Were all people vegetarians until Noah and the flood?

Question

Hiya Gramps,

Maybe this is a silly question, but were Adam and Eve (and everybody else) vegetarians until Noah and the flood? I have been reading an autobiography of a well known Christian and he notes that before the flood we were peaceful with all animals and ate only what we could grow. After the flood, Heavenly Father gave the ok to eat them.

I’d never heard anything like this, but the scriptures in Genesis he points out seem logical.  Thanks!

Jen

Answer

Dear Jen,

We know that when Adam and Eve were found naked in the Garden of Eden, God made garments for them of skins–in other words, parts of animals that either Adam and Eve, or God Himself, had killed.  (Genesis 3:21).  He then commanded Adam to sacrifice the firstlings of his flocks (Moses 5:5), a commandment that remained in place in some form until Jesus’ own great and last sacrifice.  We also know that the righteous Abel was a “keeper of sheep”, and that his sacrifice also included “the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof”.  (Genesis 4:2-4).  God seems to have had respect to this bloody sacrifice, but not to Cain’s offering which was decidedly vegan in nature.

While these scriptures may not be proof positive that Adam or Eve–or even Abel–ever ate animals; it does indicate that antediluvian humans couldn’t accurately be called “peaceful with all animals”.  They seem to have been quite willing to kill animals when it served their purpose.

Gramps