Vegetarianism and Religion

Avoidance of meat has been a part of religious practice in nearly all faiths. Some Egyptian priests were vegetarians, avoiding meat in order to help them maintain vows of celibacy. They also avoided eggs, which they called "liquid flesh"

Vegetarianism and Religion , Although the Old Testament, the foundation of Judaism, contain some prescriptions for meat - eating, it is clear that the ideal situation is vegetarianism. In genesis (1:29) we find God Himself proclaiming: "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in that which is the fruit a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. " In the beginning of creation as described in the Bible, it seems that not even the animals ate flesh.

In genesis (1:30) God says, " And to every thing that Cree path upon the earth, where in there is life, I have given every green herb for meat; and it was so. " genesis (9:4)also directly forbids meat - eating: " But flesh with the life thereof , which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it."

In later books of the Bible, major prophets also condemn meat - eating. Isaiah (1:5) states, " Saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beast; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he - goats. When ye spread forth your hands, I prayers, I will not hear, for your hands are full of blood." According to Isaiah (66:3) the killing of cows is particularly abhorrent: " He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man.

In the Bible we also find the story of Daniel, who while imprisoned in Babylon refused to eat the meat offered by his jailers, preferring instead simple vegetarian food.

Major stumbling blocks for many Christians are the belief that Christ ate meat and the many references to meat in the New Testament. But close study of the original Greek manuscripts shows that the vast majority of the words translated as " meat" are trophe, brome, and other words that simply mean "food" or " eating" in the broadest sense.

For example, in the Gospel of ST. Luke (8;55) we read that Jesus raised a woman from the dead and " commanded to give her meat. " The original Greek word translated as " meat" is phago, which means only " to eat. " So what Christ actually said was, " Let her eat. " The Greek word for meat is kreas ( "Flesh"), and it is never used in connection with Christ.

Nowhere in the new Testament is in line with Isaiah's famous prophecy about Jesus' appearance; " Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil and choose the good."

Clement of Alexandria, and early Church father, recommended a fleshless diet, citing the example of the apostle Matthew, who " partook of seed, and nuts, and vegetables, without flesh. " St. Jerome, another leader of the early Christian Church, who gave the authorized Latin version of the Bible still in use today, wrote, " The preparation of vegetables, fruit, and pulse is easy, and does not require expensive cooks, " He felt such a diet was the best for a life devoted ti the pursuit of wisdom.

The Seventh Day Adventist Church strongly recommends vegetarianism for a members. Although little known to general public, the huge American breakfast cereals industry got its start at an Adventist health resort run by Dr. John H. Kellogg was constantly devising new varieties of vegetarian breakfast food for the wealthy patients of his Battle Creek Sanitorium. One of his inventions was cornflakes, which he later marketed nation wide. Over the course of time, he gradually separated his business from the Seventh Day Adventist Church and formed the company that still bears his name.

The largest concentration of vegetarians in the world is found in India, the homeland of Buddhism and Hinduism began as a reaction to widespread animal slaughter that was being carried out through perversion of religious rituals. Budha put an end to these practices by propounding his doctrine of ahimsa,or nonviolence.