The Sin of Cannibalism

[ChristopherPaul]

What makes Cannibalism a violation of the God's moral law?

It seems obvious that it is immoral to eat other humans, but why exactly is it wrong, assuming that killing is not involved first.

Does it violate the law to love God or the law to love our neighbor?

 

[crhoades]

All of these passages portray the eating of human flesh as the outworkings of the curse of God in either war or famine. I deduce from that, that it is not a good thing to do...I must ask...What brought this question up?

Leviticus 26:27-30 27 "But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, 28 then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will discipline you sevenfold for your sins. 29 You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. 30 And I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars and cast your dead bodies upon the dead bodies of your idols, and my soul will abhor you.

Deuteronomy 28:49-58 49 The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand, 50 a hard-faced nation who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young. 51 It shall eat the offspring of your cattle and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed; it also shall not leave you grain, wine, or oil, the increase of your herds or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish. 52 "They shall besiege you in all your towns, until your high and fortified walls, in which you trusted, come down throughout all your land. And they shall besiege you in all your towns throughout all your land, which the LORD your God has given you. 53 And you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and daughters, whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you. 54 The man who is the most tender and refined among you will begrudge food to his brother, to the wife he embraces, and to the last of the children whom he has left, 55 so that he will not give to any of them any of the flesh of his children whom he is eating, because he has nothing else left, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your towns. 56 The most tender and refined woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because she is so delicate and tender, will begrudge to the husband she embraces, to her son and to her daughter, 57 her afterbirth that comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears, because lacking everything she will eat them secretly, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your towns. 58 "If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the LORD your God,

Isaiah 49:25-26 25 For thus says the LORD: "Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the tyrant be rescued, for I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children. 26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine. Then all flesh shall know that I am the LORD your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."

Jeremiah 19:8-9 And I will make this city a horror, a thing to be hissed at. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its wounds. 9 And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his neighbor in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them.'

Micah 3:1-4 ESV Micah 3:1 And I said: Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?-- 2 you who hate the good and love the evil, who tear the skin from off my people and their flesh from off their bones, 3 who eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones in pieces and chop them up like meat in a pot, like flesh in a cauldron. 4 Then they will cry to the LORD, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have made their deeds evil.

 

[Average Joey]

I shouldn`t distract from the thread,but my wife being from Sumatra and all reminds me that she most likely has cannibals in her family tree within the past two hundred or so years.I better not make her mad.

 

[MrMerlin777]

I shouldn`t distract from the thread,but my wife being from Sumatra and all reminds me that she most likely has cannibals in her family tree within the past two hundred or so years.I better not make her mad.

 

[ChristopherPaul]

So is it a sin because the pagans do it?

What moral law does this violate?

All of these passages portray the eating of human flesh as the outworkings of the curse of God in either war or famine. I deduce from that, that it is not a good thing to do...I must ask...What brought this question up?

Well, I was talking with a cannibal friend of mine and he simply asked me to tell him how cannibalism is a sin, so...

Honestly it is a question that has been stirring in my mind. My wife and I just got our North Carolina drivers license (our current ones were New Jersey) and we were asked about being organ donors. I have heard that some people do not donate for the same reasons we do not eat human flesh. But for the life of me I can’t figure out why we don’t do this other than it is just wrong and nasty. So back on the proverbial loop I go, why is it wrong and nasty?


I suppose this is not a nice and fun holiday topic.

 

[SRoper]

Sumatra has been Islamic for at least 500 years, so I think you are safe (from cannibalism, at least).

 

[SRoper]

The passages quoted suggest that the persons would murder their offspring for food. We find this curse played out in 2 Ki. 6.

 

[Average Joey]

Sumatra has been Islamic for at least 500 years, so I think you are safe (from cannibalism, at least).

Mainly, in the big cities.There were many cannibals in the deep dark jungles of Sumatra up until last century.Another Indonesian friend of mine tells me that her descendants were in fact cannibals.She is from Batak,Sumatra.It is located in the Northern part.My wife on the other hand doesn`t know anything about her ancestors.

 

[turmeric]

It is a primitive notion of identification - they tend to eat people who have a characteristic, such as physical strength, that they want. You are what you eat!

 

[R. Scott Clark]

I think there are religious overtones of eating blood as a way of gaining divinity.

It seems to be, in most cases, a violation of the law of love. Unless you want to be eaten, you ought not to eat someone else.

What I really want to know, however, is why you thought of this? Any strange cravings lately?

rsc

It is a primitive notion of identification - they tend to eat people who have a characteristic, such as physical strength, that they want. You are what you eat!

 

[Average Joey]

Joe...

Your wife is what suku? Batak? Some dialects engaged in isolated instances of cannibalism even after the Mslm conquest of Indonesia until modern times.


I would say (emphatically) that tribal cannibalims is MUCH different than south-american-soccer-player type cannibalism.

The former is ALWAYS part and parcel of animistic religious practices and the latter is mere survival which may or may not be a sin (I tend to think it is not if for sheer survival).



So the Asmat of South Papua are worlds apart from the Dinner..... errr..the Donner Party.

Leny is half Javanese and half Chinese.As far as she knows anyway.I would have to explain later in u2u.

 

[3John2]

I'm corresponding with a friend from Medan, INdonesia & she mentioned her ancestors were cannibals as well. They are from the Batak Sumulungu(sp?) people. Having said that she is a christian on fire which is great!!! I just sent her a Piper book for Christmas. I just pray it doesnt get stolen at customs.

 

[Average Joey]

I'm corresponding with a friend from Medan, INdonesia & she mentioned her ancestors were cannibals as well. They are from the Batak Sumulungu(sp?) people. Having said that she is a christian on fire which is great!!! I just sent her a Piper book for Christmas. I just pray it doesnt get stolen at customs.

That is exactly where my other friend is from and she is a Christian as well!Batak people have great singing voices btw.

 

[ChristopherPaul]

I think there are religious overtones of eating blood as a way of gaining divinity.

It seems to be, in most cases, a violation of the law of love. Unless you want to be eaten, you ought not to eat someone else.

Assuming murder is not involved, what besides the law of the land should stop me from eating my dead Aunt Ruth? The law of love? How is it unloving? She is dead? When if she consents? We aren’t like the pagans who are superstitious people or mystics when it comes to our deceased bodies, so why is it wrong?

What I really want to know, however, is why you thought of this? Any strange cravings lately?

No, I just do not have an answer to why it is morally wrong. I already answered why I thought of this in my previous post.

 

[R. Scott Clark]

Well, it is contrary to creation/nature. Human beings were not created to eat other human beings, deceased or not. The fact that some folks have managed to suppress this natural law (as other groups have suppressed other natural laws against sodomy and the like) does not falsify the law itself.

It's not as if -- no matter what happens on CSI -- human beings cease to be image bearers even post mortem. The body-soul separation that happens at death is unnatural and temporary. The body therefore is naturally integral to the human person as an image-bearer and hence the prohibition against murder in Gen 9 is connected to bloodshed and the image.

To eat another human being is to desecrate something sacred, the body of another image-bearer. It is an attack against their person.

On this ground I also oppose cremation.

rsc

Assuming murder is not involved, what besides the law of the land should stop me from eating my dead Aunt Ruth? The law of love? How is it unloving? She is dead? When if she consents? We aren’t like the pagans who are superstitious people or mystics when it comes to our deceased bodies, so why is it wrong?



No, I just do not have an answer to why it is morally wrong. I already answered why I thought of this in my previous post.

 

[ChristopherPaul]

This is very helpful Dr. Clark, thank you.

On the same line with Cannibalism and Cremation, do you also oppose organ donation?

 

[SRoper]

Or human dissection?

 

[R. Scott Clark]

Re: organ donation, no I don't oppose it. It can be done whilst living without destroying the image. There's a difference between eating someone's arm and donating a kidney!

The same would be true of dissection. I don't have any problem with using a body for scientific purposes. I suppose intent/purpose has something to do with things. Without dissection we would know a great deal less about the human body than we do. Nevertheless, as an CSI fan, I'm a little shocked by how cavalier we seem to have become about the human body. I know what med students do with them (and I've seen cadavers myself - it's a great proof for Eph 2; when Paul says "dead in sins..." I always think of those cold, stiff, cadavers. It is amazing what some folk do to their bodies, but I digress) and while a certain hardness about death is understandable, it's not to be encouraged. A dissected body can still be treated humanely and buried with dignity. The same isn't true with cremation, the effect of which is to utterly destroy the body so it is no longer recognizably human nor is it the same with cannibalism wherein a fellow image-bearer is reduced to, if I must, food. Yikes! This whole discussion is making me a little nauseous.

rsc

This is very helpful Dr. Clark, thank you.

On the same line with Cannibalism and Cremation, do you also oppose organ donation?

 

[bowhunter1961]

cremation...

its my understanding that cremation was brought about to try outrun judgment? no body, no judgment

 

[ChristopherPaul]

This whole discussion is making me a little nauseous.

If only all sins would have the same affect on us.

Thanks for your insight.

 

[No Longer A Libertine]

Someone commented on the prevalence of canniblaism in this part of the world and I can testify for you that it is alive and well in parts of South East Asia.

I spent four years of my childhood growing up in Borneo. Our maid was a Catholic converted from the Ebon tribe of Sarawak. One must wonder how partaking in the Catholic communion was such an easy concept for a cannibal heritage.

She was second generation non-headhunter, her grandfather had been a cannibal and head shrinker, needless to say family recipes were not being swapped.

Borneo is still a largely undisturbed canvas of natural beauty that Westernization has barely dented, cannibals are still in the heart of the Borneo jungle and every now and then some goofy Baptist missionaries will try to go reason with them and never return.

The fear of them was real in Brunei, the Royal Marines were on helicopter patrol after rumors of their emergence from the jungle were circulating around the town.

We lived right next door to the jungle and our neighbors house had mysterious footprints in the mud by a window as if someone had been peering in.

I also know that on the Indonesian side of the island some tribal warefare broke out in supposed civilization. Tribesmen who were supposedly Muslims got mad at the foreign element of Muslim and combined Jihad with cannibalism, not a pretty sight.

They began killing fellow Muslims and eating them, this was as recent as 1999 and I heard of another incidnet in 2003.

The one in 1999 was widespread and gruesome, some 100 dead.

Cannibalism the best I can tell is a manifestation of our depravity in the sense that sin makes man more animal like and eating your own is the conduct of a beast and not an image bearer.

 

[ChristopherPaul]

Ironic that this was bumped at the same time I created a new thread referencing it.

 

[No Longer A Libertine]

I'm corresponding with a friend from Medan, INdonesia & she mentioned her ancestors were cannibals as well. They are from the Batak Sumulungu(sp?) people. Having said that she is a christian on fire which is great!!! I just sent her a Piper book for Christmas. I just pray it doesnt get stolen at customs.

If they steal it they must've needed to read it more than your friend.

 

[LadyFlynt]

bowhunter1961, I love your avatar! Could you please click on the Signature Requirements link in my signature to update yours?

 

[BlackCalvinist]

Dr. Clark (and others who agree with him),

I posted in another thread that I get and agree with the Cannibalism part. I don't see the cremation part, though.

I still don't see the link.

I understand his argument on cannibalism and I can agree.

Cremation, I cannot.

Where is the 'line' that says a particular act (for example, he opposed cannibalism and creation, but said ok to organ donation and dissection) constitutes 'attacking the image' ?

 

[satz]

To be honest I have never liked the 'against nature' arguments. They more often than not seem to be an excuse to push a conservative opinion when there is no or limited biblical backing.

For the moment, I would oppose cannibalism and cremation on substantially the same grounds.

My basic argument would be that Jesus Christ died for both our bodies and souls/spirits. The idea of a resurection indicates it is our current bodies that will be resurrected and glorified, not just that our spirits will be given completely new bodies. I am still slightly tentative on this one, but it seems to me burial of the body indicates faith in the resurrection and that the body is waiting for the return of its Creator and Savior. To destroy the body is contrary to the idea the Jesus bought your body and is coming back to glorify it.

At least that's where I am for now.

 

[BlackCalvinist]

To be honest I have never liked the 'against nature' arguments. They more often than not seem to be an excuse to push a conservative opinion when there is no or limited biblical backing.

For the moment, I would oppose cannibalism and cremation on substantially the same grounds.

My basic argument would be that Jesus Christ died for both our bodies and souls/spirits. The idea of a resurection indicates it is our current bodies that will be resurrected and glorified, not just that our spirits will be given completely new bodies. I am still slightly tentative on this one, but it seems to me burial of the body indicates faith in the resurrection and that the body is waiting for the return of its Creator and Savior. To destroy the body is contrary to the idea the Jesus bought your body and is coming back to glorify it.

At least that's where I am for now.

Thanks for your answer.

In light of that, though, I wonder what happens to the bodies of:

-folks who were eaten alive by animals
-folk who were burned alive in Caesar's garden
-Christians whose bodies were obliterated on impact at 9/11 or the Pentagon
-Believers whose bodies were destroyed on the way to the bottom of the ocean (after the Titanic sank)
-Believers who donated body parts (organs, hands, eyes, etc...) to other believers ?

 

[satz]

Thanks for your answer.

In light of that, though, I wonder what happens to the bodies of:

-folks who were eaten alive by animals
-folk who were burned alive in Caesar's garden
-Christians whose bodies were obliterated on impact at 9/11 or the Pentagon
-Believers whose bodies were destroyed on the way to the bottom of the ocean (after the Titanic sank)
-Believers who donated body parts (organs, hands, eyes, etc...) to other believers ?

Regarding those whose bodies are destroyed, God is obviously able to reassemble them from their component atoms or whatever ( ). I guess its not that we have a responsiblity to preserve our bodies, as all bodies will rot away in the ground anyway, but rather that purposely burning the body of a believer seems inconsistent with faith in the resurrection and glorification of our bodies. As I said, I am still somewhat tentative on this one.

As for organ donation, you may not be happy with my answer, but I would say it is just different. In a sense it is just like asking what is the line between gluttony and just enjoying good food. There are extreme examples where we know immediately that the line has been crossed, however, God does not spell out the line precisely in his word. Burning the entire body (or eating it !) is, I think, very obviously to disrespect the body. I would not feel the same way about taking a single organ from it.