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. The ethical reasons may include a concern for God's creation, a concern for animal rights and welfare, or both. Likewise, Christian veganism is not using any animal products for reasons connected to or derived from the Christian faith. Pescetarianism was widespread in the early Church, among both the clergy and laity. Among the early Christian Gnostics the Ebionites held that John the Baptist, James the Just and Jesus were vegetarians.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, , p. 188 "The vegetarianism of John the Baptist and of Jesus is an important issue too in the Ebionite interpretation of the Christian life. "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 ..".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." 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."James A. Kelhoffer, The Diet of John the Baptist, , pp. 19–21 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."
Some religious orders of various Christian Churches practice pescetarianism, including the Benedictines, Franciscans, Trappists, Carthusians and Cistercians. 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. Cowherd, who founded the Bible Christian Church in 1809, helped to establish the world's first Vegetarian Society in 1847.; Gregory, James (2007) Of Victorians and Vegetarians. London: I. B. Tauris pp. 30–35. Organizations such as the Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA) work to promote the concept.
Additionally, many Christians may choose to practice vegetarianism or veganism as their Lenten sacrifice during the period of Lent. 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.
Biblical support Christian vegetarianism has not been a common dietary choice throughout Church history. Nevertheless, "there is a long-standing tradition of vegetarianism in Christian history." 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).
Old Testament
One of the most important passages for Christian vegetarians is the creation narrative in the Book of Genesis. After creating humans, God addresses them in chapter 1, verses as follows: 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 plant-based diet not just for humans, but for all land-based non-human animals. Christian vegetarians and vegans point out that it was this creation – where all creatures ate plants – that God then declared "very good" in verse 31. Moreover, that God's initial creation was a vegan creation suggests that this is how God intended all his creatures to live. This idea – that God intended for all his creatures to eat plants – is sometimes further supported by noting that the vision of the Peaceable Kingdom found in the Book of Isaiah suggests that, one day, God will restore the creation to such a state of universal vegetarianism: 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 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. 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. 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".
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.[] 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." 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" 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. 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 slaughter a lamb and eat it, and instituted the Passover as a lasting tradition to remember God's saving them.[]
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. 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. 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. 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. 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" 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.[] They were condemned for this, although God relented and gave them meat, which then made them ill.[] Because of their lust, the place where the incident happened became known as Kibroth Hattaavah.