St. Clement of Alexandria (2nd century AD, a vegetarian) wrote of St. Matthew (Christ’s disciple and writer of the gospel which bears his name), “The Apostle Matthew never ate meat; but lived on fruits, cereals, acorns, and legumes.'' The Christian philosopher, polymath, and 'Church Father', Origen (2nd and 3rd century AD, of Alexandria and Caesarea), is also known to have been a vegetarian. While the vegetarianism of Matthew, Clement, and Origen is reasonably well documented, they are not at all believed to be exceptional in this regard, within the early Christian church. It has been speculated by some (and this is indeed speculation), that many of the early Christians were converts from the Jewish Essences, a group that practiced vegetarianism, or, as it was still known at the time, “Pythagoreanism” (after the Ionian philosopher/mathematician of the 6th century BC). Interestingly, in the 12th and 13th centuries [AD], the Roman church identified Pythagoreanism/vegetarianism with various sects that resisted or opposed the papacy, and therefore declared that vegetarianism was a heresy! Nonetheless, some Catholic monastic orders adhere to vegetarian diets (Trappists, for example, as well as the original Benedictines and Franciscans). Within the world's major religions today, there is a growing recognition of the spiritual and ethical mandate for a vegetarian diet. At its humble best, religion, like philosophy or science, is a search for truth. And the truth is this— the animal-based diet is devastating our world.
While vegetarianism continues to have its persistent voices within Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism (it has been estimated that half of all Buddhists are vegetarians, although this is questionable), it has also had its voices and practitioners among the philosophical critics of religion generally (Voltaire being an example). This is an issue on which concerned and thoughtful people of almost all ideological orientations are likely to find consensus. |
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