Modern vegetarians often refer to theological terminology such as “reverence for life” or “respecting God’s creation” when defending their position. Ironically, in the Early Church the situation is exactly the other way around. Abstaining from meat is considered a sign of heresy. In the Canons of the Council of Ancyra (314) it is stated: “It is decreed that among the clergy, presbyters and deacons who abstain from flesh shall taste of it, and afterwards, if they shall so please, may abstain. But if they disdain it, and will not even eat herbs served with flesh, but disobey the canon, let them be removed from their order.” While never included into Church Law, this anathema is confirmed by several later councils, such as the Council of Braga (Portugal, 561-563), at which the anathema is expanded to include clergy and lay people alike.
In fact, many heretical groups in early Christianity practiced vegetarianism, for example the Marcionites and the Manicheans. Traditional scholarship attributes this behaviour to just another form of asceticism. But if the councils wanted to condemn radical asceticism, why is there no anathema for people who abstain from alcohol? What is the reason for the special concern with the question of eating meat? Are vegetarians really a threat to Christian orthodoxy?
These are the question I would like to address in my presentation.
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