Why SDAs

Recommend a
Vegetarian Diet?

Fred Hardinge, DrPH, RD

Associate Director
General Conference Health Ministeries
 Three Reasons

•Health
•Spiritual
•Ecological
Position  of  the  SDA  Church
 Position of the SDA Church

“The diet God ordained in the Garden of Eden--the

vegetarian diet--is the ideal, but sometimes we cannot have
the ideal. In those circumstances, in any given situation or
locale, those who wish to stay in optimum health will eat the
best food that they can obtain.”
--Seventh-day Adventists Believe
SDA Working Policy, Health Ministries, p. 303
 Health

• Stewards=managers
• Health is a dividend of making good choices
 Holistic View of Man

"Every true Christian should, therefore, take a broader view of Christ's

mission than merely to say, 'God forgives sins.' In forgiving of sin, it
should be remembered that there is also a removing of the effects of
sin, and sickness is one of these effects. Repentance toward God
includes, therefore, a ceasing to transgress physical laws; and faith in
Christ Jesus embraces God as the author of these laws, as well as
what is termed the moral law, which lies back of all transgression, both
physical and moral." "Christ the Healer From the Beginning," The Medical
Missionary 1 (May 1891), p. 84.
 Holistic View of Man

"Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. That we may truly
glorify Him in our bodies, as in our spirits, how requisite that we
possess in full vigor all the powers of our physical being. Thank
God that this subject is now being especially set before our
people." Review and Herald, October 25, 1864, p. 176.
 Vegetarian Diet
in the Bible

1. Pre-fall Diet

2. Post-fall Diet

3. Post-flood Diet
 Emergency Rations

“Before this time God had given man no permission to eat animal
food; He intended that the race should subsist wholly upon the
productions of the earth; but now that every green thing had been
destroyed, he allowed them to eat the flesh of the clean beasts
that had been preserved in the ark.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 107
 True Fasting

The true fasting which should be recommended to all is abstinence

from every stimulating kind of food, and the proper use of
wholesome, simple food, which God has provided in abundance."
Counsel of Diets and Foods, p. 90
 Preparation for
Special Work

John the Baptist:

"The angel Gabriel, direct from heaven gave a discourse upon
health reform to the father and mother of John. . . His diet, purely
vegetable, of locusts and wild honey, was a rebuke to the
indulgence and gluttony that everywhere prevailed." Counsels on Health,
p. 72
 Preparation for
Special Work

Daniel:
“They did not move capriciously, but intelligently. They decided
that as flesh meat had not composed their diet in the past, it
should not come into their diet in the future." SDA Bible Commentary, p.
1166-7
 Preparation for
Special Work
Christ:
“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin
shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name, Immanuel.”
Isaiah 7:14

“Butter and honey shall he eat, that he might know the refuse the
evil, and choose the good.” Isaiah 7:15
 Christ Our Example

“Anything that lessens physical strength enfeebles the mind and

makes it less capable of discriminating between right and wrong.
We become less capable of choosing the good and have less
strength of will to do that which we know to be right.” Christ’s Object
Lessons, p. 356
 New Earth Diet

"They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, says the
Lord" Isa. 65:25
"Along the bank of the river, and this side and that, will grow all
kinds of trees used for food;...Their fruit will be for food, and their
leaves for medicine" Eze. 47:12
 Ecological

Psalm 104:
• God created the earth and all things in it.
• The earth and all things in it belong to God.
• The earth and all things in it were created perfectly.
• This perfection still shines through.
 RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

STEWARDS/TRUSTEES

HOW WE TREAT GOD’S CREATION

“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and
be in health, just as your soul prospers.” 3 John2
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