Dr. Robert Holt, who visited the Qumran monastery repeatedly from 1992
to 1997 and all the other sites connected with the Essenes nearby and
in the Wilderness of Judea, was not certain that all the Essenes,
including Jesus and his disciples were vegetarians until he read,
among other books, James,
the Brother of Jesus,
by Professor
Robert Eisenman of the California State University at Long Beach
(Viking, 1996).
This very scholarly book with a myriad of contemporary citations
proves without a shadow of a doubt that James and all his brothers
were vegetarians. One of these brothers was, of course, Jesus
Christ. Those gospel stories in which Jesus either cooks fish or
eats "broiled fish" can, and should be, interpreted
symbolically.
Robert Eisenman is of
the opinion that the Essenes had their beginnings in the times of the
Maccabees, about 167 BC. When the priest Mattathias refused to offer
swine's flesh on an altar set up in Modin for that purpose, then
killed the messenger of the Syrian dictator Antiochus Epiphanes and
fled into the wilderness with his family, they all became vegetarians
because it was impossible to follow the "Kosher" rules of
the Mosaic law under those conditions. The Essenes who
lived in the wilderness and at Qumran continued this vegetarian way of
life, and discovered they lived longer and had better health because
of this diet. As the chief Bible copyists of that era,
they have edited enough vegetarianism into the Old Testament to allow
modern Seventh-day Adventists to justify this lifestyle in modern
times.
Note that: Adam and Eve
were commanded by God to eat "fruits, grains, and herbs"
after they were created on the 6th day (Genesis 1:29,30)
Not until after the Flood
was man permitted a flesh diet, with restrictions (Gen. 9:3-5)
When God restricted
Israel's diet to "manna" they "lusted" for
meat. At which time God sent them quail, which they consumed too
much of, and many died. (Numbers 11:34)
Daniel and his companions
were specially blessed with superior knowledge when the refused meat
from the king's table, and chose to eat "pulse" (vegetables)
(Dan. 1:8-20)
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