Adventists like to use Daniel and Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego to prove that vegetarianism is the way.
i kinda chuckle at this because
my vegan friend used SDA's to try to show me that Jesus was vegetarian.
obviously false.
well, let's look at it from
several angles:
|
1. Romas 14:1-3 Now accept
the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment
on his opinions. One man has faith that he may eat all things, but
he who is weak eats vegetables only.
let not him who eats regard with contempt
him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats,
for God has accepted him. who are you to judge the servant of another?
to his own master he stands or falls; and stand he will, for the Lord is
able to make him stand.
|
|
2. "Therefore do
not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink
..." Col 2:16
|
|
3. "Are you still so
dull?" Jesus asked them (Pharisees). Don't you see that whatever enters
the mouth goes in the stomach and then out of the body? But
the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make
a man 'unclean' for out of the heart come evil thoughts, muder,
adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. these
are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not
make him 'unclean.' Matt 15:16-20, Mark 7:15, 18-19
Nothing outside a man can make
him 'unclean' by going into him. rather, it is what comes out of
a man that makes him 'unclean.' 'are you so dull he asked, don't
you see that nothing that enters a man from thte outside can make him unclean?
for it doesn't go into his heart, but into his stomach and then out of
his body." (in saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean")
|
|
4. 1 Corinthians 10:25-26 "Eat
anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience
for 'The earth is the Lord's and everything in it.'"
|
Spiritual Health, Physical
Health?
Paul was unhealthy. He had
a 'thorn in his flesh' which many people believe to be a physical ailment.
Did a unhealthy body mean he was unwell spiritually? no, not at all.
oh, I see, my Bible is the incorrect
translation, the Great Commission reads: "Go therefore and make vegetarians
of all nations, baptising them in the name of Ellen G. White."
yet, Adventist persist in including
a health message with other doctrine. is the health message a doctrine
in the Bible? no.
in fact it says that physical exercise
is useless compared to spiritual fitness:
verse
this all goes back to Law, and the
Adventist's underlying beliefs about Salvation. To be honest, Adventists
are still under law and still long to be under law, whether it is eating
heathily, exercising, or resting on Saturdays, or not drinking alcohol.
John the Baptist ate locusts,
insects are not vegetarian. not quite.
Here I pause to sigh again.
It doesn't matter if SDAs choose to be vegetarian and choose to exercise
often, or choose to rest on Saturdays. What matters is what is going
on in the heart, and what is the basic driving force behind them.
like I quoted in the Sunday page: 1 Corinthians 8:9 "let not this liberty
of yours become a stumbling block to those that are weak." maybe
some Adventists understand that diet and exercise have no direct influence
on your spiritual life, but the practice of such is misleading other Christians,
other Adventists into thinking that they are becoming more righteous by
observing these "laws."
end lesson, don't rely on yourself
to make yourself holy, only God can do that :)
back to my story