The Doctrine of Demons

No diet will remove all the fat from your body because the brain is entirely fat.  Without a brain, you might look good, but all you could do is run for public office.
George Bernard Shaw

Food and diet are the rage. So much so that even most ‘Christian programming’ includes segments on diet, with the ubiquitous health Nazi goose-stepping you into proper nutrition. And though I’m not a smoker, the libertarian in me takes umbrage at their ghettoization, and I have to stop myself from lighting up a cigar and refusing to move to the back of the bus.

Ignorance, misunderstandings and outright lies seem to rule. Lamb is an alkaline meat. Eating for your blood type. Flushing toxins. Avoiding eggs and eating mangosteens. Uff. Sometimes you wonder if all of North America has gone bonkers.

In his remarks through the New Testament, the apostle Paul may come across as forceful, but he is rarely cruelly incisive; however, there are some exceptions. And one of these exceptions deals with the issue of diet. Paul tells Timothy:

In the last times some will walk away from faith, and will then listen to seducing spirits and the doctrine of demons…demanding people do not eat certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, provided it is received with thanksgiving.

He certainly doesn’t mince his belief here. And though I am rarely accused of literalism by the hoi polloi, this is one place where I stand on a very small island when I apply a literal meaning.

Fat is a very important part of your food intake. The brain consists of a high percentage of fat, and a low fat diet for the young can actually interfere with the development of the brain. Scripturally, fat is indicative of the Spirit of God. Joel tells us that there is coming a time when God will pour out his Spirit upon all flesh. I think much of the anti-fat movement is rooted in an anti-Spirit spirit, a doctrine of demons that seeks to deter you from participating in what God is preparing to do now.

We are told that the man of strong faith eats meat, while the man of weak faith eats only vegetables. And though we are warned not to use strong faith to cause weak faith to fail, neither would I suggest that we are encouraged to be a people of weak faith. So, the next time you are channel surfing and happen upon someone sticking their finger at your nose and dictating your diet, politely tell them that to the pure all things are pure and find a rerun of Battlestar Galactica.

2 thoughts on “The Doctrine of Demons”

  1. Interestingly enough I’m nearly finished reading the book of Numbers and before that Leviticus (whew!) which has rule layered upon rule. What to eat, what not to eat, what to sacrifice for what purpose and if done in error, it could be a grave mistake – your own grave. So when I think about the verse you give from Timothy 4 above, I quickly think apostasy! But knowing this is not possible and though I enjoyed your witty joke Gregg – I think of the verse in 1 Corinthians, ‘Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.’ So I say whether one is a meat eater, vegetarian: vegan, ovo lacto or umpteen other choices, do it to the glory of God.

  2. Hoi Polloi….Puts me in the mood for chinese food!

    Exegesis of the word ‘vegetarian’ revealed to me its true meaning.
    veg·e·tar·i·an   [vej-i-tair-ee-uhn]
    (noun) Greek for village idiot who can not hunt or fish.

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