Christians: gluttony as a sin

Riders · Dec 1, 2019

Here's one of the billions of scriptures with the warning against gluttony in but, I couldn't even read them all there were so many.
Philippians 3:18-19 ESV / 371 helpful votes
For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV / 360 helpful votes

Their God is their belly oh my!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1213 · Dec 1, 2019

SigurdReginson said:
Heya folks! I know gluttony as a sin is probably a bigger deal in Catholicism than any other branch of Christianity, but I'm curious to know how other Christians feel. There are many different denominations that teach that it's sinful behavior to varying degrees. I was taught that it was sinful behavior growing up, but it was never really expanded on to any degree. I'm curious to know what you all think. On a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the worst, how sinful is it?...

I think sin is to reject God, or to live without/apart from God. There are many ways to reject God, but it is still the same. And about breaking the law, according to the Bible, it doesn’t really matter on what part you break it, you have then violated the whole law and all violations are basically as bad.

For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he has become guilty of all.
James 2:10

robocop (actually) · Dec 1, 2019

SigurdReginson said:
Heya folks! I know gluttony as a sin is probably a bigger deal in Catholicism than any other branch of Christianity, but I'm curious to know how other Christians feel. There are many different denominations that teach that it's sinful behavior to varying degrees. I was taught that it was sinful behavior growing up, but it was never really expanded on to any degree. I'm curious to know what you all think. On a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the worst, how sinful is it?

The poll is for Christians, but for non Christians, I'd like to hear your input on the subject as well.

Thanks!

I'm between 4 and 5 on your poll. It's one of the seven deadly sins.

sealchan · Dec 1, 2019

Amanaki said:
Do you think everyone who is obese want to be it? or maybe they have a sickness that makes them obese. an example is some medicines make you want more food then you need so one gains weight.
And no, people who are obese or struggle to lose weight are not disgusting nor are they disgusting to touch.

Sinning doesn't necessarily mean you are disgusting.

I think that there is a lot of temptation in certain cultures...quick, easy, fatty and/or carby food. And let's face it, Americans don't exercise. They absolutely should though. That is a sin.

If I see a Christian that is fat I think, "They have some work to do." Maybe its a diagnosed condition, they certainly exist. But more likely it is years of displacing stress or other unexplored feelings by "eating". Most churches don't have the psychological sophistication to do much more than provide group support and prayer. How does one identify the inner psychological turmoil and find a way to gratify one's instincts and emotions more accurately, purely and effectively? There is very scant knowledge in the church that isn't drenched in meaningless dogma. There wouldn't be pedophile priests if there was.

I think that it is a sin. But we all sin, Christian or no. Anyone who tells you you don't sin is a sinner (lying) or just plain psychologically ignorant (but probably practices, knowingly or not, habits of willful ignorance (sounds like a thread i should start...to catalog habits of willful ignorance)).

I have been working all of my adult life on eating better. I am overweight. My parents took care of me but we didn't discuss feelings very well. So we ate. That is a legacy that I struggle with but I am doing better. I eat less, I eat better and I have exercised for years. That is my burden of sin and that is my spiritual accomplishment against it.

Riders · Dec 1, 2019

sealchan said:
Sinning doesn't necessarily mean you are disgusting.

I think that there is a lot of temptation in certain cultures...quick, easy, fatty and/or carby food. And let's face it, Americans don't exercise. They absolutely should though. That is a sin.

If I see a Christian that is fat I think, "They have some work to do." Maybe its a diagnosed condition, they certainly exist. But more likely it is years of displacing stress or other unexplored feelings by "eating". Most churches don't have the psychological sophistication to do much more than provide group support and prayer. How does one identify the inner psychological turmoil and find a way to gratify one's instincts and emotions more accurately, purely and effectively? There is very scant knowledge in the church that isn't drenched in meaningless dogma. There wouldn't be pedophile priests if there was.

I think that it is a sin. But we all sin, Christian or no. Anyone who tells you you don't sin is a sinner (lying) or just plain psychologically ignorant (but probably practices, knowingly or not, habits of willful ignorance (sounds like a thread i should start...to catalog habits of willful ignorance)).

I have been working all of my adult life on eating better. I am overweight. My parents took care of me but we didn't discuss feelings very well. So we ate. That is a legacy that I struggle with but I am doing better. I eat less, I eat better and I have exercised for years. That is my burden of sin and that is my spiritual accomplishment against it.

'
My Dads Primitive Baptist church has a bg potluck every Sunday. I always felt like they used it to get me there. There;s usually 4 different chicken dishes if not more, ham. enchiladas, spaghetti and meatballs I mean like several different meats tons of sides and many different deserts food grief!
But anyways congrats on your weight loss and exercise!

I believe I have lost somewhere between 8 and 14 pounds over the last month. Mys cales broke. I get weighed next Thursday at the drs office! wish me luck!I did not do it the right way in the beginning only having 2 meals and allowing myself to replace them with 3 or 4 cokes a day thinking sense I was drinking less coke it would help.

When my scales was working indeed my weight went down but I know now its not healthy so getting of the cokes and starting back on the Body For Life plan this week.

exchemist · Dec 2, 2019

SigurdReginson said:
Heya folks! I know gluttony as a sin is probably a bigger deal in Catholicism than any other branch of Christianity, but I'm curious to know how other Christians feel. There are many different denominations that teach that it's sinful behavior to varying degrees. I was taught that it was sinful behavior growing up, but it was never really expanded on to any degree. I'm curious to know what you all think. On a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the worst, how sinful is it?

The poll is for Christians, but for non Christians, I'd like to hear your input on the subject as well.

Thanks!

I'm curious as to what makes you think Catholics single this one out. Can you elaborate?

Yes I think gluttony (suitably defined) is a sin, as is any form of abuse of resources or lack of self-control. Lack of control over one's bodily impulses is to be deplored. Just as we generally refrain from physically attacking those who annoys us, or from getting drunk, so we should refrain from guzzling food in excess or otherwise wasting it, shouldn't we?

Obesity, which I see has been raised as a related topic, is another thing. Sometimes it results from simple gluttony. Sometimes it results from bad diet, often influenced by culture (notably the "car and Coca-Cola" culture of the USA, which is where the worst obesity on the planet is to be found). It is no coincidence, I am sure, that the poor in "Western" societies tend to have the highest proportion of very fat people. In the UK it often seems to be due to eating a lot of pre-prepared meals from the supermarket or take-away, instead of cooking. A lot of fat and sugars, especially high-fructose* corn syrup, gets stirred into these concoctions. They are unnatural, industrial recipes, made for ease of manufacture and to be addictive. People with little free time, working long or unsocial shift hours may resort to these a lot - and one can see the results.

*There is interesting research suggesting that apes like us, from our fruit-eating past, have a metabolism that converts fructose rapidly into fat. Now that we are omnivores, this metabolic pathway is unnecessary. But it is still there, apparently.

exchemist · Dec 2, 2019

ideogenous_mover said:
As well, wasn't there a verse where Jesus complained he was accused of being a 'drunk and a glutton.' What does that mean in relation to the church's denunciation. Also it says, 'don't worry about what you eat, for the kingdom of heaven is more than the stomach,' and Paul was shown of vision of a multitude of animals he was told to eat for some reason.

That was Jesus joking that he couldn't win.

I paraphrase: "First there came John the Baptist, who was so ascetic he ate and drank almost nothing - and people moaned that he was a crank. And now I come, and I eat and drink with people normally, and what happens? People moan that I am a drunk and a glutton already! Oy vey, with some people, you just can't win."

amorphous_constellation · Dec 2, 2019

exchemist said:
That was Jesus joking that he couldn't win.

I paraphrase: "First there came John the Baptist, who was so ascetic he ate and drank almost nothing - and people moaned that he was a crank. And now I come, and I eat and drink with people normally, and what happens? People moan that I am a drunk and a glutton already! Oy vey, with some people, you just can't win."

well in luke 12:22 he says not to even worry about what you eat. So who knows how much he ate or what it was, or how often he was able to do it as he met people. The verse in luke indicates that he may not have been mindful of a specific diet, most likely there was no discrimination between foods. And why would john not eat much, what was he trying to prove if the son of man didn't go eating grasshoppers and whatever wild honey he could find? Maybe it was just a matter of personal preference, maybe John liked grubs and Jesus liked fine roasts? Seems like a mystery

exchemist · Dec 2, 2019

ideogenous_mover said:
well in luke 12:22 he says not to even worry about what you eat. So who knows how much he ate or what it was, or how often he was able to do it as he met people. The verse in luke indicates that he may not have been mindful of a specific diet, most likely there was no discrimination between foods. And why would john not eat much, what was he trying to prove if the son of man didn't go eating grasshoppers and whatever wild honey he could find? Maybe it was just a matter of personal preference, maybe John liked grubs and Jesus liked fine roasts? Seems like a mystery

Come on, don't be naive, there is a pervasive, ancient tradition, in practically all religions, for holy men to be ascetics. It's all about intellectual mastery over your body. Almost every religion involves something about teaching you to subdue your animal desires and be their master, through exercise of the will. That's the tradition Lent and Ramadan come from, too. Jesus himself did the first Lenten fast: 40 days in the wilderness, fasting. That's why Lent is the length it is.

But Jesus was not like John the Baptist: he engaged with all sorts of people in their daily lives (some of them notably rather insalubrious, in the eyes of the sticklers for the Law). He was keen, it seems, not to be a "weirdo" and to make his teaching accessible to everyone.

amorphous_constellation · Dec 2, 2019

exchemist said:
Come on, don't be naive, there is a pervasive, ancient tradition, in practically all religions, for holy men to be ascetics.

Well I think for the ancient Jews, they were the Essenes. Described by various ancient commentators as living the desert and avoiding marriage, oddly they aren't really mentioned in the new testament, I don't think. But they represented a radical way of doing spirituality, the first monk-like way

SigurdReginson · Dec 2, 2019

exchemist said:
I'm curious as to what makes you think Catholics single this one out. Can you elaborate?

Yes I think gluttony (suitably defined) is a sin, as is any form of abuse of resources or lack of self-control. Lack of control over one's bodily impulses is to be deplored. Just as we generally refrain from physically attacking those who annoys us, or from getting drunk, so we should refrain from guzzling food in excess or otherwise wasting it, shouldn't we?

Obesity, which I see has been raised as a related topic, is another thing. Sometimes it results from simple gluttony. Sometimes it results from bad diet, often influenced by culture (notably the "car and Coca-Cola" culture of the USA, which is where the worst obesity on the planet is to be found). It is no coincidence, I am sure, that the poor in "Western" societies tend to have the highest proportion of very fat people. In the UK it often seems to be due to eating a lot of pre-prepared meals from the supermarket or take-away, instead of cooking. A lot of fat and sugars, especially high-fructose* corn syrup, gets stirred into these concoctions. They are unnatural, industrial recipes, made for ease of manufacture and to be addictive. People with little free time, working long or unsocial shift hours may resort to these a lot - and one can see the results.

*There is interesting research suggesting that apes like us, from our fruit-eating past, have a metabolism that converts fructose rapidly into fat. Now that we are omnivores, this metabolic pathway is unnecessary. But it is still there, apparently.

I wouldn't say that catholics single this sin out more than any other sin, but I would say that it seems like Catholics pay more attention to certain sinful behaviors than other forms of Christianity. There's no seven deadly sins that I can remember in the denominations of Christianity that I grew up with. I don't think Baptists or Evangelicals have much if anything to say on the subject, wheras Catholic holy men like St. Gregory have written on the topic in depth.

I've read passages in the bible that mention gluttony in passing, but nothing specifically condemning it. The bible does, however, have passages referring to people's bodies as temples to the lord. That's the analogy I remember, but this was brought up more when questions of hurtful behavior came up - like drinking, smoking, drugs, etc.

SigurdReginson · Dec 2, 2019

1213 said:
I think sin is to reject God, or to live without/apart from God. There are many ways to reject God, but it is still the same. And about breaking the law, according to the Bible, it doesn’t really matter on what part you break it, you have then violated the whole law and all violations are basically as bad.

For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he has become guilty of all.
James 2:10

Yah, that's what I believed back when I was Christian as well. That seems to be a very Evangelical/Baptist perspective on the subject.

SigurdReginson · Dec 2, 2019

Riders said:
I had a similar thread up two years ago only a handful responded to me shouted me down condemming me for being mean to fat people, when the truth I'm an obese person. So no I don't talk down to obese folks but the bible does infact list it as sin, not a lesser sin, Jesus said all sins were the same except blaspheming the holy Ghost.

I have seen 400 pound pastors at an Apostolic church preach from a wheel chair because he was too fat to walk!Its not acceptable to me.

I have been to many Over Eaters anonymous many times in Mesquite Tx. They always are sitting around bunch of older ladies who go to church, knitting or crocheting before meeting. They talk about they;re perfect conservative church and they're perfect families. They look down their noses at me because they think they're perfect even if the weigh 450 pounds!

I'd be curious to know where in the bible it is mentioned as a sin, specifically, though. I haven't been able to find it so far, and all I've found is dismissal in passing. It's suggested as being a negative trait, but that doesn't necessarily make it a sin, does it?

Riders · Dec 2, 2019

SigurdReginson said:
I'd be curious to know where in the bible it is mentioned as a sin, specifically, though. I haven't been able to find it so far, and all I've found is dismissal in passing. It's suggested as being a negative trait, but that doesn't necessarily make it a sin, does it?

If the bible is warning not to do it and there's like a hundred scriptures that do....................it is a sin regardless of weather the word sin is attached to it.

exchemist · Dec 2, 2019

SigurdReginson said:
I wouldn't say that catholics single this sin out more than any other sin, but I would say that it seems like Catholics pay more attention to certain sinful behaviors than other forms of Christianity. There's no seven deadly sins that I can remember in the denominations of Christianity that I grew up with. I don't think Baptists or Evangelicals have much if anything to say on the subject, wheras Catholic holy men like St. Gregory have written on the topic in depth.

I've read passages in the bible that mention gluttony in passing, but nothing specifically condemning it. The bible does, however, have passages referring to people's bodies as temples to the lord. That's the analogy I remember, but this was brought up more when questions of hurtful behavior came up - like drinking, smoking, drugs, etc.

Ah OK now I get it, you had in the mind the Seven Deadly Sins. I don't think people pay much attention to that specific list any more, but it is still not a bad one if you want to think of all the things that tempt people into bad behaviour - from bankers to burglars.

SigurdReginson · Dec 3, 2019

Riders said:
If the bible is warning not to do it and there's like a hundred scriptures that do....................it is a sin regardless of weather the word sin is attached to it.

I guess, but sometimes it does seem that practitioners from different denominations do make different inferences on what scripture states. Many other folks seem to draw conclusions based on what their pastor or priest tells them when the scriptures don't have much to say on a particular subject - evolution comes to mind.

Riders · Dec 3, 2019

SigurdReginson said:
I guess, but sometimes it does seem that practitioners from different denominations do make different inferences on what scripture states. Many other folks seem to draw conclusions based on what their pastor or priest tells them when the scriptures don't have much to say on a particular subject - evolution comes to mind.

My big issue with over eating in church is that there seems to be quite a bit of hypocrisy that goes with it. Sexual sins are scorned to death, I have been a single woman my whole life.

I walk into a conservative church and the women act uncomfortable and suspiscous around me because the church is so sensitive to sexual sins they seem to be stereotyping me as a bad girl, or sexually deviant or maybe a lesbian. they question the fact that I'm single, they are hooked on talking about sexual sins.

But if a preacher rolls in ( and yes I have seen this at an apostolic dress code church) in his wheel chair because he weighs 400 ponds no one has an issue with it. I have seen 300 or more pound preachers at regular churches.But again if someone has a sexual sin watch out.

I know that Dr. Joyce Brothers has a rule in her staff she hires. A guy name Chris Coleman who was the head security for her killed his wife because he was having an affair with his wife's best friend . He was getting 6 figure income and she fires people, they interviewed her and asked her baout it she said yes she fires people for sexual sins, if your caught having an affair your fired. So does she fire people in her organization when they gain up to 300 lbs?????????????I doubt it.

Christians: gluttony as a sin

How sinful is gluttony?

1. There's nothing wrong with it.

2. I'm not sure if it's a sin.

3. It's bad behavior that should be avoided, but iffy as a sin.

4. Gluttony is a lesser sin, and there are exceptions.

5. Gluttony is definitely sinful behavior, no exceptions.

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