Lab Grown Meat – Is This Biblical?

Given the Biblical story in Genesis 1,2 describes…

a. that God’s original vision for creation is that of complete harmony between humans and animals;
b. that the Bible expresses God’s perfect will for all flesh is to be vegetarian; and
c. that the whole scripture narrative is about God reaching into humanity’s history to redeem and restore the whole created order from the corruption that began at the fall (Genesis 3);

…with a thorough understanding of these three key points in mind, in all that humankind considers doing upon the earth, there is one question to ask before doing it: Will this uphold the intentions of God’s vision, ideal or perfect will for the whole creation?

Is lab grown meat Biblical, does it reflect the ideal will of God?

My reaction is mixed. First, I think it defies and deflates the biblical message of Genesis before the fall; all life is created vegetarian.  Lab grown meat makes it seem it is okay ethically to continue to satisfy our desire for flesh foods because it does not involve the cruelty or damage that is done to the environment raising meat products the way we raise animals for food now.

Secondly, I become conflicted because I would rather see meat consumed this way since civilization is likely not going to stop. It would be ethically more palatable, better for the environment and likely to a degree, human health.

But. It still does not conform to the Creator’s perfect will and intentions for us which is vegetarian. It paves another path forward in mankind’s saga of flesh-eating. Should the world be destined for restoration to its original intent, I have concerns that Christians who proclaim the message of hope and truth of God’s coming peaceable kingdom will only muddy the waters further if they embrace this technology, exasperating the issue of facing becoming people who will reflect God’s vision of a peaceable, vegetarian kingdom.

“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)

We so often proclaim this and then try to find ways to force our own human way. Isn’t this typical of people, to want to be the god of their own destination? Isn’t this what Satan convinced humanity of, that we could be our own gods, understanding right from wrong ourselves?  Isn’t this the first lie we fell for?

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”  “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  Genesis 3:1-5

Animals as “food” were off-limits in the Garden of Eden; in fact, I rather doubt that animals were ever thought of as food at that time. It was sin that brought this kind of thinking into the world and it is people, affected by Satanic influence, that has made this okay, misreading and misconstruing scripture, to fit their ideas of what is right for them to eat – even unto making it God’s idea that we are to eat meat for food, when this was his concession to a people whose hearts had become so hardened he had no other choice (Genesis 8).

Genesis is clear what the original diet prescribed for ALL creation is to be:

“And God said, I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.  And to every beast of the earth and every bird of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth—everything that has the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.… Genesis 1:29, 30

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