Friday 24 December 2010

'A Contrast'


From the cover of The Vegetarian dated December 24, 1898

Thursday 23 December 2010


From The Vegetarian News (Winter 1952)

Wednesday 22 December 2010


From The Vegetarian News (December 1932)

Monday 20 December 2010

Saturday 18 December 2010

'Christmas Birds' - The Universe (1928)


From the 'Children's Picture Corner' feature by "Cousin Ken" in the November 30 edition.

Friday 17 December 2010

Monday 13 December 2010

'The Stamper of the Skies - a Bible for Animal Lovers' by Rev Will Hayes



Some excerpts from an anthology which was published in 1933.

The unusual title of the study is taken from a poem by W.B. Yeats, 'The Indian upon God'.

The above extracts were published in The Vegetarian News (December 1936)

Sunday 5 December 2010

'Guiding Principles of Christian Vegetarianism'




Source material for a tract which was circulated among vegetarians in Britain during the early 1960's.

This particular version was published in the Winter 1964/65 edition of The Ark (No.83) - journal of the Catholic Study Circle for Animal Welfare which became Catholic Concern for Animals in 2003.

Sunday 28 November 2010

'The Saviour of the world' by Esmé Wynne-Tyson



Esmé Wynne-Tyson was an editor of the vegetarian periodical World Forum which was founded by George Bernard Shaw among others and published between 1947-1973 . She was a close personal and professional friend of Noel Coward and the mother of vegan publisher Jon Wynne-Tyson.

From The Vegetarian News (Winter 1950) See also: 'Christianity and Vegetarianism' and her Novel

Thursday 18 November 2010

'Vegetarianism and Christianity' by Professor A.H. Allsopp, B.A., M.Ed


A short treatise by the last President of the Order of the Golden Age from The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review (January 1951)

See Vegetarian Society commentary and letter

Wednesday 10 November 2010

Quotation: H.W. Hales (1956)

"Vegetarianism is derived not so much from anything that "is read" as from that which "is felt." What are we to obey, the senses or the spirit? With which of the five senses do we define spirituality? And yet it is the only sure guide. Vegetarianism is bound to Christianity no matter what is read. For every step towards love and goodness, spiritually felt, is a tendency towards God."

From The Vegetarian News (Winter 1956 edition)

Saturday 30 October 2010

'G.K. Chesterton & Vegetarianism' by Edgar J. Saxon




Vegetarian Society satire: the subject of which became a significant influence upon Catholic thinking during the twentieth century.

From The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review (February 1910 edition)

Thursday 21 October 2010

Dean Inge and his vegetarian critics


Do animals reared on farms (traditional or factory) owe their entire existence to the human appetite?

The Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral, William Ralph Inge (1860-1954) believed that pigs held a vested interest in pork despite himself being a prominent advocate of animals' rights. Indeed the clergyman's contention became so controversial during the 1920s and 30s, as to seduce one of the most famous advocates of vegetarianism of all time, George Bernard Shaw.

However, the underlying philosophical retort to Inge's case was frequently presented by Henry Salt, as appears to have been the case in this anonymous piece of satire which appeared in The Vegetarian News (May 1932.)

Saturday 9 October 2010

'Bible Difficulties'


From The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review, February 1905

Sunday 3 October 2010

'An Open Letter to Christians...' (1939)





Published in The Vegetarian Messenger Messenger and Health Review (January, 1939)

Thursday 23 September 2010

Quotation: the Rev Lord Donald Soper (1903-1998)



In response to a request from a member of his audience to explain the path of a Christian pacifist and vegetarian given the historical teachings of Jesus Christ:

"I think probably, if He were here today, He would be both."

From the memoir Tower Hill 12.30 (Epworth Press, 1963, p.91)

See: Biography

Monday 20 September 2010

'Vegetarianism' by Bramwell Booth (1900)






An early Salvation Army contribution to the subject which remained on the fringe of vegetarian ideology throughout the twentieth century.

From The Vegetarian Messenger (December, 1900)

See also: 'Food reformers and the Salvation Army' and 'The Death of General Booth'

Saturday 11 September 2010

'Man's relationship with the Animal Creation' by the Venerable Edward Carpenter, Ph.D





The vegetarian clergyman became Dean of Westminster Abbey in 1974 and took an active role in the Christian Consultative Council for the Welfare of Animals, as Chairman, following his retirement in 1985.

From the July/August 1966 edition of The British Vegetarian

Sunday 5 September 2010

'Christianity and Vegetarianism' by William Tucker (1913)








From The Vegetarian Messenger and Health Review (July 1913 edition) - issued as a tract by the Vegetarian Society in the same year.

Sunday 29 August 2010

Vegetarian Society overture to Quakers (1880)


From The Dietetic Reformer and Vegetarian Messenger - September 1880 edition

See also: 'Friends and Vegetarianism'

Saturday 21 August 2010

Quotation: Rev. Charles A. Hall (1906)


"I generally refrain from drawing upon Holy Scripture for confirmation of my vegetarian arguments, especially in public. There are several reasons for my attitude, one of which is that I do not care to tread upon the susceptibilities of readers and hearers who would not care to accept my interpretations, and interpretations of Scripture are so manifold and diverse, and held to so tenaciously, and with such veneration. Another reason is that I think so much more of the "spirit" of Scripture "that giveth life", than of "the letter which killeth," that I go to the old Book for spiritual counsel rather than hygienic guidance. A third reason is that the humane instincts which God has planted in my own character are excellent authority for my vegetarian practice and I look for no other."

Excerpt from the Editorial of The Scottish Health Reformer (September 1906)

Portrait from The Vegetarian Messenger (January 1903)

Saturday 14 August 2010

Father Ignatius (1837-1908)


From The Vegetarian dated March 11th, 1899. The Church of England monk was Abbot of Llanthony Abbey in South Wales at the time.

www.fatherignatius.com

Friday 30 July 2010

William Sibly (1883-1959) by Geoffrey L. Rudd



Wycliffe College aroused media curiosity last year due to the stipulation of its founder that vegetarians should be eligible for a discount in tuition fees.

William Sibly developed the ethos of his father through an involvement in the vegetarian movement which reflected the Methodist background of the family.

In the year of his death, Sibly was one of the oldest surviving members of the Order of the Golden Age and visited their International Headquarters - relocated to Natal, South Africa in 1939 - on at least two occasions whilst President of the Vegetarian Society.

From The Vegetarian (Nov/Dec 1959)

Quotation: John Nibb (1953)

"The fact is that outside the realm of dogma, Christianity is very wide; it can embrace both the vegetarian and the meateater, the pacifist and the warrior. By all means let us campaign for vegetarianism and for peace, but not on the ground that these are elements essential to Christianity."

From a letter entitled 'Deity and diet' - which appeared in World Forum (Spring 1953 edition)

Tuesday 27 July 2010

'Christian Missions and Vegetarianism'


From the July 1873 edition of The Dietetic Reformer and Vegetarian Messenger