Christian Vegetarianism? - some reflections and quotations

Quotations

"Man in his pride is too apt to believe that all the world is made for him; yet the earth teems with life in other forms, even in regions never trodden by man, and in corners to which he cannot penetrate, and where it has no relation whatever to him" 

Bishop Joseph Butler from a quotation in The Dietetic Reformer and Vegetarian Messenger (October 1863)

"This (Vegetarian) movement should cause especial joy to those whose life is in the effort to bring about the kingdom of God on earth ..."

Leo Tolstoy (1892)

"We do not think society is so perfect that it cannot be mended. We do not think that the Christian churches are so wise and good that they have nothing further to learn."

Rev. A. Bodington (1895)

"We cannot be spiritual beings and beasts of prey at the same time."

Rev. R.J. Porteous (1903)

"These two principles of mercy and sacrifice are in perpetual conflict. Shall I suffer or shall I let another suffer for me? I believe that I have no moral right to ask another to do for me what I am not prepared to do for myself. If I do not think it right to kill animals for food neither is it right for me to condemn another man to a trade which I consider demoralising."

Rev. James Clark (1903)

"I generally refrain from drawing upon Holy Scripture for confirmation of my vegetarian arguments, especially in public. There are several reasons for my attitude, one of which is that I do not care to tread upon the susceptibilities of readers and hearers who would not care to accept my interpretations, and interpretations of Scripture are so manifold and diverse, and held to so tenaciously, and with such veneration. Another reason is that I think so much more of the "spirit" of Scripture "that giveth life", than of "the letter which killeth," that I go to the old Book for spiritual counsel rather than hygienic guidance. A third reason is that the humane instincts which God has planted in my own character are excellent authority for my vegetarian practice and I look for no other."

Rev. Charles A. Hall (1906)

"I claim to know and feel the truths of the essential teaching of the scriptures. I decline to be bound by any interpretation, however learned it may be, if it is repugnant to reason or moral sense."

Mahatma Gandhi (1921)

"It is of no use to cry 'Peace, Peace' where there can be no peace, and there can be no peace in partnership with cruelty and bloodshed. God's mercy is over all His works."

Samuel Hopgood Hart (1925)

"It must always be a most serious matter for the Christian Church, should its ethic at any time prove to be less advanced than that of the secular community, or indeed of any section of it."

Editorial comment: The Vegetarian News (June 1931)

"We are vegetarians, not because we have satisfactory evidence that Jesus was one, but because we know that if we follow out to the full the ideals of love and kindliness that we owe to His teaching, we can under modern conditions be nothing else."

Rev. D. Martin Dakin (1933)

"These two principles of mercy and sacrifice are in perpetual conflict. Shall I suffer or shall I let another suffer for me? I believe that I have no moral right to ask another to do for me what I am not prepared to do for myself. If I do not think it right to kill animals for food neither is it right for me to condemn another man to a trade which I consider demoralising."

Rev. Victor Allen Callow (1935)

"...to partake of flesh and blood is against the finer feelings of the soul."

Henry J. Baylis (1938)

"As to the example and teaching of Jesus we do at least know that He taught justice and the merciful treatment of others. How can we deny that the suffering and fear which we see in the eyes of an animal spring from the same causes as in human beings, or that it is a moral duty to avoid inflicting such pain and terror so far as in us lies?"

Herbert Owen (1942)

"If we endeavour in our lives to follow His teachings, to identify ourselves with His all loving, all merciful Spirit, one feels instinctively that He would never sanction the horrors of the slaughterhouse." F. Waddicor (1951)

"The fact is that outside the realm of dogma, Christianity is very wide; it can embrace both the vegetarian and the meateater, the pacifist and the warrior. By all means let us campaign for vegetarianism and for peace, but not on the ground that these are elements essential to Christianity."

John Nibb (1953)

"For Christians to pray 'Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven' would seem to be little else but a taking of God's Name in vain, for it is abundantly clear that such practices* could not possibly prevail in the Kingdom of God - a Kingdom of LOVE - which Christ has commanded us to seek before all things else."

Ernest Newlandsith (1955)

"While we realise that there are a great many Christians to whom our plea would be in vain, may we ask those who are Christians in heart and spirit, and not merely of the intellect, to consider well what they do, especially when they approach the Altar to make their Christmas Communion, in the light of the words of one of the beautiful prayers in the Anglican liturgy, "here we offer and present unto Thee O Lord ourselves, our souls and bodies to be a holy, reasonable and living sacrifice . . . "

Ronald M. Lightowler (1959)

"Now the fact that Man has dominion over the animals is undoubtedly true, but it is also true that God has dominion over Man. If we fail, therefore, to show mercy to animals, the sovereignty over whom God has, for a time, delegated to us, we cannot expect to receive mercy from God, Who has supreme power over us."

Rev. R.C.R. Adkins (1964) 

"Vegetarianism is derived not so much from anything that "is read" as from that which "is felt." What are we to obey, the senses or the spirit? With which of the five senses do we define spirituality? And yet it is the only sure guide. Vegetarianism is bound to Christianity no matter what is read. For every step towards love and goodness, spiritually felt, is a tendency towards God."

H.W. Wales (1956)

For other excerpts and entire articles, sermons, lectures, artwork etc from British publications since the 1800s, as well as links to other resources, visit:

www.christianvegetarianarchive.blogspot.co.uk