Part 19 (1/2)
FROM EPIPHANIUS' BOOK IT is SHOWN that the immediate followers of Jesus, the Judaic Christians, were vegetarians until the fifth century. This was about 100 years after the historical struggle among the three main factions of Christianity of those times: Judaic Christians, Christian Gnostics, and Catholic Christians. According to the evidence presented in The Vegetarianism of Jesus Christby Charles Vaclivik, the Judaic Christians were led for 30 years after Jesus left the physical realm by his brother James. Vaclivik's historical evidence suggests that the Judaic Christians were the very first Christians. They were the ones who actually walked and prayed with Jesus. After them, the Christian Gnosticism developed, and around A.D. 70 the Catholic Christians began their ascent to power. The Judaic Christians and Gnostics were vegetarian and the Catholic Christians were not. Many early Christian leaders were also vegetarians. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 160-240) wrote, It is far better to be happy than to have our bodies act as graveyards for animals.
St. John Chrysostom (A.D. 345-407) also taught that the unnatural eating of flesh meat was polluting.
Many scholars think that the original Christian doc.u.ments were altered at the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325 to make them acceptable to the emperor, Constantine. Steve Rosen, in Food for Spirit, points out that flesh-food-eating was not officially permitted until the fourth century, when Emperor Constantine, through his powerful influence, made his version of Christianity the official version for everyone. Vegetarian Christians had to practice in secret or risk being put to death for heresy. Rosen writes that Constantine used to have molten lead poured down their throats if they were captured. By the fourth century, the Catholic Christians became considerably more politically powerful than the other two groups. Most of the literature of the Judaic Christians and Gnostics was essentially destroyed during the political repression of this time period. In The Vegetarianism of Jesus Christ, it is postulated that the translations after this time may have been altered away from a vegetarian menu, as the Catholic Christians did not believe in vegetarianism and/or were not ready for it. If people are surprised that there was more than one Christian faction in the first 100 years after Jesus, it is useful to remember that we now have hundreds of different Christian churches.
Jesus and Animal Sacrifice.
EPIPHANIUS POINTS OUT that the Essenes were not only vegetarians, but also opposed animal sacrifice. It is in this context that one gets a further understanding of why Jesus chased out the money lenders from the Temple and freed the animals who were going to be sacrificed. It was the money lenders who exchanged money so that Jews coming from foreign lands could purchase animals for sacrifice. The teachings of Jesus and the Essenes stood directly against the practice of the other Jewish sects and that of the Romans, who also practiced animal sacrifice. t.i.tus Flavius Clemens, one of the most respected of the early Christian fathers, is quoted in Ethics of Diet by Howard Williams as saying, Sacrifices were invented by men as a pretext for eating flesh.
This seems to be essentially the Essene understanding of the motivation behind sacrifices. According to Ewing, the Essene understanding of diet was based on the commandment, ”Thou Shalt Not Kill” and the first dietary commandment of Genesis 1:29, quoted earlier, which gave humanity fruits, nuts, seeds, vegetables, grains, and gra.s.ses to eat, but specifically not flesh food. The position of Jesus against animal sacrifice is, of course, consistent with his humaneness, his love for all of G.o.d's creatures, and his vegetarianism. According to the Hastings Encyclopedia on Religion and Ethics, The Gospel according to the Apostles was used by the Ebionites (viz Nazarenes). Herein is found the ”Essene Christ.” He denounces sacrifice and the eating of flesh.
Epiphanius quotes Jesus, in his confrontation with the high priest in the Temple after he has chased out the money lenders, I come to abolish sacrifices, and unless you cease sacrifices my anger will not cease from you.
The Gospel of the Hebrews also clarifies that Jesus not only advised against eating our animal friends, but he had come to end blood sacrifices. In Lection XXI, verse 8, preaching to his disciples he says: I am come to end the sacrifices and feasts of blood; and if ye cease not offering and eating of flesh and blood, the wrath of G.o.d shall not cease from you; even as it came to your fathers in the wilderness, who l.u.s.ted for flesh, and they ate to their content, and were filled with rottenness, and the plague consumed them.
Many believe that Jesus ate the lamb of the Pa.s.sover meal and use this as indirect evidence that he did not teach or practice vegetarianism. In The Gospel According to the Hebrews, Lection LXXVI, section 27, which predates the edition of the Gospel used today, Judas is quoted as inciting Caiaphas against Jesus for not eating lamb at the Pa.s.sover: Now Judas Iscariot had gone to the house of Caiaphas and said unto him, Behold he [Jesus] has celebrated the Pa.s.sover within the gates [of Jerusalem], with the Mazza in place of the lamb. I indeed bought a lamb, but he forbade that it should be killed, and lo, the man of whom I bought it is witness.
It is important to remember that the information in the Gospel came from earlier Judaic sources and not vice versa. Changes in translations commonly occur, and this could be one of them. Again, Jesus' refusal to eat the Pa.s.sover lamb is consistent with his role and high spiritual awareness as the great Essene Teacher of the time and also his actions against animal sacrifice in the Temple.
The Vegetarianism of the Disciples.
DR. EWING POINTS OUT THAT THE HIGHLY RESPECTED Church Father Eusebius quotes Hegesippus (about A.D. 160), who said that James, the Disciple and brother of Jesus who became head of the Judaic Christians after Jesus, was a vegetarian who ”drank no wine, wore no wool, nor ate any flesh.” It was said that he followed this practice from birth. It is likely that all of Jesus' family, including himself, were raised as vegetarian and lived that way as adults. It is also likely that in the light of the overall evidence, all but one of the disciples were vegetarian. Ewing quotes the Clementine Hominies XXII, 6, who also suggests that most of the disciples, if not all, were vegetarian: They followed the Apostles in their custom of daily l.u.s.trations. They refused to partake of flesh or wine, taking as their pattern St. Peter, whose food was bread, olives, and herbs....
Clement of Alexandria, in his book The Instructor, states: Accordingly, the apostle Matthew partook of seeds, and nuts, and vegetables, without flesh.
Peter was also historically known to be vegetarian as well. He was quoted as telling Clement: I live on bread alone, with olives, and seldom even with potherbs.
Peter is also noted to be vegetarian in the Clementine Hominies XII, which dates back to the middle of the second century. Dr. Ewing cites an early Christian doc.u.ment which quotes Peter as saying: The unnatural eating of flesh is as polluting as the heathen wors.h.i.+p of devils, with its sacrifices and impure feasts, through partic.i.p.ation in which a man becomes a fellow eater with devils.
In a letter to Trajan, the Roman Emperor, Pliny, the historian and governor of Bithynia (an area where Peter was teaching), describes the early Christian practices: They affirmed the whole of their guilt, or their error ... binding themselves by a solemn oath never to commit any sin or evil and never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust, after which it was their custom to depart and to meet together to take food, but ordinary and harmless [vegetarian] food.
Dr. Ewing also quotes an early Christian doc.u.ment which presents Thomas as: ... fasting, wearing a single garment, giving what he has to others, and abstaining from the eating of flesh and the drinking of wine.
John the Baptist was another vegetarian. The Gospel of the Hebrews describes his food as: ... wild honey and cakes made with oil and honey.
The word ”locust,” which is commonly given, is a mistranslation. The Greek word for oil cakes is ”enkris” and the Greek word for locust is ”akris.” This translation of cakes of honey and oil is in keeping with the appearance of the angel, Gabriel, to John the Baptist's mother, instructing her that John should be raised on honey and b.u.t.ter.
Another major follower of Jesus was Paul. Paul may have been the only major early teacher who was not initially vegetarian. He appears to have become vegetarian a little later in his ministry. In Corinthians 8:13 Paul states: Therefore if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat flesh at all, that I may not make my brother stumble.
According to Dr. Ewing, the well-respected Christian Father, Flavius Clemens, the founder of the Alexandrian School of Christian Theology, wrote in A.D. 190: It is good neither to drink wine nor to eat flesh, as both St. Paul and the Pythagoreans acknowledge, for this is rather characteristic to a beast, and the fumes arising from them (flesh pots) being dense and darken the soul.... For a voice will whisper to him (Paul) saying ”Destroy not the work of G.o.d for the sake of food. Whether ye eat or drink do all to the glory of G.o.d.”
Vegetarianism of Early Christian Leaders.
AS ALREADY POINTED OUT, many of the early Christians, such as the Judaic Christians, the early Gnostics, the Ebionites, and the Mon-tanists, were vegetarian. Early church fathers, such as Tertullian, St. John Chrysostom, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, St. Benedict, Eusebius, Papias, Cyprian, and Pantaenus, all supported vegetarianism as part of Christianity. It is no accident that these Christian leaders of the time were vegetarians, as they were still influenced by the direct teaching of the first Christians.
One of the great figures of Latin Christianity was Florens Tertullianis, who was born in Carthage about A.D. 155. His spiritual understanding was so profound that he is referred to by the Bishop of Carthage as the ”Master.” In Ethics of Diet, Tertullianis makes the underlying point on the issue of the vegetarianism of Jesus. He said: How unworthy do you press the example of Christ as having come eating and drinking into the service of your l.u.s.ts: He who p.r.o.nounced not the full, but the hungry and thirsty blessed, who professed His work to be the completion of His father's will, was wont to abstain- instructing them to labor for that food which lasts to eternal life, and enjoining in their common prayers, pet.i.tion not for flesh food but for bread only
Concluding Points.
THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE from the writings of the early Christian Fathers, the Jewish philosopher Philo, the Dead Sea Scrolls, The Gospel According to the Hebrews, The Essene Gospel of Peace, Book One, and evidence from the work of the Catholic historian Epiphanius all indicates that the Essene culture in which Jesus was raised, his family, most if not all of his twelve disciples, and his early Christian followers were vegetarian. The prophecy of his coming in Isaiah 7:14-15 even foretells of him being a vegetarian: 14 Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel (with us is G.o.d).
15 b.u.t.ter and honey shall He eat, that He may know how to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
The historical evidence also strongly suggests that Jesus did teach vegetarianism, was a vegetarian, and therefore did not eat flesh food. This is consistent with his teachings of love of all G.o.d's creatures, his commitment not to kill any life according to the highest understanding of the Law of Moses that ”Thou shalt not kill” (man or animal), the original teachings of vegetarianism in Genesis 1:29, and his stand in the Temple against the sacrifice of animals. Jesus taught that compa.s.sion should extend to all of G.o.d's creatures. He taught a humane way of life and was a s.h.i.+ning example of a fully humane human being. To be humane is to be kind, merciful, and not to kill any living creature. The slaughter of animals can in no way be considered humane.
Although there is compelling and strong evidence that Jesus was vegetarian, there is no absolute proof of this. This leaves the door open for readers who do not wish to entertain this understanding to maintain whatever belief system they want. Could, however, a living Son of G.o.d teach anything less or live any way less pure than this?
Contemporary Christian Vegetarians.
MORE RECENTLY WE HAVE THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS, whose many members are vegetarian. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was also vegetarian, as was Sylvester Graham, the Presbyterian minister known for the ”Graham cracker.” What is believed to be the first book on vegetarianism published in the US, Abstinence from Flesh of Animals, was written by William Metcalf, a pastor of the Bible Christian Church of England. Christian monks such as the Trappist, Benedictine, and Carthusian orders, the Universal Christian Gnostic Movement, and the Rosicrucian Fellows.h.i.+p practice a vegetarian diet, although there may be some individual communities that are exceptions. Many Franciscan monks follow a vegetarian diet. Some of this has changed since the 1965 Ec.u.menical Council, which relaxed the regulations concerning flesh-food-eating. In September 1990 at Brown University, Bishop Desmond Tutu from South Africa elegantly stated the meaning of vegetarianism in the context of the promise of world peace and equality for all of G.o.d's children. To paraphrase him, he said that in G.o.d's garden, we are all vegetarians. Since vegetarianism was G.o.d's original plan, although shattered temporarily, it will be again!
The Seventh-Day Adventists, Modern Vegetarian Christians.
IN JUNE 1863, ELLEN WHITE, a devout Christian woman who had been receiving revelations since 1844, began to receive specific revelations pertaining to reforming the health practices in the Adventist movement. This vision in 1863, often referred to as the ”Ostego Vision,” forms the core of the Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) diet and health practices. She claimed to have received her revelations directly from G.o.d. Many of them were said to also come through angelic messengers. The most frequent of these angelic messengers was Gabriel. Her revelations became a tower of guidance for the growth of the Seventh-Day Adventist movement. Vegetarianism, however, was not, and is not, an absolute precondition for joining the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
Mrs. White makes the clear connection between one's ability to lead a spiritually sensitive, moral, and physically healthy life which enables one to serve G.o.d to one's highest ability, and the importance of eating a moderate, simple, vegetarian diet. This is also a diet devoid of overindulgence in even too much ”healthy” food or stimulating, rich foods. Her teachings did not recommend stimulants like coffee and other drugs which alter spiritual awareness.
She taught that taking care of one's personal health was a Christian duty. In the 1976 edition of the Seventh-Day Adventist Encyclopedia, it said: SDAs believe that Christians should have a concern for health not because of any ceremonial or legalistic significance, but for the practical reason that only in a sound body can they render the most effective service to G.o.d and to others.... Health is related to religion in that it enables men to have a clear mind with which to understand the will of G.o.d and a strong body with which to do the will of G.o.d.
SDAs believe that at the fall of man all three aspects of mans nature-the physical, the intellectual, and the spiritual-were affected; and that Jesus, who said He had come to restore that which was lost, seeks to save the whole man.
In her book, Counsels on Diet and Foods, section in, Ellen White says: Grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables const.i.tute the diet chosen for us by our Creator. These foods, prepared in as simple and natural a manner as possible, are the most healthful and nouris.h.i.+ng. They impart a strength, a power of endurance, and a vigor of intellect that are not afforded by a more complex and stimulating diet.