Good Question: Vegetarians in Paradise
Based on Isaiah 11:6-7 and 65:25, will we be vegetarians in the new heaven and earth as Adam and Eve were before the Fall?
Answered by Bill T. Arnold | posted 10/01/2004 12:00AM
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Whether or not this means we shall eat meat is something we will have to wait to see—the idyllic connections between Eden and the world to come do not provide definitive answers. Because animals in the new heaven and new earth will not experience death, presumably any meat-eating would be transformed and unlike anything in this life. Pleasures will no longer depend on death and dying as their source, because God will supply all needs.
Bill T. Arnold is director of Hebrew Studies and professor of Old Testament and Semitic languages at Asbury Theological Seminary.
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Related Elsewhere:
Each of the verses referenced in this column are available from this BibleGateway page.
Other Christianity Today articles on vegetarianism and care for animals include:
Creature Discomforts | A conservative Christian makes the case for animal mercy in Dominion. (July 31, 2003)
Evangelicals Embrace Vegetarian Diet | If you ask George Malkmus, a North Carolina minister, why Christians become ill, he will tell you they have neglected eating an apple a day. (Sept. 6, 1999)
Was the Messiah a Vegetarian? | Jesus is appearing all over America with a giant, shining orange slice as his halo and a billboard banner that proclaims, "Jesus Was a Vegetarian—Follow Him." (Aug. 9, 1999)
Articles on vegetarianism from our sister publication Books & Culture include:
Do All Good Dogs Go to Heaven? | What do you say when your child loses a pet and asks you if her dog will go to heaven? Or, more likely today given the faddishness of vegetarianism, what do you say when your teenager asks you why you eat meat? (January/February 1999)
Lord of the Pets | It is doubtful that the brutal, if economical, treatment of food animals in the industrialized world's factory farms is anything less than an affront to God's creation. (Summer 1998)
An article in the Adventist Review says a study found Adventists live healthier and longer in part because of a traditional low or no meat diet.
The Christian Vegetarian Association believes a vegetarian diet can add meaning to one's faith, aid in one's spirituality, and enhance one's moral life.
If you're an animal lover, all-creatures.org has information on animal rights, a Christian perspective on vegan living, and doctor's perspective on Christian vegetarian activism.
If that's too much, Veg4Lent promotes vegetarian eating during Lent.
Heaven: The Logic of Eternal Joy is available from Christianbook.com and other book retailers.
Earlier Good Question columns include:
Why doesn't God cure everyone who prays fervently for healing?
Does God need our help, love, and praise?
Are some people lost "just a little bit" in the same way that others are saved "only as through fire"?
Is Jesus Incarnate Forever?
What does Genesis mean by man being made in the image of God?
What's the difference between Christ's kingdom and paradise?
Is every believer guaranteed at least one spiritual gift?
What role does baptism play in faith and salvation?
How is it that not all prayers for the salvation of others are answered?
If God is in us, shouldn't it be easier to love one another?
What do we gain from a bodily resurrection?
What is the difference between the brain and the soul?
How can I reconcile my belief in the inerrancy of Scripture with comments in Bible translations that state that a particular verse is not 'in better manuscripts'?
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