Encyclopedia of animal rights and animal 523

480 | Religion and Animals: Veganism and the Bible products, and who not use products made from animals, believe that the Bible, including the story of creation and the life of Jesus, presents a moral imperative for a vegan way of life In the many books of the Bible, only Genesis and 2, honored by Jews, Christians, and Muslims, reveal the world as the creator preferred and intended creation to be After the fall, which occurs in Genesis 3, God’s perfect creation is changed To many believers, in these first two chapters of Genesis, the divine being creates and sanctifies what is in essence a vegan world In Genesis 1, God grants humans rulership over the creatures, over everything that moves God also creates people in the image of himself Genesis defines this divinely ordained rulership as God “took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden, to till it and tend it,” (Gen 2:15) The Hebrew word most frequently translated in Genesis as tend (shamar) also appears in Numbers 6:24, translated as protect (“The Lord bless you and protect you”) The Hebrew word most often translated as till (’abad) in Genesis 2, is translated as serve in other portions of the Bible, such as Joshua 24:15: “choose this day which ones you are going to serve— the Gods that your forefathers served or those of the Amorites.” Humans are therefore placed in the Garden of Eden to protect and serve creation, including animals Immediately after humans are granted rulership, God instructs the first humans as to what they may eat: “I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon all the earth, and every tree that has seedbearing fruit; they shall be yours for food” (Gen 1: 29) To many readers, this means that food for humans should come from plants Jesus, the quintessential Christian moral exemplar, was devoted to weak and imperfect beings; he was deeply concerned for the oppressed and downtrodden His life and teachings speak of compassion and service of the strong for the weak Jesus provides an exemplar of Genesis in action, of serving and tending creation Fundamental among Christian moral teachings is the commandment to love Love is “the paramount scripture essential to the Christian way of life” (Allen, 1971, p 214) In the Christian worldview, love is limitless Any understanding of Christian love or of God’s love that limits care and affection “is spiritually impoverished” (Linzey, 1997, p 131) The Catholic catechism notes that God surrounds animals with “providential care,” that the creatures of the earth bless God and bring glory to the creator, and so we “owe them kindness” (1994, p 2416): “It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly” (1994, p 2418) Vegans believe that eating animals and exploiting them for their reproductive eggs and nursing milk causes them to suffer and die needlessly Scripture also notes that the human body is “a temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor 6:19) A flesh-based diet has been linked to heart disease, cancers, obesity, and numerous other serious health problems Steve Kaufman, founder of the Christian Vegetarian Association, comments that a vegan diet is neither a burden nor a self-sacrifice, but part of a broader spiritual life that shows respect for creation, including the human body, “manifesting core values such as love, compassion, and peace.” Most Christians believe that Christianity holds the dream of universal peace