)
>
>My shallow take on this: Genesis starts out on what sounds like a vegetarian
>basis.  After the Flood, Noah is told that just as man previously had all
>the plants for food, he now has all the animals for food as well.
>
>You can make of that what you will: that it means eating meat is expressly
>endorsed by the O.T.; or conversely, that _ideally_, in Garden-of-Eden-
>perfection, we would want to go veggie. I'll leave that to more interested
>parties.

This provides an ideal launching point to an interesting discussion concerning
two common questions:
	1. God told Adam and Even that when they ate of the fruit of the
tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, on that day they would die. Of 
course, they eat of the tree - but they don't literally die just then, but
live roughly another 1000 years. Why didn't they die on that day?
	2. Why did God reject Cain's sacrifice of his plants, and 
accept Able's sacrifice of an animal, leading to the first murder?


Note that when God gave Adam dominion over creation, he does not specifically
tell him he can eat (or kill) any of the animals. Apparently, no animals died
until after the Fall - and then, God gave Adam and Eve skins for cloths (obviously
implying an animal had died to given them the skins).

This is the underlying example of the blood sacrificial system. Adam and Eve
didn't die on that day, because blood was spilled as temporary forgiveness
for their sin. True, they were now mortal, and in a sense began to die on
that day, and true, they were no longer in as close of communion with God
as they were in the garden - both which may represent a symbolic death. But
the best answer is that blood was spilled to cover their sin.

Adam and Eve of course must have discussed the garden and the Fall with
Cain and Able. And so when they brought sacrifices, Able understood and
brought an animal in whom he had no part in bringing to life. He understood
that he was in need of mercy, that sin required blood, and that he, by his
efforts, could do nothing to obtain God's favor. Able comes to the altar
and covers it with blood and accepts God's unearned mercy. Cain, on the
other hand, brings the fruit of his toil, and brings them to show God how
much he has worked to gain God's favor. But His mercy is not earned, it is
given - and only sin prevents our close communion with God.

(This of course doesn't address eating meat of going veggie.)


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 Twit twit twit                                                           
Jug jug jug jug jug jug                                                   
So rudely forc'd.                                                         
Tereu                                                                     
  --T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land                                            
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s.w. marlatt, <><  &  *(:-)               Prov. 25.2
University of Colorado:                   marlatt@spot.Colorado.edu  492-3939
National Center for Atmospheric Research: marlatt@neit.cgd.ucar.edu  497-1669
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