If God wanted us really to eat meat, then why did He make animals with senses? Why give animals some kind of self-defense? If really Noah’s word is true, why don’t you eat the flesh of a tiger every day? Why don’t you yourself go and kill a python or a shark and eat his flesh? This is so because you are not a fool to risk your life. God has given them a solid system of defense and the use them to protect from any danger.<\/p>\n\t
It is interesting that you recognize that animals’ defenses come from God, but you do not believe what God told Noah:<\/p>\n
“So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man. And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth and multiply in it’<\/em>” (Genesis 9:1-7).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
But in answer to your question, animals have defenses because animals eat animals. While you see that as natural in the animal kingdom, you put blinders on your own eyes when it comes to human life. Animals have senses because God made them to be living creatures; it is a part of what we mean by “living” that we recognize that the creature is able to sense its environment.<\/p>\n
By your line of argument, people should not be eating plants. After all, some plants have defensive mechanisms such as thorns and poisons to keep animals from eating them. I guess I could ask you why you don’t have a poison ivy leaf salad if you’re supposed to eat vegetables.<\/p>\n
Neither the fact that they have senses or that they have defenses change the truth of the matter: It is God who stated that mankind is permitted to use animals as food. People do eat predators, but the reason they don’t eat them often is that predator populations are small. They cannot be large because they eat other animals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: If God wanted us really to eat meat, then why did He make animals with senses? Why give animals some kind of self-defense? If really Noah’s word is true, why don’t you eat the flesh of a tiger every day? Why don’t you yourself go and kill a python or a shark and eat…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[242,239],"class_list":["post-21346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-animal-rights","tag-vegetarianism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4221,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/god-wouldnt-allow-his-creation-to-kill-each-other\/","url_meta":{"origin":21346,"position":0},"title":"God wouldn’t allow His creation to kill each other","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 19, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Jesus might have eaten fish, but by no means did he or God say ''Let us kill everything that walks.'' If he said that we could eat meat, then why on earth would killing a human be murder? We are all equal. That's what the Lord says. Therefore, none\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21343,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/isnt-the-only-reason-god-allowed-noah-to-eat-meat-was-because-it-was-convenient\/","url_meta":{"origin":21346,"position":1},"title":"Isn’t the only reason God allowed Noah to eat meat was because it was convenient?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I came across your article when\u00a0doing research in the bible and trying to find an answer in why is the world so evil. Interestingly man is of course evil as it is evil to animals. No other animal on the planet will use another in the same way. So\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13636,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-animals-have-feelings-if-they-are-just-food\/","url_meta":{"origin":21346,"position":2},"title":"Why do animals have feelings if they are just food?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 18, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have some questions that I desperately need to be answered regarding some of the statements in \"Did Jesus Eat Meat?\" These questions are not sarcastic or rhetorical, I'm simply seeking answers. If God meant for man to eat animals, then why did he give them nerves that allow\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8939,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-we-fail-terribly-if-we-consume-animals\/","url_meta":{"origin":21346,"position":3},"title":"Do we fail terribly if we consume animals?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: When we are in heaven all is perfect. Isaiah 65:25 says, \"The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16984,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/even-if-jesus-existed-why-did-he-last-eat-herbs-and-fruit\/","url_meta":{"origin":21346,"position":4},"title":"Even if Jesus existed, why did he last eat herbs and fruit?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 8, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Wrong on\u00a0ALL counts. So if he did exist, and some\u00a0doubt it now, why did he lastly eat herb and fruit , reiterating genesis 1\/29--perhaps he really was veggie -YOU\u00a0don't know You obviously don't understand communion then. And god allowed carrion when he spoke to Noah, I am sure. Any\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9473,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-god-say-about-respect-for-life-and-his-creation\/","url_meta":{"origin":21346,"position":5},"title":"What does God say about respect for life and His creation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 17, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just read your article, \"Did Jesus Eat Meat?\", and I have a question that I know I could find an answer to, but an educated perspective will be even better, in addition to my own research. What does God and the Bible say about respect for life and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21346\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}