Was Jesus a Vegetarian? Part 1, Vegetarianism & Nonviolence in Early Christianity
“As long as man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.” - Pythagoras, 6th Century BCE
Was Jesus a Vegetarian?
'Of course not', many people will instantly retort when confronted with the question, for the Church and western society has so well ingrained the image of a flesh-eating Messiah into our consciousness that most refuse to consider, or are utterly unable to entertain the notion of a vegetarian Jesus. It is not a widely asked question; after all, didn't Jesus eat fish, and lamb on the Jewish Passover as all good Jews, and feed a crowd of five thousand with the miracle of the multipli4ed loaves and little fishes? And besides, even if he had been a vegetarian, why does it matter and how does it affect me, for didn't Jesus declare all foods clean, you might ask? These are the stumbling blocks hindering the reception of such an idea as potential truth, seeds of violence sown long ago by the likes of pompous priests, bloodthirsty emperors, and meat-eating Catholic bishops who defended war as an institution setup by an all-perfect and loving Creator.
Despite very strong resistance to the possibility among many leaders within organized Christianity, it turns out that despite the biblical references and a long-held religious tradition of a meat-eating Jesus, there is in fact quite the collection of compelling evidence to the contrary, and a very strong case to be made in defense of Jesus as a vegetarian.
All this is not immediately apparent to most, for the pieces of evidence are like pieces of a puzzle that have been scattered far and wide, buried and suppressed by the Catholic Church, or at the very least widely ignored. But as I embarked upon the quest to answer this question for myself several years ago, I realized there were clues scattered everywhere, hidden in plain sight and most people just didn't seem to notice them.
Once I began to dig a little deeper, it became like a treasure hunt – following the clues and finding the scattered puzzle pieces, then attempting to put the puzzle back together. And what I finally found at the end of this research project, was that when taken as a whole the evidence pointing towards a vegetarian Jesus seemed to me to be rather overwhelming.
Also, if there is any truth in the Pythagorean precept that there will be no lasting peace among men so long as we continue to massacre animals, then the implications of this possibility of a vegetarian Christ are astounding indeed. This theme of the connection between violence among men and violence done to animals will be a recurring theme as we dive into this investigation. The implications of a vegetarian Jesus are also important considering how many billions of animals are needlessly slaughtered every single day in America alone, just to feed our selfish cravings for meat, especially when the negative effects of the meat industry on our environment have become so apparent; and the average western diets high in red meat have become so detrimental to human health, contributing greatly to the chronic disease epidemic so prevalent in western society in this current age. These are some of the biggest reasons to consider vegetarianism as an ethical lifestyle choice, and why I believe the question of whether or not Jesus was a vegetarian is so important for our age, considering he is probably the single most influential historical character on western society and consciousness, even if so many people misunderstand his message.
Due to the scope and nature of this subject, I have decided to post this research and compilation of evidence as a series of posts, probably in about six parts (I'm not entirely finished putting it all together just yet) Each section will act like a chapter in a book I suppose (and who know, maybe this will turn into a book someday!), with each part building upon and adding to the evidence provided in the previous one(s), but at the same time I have tried to separate the subject matter in such a way that each section will also be able stand a rather independent post on its own. It was an intersting and time-consuming research project for me, and has been a fun project attempting to collect all the evidence and arguments to make the case as solid as I can.
To start, we will look at the widespread tradition of vegetarianism in early Christianity from the time of Jesus in the first century, all the way into the fourth century when the Roman Empire's 'takeover' of the religion began, as well as the universal Christian tradition of nonviolence in the same time period. The apparent link between nonviolence and vegetarianism in the early church will be shown, and the image of a Pacifist Jesus will be drawn.
The Pacifist Jesus: Nonviolence & Vegetarianism in Early Christianity
One of the biggest clues we have indicating Jesus may have been a vegetarian is the strong vegetarian tradition left behind in his wake, with evidence of this practice being so widespread within the early Jesus movement that within the first 50 years following the death of its founder, Paul who wrote against this practice as a rule of the faith was himself forced to acquiesce, writing, “If meat causes my brother to stumble, I will never again eat meat,” (1 Corinthians 8:13) and “it is good not to eat meat or to drink wine.” (Romans 14:22) The only way eating meat could “cause a brother to stumble” is if the brother believed it was wrong to do so, and was yet pressured into it.
Clearly the practice was widespread enough throughout first century Christendom, even before the disciples were called Christians, that Paul felt the need to continually take up the issue as he argued against the vegetarians within the early Jesus movement. “Those who are weak eat only vegetables,” he writes in Romans 14:2, apparently attempting to paint the opposite picture as depicted in the Hebrew book of Daniel, where those who ate only vegetables were stronger and better looking than the king's men who ate meat meals and drank wine.
The practice seems to have remained just as widespread among early Christians for at least 400 years, all the way into the 5th Century, when the Catholic Bishop Augustine, a strong opponent of the adherence to a vegetarian diet as a Christian requirement, laments that Christians who do abstain from both animal flesh and wine were so prevalent that they were “without number.” (On the Morals of the Catholic Church, 33)
Throughout the entirety of Church history there were always at least a small minority of Christians who held the view that Jesus' universal love and mercy extended beyond humanity into the animal kingdom, and who practiced vegetarianism and advocated nonviolence towards both man and animal. The French Cathars in the 16th Century were a popular 'Gnostic' Christian movement among which many members practiced vegetarianism. Other examples include those like St. Francis of Assissi of the Catholic tradition, the Russian author Leo Tolstoy in the 19th century who wrote a treatise the Christian ethics of nonviolence, and more recently Ellen G. White, founder of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, among others.
To this day, and probably more so now than any time since the first four centuries, there is a growing minority of Christians who have become practicing vegetarians and vegans, not just for health reasons as the Church has always considered acceptable, but for moral and ethical reasons; and who find the inspiration for this path in the teachings of Jesus himself as found in the Bible.
It is hard for many to envision a human incarnation of perfect universal love and total compassion whose love and compassion did not extend to the innocent animals who often bring us so much joy and happiness. If the animals are our friends, and Jesus taught us to love our enemies, then how could it possibly be advisable or even permissible to kill the innocent animals? Animals do little to no harm to anyone in comparison to the great harm done and suffering caused by mankind, particularly the peaceful ones we tend to eat such as lambs and cattle; so it seems absolutely out of character that we are to treat the worst of humanity better than the most peaceful and innocent of the animals!
While it may be argued that peace among mankind is indeed possible while the massacre of animals is ongoing, what is absolutely undeniable is that a true pacifist must necessarily be a vegetarianism; for it is impossible to both denounce every form of violence and at the same time support violence against innocent animals by partaking in a diet consisting of animal flesh, which is not only entirely unnecessary for humanity's survival, but arguably unnatural. And one thing that cannot be denied based upon the evidence is that Jesus was a pacifist who taught absolute nonviolence (at the very least insofar as human life is concerned).
For example, his forerunner John the Baptist who came specifically to prepare the way for him according to the Gospels, is said to have come to “guide our feet into the way of peace,” (Luke 1:79) and John later specifically commanded the soldiers who came and asked him what to do, with the injunction to “do violence to no man.” (Luke 3:14) An interesting response, considering a soldier's job description is to do violence against whomever he is commanded to. As I described in a recent post, the teachings of Jesus were so obviously nonviolent in nature that for 300 years the Christian church understood Jesus' teachings of nonviolence to be so absolute that it prohibited those in the faith to even serve as a soldier! There was no debate on the issue of nonviolence in the church until the 4th and 5th centuries, with the influence of the Roman Emperor Constantine and Roman Catholic Bishop Augustine.
Just decades before Constantine legalized Christianity and the Roman influence began to take hold, in the early 5th century, it was still understood that absolute nonviolence was the only Christian way, as recorded in the words of Arnobios.
...We, a numerous band of men as we are, have learned from His teaching and His law...that we should rather shed our own blood than stain our hands and our conscious with the blood of another...” (Against the Heathen 1.6)
All the Jewish Christians, the Gnostics, and the entirety of orthodox Christianity (Gentile Christianity before the Roman takeover starting in 325AD), as divided as they were on other doctrines, appear to all have been in complete and total agreement on this one single issue.
Examples of these pacifist teachings abound in the 'Sermon on the Mount' in the Gospel of Matthew (5), where Jesus pronounces blessings upon peacemakers, replaces the ancient code of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” with his teaching to “not resist one who is evil,” and commands his disciples to love their enemies and do good to those who hate them; hardly commands that can be realistically followed by those who do not conform to an ethical code absolute nonviolence, even in times of war. After all, war itself is an expression of hatred for one's enemies, and nearly every act of war is an attempt to impose 'justice' by violence or an act of vengeance.
To those who sought to defend their master with violence from the violent forces of Rome and the High Priest, the Teacher responded with an immediate denunciation of the use of force, remarking that: “Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.” Later, he is recorded as having explained why this is: “If my kingdom were of this world, then would my disciples fight that I not be handed over to the Jews, but as it is my kingdom is not of this realm.” (John 18:36)
And when his disciples had previously asked if they should call fire down from heaven as the prophet Elijah had allegedly done centuries earlier, in order to destroy a city which had rejected their teaching, he rebuked them at once: “You do not know what spirit you are of,” he said in Luke 9:55-56, “For the Son of Man has not come to destroy life, but to save life,” yet again showing the spirit of peace in which he had come.
He eventually showed humanity the ultimate path of love and peace, keeping all his own commandments regarding nonviolence during his arrest, trial and execution, even praying for those who were in the process of killing him! He actually lived the pacifist message of absolute nonviolence and nonresistance to evil which he had first taught.
James the brother of Jesus, who became leader of the Jesus movement when Jesus left the earth, writes this in the book of James, that “the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by them that make peace,” hearkening back to the words of Jesus extolling the peacemakers as blessed (James 3:18). The list of biblical references proving Jesus taught nonviolence, showing men the way of peace which most still do not know, are too numerous to bother listing every single one.
The arguments against the pacifist teachings of Jesus are weak at best, and necessarily involve much theological acrobatics to get around the plain meaning of the simple words found in so many different places throughout the gospels and the entire New Testament, not to mention even throughout the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) as we will see in a following post of this series.
It is very interesting and worth noting that the stance of total nonviolence by the Church and widespread vegetarianism within Christianity were both trends that appear to have been reversed during the same time period and under the same influences – that of the Roman Empire and by the Catholic Bishop Augustine who not only railed against any sort of vegetarian requirements for Christians but also authored the 'Just War Theory'. Before this time period, there was no such thing as a so-called just war in the minds of the followers of Jesus, for all war was violent and therefore considered evil, and vegetarianism was exceedingly common, spread far and wide.
It is almost as if there was indeed a direct correlation between vegetarianism and nonviolence in early Christianity, and between the idea that it is good to kill animals to eat meat and the idea that the violence of war can ever be 'just' in the Roman Catholic Church. The idea of a 'just war' was born, and sown into the mind of the Christian religion, ethical vegetarianism in the name of Jesus would no longer be permitted, and any prohibitions on alcohol that had previously existed must be thrown out the window to make a religion acceptable to the Roman Empire.
Everything quickly began to change as vegetarians began to be persecuted by Constantine, heresy hunting and book burning ensued, and at least one Catholic Bishop is documented to have required the eating of a flesh-meal on Sundays in order to flesh out the gnostic 'heretics', most of whom were apparently also vegetarians.
“While the initial cause for Gnostic vegetarianism has been unknown in the past, many classical Christian authors have documented the Gnostic’s widespread practice of vegetarianism. In a 4th Century Christian document it attests that ‘Heretical Gnostic Christians were still so common, and there were so many Gnostic Heretics among the clergy and monks in Egypt that in the region of Theodosius Egypt, the Patriarch Timothy made eating meat compulsory on Sundays, as a way to flush out the vegetarian Gnostics.’” (Luke Meyers, “Gnostic Visions”)
It was during this time period that the “correctors” began to cut out everything from the Scriptures which they found unacceptable to the new religion being formed in the image of Rome, while any heretical scriptures which didn't conform to the new Roman religion was banned with possession earning one the death sentence.
Some are not aware that, after the Council of Nicea, A.D. 325, the MSS. Of the New Testament were considerably tampered with. Prof. Nestle, in his Introduction to the textual criticism of the Greek Testament, tells us that certain scholars, called correctors, were appointed by the ecclesiastical authorities, and actually commissioned to correct the text of Scripture in the interest of what was considered orthodoxy.” (Archdeacon Wilberforce of Westminster, in his book,After Death What?)
Consequently, no complete manuscript of the New Testament, dated to before the 4th century, are extant today. Every single complete manuscript that survived, despite being quite numerous, still all came from the post-Constantine age of Christianity!
It was also during this time that the Gnostic scripture library of texts recently found in Nag Hammadi Egypt (including the renowned Gospel of Thomas) were buried there to preserve them from this purge.
The days of Christianity as a pacifist religion advocating total nonviolence extending to all sentient beings were quickly coming to an end, and the beginning of the era of Christianity as a violent and oppressive imperial religion run by the Roman State was ushered in, and the rest is history. Soon the church and empire would merge, forming the Holy Roman Empire, and the Dark Ages would ensue.
But the story goes back much further. The vegetarian tradition being so widespread throughout Christianity for three centuries wasn't just a random phenomenon; it can be traced back through early Christian leaders, from the time the tradition as a movement was eradicated in the 4th and 5th Centuries, all the way back to the original 12 disciples of Jesus, and indeed even his very own family!
The early disciples and his own brother who succeeded him as later of the movement were all vegetarians who drank neither wine nor strong drink. Early orthodox church fathers and historians attest that the 12 apostles – the closest disciples of the Master - were all vegetarians and teetotalers. Further, specifically Matthew, John and James the brother of Jesus are named as abstaining from both wine and animal flesh, while Matthew's diet is described in detail as a simple vegan one. Non-canonical early Christian writings also record the tradition that Thomas (Acts of Thomas, Gnostic tradition) and Peter (Clementine Homilies, Recognitions – Jewish Christian tradition) specifically are vegan as well.
“They embraced and persevered in a streneous and a laborious life, with fasting and abstinence from wine and meat.” (Eusebius, church father, Proof of the Gospel 3.5)
“And happiness is found in the practice of virtue. Accordingly, the Apostle Matthew partook of seeds, and nuts, hard-shelled fruits, and vegetables, without flesh.” (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Book 2)
“John never ate meat.” (Church historian Hegesippus, according to Eusebius, History of the Church book 2, chapter 23)
Apostle Thomas: “He continually fasts and prays, and abstaining from the eating of flesh and the drinking of wine, he eats only bread with salt, drinks only water, and wears the same garment in fine weather and winter, accepting nothing from anyone, and gives whatever he has to others.” (Acts of Thomas, chapter 20)
Apostle Peter: “I live on olives and bread, to which I rarely only add vegetables, and that this is my only coat and cloak which I wear; and I have no need of any of them, nor of aught else: for even in these I abound. ” (Clementine Homilies 12:6, see Recognitions 7:6)
“James, the brother of the Lord, lived on seeds and plants and touched neither meat nor wine.” (Epistulae ad Faustum XXII, 3)
Of all of the historical mentions that the disciples of Jesus were vegetarians, the most interesting is found with James, the brother of Jesus. For not only was he a vegetarian, but he was raised vegetarian from birth, indicating that the entire family of Jesus was vegetarian. He was also his brother's successor as the leader of the Jesus movement and head of the Jerusalem church after the death and ascension of the Master. This comes to us not just from one but from several sources, and James turns out to be the most well documented figure in early Christianity - or more accurately within the Jesus movement referred to at the time variously as 'the sect of the Nazarenes', 'followers of the Way' and 'the Poor'.
“After the apostles, James the brother of the Lord surnamed 'the Just' was made head of the Church at Jerusalem. Many indeed are called James. This one was holy from his mother's womb. He drank neither wine nor strong drink, ate no flesh, never shaved or anointed himself with ointment or made use of the [public] baths. He alone had the privilege of entering the Holy of Holies, since indeed he did not use woolen vestments but linen and went alone into the Temple and prayed on behalf of the people.” (Heggesipus, quoted by Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 2.23)
In the Gospel of Thomas (7), when asked by his disciples who they are to follow when he leaves them, Jesus answers: “Wherever you are, you are to go to James the Just, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being.” Then according to multiple early Christian sources, he is indeed made the head of the church at Jerusalem. This is confirmed by a clear portrayal of this scenario in Acts, while Paul also attests to this in his letters (and Paul is the earliest source we have), with the Clementines also having him appointed by Jesus as the leader in Jerusalem. This is accepted as historical fact, that James the Just was Jesus' successor as leader of the movement initially formed around his brother.
But not only is James, as a vegetarian and known as 'the Just One', the direct successor of Jesus and first established leader of the Jerusalem Church as such; but as the brother of Jesus he was also raised a vegetarian from birth, meaning Jesus must too have been raised in a vegetarian family. For what parents raise one child vegetarian while feeding their sibling(s) meat dishes? The natural conclusion is that the entire family of Jesus was vegetarian.
It seems self-evident that if all the disciples and his very own brother, who became the leader of the movement when Jesus left the earth, were all vegetarians who abstained from wine, that this was so because their Master taught them to live this lifestyle! Accordingly, there is even evidence within some of the oldest Biblical manuscripts themselves that Jesus in the gospels taught the abstention of meat and wine to his followers. For in the old Syriac manuscripts of Luke is found a verse in which Jesus himself warns his disciples against the eating of meat and against drinking:
“Now beware in yourselves that your hearts do not become heavy with the eating of flesh and with the intoxication of wine and with the anxiety of the world, and that day come upon you suddenly; for as a snare it will come upon all them that sit on the surface of the earth.” - Luke 21:34, Evangelion Da-Mepharreshe
It is at this point that the evidence begins to strongly point towards the vegetarian tradition going all the way back to Jesus, pointing directly to the Master himself as the source. Now we can see the likely reason why vegetarianism was so widespread throughout early Christianity! A tradition so prevalent and widespread so as to be found, not only all throughout the ranks of early Christianity from its very inception and enduring through the first four centuries of its existence, but even in an early manuscript of one of the accepted gospels themselves!
There can be no doubt that this all points to an authentic tradition that was purged from the Bible by the Catholic “correctors” in the 4th and 5th centuries; but not entirely successfully, as some few traces of the original tradition still remain. One trace of the tradition that still remains can be seen in the line of orthodox Christians in the early church carrying forward the vegetarian tradition, and their words.
Origin of Alexandria (184-253) “…was a teetotaler and a vegetarian and he often fasted for long periods of time.” (Wikipedia, citing Gregg 2009, p. 102., and McGuckin 2004, p. 6.)
Origen was an important early Church father of the 2nd & 3rd centuries who was once held as a Saint and considered the greatest and most influential of Christian theologians before the Roman Catholic Church pronounced anathema against him and his teachings (specifically in regards to his teaching on reincarnation and the immortality of the soul). Clement of Alexandria, another prominent vegetarian in early Christianity, was his student.
From Clement of Alexandria (The Instuctor, Book 2):
“"It is good, then, neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine," as both he [Paul] and the Pythagoreans acknowledge.”
“It is far better to be happy than to have a demon dwelling with us. And happiness is found in the practice of virtue. Accordingly, the apostle Matthew partook of seeds, and nuts, and vegetables, without flesh.”
Saint Basil the Great (329-379): “The steam of meat meals darkens the spirit. One can hardly have virtue if one enjoys meat meals and feasts. There never was wine in the earthly Paradise; they never sacrificed animals; they never ate meat; wine was only invented after the Deluge.” (source)
CHRYSOSTUM (347-407 A.D.) Archbishop of Constantinople; whose attacks on sin in high places made him enemies at court and among the wealthy classes. Scourging the customs of his time, he said :
“No streams of blood are among them (the ascetics); no butchering and cutting up of flesh; no dainty cookery; no heaviness of head. Nor are there the horrible smells of flesh meats atmong them, or disagreeable fumes from the kitchen. No tumult and disturbance and wearisome clamours, but bread and water - the latter from a pure fountain, the former from honest labour. If at any time, however, they wish to feast more sumptuously, the sumptuousness consists in fruits, and their pleasure in these is greater than at royal tables. No master and servant are there. All are servants - all are free men...”
~from The Ethics of Diet, Howard Williams, 1st published 1883 (https://ivu.org/history/christian/chrysostom.html)
Hieronymus [Saint Jerome (342-420)] was a contemporary of Augustine, who read the Gospel of the Hebrews used by the early Jewish Christians (said to be the original gospel of Matthew written by the apostle Matthew himself 'in the Hebrew letters', from which our version was then translated into the Greek), and apparently influenced by the Hebrew Nazarene/Ebionite views; he was also vegetarian:
“The consumption of animal flesh was unknown up until the great flood. But since the great flood, we have had animal flesh stuffed into our mouths. Jesus, the Christ, who appeared when the time was fulfilled, again joined the end to the beginning, so that we are now no longer allowed to eat animal flesh.”
And below is another version of the same passage attributed to Saint Jerome:
“The eating of meat was unknown up to the big flood, but since the flood they have stuffed the strings and stinking juices of animal meat into our mouths, just as they threw in front of the grumbling sensual people in the desert. Jesus Christ, who appeared when the time had been fulfilled, has again joined the end with the beginning, so that it is no longer allowed for us to eat animal meat.”
As we can see, the tradition was strong in early Christianity; and according to Jerome; supported by the witness of the old transcript in Luke and historical testimony regarding James his brother, this vegetarian tradition came from Jesus himself.
In part 2, we will continue this interesting investigation...