No, Jesus was not a vegetarian. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is one group that often makes this claim. That struck me as odd. ("Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God" -- Luke 6:20). And in the process of examining the New Testament and early historical sources about Jesus, I became shocked to learn that perhaps neither Christians nor Muslims today truly understand what Jesus was about. He opposed the animal sacrifices of the Jews, and he especially had compassion for fish, calling multiple fishermen away from their occupation of killing innocent animals.” The Gospels identify two other major sects of the day, the Sadducees and the Pharisees, as opponents of Jesus. And the end result was that over centuries, Paul's idiosyncratic view of Jesus became the orthodox Christian line, simply because it survived and thrived. Neither mainstream Christianity nor mainstream Islam endorses vegetarianism as a preferred lifestyle. And this skeptical approach toward the official version of Christian history has led me to a deep personal conviction -- based on the historical sources -- that Christ's message was not just about loving your fellow human beings, but that he actually was deeply concerned that his followers show compassion toward animals. We have a duty to them, to our Creator, and to our own humanity, to show animals mercy and compassion. Conclusion Given the above points, it is reasonable to believe that vegetarianism would be consistent with, if not mandated by, the spirit of early Christianity, a spirit that advocated kindness, mercy, non-violence and showed disdain towards wealth and extravagance. When God blessed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, He said to them: “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. ), The Homilies and the Recognitions contain accounts of Peter's mission and his disputes with a false teacher named "Simon Magus" who is misleading people about Jesus (Simon Magus is clearly an Ebionite code-name for Paul). The barbaric practices of modern slaughterhouses violate the merciful traditions of Judaism, Islam, and yes, Christianity, and the holy figures of our traditions would undoubtedly reject such contemporary cruelties. Jesus is a pivotal figure in both Christianity and Islam, and both religions consider themselves to contain the true teachings of Christ. "Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is one group that often makes this claim. The evidence of religious vegetarianism in the early Christian community was so overwhelming that I was forced to consider why this was not one of the issues that divide Christians and Muslims in theology. And it was in the process of researching these Jewish Christians that I was startled to discover that there was a consistent theme in their teachings. Discussions of the differences in Christian and Muslim approaches to Jesus can and do fill volumes, and I can only scratch the surface of this theological controversy here. But I now have a preference to eat meat that has been slaughtered in as humane a way as possible. And, as we have seen, Paul's vision of Christ was opposed to rules and restrictions around food, to the extent that he found himself in conflict with James and Peter on the subject. I must admit to you, I'm not writing this article as an expert on the vegan diet and lifestyle—because I am … According to Epiphanius, the Ebionites also rejected alcohol and used water for communion, further strengthening their claim to be continuing the practice of James, who was the brother of Jesus and his appointed successor. The evidence that Jesus was a vegetarian, or at least early Christians who knew him were vegetarians, was compelling. PETA argues: “Jesus was compassionate, but slaughterhouses are cruel to animals. I am not a vegetarian or a vegan. ©2021 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. 06 October, 2014 by Jeffrey W. Hamilton. Many scholars believe the Essenes were the authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Salvation comes through faith in Christ's redemptive sacrifice. The Essenes believed an apocalyptic war would wipe out theirs. But after seeing some of the horrifying images from modern secular slaughterhouses, perhaps it is time for all of us to look into our religious histories and take seriously the traditions that emphasize mercy toward animals. This one was holy from his mother's womb. “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.” —Genesis 1:30 Romans 14:2-3 says, “One man’s faith allows him to eat everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him.”. His work How Jesus Became Christian provides a detailed examination of the evolution of Christian thought that I summarize below. We do not today possess authentic gospels in Aramaic or Hebrew, and so we can never know for sure if Christ's words were properly translated into Greek, and the nuances and meanings of his mother tongue are lost to history. You must not kill any living being for the sake of your food. But a critic of this line of reasoning can rightly raise the fact that the Ebionites were rejected as heretics by mainstream Christianity. But the evidence is undeniable. If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device. God is love, so it’s no surprise that eating animals isn’t His preference. The primary differences between the two faiths arise over his identity and message. Hegesippus, a 2nd century orthodox Christian historian, wrote of James the Just, the brother of Jesus: "After the apostles, James the brother of the Lord surnamed the Just was made head of the Church at Jerusalem. I wanted to follow up with a similar book about Jesus based on the early historical sources. A few scholars have speculated that John might have been an Essene. It was as if the two movements were actually competing religions rather than branches of the same faith. If you appreciate this page please like it, thanks. In the Old Testament law, the nation of Israel was commanded not to eat certain foods (Leviticus 11:1-47), but there was never a command against eating meat. His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me." Paul taught his followers that obedience to the ritual law of Moses was no longer necessary -- indeed it was a "curse" (Galatians 3:10-13). In fact most Christians today would be hard-pressed to name a handful of the 613 commandments that form the backbone of the Torah. After the flood in Noah’s time, God gave humanity permission to eat meat (Genesis 9:2-3). Akers explains in greater depth the historical processes that I have detailed above, and the book is valuable for anyone who wishes to understand how the vision of Paul differed from that of other early Christians, and why Paul's vision ultimately triumphed to become Christian orthodoxy. asked if it can be assumed that Jesus was a vegetarian as well, he replied: “Almost certainly.” In an interview with Supreme Master Television, Keith Akers, author of the book “The Lost Religion of Jesus,” reaffirmed the evidence that Lord Jesus was indeed a vegetarian: Was Jesus vegetarian? Given the Gospels don’t mention the Essenes; Jesus must have been an Essene. The Jesus Movement (Jews who saw Jesus as their teacher and leader) was based in Jerusalem at the time, while Paul was preaching to Gentiles throughout Asia Minor (modern Turkey), apparently without any authority from the disciples to do so. PETA’s campaign ignored biblical evidence and the Bible altogether, preferring sources from the fringe field of “vegetarian theology,” who depend on coincidence, historical speculation, creative interpretation of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other ancient texts to support their case that Jesus was an Essene and that the Essenes practiced vegetarianism. There are many sources for the following historical interpretation, but the most readable and well argued is by Prof. Barrie Wilson, a respected biblical scholar at York University in Toronto. Many biblical scholars believe that Jesus was a vegetarian. Jesus socialized with lepers. The ideas of a Divine Man incarnating, dying and being reborn, were already popular mystical doctrines in these communities, and it was not hard to replace Mithras or Osiris with Christ. But during his lifetime, and for several years afterward, the followers of Jesus did not see themselves as creating a new religion. That means the huge business of animal sales for sacrifice! Akers has the remarkable ability to point out evidence in the biblical texts that is hiding in plain site. If Jesus opposed the slaughter and consumption of animals, the New Testament tells nothing of it. is a very interesting one. God made everything that lives on the earth – including the animals and the Bibles us to take care of the animals under our care. The most common name for these groups was the Ebionites, from the Hebrew word Evyonim, which means "the poor." And then I came across a remarkable book called The Lost Religion of Jesus: Simple Living and Nonviolence in Early Christianity by Keith Akers, which posits a shocking thesis -- that the central event of the Christian faith, the Crucifixion, was predicated upon Christ's willingness to fight for animal rights. This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Watching beautiful little chicks ground alive by gears and blades should make us question who we are and what being human means. Fresh fish would have been plentiful around the Mediterranean coast, Sea of Galilee and Jordan River; … The Gospels are fairly straightforward about the Messiah’s diet and tastes in food. What does Scripture actually say? My first novel, Mother of the Believers, about the birth of Islam from the perspective of Prophet Muhammad's wife Aisha, has been a success. Jesus taught that we’re all God’s children. On March 17, 1999 the Omaha World Herald reprinted a hilarious article by Bill Broadway of the Washington Post. Indeed, he preached along the Jordan River near the Essenes’ Dead Sea settlement, he held political beliefs similar to those of the Essenes, and lines found in the Dead Sea Scrolls echo in his preaching. The story of Jesus multiplying fish and bread, not to mention the Passover lamb, argues against vegetarianism too. Most Christian scholars would not dispute the basic outline of the history as I have laid it out here. The Ebionites and the Survival of Jewish Christianity. Many indeed are called James. Jesus ate the Passover meal with his disciples. Kamran Pasha is a Hollywood filmmaker and the author of Mother of the Believers, a novel on the birth of Islam as told by Prophet Muhammad's wife Aisha (Atria Books; April 2009). In the Gospel of John, Jesus physically drives herds of animals out of the Temple courtyard using a whip. These documents (known to scholars as the "pseudo-Clementines") are Ebionite stories about the early Christians. The fact that Paul has to make this point means that ethical vegetarianism was being presented as a moral requirement to be a Christian! In both Judaism and Islam, there are ancient rules of sacrifice meant to lessen an animal's suffering and bring a quick and merciful death. Several of Paul's letters in the New Testament were written to respond to the critiques of these Jewish Christians, who claimed Paul was misguided and perhaps even lying about his encounter with Christ (see Galatians 1:20, 2 Corinthians 11:31, 1 Timothy 2:7 where Paul repeatedly insists that he is not lying, since clearly this is a charge being regularly made against him). Jesus spoke of loving one’s enemy. It is unlikely that the Priests would have felt directly threatened by an attack on unscrupulous traders overcharging pilgrims on exchange rates. They were written in Koine Greek, the common language of the eastern Roman Empire (with regrets to Mel Gibson, whose insistence in having the Roman soldiers and Pontius Pilate speak Latin was one of the many historical inaccuracies in his Passion of the Christ). Evidence of Ethical Vegetarianism in Mainstream Christianity. Was The Crucifixion the Result of Christ's Opposition to Animal Sacrifice? As a Muslim, my personal views of Jesus are already different from those of my Christian neighbors. The question: was Jesus vegan? And some who read his book might find his persistence on the subject annoying. According to Church historians like Iraneus (2nd century CE), Origen (3rd century CE), Epiphanius and Eusebius (4th century CE), and Jerome (5th century CE), Jewish Christian groups had their own Gospel originally written in Hebrew (or possibly Aramaic, the language Jesus actually spoke). Then there’s the argument that Jesus called multiple fisherman away from their occupation of killing animals. Is there any merit to this argument? Salvation for Muslims comes through what they consider the central teachings of Jesus and all prophets -- belief in One God and living an ethical life. To recap: (1) The controversy in the early church over vegetarianism shows that the leadership of the early church promoted vegetarianism and opposed animal sacrifice. Christ's attack on Temple business practices such as converting foreign exchange was seen as a threat to the Sadducee Priests' power, thus resulting in their willingness to turn him over to Pilate on the claim of fomenting rebellion against Rome. The Bible records Jesus eating fish ( Luke 24:42-43) and lamb ( Luke 22:8-15 ). In addition, He would have eaten lamb during Passover. But it seemed to be … In the Ebionite Gospel, they quote Jesus as saying "I came to abolish sacrifices, and unless you cease from sacrificing, my anger will not cease from you." Jesus was poor, and he ate the foods of the poor. For more information please visit: http://www.kamranpasha.com. When Dr. Eisenman was asked if it can be assumed that Jesus was a vegetarian as well, he replied: “Almost certainly.” In an interview with Supreme Master Television, Keith Akers, author of the book “The Lost Religion of Jesus,” reaffirmed the evidence that Lord Jesus was indeed a vegetarian: The Old Testament describes numerous animal offerings commanded by God, including the Passover. As Akers argues, the direct attack on the Priests' principal source of livelihood, the animal sacrifices, could not be ignored. This verse clearly shows us that Jesus ate a piece of fish. And their vegetarian beliefs continued to influence Sufis, the mystics of Islam. Jesus clearly was not a vegetarian. On his way to arrest Christian fugitives in Damascus, Paul claimed to have a direct personal vision of Christ (whom he had never actually met during his lifetime). Indeed, human beings throughout history have questioned the morality of animal slaughter, and religious traditions such as Hinduism and Buddhism have long been the home for those who believe that killing and consuming sentient animals is barbaric. Jesus was not a vegetarian. Although the Bible is not definitive on the issue of Jesus himself as a vegetarian, there were highly credible, proto-Orthodox (i.e., pre-Catholic) church fathers from the 2 nd to 4 th centuries CE who alluded to the Jewish Christians, particularly the Ebionites, as vegetarians. If Jesus's parents raised James as vegetarian then it would be likely that Jesus was also so raised. One of the central themes that set Jewish Christian groups apart from Pauline Christians was their belief that Jesus rejected animal sacrifice and the consumption of meat. I went back to examine Paul's writings to see if he had any opinions on vegetarians. Islam is not a vegetarian religion, and if I had been looking for historical evidence to support my Muslim beliefs in the teachings of the Jewish Christians, I certainly found these accounts quite jarring. But like most people of conscience, I was sickened and horrified to see the recent video taken by animal rights activists of baby chicks being ground alive at an egg hatchery. Paul said that he had been given a direct revelation of Christ's gospel and began to preach his understanding of Christ to Gentiles. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the moneychangers and overturned their tables. Jesus miraculously fed the crowds fish and bread, a strange thing for Him to do if He was a vegetarian ( Matthew 14:17-21 ). But what is fascinating is that Paul's letters, the earliest Christian documents (preceding even the Gospels by decades), reveal that Paul's vision of the Christ was not the same as the Jesus known to his family and disciples. The death of James and the destruction of Jerusalem crippled the Jesus Movement and placed it dangerously close to extinction. Albert Einstein Einstein in Western culture is synonymous with genius. Whether or not Jesus himself was a vegetarian, 4 th century theologian Hieronymous certainly understood Jesus as being a more than adequate basis for adopting a vegetarian diet: “The consumption of animal … The Essenes were a Jewish religious sect that lived in the Judean desert on the western shore of the Dead Sea during the time of Jesus. And when these envoys heard his doctrines, especially with regard to faith in Christ removing the need for Christians to follow Jewish dietary laws, all hell broke loose. They will be food for you. Indeed Paul proudly claims in his letters that he did not need anyone's authority to preach and that his Gospel came directly from Christ himself (Galatians 1:1). If Jesus ate meat, the New Testament is completely silent about it. And in the pseudo-Clementine literature, Peter is portrayed as a vegetarian who only eats bread and olives, and avoids eating "dead flesh.". Along with the belief that Jesus was God's servant and a human teacher, they had a passionate commitment to vegetarianism. But the Gospel accounts actually list moneychangers as one of several groups that Jesus drove out of the Temple -- and they are not the first in line. Muslim belief is that the central teachings of Christianity -- the divinity of Christ and his death as a sacrificial atonement -- are later pagan inventions that Jesus himself would have rejected. Jesus’ message is one of love and compassion, and there is nothing loving or compassionate about factory farms and slaughterhouses, where billions of animals live miserable lives and die violent, bloody deaths. After having been confronted with this wealth of information about the Ebionites, who have a strong historical claim to be a continuation of the Jewish movement started by Jesus and subsequently led by James the Just, it became evident to me that vegetarianism and compassionate treatment of animals was an important part of early Christian thought. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. Thus, Jesus must have been a vegetarian. Jesus was a Vegetarian as well as all his apostles. All that was needed to be a Christian was faith in Christ and his redemptive sacrifice. The Temple was both a site of worship and a butcher shop. Finally, there were fundamental differences in the teachings of Jesus and the Essenes. This sounds preposterous. And yet it is remarkable that Jewish Christians did possess such gospels, originally written in the language of Christ, suggesting that their link to the teachings of the historical Jesus is closer than those of their rivals. They were wrong about everything else about Christ, they must be wrong about that too. The followers of Jesus the man were centered around Jerusalem, while the followers of Christ the God were scattered throughout the Roman Empire. If he were to eschew the obligatory Passover lamb served during the Passover, it surely world have been recorded somewhere. Yes there have been vegetarians throughout history. Some people think that Jesus was an Essene. This argument has little merit. In fact, there is evidence that Christ's opposition to animal sacrifice at the Jewish Temple may have been the triggering event that led to the Crucifixion. They seem to have developed some minor theological distinctions among them -- some accepted the miraculous virgin birth of Jesus (as Islam does) while denying it made him in any way divine, while others said Jesus was the natural son of Joseph and Mary. The Essenes believed they were “children of light” while others were “children of darkness.”, It is clear from Scripture that Jesus ate meat and did not condemn others for doing so, there is nothing wrong with a Christian being a vegetarian. 5 End Time Errors Christians Need to Avoid, Please also opt me in for Exclusive Offers from Beliefnetâs Partners, From time to time you will also receive Special Offers from our partners. The evidence that Jesus was a vegetarian, or at least early Christians who knew him were vegetarians, was compelling. Before I begin, let me state that I am a Muslim, so already my views on Jesus are not the same as those of my Christian brothers and sisters. What Foods Did Jesus Eat in the Bible? What does that mean? This early "Jewish Christian" community was led by James the Just, identified in the New Testament as the younger brother of Jesus, and supported by well-known disciples like Peter and John. The famous scene where Jesus overturns the tables of the moneychangers is usually the focal point of Christian tellings of the story. (It is remarkable that the Ebionites believed Pope Clement was an opponent of Paul, the man today credited as a founding leader of Christianity in Rome! I decided to set aside my own pre-conceived beliefs about Jesus as a Muslim and treat the sources with objectivity. Nor did he drink alcohol. Absolutely; Jesus was a vegetarian before he came to this earth to die for our sins and after he left this earth and returned to heaven as our Heavenly High Priest t o intercede on our behalf. The Lost Religion of Jesus is a wonderful book by Keith Akers, giving proof that Jesus was the trailblazer of today's version of today's ideal man: a peaceful, minimalist vegan. Jesus' eating of these animals would not violate the Law. The Gospels of the Hebrews and Ebionites describe a vegetarian ethos: a vegetarian Jesus and vegetarian Apostles, a John the Baptist who ate carob (locust beans) — beans not bugs! If we accept that Jesus of Nazareth, the divine Savior of Christianity and the human Prophet of Islam, cared so deeply for animals that he would endanger his own life to end cruelty against them, what does that mean for us today? Most feel that their religion does not place any limits on what animals they may kill and eat. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle, The Lost Religion of Jesus: Simple Living and Nonviolence in Early Christianity. This is an apparent reference to the many sayings of Jesus where he consistently honors and elevates the poor. I read early Church histories with a different attitude than a believing Christian would, and I am more likely to give credence to historical accounts that are today deemed heretical by the Church. That Jesus was primarily concerned with animal sacrifice in the Temple is made explicitly clear in the Gospel of John: "When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Was Jesus a Vegetarian? Sign up for Beliefnet's Bible Reading newsletter. Maybe it is time to look back in order to move forward. My investigation into the life of Jesus began by examining the first theological dispute that arose in the Christian community after the earthly mission of Jesus. While we do not possess the full text of the Ebionite Gospel, which along with other "heretical" books was banned by the Church in the 4th century, we do have some Ebionite apocryphal writings such as the Clementine Homilies and the Recognitions of Clement. The Jewish Christian community suffered a major blow when their leader James the Just was murdered a in 62 C.E., and when the Roman legions destroyed Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple a few years later, the surviving Jewish Christians fled to Pella in modern Jordan. Indeed, the modern Christian notion that Paul was on good terms with the disciples who had known Jesus in his lifetime is simply not borne out in Paul's own letters. According to Paul's Letter to the Galatians, James the Just sent envoys to check up on him and what he was preaching (Galatians 2:12). Other names for these groups include Nazarenes and Elkasites. As Christians, we are still called to treat animals with kindness. For Paul, Christ was more than a Jewish teacher and political leader, as the Jerusalem community around James believed. How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" Jesus was a Vegetarian ~ MUST SEE! It also isn’t likely that the Essenes were even vegetarians. But stay with me, and let me present the historical evidence before you make a final judgment. There is nothing wrong with abstaining from eating meat. Christ was a Divine Being who had sacrificed his life to cleanse the world of sin. Paul's vision of Christ the Divine Savior had many similarities to popular religions of the Roman Empire, including the mystery schools of Egypt and the cult of Mithras. The story of Paul's conversion from a persecutor of Christianity to its greatest champion is famed in Church history and doctrine. This video addresses the historical and biblical proof. So it is clear that vegetarianism was common among Christians in Paul's day, to the extent that he had to refute their claim that refraining from meat was an act of piety. Most scholars, both secular and Christian, would likely accept the notion that Jesus in his lifetime was a practicing Jew, one who adhered to the Torah, the Law of Moses, even if he had some different interpretations of specific legal points than other Jewish teachers. The Bible says that in the earliest days of creation, all of God’s creation (even animals) were vegetarian. Akers is a committed vegetarian and he makes no apologies for the fact that he is evangelizing vegetarianism as a moral code for others. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves." Seeing such cruel and heartless treatment of living beings has undoubtedly caused some of us carnivores to at least take a moment to consider the dark truths behind how animals are processed for food in the modern world. So I decided to see if there was evidence from mainstream Christian sources that support vegetarian practices in the early Christian community. It is not for me to dispute anyone's faith, and the reader must decide how to interpret the meaning of these events themselves. And so these teachings of Jesus continue to live on. After lengthy research, I have become convinced that Jesus Christ himself was in all likelihood a vegetarian, and that vegetarianism was probably a central tenet of the early Christian community. Genesis 1:29 says, "And God said, 'Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. (John 2:13-17). On a personal note, I do not plan to renounce the consumption of meat. The Essenes are not mentioned in the New Testament, nor is there any mention of Jesus belonging to any Jewish sect. God gave humanity permission to eat meat after the flood (Genesis 9:3). That in and of itself is fascinating, since none of the canonical Gospels that became part of the New Testament were written in Hebrew or Aramaic. So as I researched my novel, the question naturally arose -- how did Christianity transform from a community of Torah-observant Jews into a Gentile religion that renounced the Law of Moses? Interestingly, there is little controversy over how Jesus lived. PETA’s basic argument is this: “Jesus was compassionate, but slaughterhouses are cruel to animals. This last point was not controversial in his lifetime, but became a major issue later when an increasing number of Gentiles (who had no such food restrictions) began to convert to Christianity. As a result, I am more likely to question the official Church stance on Christ's life and teachings than those who accept the Christian vision. Vegetarianism goes unmentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls and since the Essenes were purists, it’s likely they would have slaughtered a lamb at Passover. The Ebionites faithfully observed the Law of Moses, claiming that in doing so, they were following the example not only of James, Peter and the disciples, but of Jesus himself. The answer lies in the tragedy of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. The claim that Jesus belonged to a group of vegetarian Essenes is simply wishful thinking on PETA's part. For instance, Isaiah 40:3 makes the reference to John: “The voice of him [John] that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” The same passage appears frequently in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
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