I was recently asked whether vegan Christians may eat animals who have died of natural causes, where no animal abuse or murder was involved. Well, The Torah forbids this:- “You must not eat anything that has died a natural death…for you are set apart as holy to the LORD your God.” (Deuteronomy 14:21 NLV).
“Dies naturally” (נְבֵלָה, nevelah): Refers to animals that have not been slaughtered according to kosher laws. This includes animals that have died due to sickness, injury, or other causes. The prohibition emphasizes ritual purity, health concerns, and the importance of humane slaughter practices that align with the Israelites’ covenant with God.
From a modern health perspective, eating animals found dead on the street, like a rat, or in a forest, like a fox, poses significant health risks, including exposure to harmful bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli, zoonotic viruses such as rabies or hantavirus, and parasites like tapeworms. The animal may also contain toxins if it died from poisoning or environmental contaminants. Additionally, the cause of death is often unknown, increasing the danger of consuming diseased or contaminated meat. These risks make it highly unsafe and inadvisable to consume such animals.
Indeed, according to T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell II’s 2005 book, The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health, the consumption of any kind of animal flesh or products is detrimental to human health.
It is also noteworthy that the early Jewish Christians were adamant that the Torah even in Jesus’ time was already corrupted (Panarion 30.18.7; Clementine Homilies 2.38), that the genuine original Law was strictly vegan (Panarion 30.15.3; Clementine Homilies 7.4) -- meaning that there’s no humane way to kill a sentient creature of God, and no animals should be eaten, not even those who have died of natural causes -- and that Jesus aimed to restore this original vegan Law (Akers 2020, pp. 7-8).
{Likewise, Buddha asserts that "For the sake of love of purity, the Bodhisattva, whose nature is compassion, is not to eat any meat. I declare the eating of meat, in any form, in any manner, and in any place, to be unconditionally and once and for all prohibited for all" (Lankavatara Sutra, Ch. 8, trans. by D.T. Suzuki).}
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