p. 14 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 42, No. 34. (8/31/1915)

Does Man Naturally Require Meat?

By Daniel H. Kress, M. D.

Does Comparative Anatomy Teach Us Anything?—What Was the Original Bill of Fare?—What Are the Very Best Foods?

By DANIEL H. KRESS, M. D.

BARON CUVIER, one of the best authorities on comparative anatomy, says, "The natural food of man, judging from his structure, appears to consist of fruits, roots, and other succulent parts of vegetables."

Linnæus, the distinguished naturalist, says, "Man's organization, when compared with that of other animals, shows that fruits and esculent vegetables constitute his most suitable food."

Mr. Thomas Bell, lecturer on anatomy and diseases of the teeth, also said: "The opinion which I venture to give has not been hastily formed, without what appeared to me sufficient grounds. It is not, I think, going too far to say that every fact connected with human organization goes to prove that man was originally formed a frugivorous animal." He says further, "Those animals whose teeth and digestive apparatus most nearly resemble our own, namely, the apes and monkeys, are undoubtedly frugivorous."

IS COMPARATIVE ANATOMY CONCLUSIVE?

Comparative anatomy does not furnish conclusive proof that man is a frugivorous animal. It presupposes the apes, the monkeys, and the orang-utan to be frugivorous. While I believe this to be true, yet the orang-utan, on being domesticated, has been taught to eat and relish animal food. There is an inferior race of monkeys that subsist almost entirely on the flesh of other animals. If we knew nothing of the normal habits of the monkey, we would naturally conclude that the monkey is a carnivorous creature; and should man's structure be compared with that of the flesh-eating orang-utan or monkey, we would be inclined to class man as a flesh eater. Horses, cows, sheep, and other herb-eating animals can be trained to eat animal flesh, and have been known to prefer it, in time, to their natural diet. Comparative anatomy is of value if we are acquainted with the original dietetic habits of man and those of the lower creatures.

Should the alimentary canal, the teeth, etc., of man be precisely the same in structure as those of the lion or the dog, that would not prove him to be a flesh-eating animal. Our conclusions should be based on the knowledge we have, not of man's present but of his original dietetic habits.

CARNIVOROUS ANIMALS ON VEGETABLE DIET

The lion, the tiger, the dog, and other carnivorous animals may be trained to subsist entirely, and thrive, on a vegetable diet. This has been repeatedly done. There are dog trainers who feed their dogs on an almost exclusive non-flesh diet. The dogs are said to be more easily controlled; they are not so ferocious, and are more readily taught. Hunters usually feed their best dogs on corn bread. Flesh makes the dogs stupid and short winded. When dogs are sick, meat is usually discontinued, and they are fed instead on hard breads or biscuits. Even dogs, it seems, may enjoy better health, have a kindlier disposition, and live longer, on a non-flesh diet.

Are we not justified in concluding that this is the diet best suited for even the carnivorous animals? It would seem so, especially since this is in harmony with the record given in Gen. 1: 29. After God had created man, He said: "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." Again: "And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food." "And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat." Gen. 2: 8, 9, 15, 16. It will be seen from this that the fruits, the grains, and the nuts constituted man's original diet.

To the animals were given the herbs of the field. The record reads, "And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat." Gen. 1: 30. This includes the lion, the dog, and every other creature aside from man. It is evident, therefore, that neither man nor the animals below him were originally carnivorous. All subsisted on the natural products of the earth.

WHEN MAN FELL

After man fell, and was sent forth from the Garden of Eden to cultivate the soil, God foresaw that he would be placed where there would be a scarcity of fruits and grains, or perhaps where they could not be obtained at all; so He said, "Thou shalt eat the herb of the field," the food given originally only to the lower creatures.

In providing for the creatures in the ark, the command to Noah was, "Take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten [this included fruits, grains, nuts, and vegetables, or herbs], and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them." Gen. 6: 21.

THE DIET AFTER THE FLOOD

During the Flood, vegetation was destroyed. Grass and other inferior herbage no doubt immediately began to spring forth after the water subsided. These afforded support to the herbivorous animals. But these herbs alone could not sustain man. On account of the absence of better food, God gave permission to Noah to eat, in addition to the herbs he might gather, the flesh of animals. God said, "Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things." Gen. 9: 3.

Herbs are an inferior food for man when compared with grains, nuts, and fruits; and the flesh of animals is inferior to both. The necessity of subsisting on such food only existed until the earth could be brought under cultivation and again yield to man the pure foods best adapted for him,—grains, nuts, and fruits.

With our present system of railways and other means of transportation, we are able to get grains, legumes, nuts, and fruits, from all parts of the earth. There can be no reason why man should continue to slay the lower creatures and feast upon them, and certainly there is no reason why he should raise animals for the sole purpose of slaughter in a land of plenty. Paul said, "All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient." 1 Cor. 6: 12.

LAWFUL, BUT NOT PROFITABLE

While it is lawful to subsist on the flesh of animals, certainly it is not profitable so to do, when better foods may be obtained. To eat and drink to the glory of God, or for strength and health, necessitates the selection of the purest foods that it is possible to obtain. This naturally leads man to discard the flesh of animals. Not only so, but he will gradually eat less of the herbs, which all must acknowledge are inferior as a food for man.

The laws of God, however, are suited to the circumstances of the people. In the absence of the food originally given to man, he is justified in eating the herb of the field; and in the absence or scarcity of both, he may even slay and eat.

THE DIET OF THE WILDERNESS

When the Lord led the children of Israel out of Egypt to the land of Canaan, a land of plenty, He educated them away from the use of flesh foods, and other inferior foods to which they had become accustomed in Egypt. The people rebelled, and asked for flesh. God "gave them their request; but sent leanness into their souls." Ps. 106: 15. He then gave them statutes pointing out minutely the clean and the unclean animals, and commanded them to eat only the clean. This additional statute was given because they had rebelled.

A question similar to one the Pharisees asked of Christ anciently is asked by the teachers of the law to-day: "Did not Moses command the eating of clean animals?" To this question, reply may be given similar to that which Christ gave: "Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you" to eat the flesh of these animals; "but from the beginning it was not so."

The flesh the children of Israel demanded and ate brought leanness of soul, and the visitation of a great plague, which carried off many by disease. They were at liberty to eat it, but it certainly was not profitable to do so. God does not force the mind. He places before us good and evil, life and death, and then appeals to all to choose life.

The apostle Paul, in referring to the experience of the children of Israel, says, "But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness." Then he adds: "Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. . . . Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." 1 Cor. 10: 5-11.

Certainly we ought to profit by Israel's experience.

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Coöperation Corner

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Some time ago, mention was made, in this Corner, of a request from Brother George W. Pettit, of Bombay, India, for some books for their church library. The books were sent, and Brother Pettit says:

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The True Plant of Peace

By C. L. T.

THE true plant of peace is found only in the nursery of heaven. It is expressed through to earth only on the train of God's grace, and in response to the individual order of faith. It never comes in carload lots to nations. There is no such thing as a national "peace of God." C. L. T.

Patriotism and Idolatry

By William Henry Smith

PATRIOTISM out of bounds is often idolatry. It is but worship under another name. In the ancient pagan world, the national ideals were centered about the person of an idol, used as an object of adoration. But without visible symbols, the cult of the nation may yet approach idolatry. The nation being made the chief earthly good, peoples outside its pale at once become to a degree more evil and less human, fit only for destruction. This sort of national idealism has hence been a great excuse and cause of aggressive war. It is the worship of what pertains to self, ours taking the place of God's. "The powers that be are ordained of God," truly, and entitled to reverence. Yet they are not gods themselves, nor perfectly good. Set over man, they are yet his creatures, and his the responsibility for their character. Their maintenance and improvement both in spirit and in form is a duty, and love of country and of countrymen may be rightly shown in such service, but it need not have the character of worship. Blind partiality to all connected with the native land, willingness to forget all else in attempting the furtherance of its power and prestige, often pass for the noblest manifestations of patriotism, but are really an idolatry. They both originate in and foster national egotism; and in nations as well as in individuals, this trait hinders progress. It tends to cover faults from view that ought to be corrected, and it leads to disastrous conflicts and misunderstandings among neighbors. So, in spite of the heroism of the national fanatics, those can do it more good, in the long run, who give the nation no more than its rightful place in their hearts. And withal, they will do the rest of the world no harm. W. H. S.

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Personal Touch

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Have the tracts with you at all times. Hand them to business men, to fellow passengers on cars, or to any others, as opportunity may afford. God has said that His word shall not return to Him void.

Unusually Good

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Readers of this paper will greatly appreciate the October number of the Signs of the Times Magazine. There are a dozen or more good, timely studies, besides the usual complement of current topics.

Notice the list:

"Great Signs and Wonders Soon to Be Manifested on the Earth." Nothing like them ever before seen by mortal eyes. The sacred Word points these out, just as it pointed out the awful strife now seen.

"MORMONISM IN THE CRUCIBLE."

An insight into interesting facts.

"VANITY A CAUSE OF CANCER."

A new view of this terrible disease.

"WHICH DAY IS THE SABBATH?"

Can we know definitely? What difference does it make?

"THE GREAT PEACE MOVEMENT."

A prominent sign of the end. Does the Bible say it will triumph?

"THE FIRST GREAT DECEPTION."

Where and when was it? Why should it concern us?

"THE KINGS OF THE EAST."

They are to do a certain work. What about them?

"AWAKENED!"

God's call to non-Christian lands. Their response. What is impending?

"THE GLORIES OF THE HEAVENS."

A study in astronomy.

"THE GALLIPOLI PENINSULA IN THE LIGHT OF PROPHECY."

It will pay you to keep in touch with these things.

"THE PATH OF GLORY."

"A POETIC PROPHECY."

A good selection of appropriate illustrations.

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New York Municipal Corruption Exposed

This story of the stealing and corruption by which the people of the city of New York have been robbed, their per capita public debt increased to three times the average for metropolitan communities in the United States, and the city government simultaneously reduced to near bankruptcy, would scarcely be believable were not incidents and participants for the most part sufficiently described for identification, while the author has occupied positions accrediting his knowledge of the affairs he speaks of. Within twenty-six chapters, practically every phase of the city administration is dealt with; and criminal waste, misappropriation, and extravagance, involving millions and hundreds of millions of dollars as well as the permanent welfare of the city, are exposed in connection with each. We are accustomed to hear disparagement of Oriental governments, like Turkey or China, on the score of corruption; but their annals could scarcely furnish instances of venality parallel to those in New York here described, and the sums involved in their crookedness would look small by comparison. The conditions in New York are typical of those in many smaller cities. But while interesting, they cannot be called inspiring, so far as the present outlook is concerned. After reading it, one will be apt to agree that there is much truth in the words placed in the mouth of a merchant who figures in the conversation introducing the story: "We have reached a stage in human existence where the greed for personal gain has crushed out every other instinct." "I hope the future will bring forth a race of better men, who will feel for their fellow beings as they do for themselves," he continued; and believers in the Bible prophecies may trust that this hope will be fulfilled, though not as he expected.

Book Notice

"Bankrupting a Great City (The Story of New York)," by Henry H. Klein, 187 pages. Paper, 40c; cloth, 75c. Postpaid. Published by the author, Tribune Building, New York City.

The Conscience as a Guide

By Eliza H. Morton

SOME suppose that the conscience is a guide, an instructor, and a voice to be obeyed always. It is true that the conscience is primarily a monitor given by God, and should be regarded.

Conscience, however, is a matter of education. It bows to a standard; and if the standard is wrong, the conscience will be an unsafe guide.

The word of God is the only true standard of righteousness. The conscience should be educated by that. The Bible instructs and guides, while the conscience prompts and prods. The conscience makes its decisions in accordance with the information possessed by the mind. Every man has a sense of right and wrong (Gen. 3: 15; John 1: 9), and that feeling depends on the light that has been received.

When men do not live up to the light they have received, their consciences become seared. 1 Tim. 4: 2. God will enlighten those who honestly desire to know the truth. When the conscience is educated by the Bible, it becomes at times an audible voice. "And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left." Isa. 30: 21.

ELIZA H. MORTON.

Let Us Not Be Weary in Well-Doing

"LET us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

"Will Be Near after Death"

A PHYSICIAN of some note, residing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, recently died, leaving the assurance that "I will, if possible, be ever near and be of help" to all "who have contributed to make my stay on earth pleasant." It is remarkable what a strong hold the superstition that man is conscious in death has upon the human mind. Men who are masters in scientific study, and who scoff at superstitions and mysticisms, will nevertheless bow their splendid intellects before the theory that only the body of the man dies, and that a mysterious, invisible something within him escapes and lives on and on.

If man has such an eternal, undying spirit, why does it not have sufficient intelligence to make itself known while the man is living? When we are talking to a live man, we do not think of some spirit within him. We think of the man himself.

A single text of Scripture, if we would allow it to have weight, would forever settle this question: "For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun." Eccl. 9: 4-6.

Observe that this text says "the dead know not anything." Furthermore, their love, their hatred, and their envy are perished; and not only so, but they do not have "any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun." Therefore they cannot come back after their death to talk with their friends.

But there is an invisible spirit that the Bible represents as having been cast out of heaven, who may come back, and who does transform himself at times into an angel of light. 2 Cor. 11: 14. And some of the strongest warnings given in the Bible are against the evil spirits that will work their masterly deceptions in the last days.

The majority of mankind have been trained from their infancy to believe in the immortality of the soul, and that a man has a conscious spirit which escapes his body at death and lives on. But Bible students should get beyond such theories; and certainly all thinkers, regardless of their views of the Bible, ought to be able to see the absurdity of such a superstition.

Continue reading: What Another Year of War May Mean