What kind of animals may we eat?

Some verses say that we shouldn’t eat any animals: Genesis 1:29, Proverbs 23:20, Daniel 1:8, and Romans 14:21.  Other verses say we can eat only certain kinds of animals: Deuteronomy 14:7-8 and Leviticus 11:2-4, for instance.  Yet other verses seem to say that we can eat any kind of animal: Genesis 9:3, Mark 7:18-20, Luke 10:8, Acts 10:9-13, I Corinthians 10:25, Romans 14:2, and I Timothy 4:1-3.

So what kinds of animals, if any, may we eat?

Response

Today, we may eat all kinds of animals.

Originally, people and animals were vegetarian, but this changed after the curse for Adam’s sin.  God said people could eat meat after the Flood (Genesis 9:3).  Later, under the Law of Moses, the Israelites could eat only certain kinds of animals.  Today, we are allowed to eat the other kinds as well.

Proverbs 23:20-21 say that drunkenness and gluttony are wrong, not eating flesh (“riotous eaters of flesh”).  Daniel 1:8 said Daniel would not defile himself with “the portion of the king’s meat,” not with meat in general.  The king probably offered meat prohibited by the Law, or he may have offered it to his idols before serving it.  And Romans 14:21 is likely speaking of meat offered to idols, which was a serious topic of the day (see I Corinthians 8:1).  In any case, it is not saying that eating meat is wrong, but that we should not offend a brother (by eating meat offered to idols, for instance), even though we may know there is technically nothing wrong with this.