Christian vegetarianism
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Christian vegetarianism is the practice of keeping to a
Some
Additionally, many Christians may choose to practice vegetarianism or veganism as their Lenten sacrifice during the period of Lent.[19][20] Prior to the 6th century, Lent was normatively observed through keeping the Black Fast for forty days, with the allowance of one vegetarian meal with water after sunset.[21][22]
Biblical support
Christian vegetarianism has not been a common dietary choice throughout Church history. Some[who?] have argued, however, that "there is a long-standing tradition of vegetarianism in Christian history."[23] The two most prominent forms are a spirituality-based vegetarianism (where vegetarianism is adopted as an ascetic practice, or as a way of opposing the sin of gluttony, in the hope it will draw the person to God) and an ethically based vegetarianism (where it is adopted for ethical reasons; for example, those to do with the treatment of non-human animals).
Christian ethical vegetarianism (or veganism) usually carries with it a commitment to the normative claim that (at least some) Christians should be vegetarians.[citation needed] For this reason, Christian ethical vegetarians often give a scriptural justification for their position. While there are biblical passages which provide support for ethical vegetarianism, there are also passages which seem to imply that eating animals is morally permissible.[citation needed]
Old Testament
One of the most important passages for Christian vegetarians is the
God said, "See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food". And it was so.
In this passage, God prescribes a
The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
Some Christian vegetarians[who?] have suggested that this eschatological view provides reasons to adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet here and now. Moreover, the point has often been made that the dominion which humans are given over the non-human animals in Genesis 1:26–28 must be understood in light of Genesis 1:29–30 which decrees a plant-based diet for all creatures. Genesis 1:26–28 has, it is acknowledged by Christian vegetarians, often been used to justify the eating of animals.[28] But this is a mistake, they suggest. Once it is recognized that humans are given dominion over creation, and that in the very next verse humans are prescribed a plant-based diet, it will become apparent that dominion should be understood in terms of stewardship or servant-hood: humans are called to rule creation in the sense of caring for it and seeking its flourishing, just as a good Sovereign would seek the flourishing of his or her realm.[29] In a survey of the scholarly literature on the relevant Hebrew terms, Carol J. Adams lists governing, ruling, shepherding, caring-for, nurturing, and leading about as potential ways of understanding dominion, and notes that the common characteristic of these concepts "is their benignity".[30]
The opening chapters of Genesis are, of course, only the beginning of the biblical story. And just as there are passages which can be cited in support of a Christian vegetarianism or veganism, so there are passages which suggest that eating animals is morally permissible. The most problematic passages for Christian vegetarians are those which include an explicit permission to eat animals. Genesis 9:3–4 is the first such example. In this verse, God tells Noah and his family that animals will now be their food, although they are not to eat animal flesh which contains blood.[Genesis 9:3–4] However, the context of the passage remains contentious to the morality of eating Animals. “I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, for the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth; nor will I ever again destroy every living creature as I have done."[31] Indicating that God has deemed Humanity 'evil from youth' and perhaps within the context of this understanding, says he will not smite them for doing evil, potentially such as eating meat. Similarly "The fear and dread of you shall rest on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the air, on everything that creeps on the ground, and on all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered." [31] seems to emphasise the immorality and evil of the act. This new situation – that of humans eating animals – is then taken largely for granted in much of the biblical narrative. Leviticus 11 records God giving the Israelites rules about what types of meat may be eaten, which implies that certain meats were acceptable. During the Exodus out of Egypt, God commanded that all of the Israelites to slaughter a lamb and eat it, and instituted the Passover as a lasting tradition to remember God's saving them.[Exodus 12:24]
Some Jewish and Christian vegetarians have attempted to minimize the importance of these passages. It has been suggested, for example, that God's permitting Noah and his family to eat meat was only ever intended as a temporary permission, and was given because all the plants had been destroyed as a result of the flood.[32] Others interpret the permission given to Noah and his family in Genesis 9:3–4, not as a free pass to kill animals for food because "no matter what you do you can never remove all the blood from the flesh of a slaughtered animal", but as an invitation to scavenge for and eat dead animals if any are found.[33][34][35] These approaches are put under pressure, however, with the sheer number of passages which appear to presuppose the legitimacy of eating animals, and the normalcy with which meat eating is treated.
Another approach to these texts is to suggest that God reluctantly permitted the eating of animals due to human sinfulness. In other words, God permitted humans to eat non-human animals as a concession to the Fallen state of humanity.[36][37] Richard Young raises the possibility that both the introduction of animals into the human diet, and the use of animals in religious sacrifices, were concessions to a Fallen humanity that were used to deal with humanity where it was at.[38] This approach allows the Christian vegetarian or vegan to take the entire biblical witness seriously, while also holding that God's preference is for a peace and shalom throughout creation.
Other passages of relevance to the practice of vegetarianism include Numbers 11, where the Israelites tired of manna, a food of which "The Rabbis of the Talmud held that […] had whatever taste and flavor the eater desired at the time of eating"[39] and which probably was not an animal product. Manna was given to the Israelites by God, but they complained about it and wanted meat instead.[Numbers 11:4–10] They were condemned for this, although God relented and gave them meat, which then made them ill.[Numbers 11:32–34] Because of their lust, the place where the incident happened became known as Kibroth Hattaavah.[39]
A donkey temporarily given the ability to speak showed Balaam more than signs of sentience.[Numbers 22:21–33]
Some people believe that the Book of Daniel also specifically promotes veganism as empowering. Daniel specifically refuses the king's "meat" (paṯbaḡ, Strong's #5698[40]) and instead requests vegetables (zērōʿîm, Strong's #2235[41]).[Daniel 1:8–16] However, current common theology argues that in this instance Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah are rejecting food that is considered to be unholy by their faith (eating food that had been sacrificed to pagan gods), and not meat per se, despite that "at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat".[Daniel 1:15]
Philo says that the Essenes, "being more scrupulous than any in the worship of God […] do not sacrifice animals […], but hold it right to dedicate their own hearts as a worthy offering". They maintained that the sacrifices "polluted" the Temple.[42]
The Christian Vegetarian Association of the UK claims that the word "meat" is not used in any one instance in the authorized version of either the Old or New Testament as relating only to animal food (e.g. "flesh"). The CVA states that when the first English translations of the Bible were created, the word for "meat" meant food in general. When any particular kind of food was designated, it was referred to as meal, flour or grain.[43]
According to the CVS, examples of New Testament words that were translated as "meat" include: broma ("that which is eaten"/usage: 16 times ); brosimos ("eatable"/usage: 1 time); brosis ("act of eating; that which is eaten, food; food of the souls"/usage: 7 times); prosphagion ("anything eaten with bread; spoken of fish boiled or broiled"/usage: 1 time); sitometron ("a measured portion of grain or food"/usage: 1 time); trapeza ("a table on which food is placed, an eating place"/usage: 1 time); trophe ("food, nourishment"/usage: 13 times); phago ("to eat, to take food, eat a meal, devour, consume"/usage: 3 times).[44]
New Testament
The case for Christian vegetarianism
Christian vegetarians and vegans often appeal to the ethic that Jesus embodied, and called people to emulate, in making their case for a distinctively Christian vegetarianism. To begin with, Jesus inaugurated the Kingdom of God, but his Kingdom didn't involve the exercise of power as humans tend to think of it. As Andrew Linzey argues, Christ's power is "the power to serve".[45] Human beings are called to have the same mind that was found in Jesus Christ, i.e., the mind to exercise power in service.[Philippians 2:5–9] And by considering Jesus's life, it is possible to get an idea of what that service means. Sarah Withrow King writes that Jesus "loved the unlovable. In first-century Palestine, the unlovable were women, children, sick people, poor people, Roman soldiers, zealots, lepers, the blind, the outcast", and so on.[46] But today, the unlovable should include those non-human animals who are farmed for food in systems which preclude their flourishing and result in their (often painful) deaths.
Christian vegetarians also stress the importance Jesus laid on peace[47] and inclusion.[48] These and other aspects of Jesus's attitudes towards others are used to extract ethical principles which, according to Christian vegetarians and vegans, lead one to a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. Sarah Withrow King summarizes the point like this:
Aware of the suffering and pain experienced by animals raised and killed for food, with a knowledge of the immense waste of natural resources and subsequent impact on both our fellow humans and the rest of creation, and acknowledging that flesh is not a dietary necessity for the vast majority of Western humans, why would we continue to participate in a system that dishonors God’s creation and perpetuates violence on a truly phenomenal scale?[49]
Difficult passages
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Luke 24 – Jesus's eating of a fish
Jesus's eating of fish[Luke 24] and telling his disciples where to catch fish, before cooking it for them to eat,[John 21] is a common subject in Christian ethical vegetarian and vegan writings. The original version though doesn't mention fish at all and only bread. The Bible does not explicitly state that Jesus ate any meat, and Webb cites the fact that no lamb is mentioned at the Last Supper as evidence that he did not.[50]
According to Clough and King, the fact that Jesus ate fish (and possibly other meat) only shows that, in some circumstances, it is sometimes permissible to eat some meats, but that practices in the modern, industrialized farming system (such as the mass killing of day-old male chicks from laying hens) make the consumption of meat produced in such farms morally problematic.[51][52]
Andy Alexis-Baker has appealed to biblical scholarship to argue that biblical passages often need nuanced interpretation, and to guard against a wooden literalism. For example, he cites the work of Gerald O'Collins, SJ, who suggests that differences between the way Luke describes this appearance in Luke 24:41–43 and in Acts 1, and a tension between Luke 24:41–43 and 1 Corinthians 6, preclude us from reading this verse literally.[53]
Vujicic explains this passage by appealing to a so-called synoptic principle.[54]
Acts 10 – Peter's vision
In the tenth chapter of the
Christian vegetarians and vegans claim that this passage is not about which animals one may or may not eat, but it is about who the Gospel is for.[55] According to Laura Hobgood-Oster, "The vision, it seems, is not about eating animals; rather it is about extending hospitality to all humans. While animals in sacred texts are often real animals and should be considered as such, in this particular case it seems that in Peter’s vision animals symbolized human categories that exclude other humans from community."[56]
Sarah Withrow King writes that God uses this vision to remind Peter that he is to "remove barriers of fellowship and to reconcile with those from whom we have been separated in order to further the reign of God on earth.... the vision is one of radical inclusion".[57] John Vujicic agrees with King, noting that after receiving the vision, Peter did not eat anything. But, Vujicic writes, "In the sheet were also so called CLEAN animals. Peter could have at least selected some sheep or cattle and killed but he didn’t." According to Vujicic, the reason Peter didn't simply take up and eat a clean animal was because Peter was in fact a vegetarian.[54] Peter is reported as describing himself as a vegetarian in the apocryphal Pseudo-Clementine Homilies.
Mark 7 – Jesus declares all foods clean
Most Christians maintain that Jesus's teaching in Mark 7[Mark 7:5–21] demonstrates that Christians can eat whatever they want, that dietary choices are a matter of "Christian liberty", and that therefore vegetarianism or veganism could never be obligatory for Christians.[58] Christian vegetarians and vegans counter that the point of Jesus's teaching in Mark 7 is that his followers should concern themselves with the status of their heart which "informs our relationship with God, with each other, and the world".[59]
Early Christianity
New Testament
Vegetarianism appears to have been a point of contention within some
Patristic evidence
In the fourth century some
According to
Other early Christian historical documents observe that many influential Christians during the formative centuries of Christianity were vegetarian, though certainly not all. The Clementine homilies, a second-century work purportedly based on the teachings of the
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.[3] Origen's work Contra Celsum quotes Celsus commenting vegetarian practices among Christians he had contact with.[65] Although 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".[66]
Churches and movements
Historical developments
Followers of the
The
The
Some members of the
Christian anarchists, such as Leo Tolstoy, Ammon Hennacy, and Théodore Monod, extend the Christian principles of compassion and nonviolence through following a vegetarian diet.[80][81][82]
Contemporary movements
The Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA) is an international, non-denominational Christian vegetarian organization that promotes responsible stewardship of God's creation through plant-based eating.[83] The CVA produced the 2006 film Honoring God’s Creation.[84]
Sarx is a UK-based organization which aims to "empower Christians to champion the cause of animals and live peacefully with all God’s creatures".[85] Sarx publishes interviews with Christian vegans and vegetarians on its website, and provides people to speak at Churches in the UK on topics such as Christianity and veganism, animal welfare and faith, creation and animals.
CreatureKind is an organization which exists "to encourage Christians to recognize faith-based reasons for caring about the well-being of fellow animal creatures used for food, and to take practical action in response".[86] It was founded by David Clough, Professor of Theological Ethics at the University of Chester, and is directed by Clough and Sarah Withrow King, an American author and deputy directory of the Sider Center at Eastern University. CreatureKind produces a course for churches to do which facilitates church groups to think through how Christians should respond to and treat animals.
Creation Care Church is a virtual Christian church community, founded in 2021, that teaches a Bible-based approach to caring for the earth and all its inhabitants, including living a compassionate vegan lifestyle that shows mercy to all of God’s creatures. [87]
Catholic Concern for Animals (CCA) is a charity which calls Catholics "to cherish and care for all of [God's] creation".[88] CCA has for "many years" promoted a vegetarian/vegan diet as a way of caring for creation, in particular animals.[89][90]
The group Evangelicals for Social Action have suggested that a vegan diet is a way of demonstrating Christian love and compassion to farmed animals, and argue in particular that this is what a consistently pro-life ethic looks like.[91]
Christian Vegetarians and Vegans UK is an organization seeking to promote a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle in the Church in the UK.[92]
Partial fasting and temporary abstinence
Eastern Christianity
During
Eastern Orthodox laity traditionally abstains from animal products on Wednesdays (because, according to Christian tradition, Judas betrayed Jesus on the
Western Christianity
In
According to
A Handbook for the Discipline of Lent delineates the following
- Fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday with only one simple meal during the day, usually without meat.
- Refrain from eating meat (bloody foods) on all Fridays in Lent, substituting fish for example.
- Eliminate a food or food group for the entire season. Especially consider saving rich and fatty foods for Easter.
- Consider not eating before receiving Communion in Lent.
- Abstain from or limit a favorite activity (television, movies, etc.) for the entire season, and spend more time in prayer, Bible study, and reading devotional material.[107]
It is the practice of many Lutherans to abstain from alcohol and meat on the Fridays of Lent;[108] a Black Fast has been historically kept by Lutherans on Good Friday.[109][110]
In Anglicanism, the Book of Common Prayer prescribes certain days as days for fasting and abstinence from meat, "consisting of the 40 days of Lent, the ember days, the three Rogation days (the Monday to Wednesday following the Sunday after Ascension Day, which is also known as Holy Thursday), and all Fridays in the year (except Christmas, if it falls on a Friday)":[111]
A Table of the Vigils, Fasts, and Days of Abstinence, to be Observed in the Year.
- The eves (vigils) before:
- The Nativity of our Lord.
- The
Blessed Virgin Mary.- The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin.
- Easter Day.
- Ascension Day.
- Pentecost.
St. Matthias.- St. John Baptist.
St. Peter. St. James. St. Bartholomew. St. Matthew. St. Jude. St. Andrew.- St. Thomas.
- All Saints' Day.
- Note: if any of these Feast-Days fall upon a Monday, then the Vigil or Fast-Day shall be kept upon the Saturday, and not upon the Sunday next before it.
- Days of Fasting, or Abstinence.
- I. The Forty Days of Lent.
- II. The
Ember Daysat the Four Seasons, being the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the First Sunday in Lent, the Feast of Pentecost, September 14, and December 13.- III. The Three
Rogation Days, being the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, before Holy Thursday, or the Ascension of our Lord.- IV. All the Fridays in the Year, except Christmas Day.
Methodism's principal liturgical book The Sunday Service of the Methodists (put together by John Wesley), as well as The Directions Given to Band Societies (25 December 1744), mandate fasting and abstinence from meat on all Fridays of the year (except Christmas Day, if it falls on a Friday).[112][113]
See also
- Animal chaplains
- Benjamin Urrutia
- Buddhist vegetarianism
- Christian dietary laws
- Christian diet programs
- Christian pacifism
- Daniel Fast
- Eastern Orthodox fasting
- Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church fasting
- Fruitarianism
- Islam and animals
- Jain vegetarianism
- Jesuism
- Jewish vegetarianism
- List of diets
- Postmodern Christianity
- Simple living
- Vegetarian cuisine
- Vegetarianism and religion
References
- ^ Christian Vegetarian Association UK. "Why a Vegetarian Diet?" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 September 2011.
- ^ Christian Ecology Link. "Vegetarianism". Archived from the original on 18 July 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
- ^ ISBN 9780791490679.
- ISBN 3-16-148094-5, p. 188 "The vegetarianism of John the Baptist and of Jesus is an important issue too in the Ebionite interpretation of the Christian life. "
- Rechabite' or 'Nazarite' and vegetarian", p. 264 – "One suggestion is that John ate 'carobs'; there have been others. Epiphanius, in preserving what he calls 'the Ebionite Gospel', rails against the passage there claiming that John ate 'wild honey' and 'manna-like vegetarian cakes dipped in oil. ... John would have been one of those wilderness-dwelling, vegetable-eating persons", p. 326 – "They [the Nazerini] ate nothing but wild fruit milk and honey – probably the same food that John the Baptist also ate.", p. 367 – "We have already seen how in some traditions 'carobs' were said to have been the true composition of John's food.", p. 403 – "his [John's] diet was stems, roots and fruits. Like James and the other Nazirites/Rechabites, he is presented as a vegetarian ..".
- ^ James Tabor, The Jesus Dynasty p. 134 and footnotes p. 335, p. 134 – "The Greek New Testament gospels says John's diet consisted of "locusts and wild honey" but an ancient Hebrew version of Matthew insists that "locusts" is a mistake in Greek for a related Hebrew word that means a cake of some type, made from a desert plant, similar to the "manna" that the ancient Israelites ate in the desert on the days of Moses.(ref 9) Jesus describes John as "neither eating nor drinking," or "neither eating bread nor drinking wine." Such phrases indicate the lifestyle of one who is strictly vegetarian, avoids even bread since it has to be processed from grain, and shuns all alcohol.(ref 10) The idea is that one would eat only what grows naturally.(ref 11) It was a way of avoiding all refinements of civilization."
- ISBN 978-0-19-514183-2. p. 102 – "Probably the most interesting of the changes from the familiar New Testament accounts of Jesus comes in the Gospel of the Ebionites description of John the Baptist, who, evidently, like his successor Jesus, maintained a strictly vegetarian cuisine."
- ISBN 978-3-16-148460-5, pp. 19–21
- ISBN 978-1-60506-210-5. p. 104 – "And when he had been brought to Archelaus and the doctors of the Law had assembled, they asked him who he is and where he has been until then. And to this he made answer and spake: I am pure; [for] the Spirit of God hath led me on, and [I live on] cane and roots and tree-food."
- ^ "Home page of the Cistercians in Yorkshire Project".
- ^ "A Medieval Monk's Menu | Historic Environment Scotland | HES". 15 May 2019.
- ^ a b Stagnaro, Angelo (10 May 2016). "Being Vegetarian for the Lord". National Catholic Register. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
However, most people, Catholic and otherwise, don't realize that many Catholic monastic orders such as the Franciscan nuns, Trappists, Trappistines, Carthusians and Cistercians are strictly vegetarian. Carmelites and other communities that follow the Rule of St. Albert similarly restrict themselves to a vegetarian diet except in the case of elderly and infirmed members. Eastern Catholic monks and nuns also completely abstain from meat—some even abstain from dairy and seafood also—for the sake of mortification, prayer and asceticism. (Rom 8:17, Php 1:29, 2Th 1:5, 2Ti 1:8, 2Ti 2:3, 2Ti 4:5, Heb 2:10, Heb 12:7)
- ISBN 9780312144418.
Also, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, who promoted the idea that vegetarianism was a more healthful way to live.
- ^ "Famous Christian Vegetarians". The Christian Vegetarian Association. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
It is a great delusion to suppose that flesh-meat of any kind is essential to health.
- ^ a b "The Bible Christian Church". International Vegetarian Union.
- ISBN 9780275975197.
- ^ a b c "History of Vegetarianism - Early Ideas". The Vegetarian Society. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2008.; Gregory, James (2007) Of Victorians and Vegetarians. London: I. B. Tauris pp. 30–35.
- ^ "Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA) | Engaged Projects | Christianity | Religion | Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology". Yale University. 1999. Archived from the original on 8 April 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
- ^ Parker-Pope, Tara (11 March 2011). "Going Vegan for Lent". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
- ^ "Eating Vegan In Eastern Orthodox Countries During Lent". www.happycow.net. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
- ^ Butler, Alban (1839). The Moveable Feasts, Fasts, and Other Annual Observances of the Catholic Church. Dublin: James Duffy. p. 144-146.
The primitive Christians in Lent broke their fast only after sunset, and then usually only with herbs, roots, and bread. At least all were obliged to abstain not only from flesh meat, but also from fish, and whatever had life; also whatever is derived from flesh, as eggs, milk, cheese, butter, according to the ancient canon. Likewise from wine, which in the primitive ages was no less forbidden on all fasting days than the use of flesh meat itself ... Some mitigations were introduced in part of abstinence in the sixth century ... Fish was in the same age allowed, but not of the dearer and more dainty kinds.
- ^ Plese, Matthew (13 February 2023). "Lenten Observance Over Time: A Comparison of Regulations Over the Centuries". A Catholic Life. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
- ISBN 9780567032843.
- S2CID 171831858.
- ^ Adams, Carol J. (2012). "1. What about Dominion in Genesis?". In York, Tripp; Alexis-Baker, Andy (eds.). A Faith Embracing All Creatures. p. 3.
- ^ Withrow-King, Sarah (2016). Animals Are Not Ours: An Evangelical Animal Liberation Theology. Wipf and Stock. p. 18.
- ^ Barad, Judith (2012). "2. What about the Covenant with Noah?". In York, Tripp; Alexis-Baker, Andy (eds.). A Faith Embracing All Creatures. p. 13.
- ^ Withrow-King, Sarah (2016). Animals Are Not Ours: An Evangelical Animal Liberation Theology. Wipf and Stock. pp. 21–24.
- ^ Withrow-King, Sarah (2016). Animals Are Not Ours: An Evangelical Animal Liberation Theology. Wipf and Stock. p. 26.
- ^ Adams, Carol J. (2012). "1. What about Dominion in Genesis?". In York, Tripp; Alexis-Baker, Andy (eds.). A Faith Embracing All Creatures. p. 8.
- ^ a b "Oremus Bible Browser".
- ^ "A Vegetarian View of the Torah". Archived from the original on 2 September 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
- ^ 'administrator'/John Vujicic. "Did God allow Noah to eat meat?". bewaredeception.com. Archived from the original on 8 July 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ John Vujicic. "Commentary on Genesis 9:2–4 – : Comments and Discussions". All-creatures.org. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 5.1.26, reports an early Christian martyr who interpreted the prohibition of the blood of animals to imply vegetarianism. Minucius Felix refers to bloodshed in the arena and the blood of animals in the same breath (Octavius 29.6). Tertullianpoints out that Christians are forbidden both human and animal blood (Apology 9). Sandmel states that blood could refer either to the blood of a sacrificed animal or to human violence: Judaism and Christian Beginnings, p. 408.
- ^ Withrow-King, Sarah (2016). Animals Are Not Ours: An Evangelical Animal Liberation Theology. Wipf and Stock. p. 50.
- ^ Barad, Judith (2012). "2. What about the Covenant with Noah?". In York, Tripp; Alexis-Baker, Andy (eds.). A Faith Embracing All Creatures. pp. 18–19.
- ^ Young, Richard (2012). Is God a Vegetarian?. p. 56.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-930051-24-9.
- ^ bdb, p. 834.
- ^ bdb, p. 283.
- ^ J.B. Lightfoot (1875). St. Paul's epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon : a revised text with introductions, notes, and dissertations. London: Macmillan. p. 135. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
- ^ Meat[permanent dead link] www.christian-vegetariansvegans.org.uk, accessed 27 December 2019
- ^ An Exegesis of "Meat" in the New Testament Archive of Comments and Discussions – Questions and Answers From All-Creatures.org www.all-creatures.org, accessed 27 December 2019
- ^ Linzey, Andrew (2009). Why Animal Suffering Matters. OUP USA. p. 15.
- ^ Withrow King, Sarah (2016). Animals Are Not Ours: An Evangelical Animal Liberation Theology. Wipf and Stock. p. 36.
- ^ Camosy, Charles (2013). For the Love of Animals: Christian Ethics, Consistent Action. Franciscan Media. p. 4.
- ^ Withrow King, Sarah (2016). Animals Are Not Ours: An Evangelical Animal Liberation Theology. Wipf and Stock. pp. 41–43.
- ^ Withrow King, Sarah (2016). Animals Are Not Ours: An Evangelical Animal Liberation Theology. Wipf and Stock. p. 44.
- ^ Webb, Stephen H. (2012). "5. Didn't Jesus Eat Lamb?". In York, Tripp; Alexis-Baker, Andy (eds.). A Faith Embracing All Creatures. pp. 53–63.
- S2CID 151339019.
- ^ Withrow King, Sarah (2016). Animals Are Not Ours: An Evangelical Animal Liberation Theology. Wipf and Stock. pp. 76, 109–111.
- ^ Alexis-Baker, Andy (2012). "6. Didn't Jesus Eat Fish?". In York, Tripp; Alexis-Baker, Andy (eds.). A Faith Embracing All Creatures. p. 66.
- ^ a b John Vujicic. "Did Jesus Eat Fish? (Luke 24:41–43)". Retrieved 20 January 2011. Also available on the author's website Archived 16 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 2011-09-23.
- ^ a b Christian Vegetarian Association. "Honoring God's Creation – Replies". www.all-creatures.org. Archived from the original on 14 June 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
- ^ Hobgood-Oster, Laura (2012). "7. Does Christian Hospitality Require that We Eat Meat?". In York, Tripp; Alexis-Baker, Andy (eds.). A Faith Embracing All Creatures. p. 82.
- ^ Withrow King, Sarah (2016). Animals Are Not Ours: An Evangelical Animal Liberation Theology. Wipf and Stock. p. 52.
- ^ Focus on the Family. "Vegans, Vegetarians, and the Bible". Retrieved 4 February 2019.
- ^ Withrow King, Sarah (2016). Animals Are Not Ours: An Evangelical Animal Liberation Theology. Wipf and Stock. p. 51.
- ^ "1 Corinthians 8:13". BibleLexicon.org. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
- ^ Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament. 1887. Translated by Joseph Henry Thayer.
- ISBN 9781556432859.
- ^ Homily XII
- ^ Quoted from Holger Zellentin, The Qur'an's Legal Culture, Mohr Siebeck 2013, pp. 82-83.
- ^ Gerald Schlabach. "Celsus' view of Christians and Christianity". Archived from the original on 26 January 2008. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
If in obedience to the traditions of their fathers they abstain from such victims, they must also abstain from all animal food, in accordance with the opinions of Pythagoras, who thus showed his respect for the soul and its bodily organs. But if, as they say, they abstain that they may not eat along with demons, I admire their wisdom, in having at length discovered, that whenever they eat they eat with demons, although they only refuse to do so when they are looking upon a slain victim; for when they eat bread, or drink wine, or taste fruits, do they not receive these things, as well as the water they drink and the air they breathe, from certain demons, to whom have been assigned these different provinces of nature?
- ^ On the Morals of the Catholic Church 33. Apud Keith Akers. "Was Jesus a Vegetarian?". Archived from the original on 27 October 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2011.
- ^ Joshua J. Mark (2 April 2019). "Cathars". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
- ^ "William Cowherd (brief information)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 8 July 2008.
- ^ Caring for Creation – A Statement on the Environment
- ^ White, Arthur. Ellen G. White Volume 2: The Progressive Years 1862–1876, Review & Herald Publishing, 1986.
- ^ Loma Linda University Adventist Health Study: Mortality Archived 22 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine www.llu.edu accessed 28 December 2019
- ^ Longevity, The Secrets of Long Life – National Geographic Magazine
- ^ These traditional diets can lead to long lives www.nationalgeographic.com, accessed 28 December 2019
- ^ Doctrine and Covenants 89:12–13
- ^ Thomas G. Alexander, "The Word of Wisdom: From Principle to Requirement", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 14:3 (1981) pp. 78–88.
- ^ "Section 89 The Word of Wisdom", Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual (Salt Lake City, Utah: LDS Church, 2002), pp. 206–11.
- ^ Tumulty, Karen (20 June 2012), "Mormonism good for the body as well as the soul?", The Washington Post
- The History Channel. 5-Jul-11. 44 minutes in.
- ^ VegetarianFriends.net. "Vegetarian Friends".
- ^ "History of Vegetarianism – Leo Tolstoy". www.ivu.org. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ Hennacy, Ammon (1965). The Book of Ammon. Hennacy. p. 125.
I had been vegetarian since 1910
- ISBN 9781862392342.
Monod became a vegetarian and an ardent pacifist
- S2CID 162633503.
Christian Vegetarian Association
- ^ Honoring God's Creation www.godtube.com accessed 28 December 2019
- ^ "About Sarx". sarx.org.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
- ^ "About CreatureKind". www.becreaturekind.org. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
- ^ "About us". Creation Care Church. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
- ^ "About CCA". catholic-animals.com. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
- ^ "Veganuary 2017". catholic-animals.com. 6 January 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
- ^ "Bishop John Arnold Calls for Urgent Action on Climate Change, including a Move to More Plant Based Diets". catholic-animals.com. 19 October 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
- ^ "Animal Protection". www.evangelicalsforsocialaction.org. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
- ^ CHRISTIAN VEGETARIANS & VEGANS UK www.christian-vegetariansvegans.org.uk, accessed 27 December 2019
- ^ ISBN 9781862549210.
- ^ Noel James Debien (26 February 2012). "The Goodlife: Egyptian Christians (Copts) on Lenten fasting and penance". ABC Local Radio.
The vegan lenten fast of Egypt's native Christian community
- PMID 21361905.
- ISBN 9780810874824.
In many Lutheran churches, the Sundays during the Lenten season are called by the first word of their respective Latin Introitus (with the exception of Palm/Passion Sunday): Invocavit, Reminiscere, Oculi, Laetare, and Judica. Many Lutheran church orders of the 16th century retained the observation of the Lenten fast, and Lutherans have observed this season with a serene, earnest attitude. Special days of eucharistic communion were set aside on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.
- ^ Ripley, George; Dana, Charles Anderson (1883). The American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary for General Knowledge. D. Appleton and Company. p. 101. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
The Protestant Episcopal, Lutheran, and Reformed churches, as well as many Methodists, observe the day by fasting and special services.
- ISBN 9780824205935.
Special religious services are held on Ash Wednesday by the Church of England, and in the United States by Episcopal, Lutheran, and some other Protestant churches. The Episcopal Church prescribes no rules concerning fasting on Ash Wednesday, which is carried out according to members' personal wishes; however, it recommends a measure of fasting and abstinence as a suitable means of marking the day with proper devotion. Among Lutherans as well, there are no set rules for fasting, although some local congregations may advocate this form of penitence in varying degrees.
- ^ "Lent: Daniel Fast Gains Popularity". HuffPost. Religion News Service. 7 February 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
In some cases, entire churches do the Daniel Fast together during Lent. The idea strikes a chord in Methodist traditions, which trace their heritage to John Wesley, a proponent of fasting. Leaders in the African Methodist Episcopal Church have urged churchgoers to do the Daniel Fast together, and congregations from Washington to Pennsylvania and Maryland have joined in. For the fourth consecutive year, St. Mark's United Methodist Church in Charlotte, N.C., will observe Lent this year with a churchwide Daniel Fast. Young adults in the congregation tend to keep the fast more rigorously than older ones, according to Pastor Paul Milton.
- ^ Hinton, Carla (20 February 2016). "The Fast and the Faithful: Catholic parish in Oklahoma takes up Lenten discipline based on biblical Daniel's diet". The Oklahoman. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
Many parishioners at St. Philip Neri are participating in the Daniel fast, a religious diet program based on the fasting experiences of the Old Testament prophet Daniel. ... participating parishioners started the fast Ash Wednesday (Feb. 10) and will continue through Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday.
- ^ "Daniel Fast – Lent 2021". St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church. 2021. Archived from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ "40 Day Journey & Daniel Fast". Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church. 17 February 2021. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
Our family and friends are encouraged to take this journey during the season of Lent. This is a time we as Christians mature spiritually the 40 days before Resurrection Sunday. The Daniel Fast begins Ash Wednesday, February 17, 2021 and ends on Resurrection Sunday, April 4, 2021. Our common practice is 6 days on and 1 day off.
- ^ a b c d e f "Fast and Abstinence". EWTN. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
- ^ William Oddie (16 May 2011). "The restoration of the Friday fast is a historic day for English and Welsh Catholics". Catholic Herald. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ James Gorman (13 February 2018). "Debunked: The Strange Tale of Pope Gregory and the Rabbits". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ "Sacraments Today Updated". nineteensixty-four.blogspot.com. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
- ^ a b Weitzel, Thomas L. (1978). "A Handbook for the Discipline of Lent" (PDF). Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
- Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. 2016. Archived from the original(PDF) on 17 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
- ISBN 9780800603922.
The Good Friday fast became the principal fast in the calendar, and even after the Reformation in Germany many Lutherans who observed no other fast scrupulously kept Good Friday with strict fasting.
- ^ Jacobs, Henry Eyster; Haas, John Augustus William (1899). The Lutheran Cyclopedia. Scribner. p. 110. Archived from the original on 9 April 2010. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
By many Lutherans Good Friday is observed as a strict fast. The lessons on Ash Wednesday emphasize the proper idea of the fast. The Sundays in Lent receive their names from the first words of their Introits in the Latin service, Invocavit, Reminiscere, Oculi, Lcetare, Judica.
- ISBN 978-0-8108-6506-8., there is a list of "Days of Fasting, or Abstinence", consisting of the 40 days of Lent, the ember days, the three rogation days (the Monday to Wednesday following the Sunday after Ascension Day), and all Fridays in the year (except Christmas, if it falls on a Friday).
In the 1662 Book of Common Prayer
- ^ John Wesley (1825). The Sunday Service of the Methodists. J. Kershaw. p. 145.
Days of Fasting or Abstinence: All the Fridays in the Year, except Christmas-Day
- ISBN 9781418576134.
John Wesley, in his Journal, wrote on Friday, August 17, 1739, that "many of our society met, as we had appointed, at one in the afternoon and agreed that all members of our society should obey the Church to which we belong by observing 'all Fridays in the year' as 'days of fasting and abstinence.'
Further reading
- David Clough (2012). On Animals I: Systematic Theology, London: T&T Clark. ISBN 0567171213.
- David Clough (2018). On Animals II: Theological Ethics, London: T&T Clark. ISBN 0567660869.
- John M. Gilheany (2010). Familiar Strangers: The Church and the Vegetarian Movement in Britain (1809–2009), Ascendant Press. ISBN 978-0-9552945-1-8
- David Grumett and Rachel Muers (2010). Theology on the Menu: Asceticism, Meat and Christian Diet, Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-49683-4. A systematic and historical assessment of Christian attitudes to food and its role in shaping Christian identity.
- ISBN 0-9716676-0-8. Overview of contemporary Christian vegetarianism.
- Kristin Johnston Largen (2009). "A Christian Rationale for vegetarianism". Dialog. 48 (2): 147–157. .
- ISBN 0252064674.
- Andrew Linzey (1998). Animal Gospel: Christian Faith as though Animals Mattered. Hodder & Stoughton Religious.
- ISBN 0195379772.
- Holly H. Roberts (2004). Vegetarian Christian Saints. Anjeli, ISBN 0-9754844-0-0. The life stories of 150 individuals canonized into sainthood who were committed to vegetarianism.
- Niki Behrikis Shanahan (2002). There is Eternal Life for Animals, Pete. ISBN 0-9720301-0-7.
- ISBN 978-0-393-05220-6. A Cultural History of Vegetarianism from 1600 to Modern Times (Quaker reference)
- ISBN 1-58743-015-0, A sound and informative view on Biblical and Christian vegetarianism, from Genesis to modern day saints.
- Sarah Withrow King (2016). Animals Are Not Ours: An Evangelical Animal Liberation Theology. Cascade Books.
- ISBN 978-1610977012
- Richard A. Young (1998). Is God a Vegetarian?: Christianity, Vegetarianism, and Animal Rights, Open Court Publishing Company. ISBN 0-8126-9393-0
External links
- Christian Vegetarian Association
- All-Creatures – A project of the Christian Vegetarian Association
- Christian Vegetarians & Vegans UK
- Biblical Vegetarianism (The Nazarene Way of Essenic Studies)
- Christian Vegetarianism – An Archive (Archive of British publications from the 1800s)
- Christianity and Animals: An Interview with Andrew Linzey (1996)
- Christianity and Vegetarianism PowerPoint presentation, by God's Creatures Ministry
- Jewish Encyclopedia: Vegetarianism
- Sarx – Christian Animal Welfare (An organization seeking to engage the contemporary Church on issues of animal welfare)
- Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians (An Interfaith Peace Effect for Plant-based, Nonviolent Nutrition)
- The Fellowship of Life (Organization encouraging vegetarianism as a Christian way of life)
- Why all Christians should go vegan – Charles Camosy (Article in the Washington Post summarizing some reasons why Christians might go vegan)