The apostle John (who wrote the book of Revelation) wrote, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." 3 John 2. He was just as concerned about the physical well-being of God's people, as he was of their spiritual health.

The apostle to the Gentiles wrote, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Romans 12:1.

The apostle Peter instructs us to add "to knowledge temperance." 2 Peter 1:6.

The reason why temperance is such a spiritual necessity is brought out in the following verses:

"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.

"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any many defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17.

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31.

Clearly, these verses teach that temperance and diet are inseparable from genuine religion.

From a nutritional standpoint, the evidence is now overwhelmingly clear that human nutritional requirements are best met by plant, not animal, products. And interestingly, the diseases that account for three-fourths of all deaths in the United States virtually do not exist in parts of the world where animal flesh is not eaten.

1. Vegetarianism was the original diet given to man by his Creator. Genesis 1:29.
2. For the first ten generations, people lived to be nearly a thousand years old. Genesis 5:5-27. After flesh foods were introduced, man's life span was drastically cut. Genesis 9:3; Genesis 11:10-32.
3. God never permitted His people to eat animal fat or blood--two substances found in meat. Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 3:17; 7:23, 24; 19:26; Acts 15:20.
4. When God led His people out of Egypt, He tried to place them back on a vegetarian diet. But because they craved animal flesh, God let them have quail to eat. However, "while the flesh was yet between their teeth . . . the Lord smote the people with a very great plague," showing His displeasure. Numbers 11:4-34; Psalm 78:18-31. "He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul." Psalm 106:15. Referring to that experience, the apostle Paul wrote, "Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted." 1 Corinthians 10:6.
5. In some passages, the eating of flesh is associated with the careless lifestyle of the ungodly. "Be not among winebibers; among riotous eaters of flesh." Proverbs 23:20. "Slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die." Isaiah 22:13.
6. The book of Daniel, with its vital prophecies for the time of the end, opens with a lesson on the superiority of a vegetarian diet. Daniel 1:1-21.
7. That God never intended for animal flesh to be eaten is evidenced by His ultimate plan to restore man back to an Eden environment where there will be no more death, and all will partake of a vegetarian diet. Isaiah 65:25; Revelation 21:4; 22:2.