Q&A – Animals and Stewardship

Questions & Answers – Animals and Stewardship

In this section I address questions that I am frequently asked in my ministry regarding animals and our divinely appointed stewardship over them. Each question and answer is designed as a bible study, with scripture passages cited that support each of the ideas presented. As you read through each question and answer, I ask that you keep an open mind and an attitude of willingness to grow in your understanding of God.

Table of Contents

(Questions are numbered and alphabetized by keyword for ease of reference. The numbers change as new questions are added)

1. Abel. Why did God favor Abel’s gift but not Cain’s?
2. Adam. Didn’t God kill the first animal when he clothed Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:21?
3. Aroma. If God does not delight in animal sacrifices, then why does it say that God was pleased by the aroma of burnt offerings?
4. Blood. What does it mean in Genesis 9:4-5 that an accounting for the lifeblood will be demanded?
5. Carnivore. If God doesn’t want animals to be killed, then why are some animals carnivores?
6. Carnivore. Can animals such as dogs and cats be vegan? Aren’t they obligate carnivores?
7. Catholic. If I am Catholic and believe scripture interpretation belongs exclusively to the Pope, what does the Pope say about dominion and our stewardship over animals?
8. Child. What does Jesus mean when he says we cannot enter the kingdom unless we change and become like little children?
9. Child. Why is it necessary to be like a little child to enter the kingdom?
10. Children. Does God want us to be childless or to bear children?
11. Clean. Didn’t Jesus declare all foods clean when he said what goes into a person does not defile them?
12. Clean. Didn’t Jesus say it is not what goes into the mouth but what comes out of the mouth that defiles you?
13. Clean. Did Jesus declare all foods clean and thereby give permission to treat anything we want as food?
14. Communicate. When we’re in heaven, will we be able to communicate with animals?
15. Companion. Can companion animals such as dogs and cats thrive on entirely plant-based diets?
16. Compare. Isn’t it insensitive to compare the plight of people to the plight of animals?
17. Corinthians. Why in 1 Corinthians 8 does Paul say he will never again eat meat?
18. Defend. Shouldn’t we defend people’s right to hurt animals instead of defending animals?
19. Demon. In 1 Timothy 4 it warns about anyone who forbids eating certain foods and says they are possessed by a demon. Does that mean Christian Vegans are following a demon?
20. Demon. Why do professed believers mock me for encouraging compassion toward animals, citing passages such as 1 Timothy as proof that I am following a demon?
21. Desire. Why in Deuteronomy 12 does it say to eat as much meat as you desire?
22. Deuteronomy. What about Deuteronomy 12:20 where God tells us we may freely eat as much meat as our heart desires?
23. Dominion. What is dominion and do we have dominion over the earth and over all God’s creatures?
24. Earth. Should we take care of the Earth?
25. Essenes. Who were the Essenes? Was Jesus part of this group?
26. Euthanasia. Is it wrong to euthanize an animal?
27. Fall. What actually happened at the fall? Why is it significant?
28. Faith. Is being vegan consistent with having faith in the God of scripture?
29. Fear. Does meat contain fear energy as Buddhists teach?
30. Fish. If Jesus ate fish, shouldn’t we follow his example and likewise eat fish?
31. Fish. Why did Jesus eat fish?
32. Fish. With so much scripture showing that Jesus supported fishing and eating fish, why do you think God wants us to live vegan?
33. Fishing. Do the accounts of Jesus feeding people fish prove that he endorses fishing?
34. Flood. Did God change his mind about animals after the flood?
35. Flood. Did God have a new plan for creation after the flood by giving humanity permission to kill animals?
36. Food. Why are vegans so concerned about what people eat? Doesn’t it say that the kingdom is more than food?
37. Genesis 9:3. If God never wanted us to eat animals, then why in Genesis 9:3 does God say he gives us animals to eat just as he gave us the green herb to eat?
38. Gospel. Does animal abuse hinder the gospel message?
39. Gospel. Should promoting veganism be part of the gospel message?
40. Heaven. Will animals be in the kingdom / heaven?
41. Hell. Is it a sin to eat animals and are people going to hell for it?
42. Holocaust. Why do some vegans compare animal agriculture to the Holocaust?
43. Hunting. Why in Genesis 27 does Isaac tell his son Esau to go out and hunt for him? Since Isaac is considered a righteous man, does this mean that God approves of hunting?
44. Idol. Doesn’t veganism make animals an idol?
45. Idol. How do you keep veganism from becoming an idol?
46. Isaiah. What does it mean in Isaiah 11:6 that the wolf will live with the lamb? Isn’t that a bit too fantastic to be taken literally?
47. Jacob. In Genesis 49:6 is Jacob talking about people who engage in animal cruelty?
48. Judge. Jesus said not to judge, so should we not judge those who harm animals?
49. Lab Meat. What is your position on lab-grown meat?
50. Lamb. Did Jesus eat lamb?
51. Lamb. Did Jesus eat lamb? (second response)
52. Leper. Why in Mark 1:40-1:45 did Jesus command a leper to bring an animal sacrifice offering to the temple?
53. Liberator. Was Jesus an animal liberator?
54. Lions. Does Job 38 prove that it is God’s will and design for lions to be predators?
55. Lions. Didn’t God create lions and other animals to eat meat?
56. Love. Given all the horrible things God does in the Bible, how can we say God is love?
57. Love. Are animals capable of showing love?
58. Milk & Honey. What does it mean in Ezekiel 20:6 for a land to be flowing with milk and honey?
59. Mock. My family claims to be Christian, but they mock me for being vegan as they mercilessly torture and slaughter animals for pleasure. Can such heartless people really be doing God’s will? What should I do?
60. Nourish. Is it good to eat animal flesh as long as we pray for what we eat to nourish our body?
61. Permission. Doesn’t God permit us to eat animals? Isn’t it lawful to do so?
62. Permission. If God didn’t want us to eat meat, then why did he give us permission to do so in Genesis 9:3?
63. Permissive Will. How do we know it was God’s permissive will for us to eat meat due to the flood?
64. Peter. If God doesn’t want us to eat animals, then why did God tell Peter to eat meat?
65. Peter. Why in Acts 10 did God tell Peter, “Arise, Peter, kill and eat”?
66. Pigs. If God doesn’t want harm to come to animals, then why would Jesus have cast demons into a herd of pigs to harm them?
67. Pigs. Why did Jesus cause a herd of pigs to drown?
68. Plowshares. Why the name Swords to Plowshares?
69. Praise. Unlike humans, aren’t animals incapable of praising God?
70. Predation. How did nature get the way it is if predation wasn’t God’s design?
71. Problem of Evil. How can the existence of a benevolent God be reconcilable with the existence of pain and suffering and predatory behavior?
72. Problem of Evil. Why does God allow evil and suffering to be inflicted on humans and animals?
73. Proverbs 31:8. Should Proverbs 31:8 and other similar passages be applied to how we treat animals even though the original context does not specify to do so?
74. Purpose. How can so many professed believers be so strongly convinced that animals are just here for us to eat or to harm or to do whatever else we want to them?
75. Purpose. Why did God create animals?
76. Romans. Doesn’t Romans 14 say there is no problem with eating meat?
77. Sacrifice. Does the Bible teach that we should sacrifice animals?
78. Sacrifice. Why did God ask for animal sacrifices?
79. Sacrifices. Did God ever desire/require animal sacrifices?
80. Salvation. I don’t believe how I treat animals has any bearing on my salvation, so why should I care about them?
81. Sin. Is it a sin to eat animals?
82. Soul. Doesn’t Genesis 2:7 say only humans have a soul, not animals?
83. Spirit. Is it possible to live according to the spirit while consuming animal flesh and committing similar acts of cruelty toward animals?
84. Survival of the Fittest. Animals kill each other and humans kill animals. It’s survival of the fittest. Isn’t that just the way the world is?
85. Teach. Is it more important to teach people about Jesus or to teach people about being vegan?
86. Temptation. I want to be a good steward of God’s creatures by no longer harming animals or eating their flesh but I keep succumbing to temptation. What do I do?
87. Test. Does God ever test us?
88. Unclean. If God has always wanted us to live according to his original dietary instructions given in Genesis 1:29, then what was the purpose of distinguishing between clean and unclean animals?
89. Valuable. Doesn’t the Bible say we are more valuable than animals?
90. Vegan. Does God want us to be vegan?
91. Vegetarian. Why vegan instead of vegetarian?