 | This articlepossibly containsoriginal research. Pleaseimprove it byverifying the claims made and addinginline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed.(December 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Christian vegetarianism is the practice of keeping to avegetarian lifestyle for reasons connected to or derived from theChristian faith. The three primary reasons arespiritual,nutritional, andethical.[1] The ethical reasons may include a concern forGod'screation, aconcern for animal rights andwelfare, or both.[2][3] Likewise,Christian veganism is not using any animal products for reasons connected to or derived from the Christian faith.Pescetarianism was widespread in theearly Church, among both the clergy and laity.[4] Among the early Judeo-ChristianGnostics theEbionites held thatJohn the Baptist,James the Just andJesus were vegetarians.[5][6][7][8][9][10]
Somereligious orders of various Christian Churches practice pescetarianism, including theBenedictines,Franciscans,Trappists,Carthusians andCistercians.[11][12][13] Various Church leaders have recommended vegetarianism, includingJohn Wesley (founder of theMethodist Church),William andCatherine Booth (founders ofThe Salvation Army),William Cowherd from theBible Christian Church andEllen G. White from theSeventh-day Adventists.[14][15][16][17] Cowherd, who founded the Bible Christian Church in 1809, helped to establish the world's firstVegetarian Society in 1847.[18] Organizations such as theChristian Vegetarian Association (CVA) work to promote the concept.[19]
Additionally, many Christians may choose to practice vegetarianism orveganism as theirLenten sacrifice during the period ofLent.[20][21] Prior to the 6th century, Lent was normatively observed through keeping theBlack Fast for forty days, with the allowance of one vegetarian meal with water after sunset.[22][23]
Christian vegetarianism has not been a common dietary choice throughout Church history. Nevertheless, "there is a long-standing tradition of vegetarianism in Christian history."[24] 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).
One of the most important passages for Christian vegetarians is thecreation narrative in theBook of Genesis.[25] After creating humans, God addresses them inchapter 1, verses1:29–30 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 aplant-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.[26][27] Moreover, that God's initial creation was a vegan creation suggests that this is how God intended all his creatures to live.[28] This idea – that God intended for all his creatures to eat plants – is sometimes further supported by noting that the vision of thePeaceable Kingdom found in theBook of Isaiah11:6–9 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[who?] 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 thedominion 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.[29] 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 thatdominion should be understood in terms ofstewardship orservant-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.[30] In a survey of the scholarly literature on the relevant Hebrew terms, Carol J. Adams listsgoverning,ruling,shepherding,caring-for,nurturing, andleading about as potential ways of understandingdominion, and notes that the common characteristic of these concepts "is their benignity".[31]
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.[Genesis 9:3–4] 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."[32]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"[32] 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.Leviticus 11 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 to slaughter a lamb and eat it, and instituted the Passover as a lasting tradition to remember God's saving them.[Exodus 12:24]
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.[33] 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.[34][35][36] 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.[37][38] 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.[39] 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 ofmanna, a food of which "The Rabbis of theTalmud held that [...] had whatever taste and flavor the eater desired at the time of eating"[40] 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.[Numbers 11:4–10] They were condemned for this, although God relented and gave them meat, which then made them ill.[Numbers 11:32–34] Because of their lust, the place where the incident happened became known asKibroth Hattaavah.[40]
A donkey temporarily given the ability to speak showedBalaam more than signs ofsentience.[Numbers 22:21–33] Some people believe that theBook of Daniel also specifically promotes veganism as empowering. Daniel specifically refuses the king's "meat" (paṯbaḡ,Strong's #5698[41]) and instead requests vegetables (zērōʿîm, Strong's #2235[42]).[Daniel 1:8–16] However, current common theology argues that in this instance Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah are rejecting food that is considered to be unholy by their faith (eating food that had been sacrificed to pagan gods), and not meatper se, despite that "at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat".[Daniel 1:15]
Philo says that theEssenes, "being more scrupulous than any in the worship of God ... do notsacrifice animals ..., but hold it right to dedicate their own hearts as a worthy offering". They maintained that the sacrifices "polluted" theTemple.[43] The Christian Vegetarian Association of the UK claims that the word "meat" is not used in any one instance in the authorized version of either the Old or New Testament as relating only to animal food (e.g. "flesh"). The CVA states that when the first English translations of the Bible were created, the word for "meat" meant food in general. When any particular kind of food was designated, it was referred to as meal, flour or grain.[44]
According to the CVA, examples of New Testament words that were translated as "meat" include: broma ("that which is eaten"/usage: 16 times); brosimos ("eatable"/usage: 1 time); brosis ("act of eating; that which is eaten, food; food of the souls"/usage: 7 times); prosphagion ("anything eaten with bread; spoken of fish boiled or broiled"/usage: 1 time); sitometron ("a measured portion of grain or food"/usage: 1 time); trapeza ("a table on which food is placed, an eating place"/usage: 1 time); trophe ("food, nourishment"/usage: 13 times); phago ("to eat, to take food, eat a meal, devour, consume"/usage: 3 times).[45]
Christian vegetarians and vegans often appeal to the ethic that Jesus embodied, and called people to emulate, in making their case for a distinctively Christian vegetarianism. To begin with, Jesus inaugurated the Kingdom of God, but his Kingdom did not involve the exercise of power as humans tend to think of it.
Christian vegetarians also stress the importance Jesus laid onpeace[46] andinclusion.[47] These and other aspects of Jesus's attitudes towards others are used to extract ethical principles which, according to Christian vegetarians and vegans, lead one to a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle. Sarah Withrow King summarizes the point like this:
Aware of the suffering and pain experienced by animals raised and killed for food, with a knowledge of the immense waste of natural resources and subsequent impact on both our fellow humans and the rest of creation, and acknowledging that flesh is not a dietary necessity for the vast majority of Western humans, why would we continue to participate in a system that dishonors God's creation and perpetuates violence on a truly phenomenal scale?[48]
| This section has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
Jesus's eating of fish[Luke 24] and telling his disciples where to catch fish, before cooking it for them to eat,[John 21] is a common subject in Christian ethical vegetarian and vegan writings. The original version does not mention fish at all and only bread. The Bible does not explicitly state that Jesus ate any meat, and Webb cites the fact that no lamb is mentioned at the Last Supper as evidence that he did not.[49] According to Clough and King, the fact that Jesus ate fish and possibly other meat only shows that, in some circumstances, it is sometimes permissible to eat some meats but that practices in the modern, industrialized farming system (such as the mass killing of day-old male chicks from laying hens) make the consumption of meat produced in such farms morally problematic.[50][51]
Andy Alexis-Baker has appealed to biblical scholarship to argue that biblical passages often need nuanced interpretation, and to guard against a wooden literalism. For example, he cites the work of Gerald O'Collins, SJ, who suggests that differences between the way Luke describes this appearance in Luke 24:41–43 and in Acts 1, and a tension between Luke 24:41–43 and 1 Corinthians 6, preclude us from reading this verse literally.[52] Vujicic explains this passage by appealing to a so-calledsynoptic principle.[53]
In the tenth chapter of theActs of the Apostles, there is an account ofa vision given to theApostle Peter. In this vision, Peter is shown a large sheet being lowered from heaven by its four corners. The sheet is said to contain animals of all kinds, and Peter then hears a voice (which he interprets as a command from God) saying, "Get up, Peter; kill and eat".[Acts 10:13] Peter refuses, and the voice says: "What God has made clean, you must not call profane."Acts 10:13]
Christian vegetarians and vegans argue that this passage is not about which animals one may or may not eat but it is about who the Gospel is for.[54] According to Laura Hobgood-Oster, "The vision, it seems, is not about eating animals; rather it is about extending hospitality to all humans. While animals in sacred texts are often real animals and should be considered as such, in this particular case it seems that in Peter's vision animals symbolized human categories that exclude other humans from community."[55]
Sarah Withrow King writes that God uses this vision to remind Peter that he is to "remove barriers of fellowship and to reconcile with those from whom we have been separated in order to further the reign of God on earth.... the vision is one of radical inclusion."[56] John Vujicic agrees with King, observing that, after receiving the vision, Peter did not eat anything. Vujicic writes, "In the sheet were also so called CLEAN animals. Peter could have at least selected some sheep or cattle and killed but he didn't." According to Vujicic, the reason Peter did not simply take up and eat aclean animal was because Peter was in fact a vegetarian.[53] Peter is reported as describing himself as a vegetarian in the apocryphalPseudo-Clementine Homilies.
Most Christians maintain that Jesus's teaching in Mark 7[Mark 7:5–21] demonstrates that Christians can eat whatever they want, that dietary choices are a matter of "Christian liberty", and that therefore vegetarianism or veganism could never be obligatory for Christians.[57] Christian vegetarians and vegans counter that the point of Jesus's teaching in Mark 7 is that his followers should concern themselves with the status of their heart which "informs our relationship with God, with each other, and the world".[58]
Vegetarianism appears to have been a point of contention within someearly Christian circles, notably in Rome. Within the Bible'sNew Testament, theApostle Paul states that people of "weak faith" "eat only vegetables",[Romans 14:1–4] although he also warns both meat-eaters and vegetarians to "stop passing judgment on one another" when it comes to food in verse 13 and "[It is] good neither to eat flesh" in verse 21. Paul also said, "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They [...] order [...] to abstain from certain foods".[1Timothy 4:1–3] According to theChristian Vegetarian Association, Paul was not referring to vegetarianism, which they say was not an issue in those times, but to the practice of not eating meat from the meat market because of fear that (like the above issue involving Daniel) it was sacrificed to an idol.[1Corinthians 10:19–29][54] "Wherefore, if meat [brōma, Strong's #1033,[59] 'anything used as food'[60]] make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend."1Corinthians 8:13
In the fourth century someJewish Christian groups maintained that Jesus was himself a vegetarian.Epiphanius quotes theGospel of the Ebionites where Jesus has a confrontation with the high priest. Jesus chastises the leadership saying, "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 God shall not cease from you; even as it came to your fathersin the wilderness, who lusted for flesh, and did sate to their content, and were filled with rottenness, and the plague consumed them."[61]
According toLightfoot, "the Christianized Essennes [...] condemned the slaughter of victims on grounds very different from those alleged in theEpistle of Hebrews, not because they have been superseded by theAtonement, but because they are in their very nature repulsive to God; not because they have ceased to be right, but because they never were right from the beginning".[43]
Other early Christian historical documents observe that many influential Christians during the formative centuries of Christianity were vegetarian, though certainly not all. TheDidascalia does not itself endorse vegetarianism, it records a group of individuals who believe they "should not eat flesh, and said that a man must not eat anything that has a soul in it."[62]
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.[4]Origen's workContra Celsum quotesCelsus commenting vegetarian practices among Christians he had contact with.[63] Although not vegetarian himself and vehemently against the idea that Christians must be vegetarians,Augustine nevertheless wrote that those Christians who "abstain both from flesh and from wine" are "without number".[64]
Followers of theGnostic sect known asCatharism practicedpescatarianism as early as the Middle Ages.[65] TheBible Christian Church founded by ReverendWilliam Cowherd in 1809 followed a vegetarian diet.[16] Cowherd was one of the philosophical forerunners of theVegetarian Society.[18] Cowherd encouraged members to abstain from eating of meat as a form oftemperance.[66] Cowherd emphasized that vegetarianism was good for health, whilst eating meat was unnatural and likely to cause aggression. Later he is reputed to have said "If God had meant us to eat meat, then it would have come to us in edible form [as is the ripened fruit]."[18]
.jpg)
TheSeventh-day Adventists present a health message that recommends vegetarianism and expects abstinence from pork, shellfish and other foods proscribed as "unclean" inLeviticus.[67] A number of the founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, includingJoseph Bates andEllen White, adopted a vegetarian diet during the nineteenth century, and Ellen White reportedly received visions regarding the health benefits of a vegetarian diet.[68] More recently, members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in California have been involved in research into longevity due to their healthy lifestyle, which includes maintaining a vegetarian diet.[69] This research has been included within aNational Geographic article.[70][71] Another denomination with common origin, theSeventh Day Adventist Reform Movement recommends vegetarianism as a part of fellowship, with many of its members being practicing vegans as well. Typically, however, these sabbatarian pro-vegetarian Christian fellowships do not "require vegetarianism as a test of fellowship."[citation needed]
TheWord of Wisdom is a dietary law given to adherents of theLatter Day Saint movement (also known asMormonism), which states that "flesh also of beasts and of fowls of the air... are to be used sparingly," and that "it is pleasing unto [God] that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine".[72] Unlike injunctions against tobacco and alcohol, compliance with this part of theDoctrine and Covenants has never been made mandatory bythe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the largest Latter Day Saint denomination. Many LDS Church leaders have expressed their views on the subject of meat, but sinceJoseph F. Smith became church president in 1901, emphasis on refraining from meat has largely been dropped.[73] An official church publication states, "[m]odern methods of refrigeration now make it possible to preserve meat in any season".[74] As recently as 2012, official church spokespersonMichael Otterson stated "the church has also encouraged limiting meat consumption in favor of grains, fruits and vegetables."[75] Of note is that the LDS Church owns and operatesDeseret Ranches in central Florida, which is one of the largestcow–calf operations in theUnited States.[76]
Some members of theReligious Society of Friends (also known as Quakers) practice vegetarianism or veganism as a reflection of thePeace Testimony, extending non-violence towards animals.[77] Historically, the early vegetarian movement had many Quaker promoters. SomeRanter groups – non-conformist Christian groups that existed in seventeenth-century England – were vegetarian.
Roman Catholic monastic orders such as theCarthusians andCistercians follow a pescatarian diet.Carmelites and others following the Rule of St. Albert also maintain a vegetarian diet,[13] although the old and sick are permitted to eat meat according to this rule of life. TheOrder of Minims, an order of friars founded by St.Francis of Paola in the 15th century, goes further: in addition to the standard three religious vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, its members take a fourth vow of vita quadragesimalis ("a Lenten way of life"), committing to perpetualabstinence from all meat, eggs, anddairy products.[78]
Christian anarchists, such asLeo Tolstoy,Ammon Hennacy, andThéodore Monod, extend the Christian principles of compassion andnonviolence through following a vegetarian diet.[79][80][81]
TheChristian Vegetarian Association (CVA) is an international, non-denominational Christian vegetarian organization that promotes responsible stewardship of God's creation through plant-based eating.[82] The CVA produced the 2006 filmHonoring God's Creation.[83]
Sarx is a UK-based organization which aims to "empower Christians to champion the cause of animals and live peacefully with all God's creatures".[84] Sarx publishes interviews with Christian vegans and vegetarians on its website, and provides people to speak at Churches in the UK on topics such as Christianity and veganism, animal welfare and faith, creation and animals.
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".[85] It was founded by David Clough, Professor of Theological Ethics at theUniversity of Chester, and is directed by Clough and Sarah Withrow King, an American author and deputy directory of the Sider Center at Eastern University. CreatureKind produces a course for churches to do which facilitates church groups to think through how Christians should respond to and treat animals.
Creation Care Church is a virtual Christian church community, founded in 2021, that teaches a Bible-based approach to caring for the earth and all its inhabitants, including living a compassionate vegan lifestyle that shows mercy to all of God's creatures.[86]
Catholic Concern for Animals (CCA) is a charity which calls Catholics "to cherish and care for all of [God's] creation".[87] CCA has for "many years" promoted a vegetarian/vegan diet as a way of caring for creation, in particular animals.[88][89]
The group Evangelicals for Social Action have suggested that a vegan diet is a way of demonstrating Christian love and compassion to farmed animals, and argue in particular that this is what a consistently pro-life ethic looks like.[90]
Christian Vegetarians and Vegans UK is an organization seeking to promote a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle in the Church in the UK.[91]
DuringLent some Christian communities, such as OrthodoxChristians in the Middle East, undertake partialfasting eating only one light meal per day.[92] For strictGreek Orthodox Christians andCopts, all meals during this 40-day period are prepared without animal products and are essentially vegan.[92] Unlike veganism, however, abstaining from animal products during Lent is intended to be only temporary and not a permanent way of life.[93]
Eastern Orthodox laity traditionally abstains from animal products on Wednesdays (because, according to Christian tradition, Judas betrayed Jesus on theWednesday prior to the Crucifixion of Jesus) and Fridays (because Jesus is thought to have been crucified on thesubsequent Friday), as well as during the four major fasting periods of the year:Great Lent, theApostles' Fast, theDormition Fast and theNativity Fast. Catholic laity traditionally abstain from animal flesh on Fridays and through the Lenten season leading up toEaster (sometimes being required to do so by law, seefasting and abstinence in the Roman Catholic Church), some also, as a matter of private piety, observe Wednesday abstinence.Fish is not considered proper meat in any case (seepescetarianism, though the Eastern Orthodox allow fish only on days on which the fasting is lessened but meat still not allowed). For these practices, "animal rights" are no motivation and positive environmental or individual health effects only a surplus benefit; the actual reason is to practicemortification and some marginalasceticism.
Oriental Orthodox,Eastern Orthodox, andEastern Catholic monastics abstain from meat year-round, and many abstain from dairy and seafood as well. Through obedience to the Orthodox Church and its ascetic practices,[94] the Orthodox Christian seeks to rid himself or herself of thepassions, or the disposition to sin.[citation needed]
InWestern Christianity, fasting is observed during the forty-day season ofLent by many communicants of theCatholic Church,Lutheran Churches,Anglican Communion,Methodist Churches and theWestern Orthodox Churches to commemorate the fast observed byChrist during his temptation in the desert.[95] While some Western Christians fast during the entire season of Lent,Ash Wednesday andGood Friday are emphasized by Western certain Christian denominations as especially important days of fasting within the Lenten season.[96][97] In many Western Christian Churches, including those of the Catholic, Methodist and Baptist traditions, certain congregations have committed to undertaking theDaniel Fast during the whole season of Lent, in which believers practiceabstinence from meat, lacticinia and alcohol for the entire forty days of the liturgical season.[98][99][100][101]
According toCanon Law,Roman Catholics are required to abstain from meat (defined as all animal flesh and organs, excluding water animals) onAsh Wednesday and all Fridays ofLent including Good Friday.[102] 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.[102] Canon Law also obliges Catholics to abstain from meat on the Fridays of the year outside of Lent (excluding certain holy days) unless, with the permission of the local conference of bishops, another penitential act is substituted.[102] Exceptions are allowed for health and necessity like manual labor and not causing offense when being a guest.[102] The restrictions on eating meat on these days is solely as an act of penance and not because of a religious objection to eating meat.[102] TheUnited States Conference of Catholic Bishops has made substitution of a different penitential or charitable act an option for ordinary Fridays in their territory.[102] After previous abolition, theCatholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales restored the meatless ordinary Friday requirement for their territory effective September, 2011.[103] A popular misconception is thatPope Gregory I (who ruled from 590 to 604, and who is also a canonized saint) declared thatrabbits were not meat. This is apparently a corruption of a manuscript in which SaintGregory of Tours described one person (who was also ill and might not have been Catholic) eating a rabbit fetus during Lent.[104] The rules are widely ignored; a 2016 survey found that only 62% of U.S. Catholics said they avoid meat on Fridays during Lent.[105]
A Handbook for the Discipline of Lent delineates the followingLutheran fasting guidelines:[106]
It is the practice of many Lutherans to abstain from alcohol and meat on the Fridays of Lent;[107] aBlack Fast has been historically kept by Lutherans onGood Friday.[108][109]
InAnglicanism, theBook of Common Prayer prescribes certain days as days for fasting and abstinence from meat, "consisting of the 40 days of Lent, the ember days, the threeRogation days (the Monday to Wednesday following the Sunday after Ascension Day, which is also known as Holy Thursday), and all Fridays in the year (except Christmas, if it falls on a Friday)":[110]
A Table of the Vigils, Fasts, and Days of Abstinence, to be Observed in the Year.
- The eves (vigils) before:
- TheNativity of our Lord.
- ThePurification of theBlessed Virgin Mary.
- TheAnnunciation of the Blessed Virgin.
- Easter Day.
- Ascension Day.
- Pentecost.
- St. Matthias.
- St. John Baptist.
- St. Peter.
- St. James.
- St. Bartholomew.
- St. Matthew.
- St. Simon andSt. Jude.
- St. Andrew.
- St. Thomas.
- All Saints' Day.
- Note: if any of these Feast-Days fall upon a Monday, then the Vigil or Fast-Day shall be kept upon the Saturday, and not upon the Sunday next before it.
- Days of Fasting, or Abstinence.
- I. The Forty Days ofLent.
- II. TheEmber Days at the Four Seasons, being the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the First Sunday in Lent, the Feast of Pentecost, September 14, and December 13.
- III. The ThreeRogation Days, being the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, before Holy Thursday, or the Ascension of our Lord.
- IV. All the Fridays in the Year, except Christmas Day.
Methodism's historic liturgical bookThe Sunday Service of the Methodists (put together by John Wesley), as well as The Directions Given to Band Societies (25 December 1744), mandate fasting and abstinence from meat on all Fridays of the year (except Christmas Day, if it falls on a Friday).[111][112]
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)
Also, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, who promoted the idea that vegetarianism was a more healthful way to live.
It is a great delusion to suppose that flesh-meat of any kind is essential to health.
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.
Eusebius,Ecclesiastical History 5.1.26, reports an early Christian martyr who interpreted the prohibition of the blood of animals to imply vegetarianism.Minucius Felix refers to bloodshed in the arena and the blood of animals in the same breath (Octavius 29.6).Tertullian points out that Christians are forbidden both human and animal blood (Apology 9). Sandmel states that blood could refer either to the blood of a sacrificed animal or to human violence:Judaism and Christian Beginnings, p. 408.
If in obedience to the traditions of their fathers they abstain from such victims, they must also abstain from all animal food, in accordance with the opinions of Pythagoras, who thus showed his respect for the soul and its bodily organs. But if, as they say, they abstain that they may not eat along with demons, I admire their wisdom, in having at length discovered, that whenever they eat they eat with demons, although they only refuse to do so when they are looking upon a slain victim; for when they eat bread, or drink wine, or taste fruits, do they not receive these things, as well as the water they drink and the air they breathe, from certain demons, to whom have been assigned these different provinces of nature?
I had been vegetarian since 1910
Monod became a vegetarian and an ardent pacifist
Christian Vegetarian Association
The vegan lenten fast of Egypt's native Christian community
In many Lutheran churches, the Sundays during the Lenten season are called by the first word of their respective Latin Introitus (with the exception of Palm/Passion Sunday): Invocavit, Reminiscere, Oculi, Laetare, and Judica. Many Lutheran church orders of the 16th century retained the observation of the Lenten fast, and Lutherans have observed this season with a serene, earnest attitude. Special days of eucharistic communion were set aside on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.
The Protestant Episcopal, Lutheran, and Reformed churches, as well as many Methodists, observe the day by fasting and special services.
Special religious services are held on Ash Wednesday by the Church of England, and in the United States by Episcopal, Lutheran, and some other Protestant churches. The Episcopal Church prescribes no rules concerning fasting on Ash Wednesday, which is carried out according to members' personal wishes; however, it recommends a measure of fasting and abstinence as a suitable means of marking the day with proper devotion. Among Lutherans as well, there are no set rules for fasting, although some local congregations may advocate this form of penitence in varying degrees.
In some cases, entire churches do the Daniel Fast together during Lent. The idea strikes a chord in Methodist traditions, which trace their heritage to John Wesley, a proponent of fasting. Leaders in the African Methodist Episcopal Church have urged churchgoers to do the Daniel Fast together, and congregations from Washington to Pennsylvania and Maryland have joined in. For the fourth consecutive year, St. Mark's United Methodist Church in Charlotte, N.C., will observe Lent this year with a churchwide Daniel Fast. Young adults in the congregation tend to keep the fast more rigorously than older ones, according to Pastor Paul Milton.
Many parishioners at St. Philip Neri are participating in the Daniel fast, a religious diet program based on the fasting experiences of the Old Testament prophet Daniel. ... participating parishioners started the fast Ash Wednesday (Feb. 10) and will continue through Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday.
Our family and friends are encouraged to take this journey during the season of Lent. This is a time we as Christians mature spiritually the 40 days before Resurrection Sunday. The Daniel Fast begins Ash Wednesday, February 17, 2021 and ends on Resurrection Sunday, April 4, 2021. Our common practice is 6 days on and 1 day off.
The Good Friday fast became the principal fast in the calendar, and even after the Reformation in Germany many Lutherans who observed no other fast scrupulously kept Good Friday with strict fasting.
By many Lutherans Good Friday is observed as a strict fast. The lessons on Ash Wednesday emphasize the proper idea of the fast. The Sundays in Lent receive their names from the first words of their Introits in the Latin service, Invocavit, Reminiscere, Oculi, Lcetare, Judica.
In the1662 Book of Common Prayer, there is a list of "Days of Fasting, or Abstinence", consisting of the 40 days of Lent, the ember days, the three rogation days (the Monday to Wednesday following the Sunday after Ascension Day), and all Fridays in the year (except Christmas, if it falls on a Friday).
Days of Fasting or Abstinence: All the Fridays in the Year, except Christmas-Day
John Wesley, in hisJournal, wrote on Friday, August 17, 1739, that "many of our society met, as we had appointed, at one in the afternoon and agreed that all members of our society should obey the Church to which we belong by observing 'all Fridays in the year' as 'days of fasting and abstinence.'
