In this passage, God prescribes a plant-based diet not just for humans, but for all land-based non-human animals. But Jesus's eating of fish (possibly meat) doesn't show that eating meat is always justified. [citation needed], According to Canon Law, Roman Catholics are required to abstain from meat (defined as all animal flesh and organs, excluding water animals) on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays of Lent including Good Friday. Catholic Concern for Animals (CCA) is a charity which calls Catholics "to cherish and care for all of [God's] creation". The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. Many see this passage as teaching that it is permissible for Christians to eat any creatures, and that therefore while it is still permissible for Christians to follow a vegetarian or vegan diet if they wish, such a diet cannot be obligatory for any Christians. Quite the opposite appears to be true. Most fish now come from intensive farmed environments, or if wild-caught, are subjected to unsustainable fishing practices and long drawn-out deaths. 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. [42] This serves to caution readers of the Bible about drawing ethical conclusions from such biblical passages too quickly. [11] Cowherd encouraged members to abstain from eating of meat as a form of temperance. If, however, it is morally problematic to eat cats, dogs or foie gras, then Jesus's declaring all foods clean doesn't make eating animals purely a matter of "Christian liberty", if by that is meant that each person can decide for him- or herself what to eat. The Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA) A plant-based diet helps preserve our health and serves God by avoiding the animal cruelty, environmental damage, and human misery associated with factory farms. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Wednesday prior to the Crucifixion of Jesus, fasting and abstinence in the Roman Catholic Church, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, https://www.dhi.ac.uk/cistercians/cistercian_life/monastic_life/food_&_drink/index.php, https://blog.historicenvironment.scot/2019/05/monks-menu/, "Christian Vegetarian Association (CVA) | Engaged Projects | Christianity | Religion | Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology", "Commentary on Genesis 9:2–4 – : Comments and Discussions", An Exegesis of "Meat" in the New Testament Archive of Comments and Discussions – Questions and Answers From All-Creatures.org, "Did Jesus Eat Fish? [Until the 19th century, vegans and … The practice of not eating animal products can be understood as part of a penitential practice that redirects one’s focus away from selfish pleasure and towards God. First, Christians might move towards a vegan diet in order to care for God's creation, the environment. Roman Catholic monastic orders such as the Carthusians and Cistercians follow a pescatarian diet. Great blog post. Christian vegetarianism has not been a common dietary choice throughout Church history. Many LDS Church leaders have expressed their views on the subject of meat, but since Joseph F. Smith became church president in 1901, emphasis on refraining from meat has largely been dropped. Christian ethical vegetarianism (or veganism) usually carries with it a commitment to the normative claim that (at least some) Christians should be vegetarians. In addition, intensive farming practices contribute to both the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains and the risk of pandemics from zoonotic diseases such as swine and bird flu. They were among the closet to Jesus at His birth. 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. [34] Human beings are called to have the same mind that was found in Jesus Christ, i.e., the mind to exercise power in service. [57] A number of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, including Joseph Bates and Ellen White adopted a vegetarian diet during the nineteenth century, and Ellen White reportedly received visions regarding the health benefits of a vegetarian diet. Through obedience to the Orthodox Church and its ascetic practices,[83] the Orthodox Christian seeks to rid himself or herself of the passions, or the disposition to sin. A Christian vision of delighting in God’s world and living responsibly among the fellow creatures God loves will be an inspiration to many Christians either to adopt a vegan diet, or to move in that direction by reducing their consumption of animal products and seeking out animal products raised to higher welfare standards than those offered within industrialized systems. Many Coptic Christians today observe fasts imposing a vegan diet for two-thirds of the year. God gave the best seats to the Animals for the birth of Christ. The same reasoning could be used to justify the eating of any meats that Jesus ate, if it is assumed that he did indeed eat other kinds of meat (the Bible does not explicitly say Jesus ate any meat other than fish, and some writers have made much of the fact that no lamb is mentioned at the Last Supper. Christianity is a religion of l He is founder of CreatureKind, which works to engage Christians with farmed animal welfare, and DefaultVeg, a simple policy proposal for companies and organizations. 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". Catholic laity traditionally abstain from animal flesh on Fridays and through the Lenten season leading up to Easter (sometimes being required to do so by law, see fasting and abstinence in the Roman Catholic Church), some also, as a matter of private piety, observe Wednesday abstinence. They should hope to learn from fellow Christians about better ways of living in other areas of their lives, just as they may hope that fellow Christians may be open to learning from their practice. The most problematic passages for Christian vegetarians are those which include an explicit permission to eat animals. "[53][citation needed], 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. Christians are explicitly directed to care for those with the greatest needs and the least resources. This is significant because Peter was a Jew, and it was against the Jewish law for Jews to associate with Gentiles. Don’t cause a brother to stumble into sin and destruction by what you eat. In this passage, Jesus is teaching that his followers do not need to obey the Jewish dietary laws. Some Christian vegetarians have suggested that this eschatological view provides reasons to adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet here and now. Disclaimer: "The meaning of asceticism discourses is complex." If more Christians were vegetarian, or ate a lot less animal products, therefore, we could have a positive impact on our overall health, environment, and government. PostEverything Why all Christians should go vegan The Bible is clear, and early Christians understood it: Animals are meant to be our companions, not our food. It is important to note that veganism in a Christian context should never be presented as a moral utopia. Joseph Brotherton, a founder of the UK's Vegetarian Society and anti-death penalty … Some[who?] 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. [84] Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are also fast days for Catholics ages 18 to 60, in which one main meal and two half-meals are eaten, with no snacking. The Animals! [12], Additionally, many Christians may choose to practice vegetarianism as their Lenten sacrifice during the penetential season of Lent.[13]. [Mark 7:9] Jesus's teaching that all foods were now clean was a continuation of this: what matters is the human heart, not external observance to religious rules. In fact, the original diet for man given in Sarah Withrow King writes that Jesus "loved the unlovable. There are a lot of things that don’t make sense to me, looking at christianity and veganism. But, Vujicic writes, "In the sheet were also so called CLEAN animals. Peter is instructed to go with them,[Acts 10:19] and he does so. In other words, God permitted humans to eat non-human animals as a concession to the Fallen state of humanity. Biblical texts celebrate the God who made all creatures and declared them good (Genesis 1), who made a world in which every creature has its own place (Psalm 104), who has compassion on and provides for every living thing (Psalm 145), and who in Jesus Christ acts to release the whole of creation from its groaning bondage (Romans 8) and to gather up and make peace between all things in heaven and earth (Colossians 1.20; Ephesians 1.10).