Glenn's Space

What Does the Bible Say About..Eating Meat on Good Friday? 

The Bible does not require anyone to abstain from meat on any day. In fact, the only passages in the New Testament that talk about it are Acts 15:29 and 1 Timothy 4:3. The passage in Acts 15 says that the only parts of the Law of Moses required by the elders and apostles in the congregation in Jerusalem were prohibitions against idolatry, fornication, and eating blood and meats from strangled animals. It says nothing about abstaining on certain days.

The passage in 1 Timothy 4:1-3 says, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.” This says that people who command others to abstain from meats are false teachers. Whether it is talking about people who insist that others practice a vegetarian lifestyle at all times or whether it is talking about abstaining only on certain days (like Fridays) is unclear. Maybe it applies to both.

The practice of not eating meat on Fridays (all Fridays) dates back to about the fourth century. It is written in some writings of that time that it was a practice, but does not say it was a sin. Anyone who says it is a sin would have to prove it by the Bible, and the Bible says that requiring people to abstain from meat is itself a sin. Anyone who chooses not to eat meat on any particular day is within their rights to do so. Anyone who requires it of others is absolutely wrong.