Christian vegetarianism

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Christian vegetarianism is the practice of keeping to a vegetarian lifestyle for reasons connected to or derived from the Christian faith. The three primary reasons are spiritual, nutritional, and ethical.[citation needed] The ethical reasons may include a concern for God's creation, a concern for animal rights and welfare, or both.[1][2] Likewise, Christian veganism is not using any animal products for reasons connected to or derived from the Christian faith. Pescatarianism was widespread in the early Church, among both the clergy and laity.[3] Among the early Judeo-Christian Gnostics the Ebionites held that John the Baptist, James the Just and Jesus were vegetarians.[4][5][6][7][8][9]

Some religious orders of various Christian Churches practice pescetarianism, including the Benedictines, Franciscans, Trappists, Carthusians and Cistercians.[10][11][12] Various Church leaders have recommended vegetarianism, including John Wesley (founder of the Methodist Church), William and Catherine Booth (founders of The Salvation Army), William Cowherd from the Bible Christian Church and Ellen G. White from the Seventh-day Adventists.[13][14][15][16] Cowherd, who founded the Bible Christian Church in 1809, helped to establish the world's first Vegetarian Society in 1847.[17] Organizations such as the Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA) work to promote the concept.[18]

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]

  1. ^ Christian Vegetarian Association UK. "Why a Vegetarian Diet?" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 September 2011.
  2. ^ Christian Ecology Link. "Vegetarianism". Archived from the original on 18 July 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2010.
  3. ^ Walters, Kerry S.; Portmess, Lisa (31 May 2001). Religious Vegetarianism: From Hesiod to the Dalai Lama. SUNY Press. p. 124. ISBN 9780791490679.
  4. ^ J Verheyden, Epiphanius on the Ebionites, in The image of the Judaeo-Christians in ancient Jewish and Christian literature, eds Peter J. Tomson, Doris Lambers-Petry, 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. "
  5. ^ Robert Eisenman (1997), James the Brother of Jesus, p. 240 – "John (unlike Jesus) was both a '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 ..".
  6. ^ 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."
  7. ^ Bart D. Ehrman (2003). Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. Oxford University Press. pp. 102, 103. 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."
  8. ^ James A. Kelhoffer, The Diet of John the Baptist, ISBN 978-3-16-148460-5, pp. 19–21
  9. ^ G.R.S. Mead (2007). Gnostic John the Baptizer: Selections from the Mandæan John-Book. Forgotten Books. p. 104. 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."
  10. ^ "Home page of the Cistercians in Yorkshire Project".
  11. ^ "A Medieval Monk's Menu | Historic Environment Scotland | HES". 15 May 2019.
  12. ^ 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)
  13. ^ Null, Gary (15 May 1996). The Vegetarian Handbook: Eating Right for Total Health. St. Martin's Press. p. 13. ISBN 9780312144418. Also, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, who promoted the idea that vegetarianism was a more healthful way to live.
  14. ^ "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.
  15. ^ "The Bible Christian Church". International Vegetarian Union.
  16. ^ Karen Iacobbo; Michael Iacobbo (2004). Vegetarian America: A History. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 97. ISBN 9780275975197.
  17. ^ "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.
  18. ^ "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.
  19. ^ Parker-Pope, Tara (11 March 2011). "Going Vegan for Lent". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  20. ^ "Eating Vegan In Eastern Orthodox Countries During Lent". www.happycow.net. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  21. ^ 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.
  22. ^ Plese, Matthew (13 February 2023). "Lenten Observance Over Time: A Comparison of Regulations Over the Centuries". A Catholic Life. Retrieved 1 March 2024.