A CHOSEN DIET OF JOHN THE BAPTIST: MATTHEW 3:4 IN THE LIGHT OF HEALTH REFORM TEACHING ON NATURAL DIET
Abstract
John the Baptist’s choice of living on a natural diet, locusts and honey, is central to the Matthean narrative. Studies have shown that the choice of diet has remained the last resort for the reduction of the global burden of non-communicable disease and is included in Goal three of the 2015 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on healthy living and well-being for all ages. Previous studies on the choice of diet have focused more on the individual and global human health benefits and consequences than its contributions to physically healthy living and spiritual upliftment of humans from the scriptural context. Therefore, this paper examines John the Baptist’s chosen diet in Matthew 3:4 within Health Reform Teaching on a natural diet. This was with a view to establishing the right dietary choice for humans, especially the Seventh Day Adventists. Peter Stuhlmacher’s theory of biblical interpretation was adopted and the interpretive design was used. The paper reveals that John the Baptist’s chosen natural diet in Matthew 3:4 contributed to his physical healthy living and spiritual upliftment. While a natural diet has little or no cholesterol, a fleshy diet has saturated fat and creates the risk of the direct transfer of diseases (cardiovascular diseases) and toxins (mercury) from meat and fish to humans when not properly cooked, which later results in cancer, tumour, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, high blood pressure, obesity, etc.). The paper recommends that living on a natural diet is of great importance to humans as enshrined in Matthew 3:4.
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