Christianity and Meat-Eating

Keith Burgess-Jackson responds to readers who say that it’s “against their religion” to be vegetarian.

To add my two cents, my religious beliefs have only reinforced my decision to give up eating meat (full disclosure: I still eat fish, eggs, and dairy, so I am not a proper vegetarian, much less a vegan). The first time my conscience was really stirred on this issue was after reading an article by Matthew Scully in The American Conservative of all places. Scully is a speechwriter for President Bush and an all-around conservative who also happens to be a vegetarian. The article was an adaptation from his book Dominion wherein he critiques the practices of factory farming and other forms of animal exploitation. Scully’s argument is that religious believers should be especially sensitive to practices like factory farming because they degrade and dishonor God’s creation. Animals, as creatures of God, are good in themselves and have lives whose integrity should be respected.

Indeed, the title “Dominion” refers to a biblical concept that has been used to justify all manner of exploitation of nature. But much recent scholarship has questioned whether “dominion” in the biblical sense means that humans have been given permission to use the natural world for their own purposes regardless of the consequences. It’s more accurate, many now argue, to understand dominion in terms of stewardship and care for God’s creation. Also, many theologians have argued that God’s intention for humankind is peaceful relations with all of creation, including a vegetarian diet. For instance, in the first chapter of Genesis, God prescribes a vegetarian diet for Adam and Eve:

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.” (Genesis 1:29)

Meat-eating is only introduced after the Fall, and with many restrictions, as a concession to sinful humanity. Furthermore, the Bible’s eschatology (doctrine of the end-times) holds up the image of the peaceable kingdom where God’s justice will reign and creatures will not be pitted against each other in conflict and violence:

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:6-9)

While I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Christianity forbids meat-eating, I think its moral trajectory points in the direction of a life-style that eschews violence, and that vegetarianism can be a sign of that new life. There have been a number of books and articles written on the subject in recent years:

Animal Gospel by Andrew Linzey

Animal Theology by Andrew Linzey

Of God and Dogs by Stephen H. Webb

Good Eating by Stephen H. Webb

Is God a Vegetarian?: Christianity, Vegetarianism, and Animal Rights by Richard Alan Young

“The Chief End of All Flesh” by Stanley Hauerwas and John Berkman

Also see the website of the Christian Vegetarian Association.