"One person believes it’s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. Who are you to condemn someone else’s servants? They are responsible to the Lord, so let him judge whether they are right or wrong." - Romans 14:2-4 (NLT)
The above phrase "sensitive conscience" is translated by the NIV version of the Bible as "weak in faith". This is almost certainly a poor translation, since it is the only translation which calls vegetarians "weak in faith".
Another indication that it is a poor translation is the fact that Paul promotes avoiding meat later in the same letter. "It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble" (Romans 14:21).
It is possible that Paul was addressing an attitude of arrogance among certain Christian vegetarians. If these vegetarians were becoming arrogant about their diet, then their "weak faith" was leading them to condemn other Christians.
It's important to note that the Bible is filled with vegans, and not once are they condemned (Link). This passage in Romans is not any different. It's more likely that Paul was addressing a growing amount of division based on dietary laws.
In conclusion, this passage was not written to arrogantly condemn Christian vegetarians. Rather, Paul's entire point was exactly the opposite. "Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t."
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ReplyDeletePete, I appreciate your music and writings. Actually, some Christians of Paul's day would not eat meat because it was sacrificed to idols. Paul isn't addressing meat-eating vs. vegetarian practices as we would think of them today. Rather, it was tied to idol worship.
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