Page 1 of 287 Dietary Pacifism Animals, Nonviolence, and the Messianic Community by Matthew Andrew Barton Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds, Theology and Religious Studies April 2013 Page 2 of 287 Intellectual Property and Publication Statements The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own, except where work which has formed part of jointly authored publications has been included. The contribution of the candidate and the other authors to this work has been explicitly indicated below. The candidate confirms that appropriate credit has been given within the thesis where reference has been made to the work of others. The “Covenantal Relationships” section of chapter 3 (pp. 78-83) draws on an article co-written with Kris Hiuser (Kris Hiuser and Matthew Barton, “A Promise is a Promise: God’s Covenantal Relationship with Animals”, Scottish Journal of Theology, forthcoming). Hiuser contributed the research into scholarship on covenant in the Hebrew Bible. The candidate contributed an exploration of theological and ethical implications of God covenanting with nonhuman animals. Some of the analysis in chapter 8 has been compiled and published as Matthew Barton and Rachel Muers, “A Study in Ordinary Theological Ethics: Thinking about Eating,” in Jeff Astley and Leslie J. Francis (ed), Exploring Ordinary Theology: Everyday Christian Believing and the Church (Surrey: Ashgate, 2013), 169-77. Muers contributed the chapter’s introduction, and helped edit the chapter as a whole. The candidate contributed the original research, and the body of the chapter. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. ©2013 University of Leeds and Matthew Andrew Barton The right of Matthew Andrew Barton to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Page 3 of 287 Acknowledgements The completion of this thesis was only possible thanks to the support, assistance, and encouragement of many. Heading a long list which I am sure should be even longer are my family: my parents, Andrew and Carol, for accepting my late decision to apply to study Theology instead of Law and supporting me, emotionally and financially, through my BA and MA; my wife, Na, for loving me, intertwining her life with mine, and keeping me motivated through my studies; Winston, an undeniably stupid cat who has enriched our lives, and deepened my appreciation for animal relationality; and Fabrizio ‘Fabs’ Ortu, a man who is as much a brother to me as a friend. Special thanks go to my doctoral supervisor Dr Rachel Muers. My academic interest in the theological ethics of food began with my undergraduate dissertation on vegetarianism in church history, inspired by Rachel’s AHRC-funded research project “Vegetarianism as Spiritual Choice in Historical and Contemporary Theology” (as Rachel was leaving Exeter for Leeds at the time I began my dissertation, she suggested I work with David Grumett, whom I also owe a debt of gratitude for his invaluable guidance). As a postgraduate supervisor, Rachel has given me more than I could reasonably have expected, sharing her wisdom and offering insightful critiques of my work, while also encouraging and assisting me with everything from answering calls for papers to writing job applications. Thanks go to everyone who aided me in my research, including those who read and critiqued my work. In particular, thanks go to Dr John Berkman for his patience in discussing his co-authored paper, “The Chief End of All Flesh”, with me; and to Kris Hiuser, for critiquing parts of my thesis and collaborating with me academically. Thanks also go (in no particular order) to Lucia Chaplin, Dr Al McFadyen, Prof. David Clough, Dr Mel Prideaux, Prof. Kim Knott, Josh Furnal, Rev. Sally Apokis, Alison Rowe, Allison Covey, Ben Wood, Ben Kirby, Rhiannon Grant, Jeremy Kidwell, and Jo Merrygold: your support and aid are greatly appreciated. I’m sorry there wasn’t space to give you each a personalised thank you. Page 4 of 287 The Christian vegetarians who consented to be my conversation partners for the research behind the latter part of this thesis deserve acknowledgement for the gifts of their time, the discussion of their theologies and ethics, and their willingness to talk openly and frankly about their experiences of church life. Thank you all. Rev. Dr Andrew Linzey, for being a one-man ‘first wave’ of vegetarian theology – and fielding all the difficulties that come with that territory – deserves the respect and gratitude of all theologians (academic and ordinary) concerned to think about how humans relate to other animals. Thanks to Prof. Marc Bekoff, for his enthusiastic work to raise awareness of animal rationality and relationality, and his generosity in response to my requests for information; to Prof. Alan Ford, for his wisdom and support in applying for funding and jobs; and to Nigel Pyman, for encouraging me to ask the questions that have led me down this path. Honorary mentions go to Prof. Stanley Hauerwas and Prof. John Howard Yoder for their work, which has inspired me as an academic, and more importantly as a Christian. Thanks also to Stanley for his kind comments on my critique of his co-authored paper, “The Chief End of All Flesh”. Thanks also go to the chaplaincy team at the University of Nottingham, where I have worked as Methodist lay chaplain while completing this thesis, for their fellowship and inspiration: particular thanks go to Rev. Sandy Osgerby and Fr Andrew Cole for their patience and understanding regarding my academic commitments. The greatest thanks go to God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Thank you for my life, my gifts, and the opportunities I have been blessed to receive. Thank you for your grace, your victory over sin and death, and the hope of the kingdom. I pray that in some miniscule way, this thesis enacts and anticipates the new relationships which grace works in us now, and will work for all time at the end of days. Page 5 of 287 Abstract Dietary Pacifism: Animals, Nonviolence, and the Messianic Community by Matthew Andrew Barton This thesis uses relational theology, in conversation with the nonviolent communitarian ethics of Stanley Hauerwas, to construct a new theology of how humans relate to other animals. I argue that at least some other animals should be perceived as relational creatures of God; and that understanding our animal brothers and sisters in this way raises new questions for ethics and ecclesiology. The relationality we share with nonhuman animals – in individual relationships and the interwoven networks of relationship that make up creation – means that Christians can hope for relationships between humans and other animals to be sanctified by God’s grace. If we have this hope, and accept that theology is ethics (and eschatology not solely future-oriented), there is a clear impetus for individual Christians and church communities to look with reflective and prayerful eyes at how we relate to other animals. This will include thinking seriously about how our dietary choices impact upon them. I make two methodological shifts in the course of the thesis: from theology to ethics, and from there into ecclesiology and ethnography. These shifts are justified on the ground that theology is ethics: just as faith without works is dead (Jm. 2:17), so must theology be ethical. The use of ethnography and social-scientific methodology situates my discussion of church casuistry on animal and dietary ethics in the context of real, situated churches and church experiences. A theological ethic of diet which does not examine how churches think about eating, and the eating practices their members are formed in, would be incomplete. After outlining my aims and methodology in chapter 1, in chapter 2 I critique theological models of ‘stewardship’ (popular for thinking about human-animal relationality). Chapter 3 provides a short systematic theology Page 6 of 287 of human-animal relationality which seeks to amend for stewardship’s limitations. In chapters 4-5, I consider the dietary implications of chapters 2- 3, arguing that vegetarianism (theologically understood as dietary pacifism) is a valid ethical practice for followers of Christ. Chapters 6-8 look at ethical dialogue and discernment in church communities, arguing – partly via conversation with ordinary Christian vegetarians – that there is a theological impetus on individual Christians and the church to engage seriously with all ethical topics, including diet. In chapter 9, I draw the thesis together with a relational framework which emphasises radical inclusivity – the call for the church to be a community of human animals, in and for the wider community of creation. Page 7 of 287 Table of Contents 1 God, Humans, and Other Animals: Introduction 11 and Methodology Thesis Overview 16 2 Stewardship and Relationality: Surveying 24 Stewardship and Ecotheologies Stewardship, Ecotheology, and Animal Particularity 26 Theological Anthropology and Human Distinctiveness 34 Andrew Linzey: a Different Kind of Stewardship? 39 Conclusion 45 3 God’s Relational Creatures: A Theology of 49 Human-Animal Relationality In God’s Image: the imago Dei and Human-Animal 50 Relationality The imago Trinitas and the Dynamic Relationality of God 58 “The Word became flesh” (Jn. 1:14) 64 Animal Sin 71 Covenantal Relationships 81 Animal Relationality in Creation and Eschaton 86 Dominion 95 Conclusion 97 4 Dietary Pacifism: Stanley Hauerwas and Dietary 101 Ethics Stanley Hauerwas 103 Hauerwas and the Narrative of Jesus 108 Hauerwas and Liberalism 109 Page 8 of 287 Hauerwas’ Critics 112 Summary 115 Human-Animal Relationality, Christian Nonviolence, and 116 Dietary Ethics “The Chief End of All Flesh” 124 Eschatological Dietary Ethics: Humans, Animals, 129 Creation, Nature The Weapon of Choice: Human-Animal Relationality 135 and the Language of Sacrifice Conclusion 143 5 To Eat, or not to Eat: The Complexities of Dietary 145 Pacifism Wanton Anticipation? Eating for the Kingdom in a Fallen 147 World “The weak eat only vegetables” (Rom.