Christian vegetarianism
[4][5][6][7][8][9] Some religious orders of various Christian Churches practice pescetarianism, including the Benedictines, Franciscans, Trappists, Carthusians and Cistercians.
[19][20] 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.
[27] 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 11:6–9 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.
[29] 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".
"[31] 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."
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.
[38] 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"[39] and which probably was not an animal product.
[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 meat per 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 the Essenes, "being more scrupulous than any in the worship of God … do not sacrifice animals …, but hold it right to dedicate their own hearts as a worthy offering".
[42] 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").
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?
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.
[56] 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".
"[17] The Seventh-day Adventists present a health message that recommends vegetarianism and expects abstinence from pork, shellfish and other foods proscribed as "unclean" in Leviticus.
[67] 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][70] Another denomination with common origin, the Seventh Day Adventist Reform Movement recommends vegetarianism as a part of fellowship, with many of its members being practicing vegans as well.
"[citation needed] The Word of Wisdom is a dietary law given to adherents of the Latter Day Saint movement (also known as Mormonism), 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] An official church publication states, "[m]odern methods of refrigeration now make it possible to preserve meat in any season".
[75] Some members of the Religious Society of Friends (also known as Quakers) practice vegetarianism or veganism as a reflection of the Peace Testimony, extending non-violence towards animals.
[81] 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".
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".
[86][87] 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] For strict Greek Orthodox Christians and Copts, all meals during this 40-day period are prepared without animal products and are essentially vegan.
[100] 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.
[100] 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.
[100] The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has made substitution of a different penitential or charitable act an option for ordinary Fridays in their territory.
[100] After previous abolition, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales restored the meatless ordinary Friday requirement for their territory effective September, 2011.
This is apparently a corruption of a manuscript in which Saint Gregory of Tours described one person (who was also ill and might not have been Catholic) eating a rabbit fetus during Lent.
