According to the Bible, the original diet within the Garden of Eden was a vegetarian one and Adam and Eve lived happily, healthily and abundantly upon a diet rich in fresh vegetarian fare, however, with the coming of the flood a concession was made ensuring mans survival and for the first time a departure from the original diet intended by God.

 

Today it has been transformed into the worlds biggest industry as one slaughterhouse in America slaughters over 30,000 animals a day and throughout the world over 2 billion animals are slaughtered each week as the rivers of blood spoken of in the Bible take place every week as planet earth becomes a mass production line of death.

 

This is an extreme departure from the simple, peaceful diet within the Garden of Eden and many question how spiritual institutions such as Christianity can sanction such a satanic act, especially when supermarkets are overflowing with abundance and provide more than enough to satisfy everyones needs.

 

 

As we pander to our selfish and unrestrained tongues we subject the animals which have been created by God to what can only be described as a global holocaust and one must immediately question why a spiritual institution such as Christianity would endorse such a thing.

 

Why should the biggest enemies of Gods children be those who belong to a spiritual institution, people who are meant to be detaching themselves from worldly things and pursuing a life of purification and while we can understand the minds of business men and politicians who are simply lost to themselves, its bewildering as to why a spiritual institution would act in such a manner.

 

As part of their defence the Christians argue that Jesus ate meat and according to the Bible we are allowed to eat meat, however, there is much evidence which contradicts this and as members of a spiritual tradition and adherents to a peaceful and nonviolent lifestyle we would like to share this evidence.

 

 

'Peter' was one of the twelve apostles and known as 'Peter the rock' as in the rock upon which the church of Jesus Christ would be built and according to Clement of Alexandria he is described as 'one whose food was bread, olives and herbs' ( Hoer 15;cf clem. Hom. X11,6 ).

 

'James' was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ and according to 'Eusebius' a church father who quoted 'Hegesippus' he has written that 'the brother of the Lord was holy from birth. He drank no wine nor ate the flesh of animals.'

 

'Thomas' was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ and according to 'James Vernon Bartlet' and his book 'The Apochyphal Gospels from the history of Christianity' he says that Thomas was 'wearing a single garment, giving what he had to others and abstaining from the eating of flesh and the drinking of wine'.

 

 

'Matthew' was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ and according to the Christian theologian 'Clement of Alexandria' he was an apostle of Jesus Christ who 'lived upon seeds and nuts and fruits and vegetables without the use of flesh' and the same source describes the apostle 'Mathias' as living upon the same diet.

 

'John the Baptist' according to 'Mathew 3:4' was abstaining from meat meals and it is described that his food was 'wild honey and wild locus' and although the 'locus' has been interpreted as eating 'locust' it seems more likely to have been 'carob bean' which is known as the 'locust bean gum'.

 

'Saint Paul' is one of the most important figures within Christianity and within 'Romans 14,20,21' he says 'Destroy not the work of God for the sake of food … It is good neither to drink wine or eat flesh' though his overall commitment to his ideals seemed to diminish with time.

 

 

Although we have no information on the dietary habits of the other disciples of Jesus Christ one would think that this was a reflection of their dietary habits as a whole and whether partial or whole one can also see this as a reflection of the dietary habits of Jesus Christ himself.

 

'Saint Jerome' who produced the 'Vulgate' the authorised Latin version of the Bible says 'Since Christ is the Alpha and Omega, the Messiah who restores all things, it is no longer permitted to divorce or eat flesh… and so I say to you if you wish to be perfect, it is good not to drink wine or eat flesh…'.

 

'Saint Jerome' is recognised as a 'saint' he is seen as a 'doctor of the church' and he is respected amongst the 'Eastern' 'Lutherian' and 'Anglican' churches and here he says not once, but twice 'do not eat flesh' yet despite this Christians continue to chomp on their burgers and chicken legs.

 

 

'Saint Chrysostomos' was an early father of the church who was famous for his denunciation of church leaders and political leaders who abused their position and he says 'We the Christian leaders practice abstinence from the flesh of animals to subdue our bodies. The unnatural eating of flesh is of demonic origin.'

 

'Saint Basil' is a highly respected theologian from the times of the early church fathers and recognised as a 'doctor of the church' and this is what he has to say 'The steam of meat darkens the light of the spirit…one hardly can have virtue when one enjoys meat meals and feasts'.

 

'Cardinal John Henry Newman' was a saint within the Catholic church who says 'cruelty to animals is as if man did not love God. They have done us no harm, they have no power of resistence…there is something so dreadful, so satanic in tormenting those who have never harmed us and cannot defend themselves, who are utterly in our power'.

 

 

A second century scripture known as the 'Clement Homilies' says the following 'The unnatural eating of flesh is as polluting as the heathen’s worship of devils with its sacrifices and impure feasts, through participation in which a man becomes a fellow eater with devils'

 

'Clement of Alexandria' says the following 'It is far better to be happy than have the devil dwelling within us, for happiness is found only in the practice of virtue. Accordingly the Apostle Mathew, partook of seeds, nuts and vegetables , without the use of flesh… is there not within a temperate simplicity, a wholesome variety of eatables, vegetables, roots, olives, herbs, milk, cheese, fruits.'

 

'Joseph Flavius' whose works are seen as a major source for the history and antiquity of ancient Palestine as well as John the Baptist and Jesus, says the following about the early Christians 'They assemble before sun rising and speak not a word of profane matters but put up certain prayers…and sit down together each one to a single plate of one sort of innocent food.'

 

Not that any of this seems to deter most of the meat loving Christians who seem intent upon ignoring the 'Saint Jeromes' the 'Saint Basils' the 'Saint Pauls' the 'Saint Chrysostomos' and at least five of the twelve apostles as they rest secure in the knowledge that Jesus ate meat. But did he ?

 

Close study of the Greek manuscripts show that the vast majority of the words translated as 'meat' are the words 'trophe' and 'brome' which simply mean 'food' or 'eating' in the broadest sense, an example which can be seen within 'Luke 8.55' which declares that Jesus raised a woman from the dead and commanded 'give her meat'.

 

The word which was actually used was 'phago' a word from Greece whose meaning is to 'eat' to 'consume' to 'devour' hence what Jesus actually said was 'let her eat' and we find that the Greek word for 'meat' is 'kreas' meaning 'flesh' a word which is seldom used in connection with Jesus Christ.

 

 

 

'Pliny' was the governor of 'Bithynia' a city where Peter would preach and in a letter to the Roman Emperor named 'Trajan' he refers to the early Christians as a 'contagious superstition who abstain from the eating of flesh food' and its the same with 'Seneca' a stoic philosopher and tutor of Nero who describes the Christians as 'a foreign cultus or superstition ( under imperial suspicion ) who abstain from flesh food.'

 

The Apocryphal acts of Thomas bears the following description of the early Christians as 'He continually fasts and prays, wears the same garment in all weathers,  accepts nothing from anyone, gives whatever he has to others and abstains from meat and wine'.

 

And within his description of the early Christians, Saint Chrysostomos says the following 'No streams of blood are among them, no dainty cookery, no heaviness of  head. Nor are horrible smells of flesh meats among them or disagreeable  fumes from the kitchen'.

 

 

 

One cannot justify being non violent towards human beings and being cruel towards animals as they are also creatures of God and when fruits, grains, vegetables and milk products are in such abundance a slaughterhouse is the symbol of barbarianism and the mouth which speaks of peace and non violence but feeds upon the flesh and blood of slaughtered animals raised in factory farms is the mouth of a hypocrite and a fool.

 

To maintaining slaughterhouses is to maintain evil and under such conditions how can there be any possibility of peace what to speak of spiritual progress and when we consider the wastage in terms of 'water' and 'grains' as well as the pollution of the rivers and the seas and its effect upon the climate its quite obvious that the path we are treading is leading us to disaster.

 

Planet earth has become planet death and those who are meant to give guidance ignore their own tenets such as 'thou shalt not kill' and 'do unto others as you would have done unto yourself' and 'as you sow so shall you reap' and as we have shown they also ignore the great saints and apostles who advise the followers of Jesus Christ to live a simple life free from the cruelty and slaughtering of animals.