Christianity and Vegetarianism 1809 – 2009
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EDEN’S DIET: CHRISTIANITY AND VEGETARIANISM 1809 – 2009 by SAMANTHA JANE CALVERT A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Theology and Religion School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham June 2012 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT The vegetarian teachings of the Salvation Army, Quakers, the Seventh Day Adventists and other Christian groups have been largely neglected by academics. This study takes a prosopographical approach to the development of modern Christian vegetarianism across a number of Christian vegetarian sects, and some more mainstream traditions, over a period of two centuries. The method allows for important points of similarity and difference to be noted among these groups’ founders and members. This research contributes particularly to radical Christian groups’ place in the vegetarian movement’s modern history. This study demonstrates how and why Christian vegetarianism developed in the nineteenth century and to what extent it influenced the secular vegetarian movement and wider society. It contextualizes nineteenth-century Christian vegetarianism in the wider movement of temperance, and considers why vegetarianism never made inroads into mainstream churches in the way that the temperance movement did. Finally, the study considers the pattern of Christian vegetarianism’s development in four distinct periods (1809-1847, 1848-1889, 1890-1959 and 1960-2009) as well as the many principles and behaviours these sectarian groups shared such as a desire for a return to Eden or the Golden Age, dualism, purity and biblical vegetarianism. DEDICATION To my parents, Joyce and Denis Ivan Calvert, who always believed in the value of education and who taught me to value it too; with my thanks. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It has been a great privilege and pleasure to have been able to spend many hours discussing my research with my supervisor, Professor Hugh McLeod. I am indebted to him for his kindness, his patience, his many helpful suggestions, his gentle correction of any erroneous thinking and for the time and space to find the answers to the questions that I had set myself. I would also like to acknowledge the advice of Dr Nigel Scotland, formerly of the University of Gloucestershire, who supervised by MA work. I appreciate the time taken by Derek Antrobus, John Davis, John Gilheany, Dr George Hazell and Professor Julia Twigg to respond to my queries. My former colleague and the former Head of Information and Customer Services at the Vegetarian Society, Chris Olivant has been most generous in answering many queries and in forwarding information and suggested contacts to me. My thanks also go to Dr James Gregory who has been kind enough to share with me a number of references and unpublished research notes and to Professor Andrew Linzey who has provided me with several useful contacts and been so supportive of my work. I am indebted to John Gilheany’s work on the Order of the Golden Age for alerting me to the importance of this organisation and to Tom Harper, an MA student at the Southwest Missouri State University, for making me aware of the existence of Hallelujah Acres. I am grateful for the assistance of a number of librarians and archivists at Cheshire County Record Library, Macclesfield Local History Library, Salford Local History Library, Manchester Central Library, the Greater Manchester County Record Office, Woodbrooke College Library and the Library of the Religious Society of Friends in Great Britain. Frances Lill, Electronic Services Manager at the British Library, generously transcribed and posted to me Order of the Danielites’ material that was too fragile to copy. Gordon Taylor, Archivist at the Salvation Army International Heritage Centre, London, was particularly helpful in sending to me material that he came across many months after my visit. Lynda Baildam at Newbold Library, Bracknell was kind enough to arrange my visits and to introduce me to Dr Roland Karlmann. I am grateful to Dr Rachel Muers for welcoming me to the AHRC funded seminars at Exeter University, “Vegetarianism as Spiritual Choice”, and for inviting me to participate in the colloquium as part of the same project. A number of individuals have been kind enough to supply information on their organisations, arrange visits to archive material, loaned material to me or taken the time to photocopy documents for me: Dr Deborah Jones of Catholic Concern for Animals, Samantha Chandler of the Anglican Society for the Welfare of Animals, Robin Lane of the Way in the Wilderness, Sophia Howard of the Followers of the Way, Margaret Southern, Margaret Carter and Alisdair Glen of Macclesfield URC Church, Lara Muth of the Swedenborgian Society, Jen Elford, Head of Research and Information Services of the Vegetarian Society, Gabriel Buist and Patricia Byrne of the Order of the Cross, Don Gwillim of the Christian Vegetarian Association UK. I appreciate being made welcome at worship services at the Order of the Cross, Kensington, Newbold College and Woodbrooke College. I owe a sincere debt of thanks to my proof readers Dr John Bennett and Jane Bliss who have provided an excellent service to me – far beyond what I could have expected or hoped. All errors or omissions are, of course, my own. Finally, my heartfelt thanks to my husband, James Hickey, for his unfailing support – personal and financial – during my PhD and in all that I choose to do. TABLE OF CONTENTS Part I: Introduction a. A survey of literature 4 b. The scope and focus of the thesis 21 c. Methodology 28 d. Main themes 36 e. Definitions 45 Part II: Christianity and vegetarianism Chapter 1: 1809 – 1847 53 a. The Bible Christian Church and the Vegetarian Society 64 The foundation of the Vegetarian Society 77 b. James Pierrepont Greaves and the Concordium 81 Chapter 2: 1848 – 1889 90 a. The Salvation Army 101 William and Catherine Booth and vegetarianism 107 Bramwell and Florence Booth and vegetarianism 110 The Salvation Army Women’s Social Work and vegetarianism 115 b. The Order of the Danielites 124 The Founding of the Danielites 127 The Gardens 130 Regalia 137 Danielite Star 142 Conclusion 149 Chapter 3: 1890 – 1959 152 a. The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) 163 Early Quakers and concern for animals 166 Friends’ Anti-Vivisection Association and Quaker Animal Concern 170 Books of Discipline and Advices 178 Other Quaker writings about animals 181 Quaker Journals and animals 184 Conclusion 200 b. The Order of the Golden Age 202 Aims of the Order of the Golden Age 206 Strategy of the Order: administrative, literary and platform 208 The Order of the Golden Age and the Order of the Cross 211 Beliefs and Practices 216 The Order’s influence on the growth of vegetarianism 224 c. The Order of the Cross 229 d. Catholic Concern for Animals 240 Chapter 4: 1960 – 2009 255 a. Anglican Society for Animal Welfare 261 b. Fellowship of Life 273 c. Christian Vegetarian Association 282 d. The Way in the Wilderness 288 Part III: The American connection 294 The establishment of vegetarian societies in Britain and America 297 Sylvester Graham 300 Ellen G. White, Seventh-Day Adventism and vegetarianism 302 The ‘San’ and John Harvey Kellogg 310 The continuing relationship between transatlantic vegetarians 312 Ellen G. White and the Seventh Day Adventist institutions 313 Hallelujah Acres 322 Conclusion 330 Part IV: Reflections on the relationship between Christianity and modern vegetarianism a. Key issues 335 b. Conclusion 343 Bibliography 360 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ASWA Anglican Society for the Welfare of Animals CCA Catholic Concern for Animals FA-VA Friends’ Anti-Vivisection Association FA-VS Friends’ Anti-Vivisection and Humane Society FO Field Officer FoL Fellowship of Life FVS Friends’ Vegetarian Society GMCRO Greater Manchester Record Office MCL Manchester Central Library QCA Quaker Concern for Animals RSPCA Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals SPCA Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals VA Vegetarian Advocate YM Yearly Meeting [of Religious Society of Friends] PART I: INTRODUCTION Whilst there is a long standing relationship between Christianity and vegetarianism, today vegetarianism as a spiritual choice is most often associated with Eastern religions such as Buddhism or Jainism or possibly with the asceticism of the Early Church. In the modern period the practice of fasting is increasingly rare, and the Lenten observance of a meat-free diet is often practiced only by religious orders or lay people on spiritual retreats. The mainstream Christian churches seem to have left the practice of fasting behind.1 However, the relationship between Christianity and vegetarianism is a long one. In the dualism of Manicheanism2 and the Bogomils,3 and the idea of materiality as the creation of the devil to be found in the teachings of the Cathars4 and Mani, many Christians – and quasi-Christians – have found much to recommend in vegetarianism. Christian mystics Jacob Boehme (1575-1624) and Thomas Tryon5 (1634-1703) 1 It should be noted, however, that the Roman Catholic Bishops of England and Wales have recently reintroduced the abstinence from meat on Fridays as a requirement for all Roman Catholics. Introduced in September 2011 it is as yet too early to know whether it will be widely taken up by practicing Catholics.