Bro. Ventilacion and the Iglesia Ni Cristo shows their ignorance in their knowledge of Old English. In Old English, "meat" was synonymous to "food." Bibles written in old English shows this, e.g. Douai-Rheims and King James Version.
“And he shall take of it his handful, of the flour of the meat offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat offering, and shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour, even the memorial of it, unto the LORD.”
—Leviticus 6:15, King James Version
“Then said he unto me, This is the place where the priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offering, where they shall bake the meat offering; that they bear them not out into the utter court, to sanctify the people.”
—Ezekiel 46:20, King James Version
Modern translations uses "fine flour of the cereal offering” for Leviticus 6:15 and “bake the cereal offering” for Ezekiel 46:20. We clearly can see that "meat" in Old English was used in reference to all kinds of food, animal flesh and agricultural products.
As we can see, in old Elizabethan English the word "meat" was synonymous with the word "food." In an online Elizabethan English dictionary, the word "meat" is defined as “Definitions meat (n.) 1 food, nourishment, meat (n.) 2 edible part, meat (n.) 3 foodstuff, fodder, scraps” (http://www.shakespeareswords.com/Search.aspx). The word "meat" came from an Old English word "mete". “The word meat comes from the Old English word mete, which referred to food in general.” (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meat). It did not only describe animal flesh, but all types of food. The Iglesia Ni Cristo bases it's doctrine in a complete ignorance of this fact, believing that in 1 Timothy 4:3 the correct understanding is "meat" of an animal. If we examine it closely, the Greek word used is “brōmatōn” (βρωμάτων). This word is a plural form of "bróma" (βρῶμα). Bible dictionary defines "bróma" as “food of any kind.” (Strong's Concordance 1033). The Greek word for "meat" is not "bróma", but "krea." "Kreas" (κρέας) is defined as “flesh; plur: pieces of flesh, kinds of flesh.” (Strong's Concordance 2907).
“It is better not to eat meat (krea, κρέα) or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.”
—Romans 14:21, New International Version
But, we must consider context. In the next verse 1 Timothy 4:4 Paul goes on to say, " for every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused", if it be received with thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteHe is obviously talking about animal flesh. Context is King!!!
Please bear in mind the word "κτίσμα" can also be rendered "created thing," not only "creature." This is important.
DeleteWe must also remember God's original purpose for animals upon his creation of them was not for human consumption. Adam & Eve were given a garden to eat from, and the consumption of animals was only allowed after the flood occurred.