July 14, 2004 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

My friends, the Bible does not command any certain diet and there is no such thing as one special diet that Christians should follow.

Yet George Malkmus has his “Hallelujah Diet,” and Don Colbert has the “What Would Jesus Eat” diet, and now Jordan Rubin has “The Maker’s Diet,” all boasting to be Bible-based. Rubin claims that “God gave me this health message” (“New Diet Plans Take Cue from the Bible,” USA Today, June 10).

In fact, there is no Bible diet plan.

From the days of Adam to the flood of Noah, it appears that men were vegetarians, stemming from God’s command in Gen. 1:29-30. After the flood, men were instructed to eat meat as well as vegetables (Gen. 9:3). Under the Law of Moses, the nation Israel continued to eat meat, but some animals were designated clean and others, unclean. The Lord Jesus Christ was a Jew and lived under the law and therefore followed the Mosaic dietary system.

When the church was established, all former restrictions were done away. The New Testament condemns those who teach that men should “abstain from meats,” labeling them dangerous false teachers (1 Tim. 4:1-2), and plainly states, “For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.”

Thus, as there is no divine command in regard to dieting, diet is a personal and individual matter.

Each person is different, with his own metabolism, taste, culture, lifestyle and occupation, and health, and diet must be determined on this basis and not on some plan purporting to be from the Bible.