Christian vegetarianism

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Christian vegetarianism is a minority Christian belief based on extending the compassionate teachings of Jesus, the twelve apostles and the early church to all living beings through vegetarianism or veganism. Alternatively, Christians may be vegetarian for nutritional, ethical, environmental or other spiritual reasons.

Contents 1 Churches 2 Biblical and historical references 3 Individuals 4 Organizations 5 Footnotes 6 References 7 See also 8 External links

[edit] Churches

Vegetarianism is common among both Jewish and Gnostic forms of Christianity^{[citation needed]}. One of the first Christian communities, the Ebionites, is thought to have been vegetarian. Jewish Christians and Gnostic sects, such as the Cathars, have adhered to vegetarianism throughout history^{[citation needed]}.

The Seventh-day Adventists present a health message that recommends vegetarianism and expects abstinence from pork, shellfish and other foods proscribed as "unclean" in Leviticus. Another denomination with common origin, the Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement requires vegetarianism as a test of fellowship, with many of its members being practicing vegans as well.

The Word of Wisdom is a dietary law given to adherents of the Latter Day Saint movement (also known as Mormonism) which says that meat and fowl "are to be used sparingly; And ... that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine." Not given as advice, this commandment is reiterated in the same section, "And these hath God made for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger." ^[1] (see also animals in the LDS Church).

All Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic monastics abstain from meat year-round, and many abstain from dairy and seafood as well. Laity generally abstain from animal products on Wednesdays (due to a traditional belief that it was a Wednesday on which Judas arranged to betray Jesus Christ) and Fridays (because Jesus was crucified on a Friday), as well as during the four major fasting periods of the year: Great Lent, the Apostles' Fast, the Dormition Fast and the Nativity Fast. This is not for environmental or animal welfare reasons, but for spiritual reasons. Fasting is seen as purification and the regaining of innocence. Through obedience to the Orthodox Church and its ascetic practices, the Orthodox Christian seeks to rid himself or herself of the passions, or the disposition to sin.

Roman Catholic monastic orders such as the Carthusians and Cistercians also follow a strict vegetarian diet, and Catholic laity are encouraged to abstain from meat on Fridays and through the Lenten season leading up to Easter. Carmelites and others following the Rule of St. Albert also maintain a vegetarian diet, although the old and sick are permitted to eat meat according to this rule of life. However, Pope John III declared an anathema against the vegetarians at the First Council of Braga in Portugal. He wanted to outlaw the Manicheans who were living vegetarian.^{[citation needed]}

According to some interpretations of the Bible, raw veganism was the original diet of humankind in the form of Adam and Eve,^[2] and many Christian Vegetarians believe upon the return of Christ, the world will return to vegetarianism.^[3]

Some members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) practice vegetarianism or veganism as a reflection of the Peace Testimony, extending non-violence towards animals. Historically, the early vegetarian movement had many Quaker promoters. Some Ranter sects back in the mid-17th century are known to have been vegetarian as well.

In some Christian communities partial fasting, for example during Lent, resembles vegetarianism since meat and dairy products are forbidden for a temporary period. For some groups, such as Catholics, seafood is permitted during these periods of fasting. A basic difference to other forms of vegetarianism is that Lent has spiritual connotation, not environmental or animal welfare reasons. Also, abstaining from meat and dairy products during Lent is intended to be temporary, lasting only until the season is over, not a permanent way of life.

[edit] Biblical and historical references

While vegetarianism is not a common practice in current western Christian thought and culture, the concept and practice has substantial scriptural and historical support. According to the Bible, in the beginning, humans and animals were vegetarian.^[4] Immediately after the Flood, God permitted the eating of meat,^[5] However, some maintain that God permitted the consumption of meat only temporarily because all plants had been destroyed as a result of the flood^[6], despite the lack of any reference to this in Genesis itself.

Some Christians believe that the Bible explains that, in the future, humans and animals will return to vegetarianism.^[7] Some people believe that the Book of Daniel also specifically promotes vegetarianism as beneficial. Daniel specifically refuses the king's "meat" (pathbag - Strong's H5698). Daniel 1:8–16 However, current common theology argues that in this instance Daniel is rejecting food that is considered to be unholy by his faith (eating food that had been sacrificed to pagan gods), and not meat per se.

Athough Luke's Gospel offers that Jesus ate fish Luke 24:42-43 and Luke's Acts of the Apostles portrays a story where the Apostle Peter has a vision where God declares previously unclean meat as "clean" Acts 10:7-16 and orders Peter to "kill and eat", a number of Christian leaders, both ancient and modern, observe that vegetarianism was and is a sincere part of Christian faith. The Reverend Andrew Linzey has supported the historical view that Jesus was a vegetarian. In his book, The Lost Religion of Jesus, author Keith Akers lays out historical evidence that the historical Jesus was vegetarian.

Vegetarianism appears to have been a point of contention within early Christian circles. Within the Bible's New Testament, the Apostle Paul appears to ridicule vegetarians, arguing that people of "weak faith" "eat only vegetables" Romans 14:1–4. Within Luke's Acts of the Apostles, Luke recounts that the Jerusalem Council authorized that (at least for Gentile Christians) it was acceptable to eat meat Acts 15:19–20; however, since James himself was vegetarian, many scholars have found it difficult at best to reconcile Luke's accounting with James' own actions. As a result of these various teachings, many people consider a person's dietary choice to be a personal point of faith.

However, other early Christian believers observed that Jesus was himself a vegetarian. Epiphanius quotes the Gospel to the Hebrews where Jesus has a confrontation with the high priest. Jesus chastises the leadership saying, "I am come to end the sacrifices and feasts of blood; and if ye cease not offering and eating of flesh and blood, the wrath of God shall not cease from you; even as it came to your fathers in the wilderness, who lusted for flesh, and did sat to their content, and were filled with rottenness, and the plague consumed them." (See Numbers 11:32-34) ^[8]

Other early Christian historical documents observe that many influential Christians during the formative centuries of Christianity were vegetarian, though certainly not all. James, the brother of Jesus and subsequent leader of the Jerusalem Synagogue after Jesus, was vegetarian. The Clementine homilies, a second-century work purportedly based on the teachings of the Apostle Peter, states, "The unnatural eating of flesh meats is as polluting as the heathen worship of devils, with its sacrifices and its impure feasts, through participation in it a man becomes a fellow eater with devils." ^[9] Athanasius and Arius were vegetarian. Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Tertullian, Boniface, St. Jerome, and John Chrysostom all appear from history to be vegetarian. Clement wrote, "It is far better to be happy than to have your bodies act as graveyards for animals. Accordingly, the apostle Matthew partook of seeds, nuts and vegetables, without flesh".^[10]

Although early Christian vegetarianism appears to have been downplayed in favor of more modern Christian culture, the practice of vegetarianism appears to have been very widespread in early Christianity, both in the leadership and among the laity. While not vegetarian himself and vehemently against the idea that Christians must be vegetarians, Augustine nevertheless wrote that those Christians who "abstain both from flesh and from wine" are "without number". ^[11]

All Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic monastics abstain from meat year-round, and many abstain from dairy and seafood as well. Laity generally abstain from animal products on Wednesdays (due to a traditional belief that it was a Wednesday on which Judas arranged to betray Jesus Christ) and Fridays (because Jesus was crucified on a Friday), as well as during the four major fasting periods of the year: Great Lent, the Apostles' Fast, the Dormition Fast and the Nativity Fast. This is not for environmental or animal welfare reasons, but for spiritual reasons. Fasting is seen as purification and the regaining of innocence. Through obedience to the Orthodox Church and its ascetic practices, the Orthodox Christian seeks to rid himself or herself of the passions, or the disposition to sin.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Christian denomination that recommends the vegetarian diet as a holistic lifestyle choice within its teachings.^[12] A number of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, including Joseph Bates and Ellen White adopted the vegetarian diet during the nineteenth century, and Ellen White reportedly received visions regarding the health benefits of the vegetarian diet.^[13] More recently, members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in California have been involved in research into longevity due to their healthy lifestyle, which includes maintaining a vegetarian diet.^[14] This research has been included within a National Geographic article.^[15]

[edit] Individuals

• James the Just or Jacob the Righteous (called "Brother of Jesus") is described by ancient and reliable sources as being a very strict vegetarian. (See The Lost Religion of Jesus, by Keith Akers, listed below).
• There have been various notable ascetics, such as Saint David, who have adopted a vegetarian diet for spiritual reasons.
• Keith Akers claims that the movement away from simple living and vegetarianism began with Paul the Apostle, and that Christians should look at returning to pre-"Pauline Christianity".
• Christian anarchists, such as Leo Tolstoy and Ammon Hennacy, believe that the Christian principles of compassion and nonviolence require a vegetarian diet, whether Jewish Christians were historically vegetarians or not.
• Nathan Braun states that the Christian mandate to feed the hungry can only be truly fulfilled on a world-wide scale by our evolution to a vegetarian diet. He, along with many other environmental vegetarians, believe that an omnivorous diet consumes and destroys too large a proportion of the world's food resources.
• Andrew Linzey is an Anglican priest, a theologian and a writer. He is internationally known for his views on Christianity and animals.
• Benjamin Urrutia writes articles, book reviews and film reviews from the viewpoint of Christian vegetarianism.

[edit] Organizations

• Christian Vegetarian Association
• Animal chaplains

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (February 2008)

• The Lost Religion of Jesus (2000) by Keith Akers, Lantern Books. ISBN 1-930051-26-3, Historical overview of Christian vegetarianism
• Good News for All Creation (2002) by Stephen R. Kaufman and Nathan Braun, Vegetarian Advocates Press. ISBN 0-9716676-0-8, Overview of contemporary Christian vegetarianism
• Good Eating (2001) by Stephen H. Webb, Brazos Press. ISBN 1-58743-015-0, A sound and informative view on Biblical and Christian vegetarianism, from Genesis to modern day saints.
• The Bloodless Revolution (2007 ) by Tristram Stuart. ISBN 13: 978-0-393-05220-6, A Cultural History of Vegetarianism from 1600 to Modern Times (Quaker reference)

[edit] See also

• Asceticism
• Christian pacifism
• Eastern Orthodox Fasting
• Fruitarianism
• Gospel of the Ebionites
• Postmodern Christianity
• Simple living
• The Celestine Prophecy
• Vegetarianism and religion
• Islam and animals

[edit] External links

• Christian Vegetarian Association
• The Fellowship of Life archive of British activism since the 1970's
• Was Jesus a vegetarian? - article by Keith Akers
• Biblical Vegetarianism (The Nazarene Way of Essenic Studies)
• Why Should Christians be Vegetarians? (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)
• Christianity and Vegetarianism: Some Thoughts, compiled by David Ogilvie
• Christianity and Animals: An Interview with Andrew Linzey (1996)
• Christianity and Vegetarianism PowerPoint presentation, by God's Creatures Ministry
• Christianity and Vegetarianism - Pursuing the non-violence of Jesus, Fr. John Dear S.J

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