Veggie Jesus

[Guest guest]

> My " father " proclaims to be a " christian " (I myself am Jewish), but

he

> conveniently disregards the fact that the early christians did not

eat meat (Jesus

> was apparently vegetarian). It wasn't until the 4th century CE

that

> " christians " were " allowed " to eat meat by Constantine.

 

I've never really seen the proof to validate the claim that Jesus was

a vegetarian. There is very little information about him prior to age

13. He must have participated in the many Jewish celebrations as a

child in which some form of animal was killed & served. It is stated

that he cast demons into a herd of swine and that they ran themselves

off a cliff to their death. If you believe this to be true, this

isn't very animal-friendly. As an omnipotent god, surely god could

have destroyed the demons in another manner other than killing a herd

of swine. Then there's the whole 'Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand'

story. The disciples say that " We have only 5 loaves of bread and two

fish " , thus implying that this is their food supply that they all

intend on eating that evening. Then the whole multiplication thang

and he feeds thousands of folks with FISH. Additionally, Jesus is

described as spending a lot of time on fisherman's boats. At one

point he tells the disciples to cast out their net and they draw in

such large quantities of fish that their nets are breaking. Thus, if

you believe what is written in the bible, Jesus contributed to the

death of thousands of fish and other animals. Not very vegetarian-

like actions, even if he never consumed an animal....which I think is

highly unlikely.

[Guest guest]

--- bluetulipz <bluetulipz wrote:

 

> I've never really seen the proof to validate the

> claim that Jesus was a vegetarian.

 

Perhaps the more important question is: given the

inherently cruel nature of modern meat production, and

given the massive environmental impact of modern meat

production, commercial fishing and fish farming, would

Jesus eat meat if he were walking the Earth today?

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

I think the history there's a bit greyer than that. I know most of

the so-called Christian arguments against vegetarianism because I

tried them out myself to see whether they held water before I made the

leap.

 

The www.jesusveg.com site contains interesting discussions of things

like the fish episode. I think one argument was that the Christian

texts had been rewritten from " fishweed (sea veg) or something similar

after the fact by the Constantinian majority that poured lead down

vegetarian throats. I'm not sure we'll know the answer or not, but

what fixed it for me was that Jesus said he had many things yet to

say, but they were not ready for them yet, but when the spirit of

truth came to consciousness, it would reveal all things.

 

That for me was the answer, just like how slavery finally fell away.

The fact it existed then was no longer an excuse for it today. Paul

said even if all things were permissible, not all were right. So, I

concluded, vegetarianism was not only compatible with Christianity,

but in effect, based on its irrefutable moral logic, a necessary

imperative within it.

 

 

, " bluetulipz "

<bluetulipz> wrote:

> > My " father " proclaims to be a " christian " (I myself am Jewish), but

> he

> > conveniently disregards the fact that the early christians did not

> eat meat (Jesus

> > was apparently vegetarian). It wasn't until the 4th century CE

> that

> > " christians " were " allowed " to eat meat by Constantine.

>

> I've never really seen the proof to validate the claim that Jesus was

> a vegetarian. There is very little information about him prior to age

> 13. He must have participated in the many Jewish celebrations as a

> child in which some form of animal was killed & served. It is stated

> that he cast demons into a herd of swine and that they ran themselves

> off a cliff to their death. If you believe this to be true, this

> isn't very animal-friendly. As an omnipotent god, surely god could

> have destroyed the demons in another manner other than killing a herd

> of swine. Then there's the whole 'Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand'

> story. The disciples say that " We have only 5 loaves of bread and two

> fish " , thus implying that this is their food supply that they all

> intend on eating that evening. Then the whole multiplication thang

> and he feeds thousands of folks with FISH. Additionally, Jesus is

> described as spending a lot of time on fisherman's boats. At one

> point he tells the disciples to cast out their net and they draw in

> such large quantities of fish that their nets are breaking. Thus, if

> you believe what is written in the bible, Jesus contributed to the

> death of thousands of fish and other animals. Not very vegetarian-

> like actions, even if he never consumed an animal....which I think is

> highly unlikely.

[Guest guest]

> Perhaps the more important question is: given the

> inherently cruel nature of modern meat production, and

> given the massive environmental impact of modern meat

> production, commercial fishing and fish farming, would

> Jesus eat meat if he were walking the Earth today?

That's apparently the view of the Christian Vegetarian Society

www.christianveg.com They have some interesting literature

[Guest guest]

> " bluetulipz " <bluetulipz

>Tue, 20 Jan 2004 03:16:16 -0000

 

 

>I've never really seen the proof to validate the claim that Jesus was

>a vegetarian. There is very little information about him prior to age

>13. He must have participated in the many Jewish celebrations as a

>child in which some form of animal was killed & served. It is stated

>that he cast demons into a herd of swine and that they ran themselves

>off a cliff to their death. If you believe this to be true, this

>isn't very animal-friendly. As an omnipotent god, surely god could

>have destroyed the demons in another manner other than killing a herd

>of swine. Then there's the whole 'Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand'

>story. The disciples say that " We have only 5 loaves of bread and two

>fish " , thus implying that this is their food supply that they all

>intend on eating that evening. Then the whole multiplication thang

>and he feeds thousands of folks with FISH. Additionally, Jesus is

>described as spending a lot of time on fisherman's boats. At one

>point he tells the disciples to cast out their net and they draw in

>such large quantities of fish that their nets are breaking. Thus, if

>you believe what is written in the bible, Jesus contributed to the

>death of thousands of fish and other animals. Not very vegetarian-

>like actions, even if he never consumed an animal....which I think is

>highly unlikely.

 

 

 

Try these websites. I'm not saying that you are wrong or right (I am a

Christian myself and have no beliefs either way on the question of Jesus

being vegetarian) but these give some possible conclusions to the question.

 

http://www.compassionatespirit.com/was_jesus_a_vegetarian.htm

 

http://a1.nu/christian/vegetarian/jesus.htm

 

http://www.ivu.org/history/christian/christ_veg.html

 

and this one I found especially helpful:

 

http://essenes.crosswinds.net/arguevegan.htm

 

From that last website:

 

" Most scholars agree that the post-resurrection stories of Jesus eating fish

were added to the Gospels long after they were written, in order to settle

various schisms in the early Church. (e.g., the Marcionites and other early

Christians believed that Jesus did not actually return in the flesh. What

better way to prove that he did than to depict him eating?) "

 

" Although it would not contradict the technical definition of a vegetarian

to multiply fishes who are already dead to feed people who eat aren't

opposed to eating fish (vegetarianism is based on compassion, not dogma),

there are some interesting points to notice about this story. First, the

disciples ask Jesus where they will get enough bread to feed the multitudes,

never even thinking of buying fish or other animal products, and never

suggesting a fishing expedition, despite being beside a sea. Also, evidence

indicates that the story of the loaves and the fishes did not originally

include fish. For example, the earliest (pre-Gospel) accounts of this

miracle do not include fish, and Jesus, when he refers to it, refers only to

the bread "

 

" Fish were added to the stories by Greek scribes, probably because the Greek

word for fish, ixous, is an acronym for the phrase " Jesus Christ Son of God

Savior. " "

 

" Also, some scholars contend that the Greek word for " fishweed " (a dried

seaweed) has been mistranslated in this story as " fish " "

 

" In Luke and John, Jesus is seen helping the disciples catch a vast quantity

of fish. In Luke, the event is depicted as his first call of the disciples.

In John, the event occurs after the resurrection...

Regardless, a literal reading of the text shows animals cooperating with

Jesus to prove his divinity. In both Gospels, so many fish fill the nets

that the boats begin to sink. In Luke, Jesus told the disciples,

" Henceforth, you will be catching men, " and then they returned to shore,

" left everything, and followed him. " The story is clear: They couldn't get

the fish into the boat because the boat was sinking. And since they

immediately leave everything and follow, it seems unlikely that they somehow

got the fish to the shore and left them to suffocate and rot. "

 

I hope this has been interesting and informative.

 

 

Jinnie the Perky Goth

 

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