Faithandfood Fact
Files - Christianity
“I have given every green plant for food”.
Genesis 1.29
“Every
moving thing that lives shall be food for you;
as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything”.
Genesis 9.4
Forbidden
ingredients
Main food beliefs
Vegetarianism
Eating in restaurants
Feasting and fasting
Links
Contact
About the writer
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Which
ingredients are forbidden?
Most Christians are omnivores and have
no moral or religious objection to eating meat
of any kind, though some fast on Fridays or during
Lent mainly for spiritual reasons.
Some Christians are demi-vegetarians
and refuse animal products that have been intensively
reared and eat only free-range meat and fish.
Some Christians are vegetarian,
and exclude fish, flesh and fowl, but not necessarily
all dairy produce and eggs.
Some Christians are vegan,
and exclude fish, flesh and fowl and all dairy
produce, including eggs, and honey.
What
are the main laws or beliefs relating to food?
Two main biblical insights influence
Christian dietary practices.
Genesis 9.1-4 allows meat
eating under certain conditions, and in practice
most Christians are omnivores and have no ethical
or spiritual objection to eating meat of any kind.
They believe that God had granted humans permission
to eat flesh as part of the Noahic covenant.
Some Catholic and Orthodox
Christians fast on Fridays or during Lent or other
penitential seasons of the Church’s year
but this is usually for spiritual – rather
than ethical - reasons (see Feasting and Feasting).
Some Christians are demi-vegetarian,
vegetarian or vegan – for ethical or religious
reasons (see Vegetarianism). Most base their practice
on the other main biblical insight derived from
Genesis 1.29 that depicts vegetarianism as God’s
original will.
Is
there a link with vegetarianism?
There has always been a minority of Christians
who have adopted vegetarian practices, including
John Wesley, Leo Tolstoy, and William and Catherine
Booth. The inspiration for the modern vegetarian
movement came from the Bible Christian Church in
the nineteenth century - which, in obedience to
Genesis 1.29-30, made vegetarianism compulsory among
its members. The Genesis text reveals that God’s
original will was for a peaceful, vegetarian world.
Meat eating was only allowed in the Hebrew Bible
after the fall and the flood, i.e. the human descent
into violence. Post-modern Christian vegetarians
argue that humans should seek to approximate God’s
will by living as free as possible from violence
to sentient creatures.
Christian vegetarians
believe meat eating is unjustifiable because we
now know that we can live healthy lives without
recourse to flesh foods. Some Christians also
adopt vegetarianism, or demi-vegetarianism, as
a protest against the suffering inflicted on animals
in intensive farming, especially veal crates,
sow stalls and battery cages. Christianity has
generally opposed animal cruelty, but the recent
upsurge in Christian vegetarianism is testimony
to a renewed sense that respect for animal life
is a duty in itself, and especially that inflicting
suffering cannot be reconciled with a Christ-like
life.
In
general, will people of this faith eat in a food
outlet that serves food or drink that does not
conform to their beliefs?
Christian omnivores will eat anywhere, but vegetarian
Christians usually seek out vegetarian eateries
and restaurants. In conventional restaurants,
vegetarian Christians object to food that has
been in contact with meat products – for
example, vegetables fried in meat or fish oil,
or soup with extracts of chicken or beef broth.
When
and why do people of this faith feast and fast?
Catholics may observe several feast and fast days
during the year. Feast days include Christmas,
Easter, the Annunciation (March 25th), Palm Sunday
(the Sunday before Easter), the Ascension (40
days after Easter), and Pentecost Sunday (50 days
after Easter). The only feast days common to most
Protestant and Reformed traditions are Christmas
and Easter.
Some Catholics fast during
Lent, on the Fridays of Advent, Ember Days (at
the beginning of the seasons). Some fast or abstain
only on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Fasting
is usually for spiritual reasons, such as teaching
control of fleshly desires, as a penance for sin,
or to express solidarity with the poor. Some Christians
now advocate vegetarianism during Lent for specifically
ethical reasons (see http://www.veg4lent.org/).
The Good Friday fast commemorates the day Christ
died on the cross. Fasting in not a major part
of the Protestant or Reformed tradition.
Links
to websites with further information:
www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/
http://www.godandanimals.com
(animals and theology)
http://www.christianveg.com/
(Christian Vegetarian Association)
http://www.veg4lent.org/
(Vegetarian Diet for Lent)
If you have any question
about the dietary practises or beliefs in this
faith, you may contact
Contact: The Revd Professor
Andrew Linzey
Position: Theologian and writer
E mail: Andrewlinzey@aol.com
Written
by Reverend Professor Andrew Linzey, PhD, DD
The
Revd Professor Andrew Linzey, PhD, DD, is an internationally
known theologian and writer. He is a member of
the Faculty of Theology in the University of Oxford,
and holds the world's first post in Theology,
Ethics and Animal Welfare - the Bede Jarret Senior
Research Fellowship at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford.
He has written or edited 20 books including pioneering
works on animals. In 2001, he was awarded the
DD (Doctor of Divinity) degree by the Archbishop
of Canterbury for his "unique and massive
pioneering contribution at a scholarly level in
the area of the theology of creation, with particular
reference to the rights and welfare of God's sentient
creatures".
Note: Some people who
are Christians do not observe the dietary laws
stated above. Prohibitions and restrictions even
within a particular faith may change between denominations
or branches. Please do not take this as an authoritative
list. This page is meant as a guide only and reflect
the beliefs of the writer.
The Faithandfood Fact
File bookmarks are the same for each religion.
Compare this religion with the dietary beliefs
of another faith by clicking on the name of the
religion on the toolbar on the left.
