Is someone who eats only vegetables a weak person?

When Paul writes at the start of Romans 14:2 that one person believes he may eat anything, the statement, at least in English, seems rather weak, seemingly referring to what is merely an opinion. The apostle, however, here uses the striking verb pisteuein, i.e. believe. Being able to eat anything is not just an opinion, but the fruit of faith—faith in God as the Creator of food and in Christ who reconciles us to him. In faith we dare to eat that which the Creator provides. In this context, not freely embracing God’s gift by eating only vegetables then constitutes a weakness in faith. There is more at issue here than merely eating vegetables exclusively for dietary reasons or as a matter of taste. At the time, apparently abstaining from eating meat also had something to do with fear or superstition. Those who exegete this passage may want to analyse this more closely, but we are reminded of the fact that the apostle had just said in Romans 14:1 that we may not launch a curious analysis into the hidden considerations of the weak in faith. We therefore restrict ourselves to observing that not every Christian in Rome dared, or thought it justified, to eat meat.¹