Christian Vegetarianism - an archive

Quotation: Moira Henry (1946)

2012-02-01T09:57:00.000-08:00

"If one purchases an animal one may slaughter it for food; but if one omits the preliminary payment one is likely to find oneself in court for theft - for stealing thy neighbours property; not for depriving the animal of its life! Surely the law is contradictory. To take a penny, easily replaced, is theft? To take a subhuman life, impossible to replace, is no crime at all?"

From an article entitled "Thou Shalt Not Kill!" which was published in the November 1946 edition of The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review

'The Slaughtering system in the light of Religion' by Rev. Francis Wood

2012-01-27T11:08:00.000-08:00

From the final chapter of A Reply to Dean Inge's Defence of Flesh-eating (C.W. Daniel, 1934) reprinted in The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review (September 1934)

See also: Rev Francis Wood (1854-1934) and 'The Dean again' by Henry Salt

'Vegetarianism and Christianity' by Max Heinegg

2012-01-20T12:27:00.000-08:00

From The Vegetarian News (January/February 1955)

'The Saints as Humanitarians and Food Reformers' by Marion Reid (Part 1)

2012-01-14T05:10:00.000-08:00

Largely sourced from The Church and Kindness to Animals (Burns & Oates, 1906) and published in The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review (September 1931)

'A Minister's Testimony' (1938)

2012-01-09T04:41:00.000-08:00

From The Vegetarian News (August edition)

Quotation: Rev. R.C.R. Adkins, M.A. (1964)

2012-01-08T10:18:00.000-08:00

"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."

From The British Vegetarian (September/October 1964)

Full article HERE

'Grace before Meat' by Reginald Reynolds (1905 -1958)

2012-01-01T09:25:00.000-08:00

From The Vegetarian News (Winter 1948)

London Evening News cartoon

2011-12-23T06:30:00.000-08:00

Joseph Lee (1901-1975) contribution reprinted in The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review (December 1949)

'A Question of Choice' by Geoffrey L. Rudd (1909-1995)

2011-12-22T13:11:00.000-08:00

From the Editorial for the Winter 1955 edition of World Forum

See also: 'The Bible and Vegetarianism'

'The Veil Between' by Jack B. Yeats (1871-1957)

2011-12-17T09:22:00.000-08:00

Lower-third portion of a montage composition which appeared in The Vegetarian dated December 7th, 1895

'Massacre of the Innocents' by Marion Reid

2011-12-10T05:46:00.000-08:00

From The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review (February 1936)

'Adam and The Creatures' by Thomas B. Pitfield, F.R.M.C.M.

2011-12-01T12:46:00.000-08:00

From The British Vegetarian (January/February 1968)

'Christians and Vegetarianism' by Ronald Lightowler

2011-11-24T15:09:00.000-08:00

From World Forum (Summer 1953 edition)

See also: Quotation

Quotation: Samuel Hopgood Hart (1925)

2011-11-19T12:53:00.000-08:00

"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."

Excerpt taken from 'Why be a vegetarian? - some arguments from the religious standpoint' - a lecture delivered to the Croydon Vegetarian Society and published in The Vegetarian News (November 1925 edition)

Hart portrait

'The Church of England and Meatless Days'

2011-11-11T11:58:00.000-08:00

From The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review (March 1918)

'Civilisation and Diet' by the Rev. J. Bruce Wallace, M.A.

2011-11-04T14:42:00.000-07:00

An address delivered to a conference held at Ballycastle, Co. Antrim from May 28th-30th, 1932 for the purpose of inaugurating a Humanitarian and Food Reform Society for Northern Ireland.

From The Vegetarian News (July 1932)

From an Anglican sermon (1873)

2011-10-30T08:36:00.000-07:00

The above proclamation by the Rev. Algernon Godfrey Kingsford, vicar of Altcham, nr Shrewsbury; was actually written by his wife, Anna (1846-1888) who later became a Catholic with strong links to theosophy. She trained in Paris to become a medical doctor and eventually campaign against vivisection and discrimination against women in Victorian society.

The passage was discovered by Samuel Hopgood Hart and published in The Vegetarian News (March 1929).

'Praying and Preying'

2011-10-24T05:17:00.000-07:00

From The Vegetarian News (Winter 1956)

Quotation:'Something Lacking' (1931)

2011-10-15T08:21:00.000-07:00

"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."

From the Editorial in The Vegetarian News (June 1931)

The Rev. & Hon. Canon Edward Lyttelton (1855-1942)

2011-10-09T08:31:00.000-07:00

From The Vegetarian (November 1917)

On 'Christ and Vegetarianism'

'Christianity and Flesh-Eating' by the Rev. and Hon. E. Lyttleton: Part 5

2011-10-08T11:52:00.000-07:00

From The Vegetarian (August 1919)

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

'John Wesley - an Appreciation of the man by George Bedborough'

2011-10-02T07:29:00.000-07:00

From the December 1919 edition

'Vegetarianism and the Christian Ethic'

2011-09-23T14:54:00.001-07:00

Correspondence with editorial input from The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review of September 1949

Christian values and Vegetarianism

2011-09-15T08:24:00.000-07:00

A related piece from The Baptist Times dated September 2, 2011 (rather re-christened for future consumption!)

Other recent articles and letters

Quotation: Marjorie Waddicor (1960)

2011-09-11T06:09:00.000-07:00

"If we strive to carry out His teachings in daily life, our conscience clearly tells us that the brutal suffering involved in the breeding of sentient animals for food is not only condemned by a God of Love but must crucify Him daily as it does all who strive to follow Him in spirit"

From a letter entitled 'Christian standpoint' which was published in the September/October edition of The British Vegetarian

2011-09-10T08:23:00.001-07:00

From The Vegetarian Messenger (February 1901)

See related essay by William Axon

'Christianity and Flesh-Eating' by the Rev and Hon. Edward Lyttelton: Part 4

2011-09-03T13:00:00.000-07:00

From The Vegetarian (May 1919)

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 5

Rev. James Schofield (1790-1855)

2011-08-28T13:41:00.000-07:00

Retrospective portrait from The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review, January 1935 and theological extract from his Introduction to The System of Vegetable Cookery, as used by the Society of Bible Christians (1839) which abridged material from earlier editions.

Rev. Richard Baxter (1615-1691)

2011-08-19T06:34:00.000-07:00

17th Century letter (anon)

2011-08-12T04:10:00.000-07:00

From a Collection of Letters published in 1660 by Sir Tobie Matthew and discovered by London Vegetarian Society member Bertram G. Theobald.

Mr. Theobald further researched the reference to 'Prudentius' and concluded that the line refers to a passage by Aurelius Prudentius Clemens from A.D. 405 which prayed:

"Grant to thy servant, bounteous God, this boon in answer to their prayers, that by a light repast refreshed, their limbs may strong and active be, nor ever feel the weight imposed by loaded stomach gorged with meat."

Above reproductions taken from The Vegetarian News (March 1934)

Quotation: Rev. A. Bodington (1895)

2011-08-10T11:27:00.000-07:00

"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."

From a paper read to the Autumn Congress of the Vegetarian Federal Union, held in Birmingham.

Transcript published in The Vegetarian dated February 29th, 1896

'Vegetarianism and the C.O.P.E.C. Movement' by Charles W. Forward

2011-08-07T06:13:00.001-07:00

In 1924, a major Christian gathering was chaired by William Temple, Anglican Bishop of Manchester: the Conference on Politics, Economics and Citizenship.

There was no published reply to the above proposition from a leading lecturer, historian and editor of various vegetarian publications.

From The Vegetarian News (January 1924)

Hannah Hurnard (1905-1990)

2011-07-28T03:19:00.000-07:00

Former Baptist minister and Bible College teacher, John Wood, traces the life of the missionary whose publications included at least two theological vegetarian booklets: Children of the Highest and The Way of the Holy, Harmless Lamb.

Monarch publications, 1996

'Christianity and Vegetarianism' by L. Pearce

2011-07-22T01:53:00.000-07:00

From The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review (February 1951)

See Article

'The Race that is set before us' by Rev. A.O. Broadley

2011-07-15T10:56:00.000-07:00

Sermon delivered at the Bible Christian Church of Salford, on 11th October 1908 to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Vegetarian Society.

Transcript published in The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review (December 1908)

See also: 'A Vegetarian Church'

Quotation: Bishop Joseph Butler (1692-1752)

2011-07-13T12:55:00.000-07:00

"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"

Cited in a letter to The Dietetic Reformer and Vegetarian Messenger (October 1863)

'Vegetarianism and Christianity'

2011-07-08T00:53:00.000-07:00

The Vegetarian Society position, as presented in the January 1951 edition of The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review.

See related article by Professor Allsopp

'Peter's Vision' by the Rev. James Clark

2011-07-01T13:35:00.000-07:00

From a letter dated December 15th 1862 and published in The Dietetic Reformer and Vegetarian Messenger (January 1863 edition).

See: Portraits and tract on the same theme from 1902

'Christianity and Flesh-Eating' by the Rev and Hon. Edward Lyttelton: Part 3

2011-06-24T02:09:00.000-07:00

From The Vegetarian (March 1919)

Part 1
Part 2
Part 4
Part 5

Roman Catholic priest's testimonial (1892)

2011-06-17T06:37:00.000-07:00

From the digest pages of The Vegetarian Messenger (February, 1892)

Quotation: The Rev. Prof. J.E.B. Mayor (1883)

2011-06-16T09:52:00.000-07:00

"Take no thought," says the text; but we must not suppose that it teaches carelessness and idleness. The words "take thought" have changed their meaning since our translation was made in King James's time. Our Lord does not say there is too much thought in the world; there is far too little; He does not even say that we are not to think of what we eat or drink. It is want of thought that makes drunkards and gluttons. No, we want more thought, but less anxiety and care. "Take no thought," in our English now, would be "be not anxious," "be not fearful," for God will provide for you, as He does for the birds of the air."

From a Lenten sermon which stemmed from Matthew 6:25-26.

'Temperance for Body and Mind' dwelt largely upon teetotalism although a full transcript was published in The Dietetic Reformer and Vegetarian Messenger of July 1883.

See: Portrait

'Roman Catholics and Fish-Eating'

2011-06-09T13:27:00.000-07:00

London Vegetarian Society abridgement of an Editorial which appeared in The Tablet. From The Vegetarian News (May 1932).

Lieutenant Colonel T.W. Richardson (1852-1920)

2011-06-04T11:52:00.000-07:00

Profile of the Order of Danielites' founder

See also: 'A Vegetarian Conversazione' and 'Consistency'

'A Clergyman's Conversion'

2011-05-28T04:04:00.000-07:00

Final paragraph from an essay which was reprinted in The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review (April 1909 edition)

Obituary: Professor Cecil John Cadoux (1883-1947)

2011-05-19T06:31:00.000-07:00

Portrait from C.J. Cadoux - Theologian, Scholar and Pacifist by Elaine Kaye (Edinburgh University Press, 1988)

Text from The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review (September 1947)

See also: Lecture

'Christianity and Flesh-Foods' by the Rev and Hon. Edward Lyttelton: Part 2

2011-05-13T10:14:00.000-07:00

Published with the sub-heading, 'Christ's example' in The Vegetarian, November 1918 edition.

Part 1
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

100th post: 'Shall I Slay?' - editorial reply by Douglas Macmillan (1884-1969)

2011-05-06T11:03:00.000-07:00

The above letter and response was published in a short-lived Christian vegetarian periodical, entitled The Better Quest (November, 1911 edition). In the same year, Macmillan founded the society which eventually became Macmillan Cancer Support, as noted by Dr. James Gregory in Of Victorians and Vegetarians (Tauris Academic Studies, 2007).

The London Vegetarian Society published 'Shall I Slay' as a tract by Macmillan in 1909.

'Vegetarianism in the Pulpit'

2011-05-01T13:25:00.000-07:00

From The Vegetarian News (September 1927)

Michael Fryer, who founded the important, if mostly forgotten, Crusade Against All Cruelty to Animals in 1955, wrote of "...the late Basil G. Bourchier, whose church was situated close to my home. This man rarely stood up in his pulpit without making some outspoken reference to the plight of suffering animals and man's inhumanity towards them. Far from causing people to turn away from his services, it had the opposite effect. Although his church was in size 'a young cathedral', one could not get a seat in his heyday unless one was there at least an hour before the service began."

Editorial, The Living World (Vol.1, No.1. 1970)

Rev Bourchier biography

Quotation: Ronald M. Lightowler (1959)

2011-04-29T09:02:00.000-07:00

"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. . . "

Those bodies which you offer, of what are they built up, of the pure substances provided in the "kindly fruits of the earth" or of the flesh of the slaughtered creatures of the same Creator Who also created you?"

From: 'Christians Awake' - Editorial in The British Vegetarian (November/December 1959)

See also letters from 1953 and 1974

'Christ Crucified' by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919)

2011-04-23T10:40:00.000-07:00

Short excerpt from her Poems of Experience (Gay & Hancock, 1910)which appeared in The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review of October 1941.

'The Animal Kingdom - Why? Whence? Whither?' by Basil Viney

2011-04-15T13:13:00.000-07:00

A short treatise which explores the origins, nature and destiny of creation by a clergyman of the Unitarian church.

Published by James Clarke & Co. Ltd, 1965

See: Autobiography

'Christianity and Flesh-Eating' by the Rev and Hon. Edward Lyttelton: Part 1

2011-04-10T11:34:00.000-07:00

The London Vegetarian Society published a five-part series of essays by Canon Lyttelton during the course of a year, commencing in the September 1918 edition of The Vegetarian.

I'll feature the five installments on a monthly basis.

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

'The Last Wesleyan: A life of Donald Soper' by Mark Peel

2011-04-04T03:25:00.000-07:00

Published in partnership with Scotforth Books (2008)

The author reveals:

"In 1947 he was so repelled by the smell at an Australian slaughterhouse at which he was preaching, and the chilling sight of the animals awaiting their fate, that he vowed to become a vegetarian, a pledge he kept till 1963 when, on doctors' advice, he began eating some white meat to increase his protein levels. As more literature came to light exposing the cruelty animals were subjected to, Donald became more uncompromising in their defence. He opposed the staging of the Grand National, Britain's premier steeplechase, because of the grievous - sometimes mortal - injuries sustained by some of the horses due to the challenging nature of the jumps. Then at Christmas 1955, he incurred unpopularity with his children by denying them their annual trip to the circus because of his contention that performing animals were made to suffer unnecessary pain. He even began to wear plastic shoes, after being criticised at Tower Hill for wearing leather ones, at variance with his vegetarianism." (p262)

See also: 'Quotation'

Quotation: Henry J. Baylis (1938)

2011-03-28T09:25:00.000-07:00

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

From a letter in The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review, February 1938

'Canon Peter Green, M.A., D.D. - An Appreciation'

2011-03-26T13:13:00.001-07:00

Profile of an accomplished vegetarian clergyman which was broadcast by the BBC on January 3rd 1962. (Transcript from The British Vegetarian, March/April 1962)

'Vegetarianism in the Religious Life of All Ages' by Charles W. Forward (1922)

2011-03-18T08:38:00.000-07:00

From The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review, December 1922

'The Church and Vegetarianism' by Jessie L. Wade

2011-03-11T12:30:00.000-08:00

From The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review, February 1938

'The Dean again' by Henry Salt

2011-03-04T05:02:00.001-08:00

From the September 1934 edition of The Vegetarian News (advert from The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review , October 1934).

See also: 'Dean Inge and his vegetarian critics' and 'Rev. Francis Wood (1854-1934)'

I am grateful to the Henry S. Salt website archive for their interest and co-operation in the publication of an article which I've recently completed on Henry Salt and the Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral

Quotation: Richard G. Watson (1956)

2011-02-26T07:13:00.000-08:00

"A correspondent, Richard G. Watson, writing on "Slaughter Methods," in The Christian Science Monitor, of 5/7/56, maintains that the words "humane" and "slaughter" cannot be linked together. The word "humane," he states, according to its dictionary significance, means kind, benevolent, disposed to promote the prosperity and happiness of others and, he says, "in the slaughtering of animals not a single act is humane."

From an abridged article in the Vegetarian News headed 'Humane Slaughter - Is there such a thing?' (Winter 1956 edition)

"Thou Shalt Not Kill"

2011-02-19T06:34:00.000-08:00

From The Dietetic Reformer and Vegetarian Messenger, July 1866

'Origin of the word "Vegetarian" By the Rev. Henry S. Clubb'

2011-02-12T04:23:00.000-08:00

Henry Stephen Clubb (1827-1921)

The reminiscences of a distinguished Bible Christian emigrant to the U.S. who served as President of the Vegetarian Society of America for just over three decades.

The topic was extensively examined by Henry Amos who traced the first appearance of the word in print to the April 1842 edition of The Healthian.

(Clubb letter published in The Vegetarian Messenger dated November 1901)

The Rev James Clark (1830-1905)

2011-02-09T03:21:00.000-08:00

The first portrait dates from the 1870s and the second from the 1900s.

From The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review, July 1905

See also: 'Bible Difficulties'

'In Memoriam The Rev. Gideon Jasper Richard Ouseley' (1835-1906)

2011-02-01T02:36:00.000-08:00

Published by Samuel Hopgood Hart (1865-1958) as part of a pamphlet in 1952.

Hart's text was partly based on a biography which was published in the influential 'Men of the Day' series which appeared in the Victorian periodical Vanity Fair (unrelated to the contemporary magazine). Later editions of the Gospel of the Holy Twelve reprinted Hart's essay in their introductions.

A short chapter of my book Familiar Strangers is devoted to the Victorian origins of Ouseley's allegedly "ancient" manuscript.

(Hart portrait from The Vegetarian News, December 1921)

Quotation: Herbert Owen (1942)

2011-01-29T04:52:00.000-08:00

"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?"

From a letter published in The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review (July 1942)

2011-01-23T06:10:00.000-08:00

Correspondence between Henry Salt and Professor Mayor from The Vegetarian Messenger (September and October 1897 editions).

See also: 'Henry Salt on the Bible and Vegetarianism' and 'Bible and Beef' by Henry S. Salt

The Rev. Prof. John E.B. Mayor (1825-1910)

2011-01-17T03:46:00.000-08:00

President of both St. John's College, Cambridge and the Vegetarian Society (from 1894 until the year of his death, in the case of the latter).

In 1897, the V.S. published the 'Vegetarian Jubilee Library' in commemoration of their first fifty years which included a compilation of Mayor essays, entitled Plain Living and High Thinking.

(Portrait taken from The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review, January 1911)

See: Letter and Quotation

Profile: The Rev Prof Johannes Ude (1874-1965)

2011-01-11T03:02:00.000-08:00

From the Catholic Herald dated October 2, 1959

See also: Article

'A New Year's Message' (1919)

2011-01-02T09:28:00.000-08:00

'A Contrast'

2010-12-24T04:11:00.000-08:00

From the cover of The Vegetarian dated December 24, 1898

2010-12-23T02:38:00.000-08:00

From The Vegetarian News (Winter 1952)

2010-12-22T03:03:00.000-08:00

From The Vegetarian News (December 1932)

Christmas editorial: 'The Vegetarian News' (1952)

2010-12-21T02:30:00.000-08:00

'The Christmas Orgy - what some clergymen think' (1899)

2010-12-20T04:15:00.000-08:00

From The Vegetarian, December 23rd, 1899

'Christmas Birds' - The Universe (1928)

2010-12-18T05:36:00.000-08:00

From the 'Children's Picture Corner' feature by "Cousin Ken" in the November 30 edition.

Some thoughts for the Christmas Season by Henry Light

2010-12-17T08:14:00.000-08:00

From The Vegetarian News (December 1922)

'The Stamper of the Skies - a Bible for Animal Lovers' by Rev Will Hayes

2010-12-13T03:39:00.000-08:00

Some excerpts from an anthology which was published in 1933.

The unusual title of the study is taken from a poem by W.B. Yeats, 'The Indian upon God'.

The above extracts were published in The Vegetarian News (December 1936)

'Guiding Principles of Christian Vegetarianism'

2010-12-05T12:33:00.000-08:00

Source material for a tract which was circulated among vegetarians in Britain during the early 1960's.

This particular version was published in the Winter 1964/65 edition of The Ark (No.83) - journal of the Catholic Study Circle for Animal Welfare which became Catholic Concern for Animals in 2003.

'The Saviour of the world' by Esmé Wynne-Tyson

2010-11-28T03:53:00.000-08:00

Esmé Wynne-Tyson was an editor of the vegetarian periodical World Forum which was founded by George Bernard Shaw among others and published between 1947-1973 . She was a close personal and professional friend of Noel Coward and the mother of vegan publisher Jon Wynne-Tyson.

From The Vegetarian News (Winter 1950)

'Vegetarianism and Christianity' by Professor A.H. Allsopp, B.A., M.Ed

2010-11-18T05:32:00.000-08:00

A short treatise by the last President of the Order of the Golden Age from The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review (January 1951)

See Vegetarian Society commentary and letter

Quotation: H.W. Hales (1956)

2010-11-10T12:01:00.000-08:00

"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."

From The Vegetarian News (Winter 1956 edition)

'G.K. Chesterton & Vegetarianism' by Edgar J. Saxon

2010-10-30T06:53:00.000-07:00

Vegetarian Society satire: the subject of which became a significant influence upon Catholic thinking during the twentieth century.

From The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review (February 1910 edition)

Dean Inge and his vegetarian critics

2010-10-21T12:27:00.000-07:00

Do animals reared on farms (traditional or factory) owe their entire existence to the human appetite?

The Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral, William Ralph Inge (1860-1954) believed that pigs held a vested interest in pork despite himself being a prominent advocate of animals' rights. Indeed the clergyman's contention became so controversial during the 1920s and 30s, as to seduce one of the most famous advocates of vegetarianism of all time, George Bernard Shaw.

However, the underlying philosophical retort to Inge's case was frequently presented by Henry Salt, as appears to have been the case in this anonymous piece of satire which appeared in The Vegetarian News (May 1932.)

'Bible Difficulties'

2010-10-09T08:36:00.000-07:00

From The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review, February 1905

'An Open Letter to Christians...' (1939)

2010-10-03T09:29:00.000-07:00

Published in The Vegetarian Messenger Messenger and Health Review (January, 1939)

Quotation: the Rev Lord Donald Soper (1903-1998)

2010-09-23T10:49:00.000-07:00

In response to a request from a member of his audience to explain the path of a Christian pacifist and vegetarian given the historical teachings of Jesus Christ:

"I think probably, if He were here today, He would be both."

From the memoir Tower Hill 12.30 (Epworth Press, 1963, p.91)

See: Biography

'Vegetarianism' by Bramwell Booth (1900)

2010-09-20T02:50:00.000-07:00

An early Salvation Army contribution to the subject which remained on the fringe of vegetarian ideology throughout the twentieth century.

From The Vegetarian Messenger (December, 1900)

See also: 'Food reformers and the Salvation Army' and 'The Death of General Booth'

'Man's relationship with the Animal Creation' by the Venerable Edward Carpenter, Ph.D

2010-09-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

The vegetarian clergyman became Dean of Westminster Abbey in 1974 and took an active role in the Christian Consultative Council for the Welfare of Animals, as Chairman, following his retirement in 1985.

From the July/August 1966 edition of The British Vegetarian

'Christianity and Vegetarianism' by William Tucker (1913)

2010-09-05T07:47:00.000-07:00

2010-09-05T07:42:00.000-07:00

From The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review (July 1913 edition) - issued as a tract by the Vegetarian Society in the same year.

Vegetarian Society overture to Quakers (1880)

2010-08-29T11:47:00.000-07:00

From The Dietetic Reformer and Vegetarian Messenger - September 1880 edition

See also: 'Friends and Vegetarianism'

Quotation: Rev. Charles A. Hall (1906)

2010-08-21T02:09:00.000-07:00

"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."

Excerpt from the Editorial of The Scottish Health Reformer (September 1906)

Portrait from The Vegetarian Messenger (January 1903)

Father Ignatius (1837-1908)

2010-08-14T12:18:00.000-07:00

From The Vegetarian dated March 11th, 1899. The Church of England monk was Abbot of Llanthony Abbey in South Wales at the time.

www.fatherignatius.com

'The Bible and Vegetarianism' by the Rev. William Metcalfe, D.D. (1853)

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From The Vegetarian Messenger, November 1853

'The Bible and Vegetarianism' by Geoffrey L. Rudd (1955)

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See also: 'Letters from History' and 'A Question of Choice'

William Sibly (1883-1959) by Geoffrey L. Rudd

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Wycliffe College aroused media curiosity last year due to the stipulation of its founder that vegetarians should be eligible for a discount in tuition fees.

William Sibly developed the ethos of his father through an involvement in the vegetarian movement which reflected the Methodist background of the family.

In the year of his death, Sibly was one of the oldest surviving members of the Order of the Golden Age and visited their International Headquarters - relocated to Natal, South Africa in 1939 - on at least two occasions whilst President of the Vegetarian Society.

From The Vegetarian (Nov/Dec 1959)

Quotation: John Nibb (1953)

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"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."

From a letter entitled 'Deity and diet' - which appeared in World Forum (Spring 1953 edition)

'Christian Missions and Vegetarianism'

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From the July 1873 edition of The Dietetic Reformer and Vegetarian Messenger

'Monastic Rules about Diet'

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Reprinted in The Vegetarian News (February 1929 edition)

London Vegetarian Society satire (1899)

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'Christ and Vegetarianism' by the Rev. & Hon. Canon Edward Lyttelton (1855-1942)

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Canon Lyttelton held a unique status within the vegetarian movement as Huntsman of the Eton College beagle pack. The situation became a source of satire and scorn within the pages of Humanitarian League journals although several essays by the clergyman on the ethics of diet were published during the early decades of the twentieth century.

This particular extract appeared in the October 1905 edition of The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review. The text of his contribution to the Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics may be read among the historical articles on the CVA UK website.