He that saith, I know him and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar and the truth is not in him.
(1 John 2:4)
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Article Excerpts
Understandably, there is confusion regarding just what blasphemy is and what punishment it carries. There are biblical passages that speak of the blasphemer being put to death, others speak of his forgiveness. There are also the scriptures that speak of the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost which constitutes the unpardonable sin. Its not only imperative to understand how to avoid committing the unforgivable, but also to understand exactly why there is forgiveness for blasphemy against Jesus, but not against the Holy Spirit. Misunderstanding of this truth, sadly, has been used to give credence to the false teaching that Jesus is not God since blasphemy against Him is pardonable. What Is The Blasphemy Of The Holy Ghost And The Unpardonable Sin?
Many advocates for a vegetarian diet teach that meats of all kinds are an unnatural food. They point out that before the great deluge, the world was strictly vegetarian and man reached ages beyond 900 years. These advocates stress the fact that after the flood, when meat was added to man's diet, his life expectancy immediately and drastically decreased to a little over 100 years. Christians are believing and following such teachings that appear to have biblical support.
However, these arguments for "Christian" vegetarianism are in sharp disagreement with the Bible and with sound reasoning. When Noah and his family exited the ark, God spoke to them saying, "every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb" (KJV, Genesis 9:3). If meat is unnatural and eating it is so harmful that it severs hundreds of years from the lives of those who eat it, Christian vegetarians must declare that God gave people bad advice.
If the return to vegetarianism has even a remote power to restore man to the longevity he enjoyed before the flood, why has no one, including vegetarians and vegans from birth, ever lived even a couple of hundred years?
It's also claimed that no ingredient required for health is missing from a vegetarian diet--except vitamin B12. Does God cause vitamin B12 to just miraculously appear in the bodes of Christian vegetarians? Does he just miraculously remove the need for vitamin B12 from the bodies of his servants? Any answer that even leans towards being affirmative would cause one's sanity to be questioned.
The practice of vegetarianism for short periods of time can be very beneficial to one's health. It is the life-long practice of vegetarianism by God's post-flood servants that can't be found in scripture.
There's also the need to avoid the factory farmed meats commonly found in America's grocery stores. People have been made aware of the industry's habitual use of dangerous growth hormones, antibiotics, and preservatives in factor farming. It's also long overdue for Christians to cease turning a deaf ear to the factual accounts of the horrible suffering of factory farmed animals. Animals should enjoy their lives until the day they go to a rapid slaughter that causes as little suffering as possible.
In conclusion, there's a question that every Christian vegetarian might ask himself. The twelfth chapter of the book of Exodus, verses one thru eleven, records the institution of the Passover. God instructed Israel to take a lamb without blemish (defect), a male of the first year from the sheep or goats. The lamb was to be killed and its flesh consumed. The end of verse eleven reads, "...it is the Lord's passover". Any of today's Christian vegetarians can ask themselves what it would have been like for them had they been a member of Israel during the passover. Would they have refused the passover saying, "Lord, I can't partake of your passover; I'm vegetarian."
The scripture of 1 Timothy 4:1-3 says, "now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith; speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats...."
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