Does vegetarian fasting have support in the Holy Bible?
Between the Magazine and the Readers
Question:
Does vegetarian fasting have support in the Holy Bible?
Answer:
When God created man, He created him vegetarian. In this regard God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food” (Gen 1:29). Thus, the food of Adam and Eve in Paradise was herbs and fruits (for example, fruit).
After Adam’s expulsion from Paradise, his food remained vegetarian as well, but “the herb of the field,” that is, vegetables, was added to herbs and fruits. God did not permit the eating of meat until after Noah’s Ark, after humanity had become corrupt with a corruption that necessitated the punishment of the Flood (Gen 9:3).
When the children of Israel came out of Egypt, the Lord gave them “the manna” to be their food: “It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey” (Exod 16:31). When the children of Israel craved meat and wept asking for meat, the Lord gave them meat and punished them for it with a great plague, and many of them fell dead. He called the place where they were buried “Kibroth Hattaavah,” meaning “the graves of lust” (Num 11:33–34).
Vegetarian food also appears in the diet of Daniel and the three youths in the land of captivity, as they ate “legumes,” which are from pulses (Dan 1:12).
The prophet Daniel said about his period of fasting and humbling himself: “I mourned three full weeks. I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth” (Dan 10:2–3).
Likewise, the fast of the prophet Ezekiel was vegetarian, for the Lord said to him, “Take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt” (Ezek 4:9).
From all this we see that vegetarian food is a return to the original state that God intended for humanity.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine – Fifth Year – Tenth Issue – December 7, 1974.
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