Christian vegetarianism is the dietary practice of vegetarianism or veganism based on the belief that Jesus of Nazareth, the twelve apostles and the early Messianic Jewish followers of Jesus (the Ebionites) were vegetarians. However critics suggest that the decision to be vegetarian or omnivore is purely a personal choice, as there are many passages in the Bible that advocate meat and fish within the diet.
Some Christian vegetarians, such as Keith Akers, think that a movement away from simple living and vegetarianism began with Paul, and that they need to return to pre-Pauline early Christianity.
There are also Christian vegetarians, such as Leo Tolstoy and Ammon Hennacy, who believe that the Christian principles of compassion and nonviolence require a vegetarian diet whether the Jews and the early Christians were historically vegetarians or not. Some Charismatics believe a vegan diet such as fruitarianism was the original diet of humankind in the form of Adam and Eve, and if they are ever to return to an Eden-like paradise then they will have to go back to a holistic approach to health and diet. Others, such as 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.
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 a carnivorous diet consumes and destroys too large a proportion of the world's food resources.
See also
- Gospel of the Ebionites
- Ebionites
- Catholic Vegetarian Society
- Christian Vegetarian Association
- Eastern Orthodox Fasting
- Fasting
- Natural Hygiene
- Hallelujah diet
- Seventh-day Adventist Church
- Simple living
- Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians
- Vegetarianism
- Vegetarianism and religion
- Jewish vegetarianism
- The Celestine Prophecy
References
- The Lost Religion of Jesus (2000) by Keith Akers, Lantern Books. ISBN 1930051263 - Historical overview of Christian vegetarianism
- Good News for All Creation (2002) by Stephen R. Kaufman and Nathan Braun, Vegetarian Advocates Press. ISBN 0971667608 - Overview of contemporary Christian vegetarianism
- Good Eating (2001) by Stephen H. Webb, Brazos Press. ISBN 1587430150 - A sound and informative view on Biblical and Christian vegetarianism, from Genesis to modern day saints.
External links
- Christian Religion and Vegetarian Resources
- Was Jesus a vegetarian? - article by Keith Akers
- Biblical Opposition to Flesh Eating
- ChristianityToday.com Books and Culture "Revenge of the Ebionites" book review by Stephen H. Webb
- Eco-Eating: Eating as if the Earth Matters
- The Vegetarian Mitzvah - for the Jewish perspective