Contents
NOTE: For a rabbinical view about why Jews should be living without exploiting other animals, read this amazing 2010 essay from the late Rabbi Simchah Roth. For an amazing book comparing The Jewish Holocaust and The Animal Holocaust, check out Eternal Treblinka by Charles Patterson. When I mention God in the following piece, I am also referring to Jesus. And God did NOT create us in His image. Humans created God in their image. I believe in God, but I am not so arrogant and blind as to believe that God is human-like, or that God looks, thinks, or acts like us in any way. As a whole, humans are psychopathic, apathetic, and myopic. God is not! Furthermore, giving thanks, and/or praying to God, does NOT exonerate an animal-murderer from the crime. Author Cleveland Amory summed it up best when he wrote: "A missionary was walking in Africa when he heard the ominous padding of a lion behind him. 'Oh Lord,' prayed the missionary, 'Grant in Thy goodness that the lion walking behind me is a good Christian lion.' And then in the silence that followed, the missionary heard the lion praying too: 'Oh Lord,' he prayed. 'We thank Thee for the food which we are about to receive.'"
Adam and Eve, the first vegans on this planet, resided in the Garden of Eden, the world's first vegan paradise. They were living testaments to Genesis 1:29, God's first dietary law: "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."
Isaiah 11:7, God's last dietary law, states, "The wolf will live with the lamb, the cow will feed with the bear, the lion will eat straw like the ox, and a little child will lead them. And neither will harm nor destroy on My Holy Mountain." The beginning and the end are vegan because veganism is the only way to live without bloodshed and cruelty.
Many other scriptures profess God's love for animals. "God tests them [humans] so that they may see they are like the animals. Man's fate is like that of the animals. The same fate awaits them both. As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless. All go to the same place. All come from dust and to dust all return. Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth." Ecclesiastes 3:19-21
"In that day I will make a covenant for them. With the beasts of the field and the birds of the air, and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land so that all may lay down in safety. I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion." Hosea 2:18-19
"A righteous man cares for the needs of the animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel." Proverbs 12:10
"Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf filled with hate." Proverbs 15:17
Dominion, Thou Shalt Not Kill, and the Lost Gospel
The dominion directive and THOU SHALT NOT KILL commandment hold the dubious distinction of being the most important, yet most misunderstood mandates. Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17 unambiguously state, "You shall not murder." So, contrary to religious dogma, being merciful and compassionate to ALL of God's creatures by NOT killing them is the only way to honor the THOU SHALT NOT KILL commandment. When meat, dairy and egg-eaters support, disobey or ignore this all-encompassing mandate, they are guilty of committing the ultimate sin.
Displaying the utmost arrogance, meat, dairy and egg-eaters also assume dominion gives them the right to enslave and torture animals with impunity. Dominion's true calling, however, is for humans to protect and care for God's most innocent creatures. The dominion humans have over animals is the same dominion parents have over their children.
The Gospel of the Nazirenes states, "It has been written, 'Thou shalt not kill', but I say to you, if any hate and desire to slay, they have broken the Law. If they cause hurt or torment to any creature, they are guilty. But if they kill to put an end to suffering which cannot be healed, they are not guilty, if they do it quickly and with much mercy." 47:3
Church Fathers Papias, Hegesippus, Iranaeas, Clement, Origen, Basil, Epiphanius, Eusebius and St. Jerome wrote about The Gospel of the Nazirenes, which verifies its ancient existence. Penned sometime in the first century, it is now unjustly part of the Apocrypha, scriptures viewed as inauthentic by the Church.
The Gospel of the Nazirenes is only labeled as apocryphal because it forbids the killing of animals for sacrifice or sustenance. Shamefully, most Christians are more concerned with meaningless customs and the death of Jesus—while most Jews are selfishly obsessed about being God's chosen people—instead of extending compassion to the most violated and abused group on this planet: the animals. Without question, God wants His followers to love, protect and defend His animals by refusing to exploit them.
Today's bible is the Roman—not Judeo-Christian—version of biblical events. From the years 325-403, Emperor Constantine's Council of Nicea re-wrote and re-edited most of the compassionate teachings of Jesus and other prophets to promote an agenda of hatred, from heterosexism and misogyny to slavery and speciesism.
Acts 15:20 states, "...abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood." Acts 15:29 adds, "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things."
The aforementioned Acts verses are reiterated in chapter 7, verse 10 of The Gospel of the Nazirenes: "Keep yourselves from blood and things strangled and from dead bodies of birds and beasts, and from all deeds of cruelty, and from all that is gotten from wrong. Do you think that the blood of beasts and birds will wash away sin? I tell you, No! Speak the the truth, be just, and merciful to one another and to all creatures, and walk humbly with your Creator."
Mercy or Cruelty
If cruelty is evil, and God is all-compassionate and all-merciful, then why do people believe God is an animal-killing, bloodthirsty, murderous devil? If slicing animals into pieces is permissible by God, then what horrible things could the Devil possibly do to animals? In other words, if you believe God condones the killing of animals, then the God you glorify is no better than the Devil you condemn.
Cruelty to animals is sacrilegious and desecrates the Good Lord's name. In The Gospel of the Nazirenes, Jesus agrees, "This commandment have I given you, that you love one another and all the creatures of the earth. Love is the fulfilling of the Law. Love is of the Lord, and the Lord is love. Whoso loves not, knows not the Lord. ...you are my disciples if you show mercy and love to all creatures, especially those that are weak and oppressed and suffer wrong. For the whole earth is filled with dark places of cruelty, with pain and sorrow, by the selfishness and ignorance of man." 76:5-6
The Gospel of Jesus
Jesus belonged to the vegan sect of the Essenes known as the Nazirenes. With the compassionate ways of both branches documented by dozens of historians and theologians, it's impossible to believe that Jesus consumed a violent diet of dismembered limbs and cut-up corpses. In his book The Origin of Christianity: The Pacifism, Communalism and Vegetarianism of Primitive Christianity, researcher Charles Vaclavik also establishes an undeniable link between the Nazirenes, the Essenes and the Pythagoreans. [Until the 19th century, vegans and vegetarians were called Pythagoreans.] This religious lineage negates any claim of a flesh-eating Jesus because all three groups refused to violate the THOU SHALT NOT KILL commandment by including animals in their circles of compassion. In The Gospel of the Nazirenes, Jesus states, "Wherefore those who want to be my disciples, keep your hands from bloodshed and let no flesh meat enter your mouths for the Lord is just and bountiful who ordains that man shall live by the fruits and the seeds of the earth alone." 38:1-6
In the book Famous Vegetarians & Their Favorite Recipes, historian Rynn Berry documents the veganism of Jesus, while theologians Dr. Hugh Schonfield and University of Paris Professor Ernest Renan verify His compassionate ways in The Passover Plot and Life of Jesus, respectively. Schonfield writes, "The old Nazirenes, like the Samaritans, were opposed to the Judean traditions, holding that the southerners had falsified the Law of Moses. They were vegetarians, and rejected animal sacrifices, but practiced circumcision and observed the Jewish Sabbath and festivals."
Indirect references of a vegan Jesus appear in Dr. Thomas Walker's What Jesus Read, Professor Robert Eisler's The Messiah Jesus and Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History. Eusebius affirms that James, the brother of Jesus, was vegan from birth and directed the early spiritual community in Jerusalem after the Crucifixion. "Control of the Church passed to the apostles, together with the Lord's brother James, whom everyone from the Lord's time until our own has called the Righteous, for there were many Jameses, but this one was holy from his birth; he drank no wine or intoxicating liquor and ate no animal food; no razor came near his head; he did not smear himself with oil, and took no [public] baths. He alone was permitted to enter the Holy Place, for his garments were not of wool, but of linen. He used to enter the Sanctuary alone...because of his unsurpassable righteousness he was called the Righteous...Bulwark of the People."
Since James harmed no animal in his daily sustenance, isn't it logical to assume that Mary raised Jesus and James on the same diet, not one as a meat, dairy and egg-eater and the other as a vegan? The Gospel of the Nazirenes also proclaims that John the Baptist "... shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall neither eat flesh meats, nor drink strong drink ..." Doesn't logic tell us, again, that Jesus would have followed the same "great" diet of his compatriot John?
The Body Is a Temple
If fruits and vegetables do not cause disease, and animal products are responsible for all of our main diseases, why do people believe the Lord ordained pestilent food? Are we supposed to believe the Lord said, "I give you cows and pigs and chickens. Hang them upside down, cut their throats, dismember their bodies, cook their muscles and consume their flesh. Even if it clogs your arteries or gives you cancer or diabetes, be fruitful and multiply." As you can see, rationalizing the consumption of animal products is preposterous. God admonishes us to treat the body like a temple by ingesting foods that exploit no animals. Read the essay titled Humans Are Herbivores to discover how the human body is 100 percent herbivorous.
Daniel 1:8,11-16 clearly shows how well the human body responds to plant-based food: "Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Daniel then said to the guard ... please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see. So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days. At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead."
Jesus and Fish
In Matthew 4:19 and Mark 1:17 Jesus says to Peter and Andrew, "Come and follow me. And I will make you fishers of men." These verses, along with The Council of Nicea's account of Jesus feeding fish to the multitudes, lead people to believe that Jesus was a fish-eating fisherman.
Jesus, however, never engaged in occupations that were harmful to animals. He was a rabbi, a teacher, an orator, a healer, a miracle worker and a savior. And He gave His life for all of creation!
As for feeding the multitudes, The Gospel of the Nazirenes states, "And it came to pass as Jesus had been teaching the multitudes, and they were hungry and faint from the heat of the day, then there passed...a woman on a camel laden with melons and other fruits. And He took five melons and divided them among the people, and they ate, and their thirst was quenched...none of them went home hungry or thirsty; and many that had fevers were healed." 48:1-4
The MIRACLE is the point of the story. Whether fruit or fish, Jesus multiplied tiny rations to feed thousands. If He used fish, He certainly didn't grab a net and a hook and dash feverishly to the Euphrates to kill them. He made them appear, thus bypassing the suffering and death fishermen are responsible for. Talk about eating without exploiting anyone!
Animal Sacrifice
Animal sacrifices displayed a primitive understanding of God's mandates, and were as insane as the human sacrifices that preceded them. Humility and sincere contrition were the only penances for sin. Killing an innocent animal only increased the original sin. It never exonerated one from it. In the Gospel of the Nazirenes, Jesus agrees: "No blood offering of beast or bird, or man, can take away sin, for how can the conscience be purged from sin by the shedding of innocent blood? No, it will increase the condemnation. Is it not written in the Prophets, 'Put away your blood sacrifices and your burnt offerings, and cease from the eating of flesh, for I spoke not to your fathers nor commanded them when I brought them out of Egypt concerning these things.' And what does the eternal command you, but to be just, love, have mercy and walk humbly with the Law." 33:2-8
Isaiah 1:15 states, "The multitude of your sacrifices—what are they to me," says the Lord. "I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals. I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Atop bringing meaningless offerings. Your incense is detestable to me. New moons, sabbaths and convocations—I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me. I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you. Even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight. Stop doing wrong, learn to do right."
Isaiah 66:3 states, "Whoever sacrifices a bull is like one who kills a man, and whoever offers a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck."
Hebrews 10:4 confirms Isaiah's Old Testament wisdom: "It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins."
Micah, Jeremiah, Amos, Daniel, Zechariah and other prophets also condemned sacrifices. In fact, the first recorded animal liberation happened when Jesus freed the animals from the altar when He dispersed the money-changers from the Temple (Matthew 21:12-13)!
Biblical Misrepresentation
Many people use the bible to justify hatred, discrimination, domination and murder. 1 Timothy 2:11-13 tells women to obey men: "A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve." While other scriptures condemn homosexuals, Leviticus 25:44-45 even excuses racism: "Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property." For centuries, white Christians used the bible to justify slavery in America, apartheid in South Africa and pogroms of witches, Native Americans and other non-Christians. Even Hitler, a staunch Christian, used the bible in a genocidal attempt to fulfill his mendacious prophesy of an all-white race. With such documented Christian-borne atrocities, today's Christians should not be shocked when animal rights people explain how the bible is being used by meat, dairy and egg-eaters to perpetuate the murder of billions of animals every year!
Jesus Warns of Evildoers
Most religious leaders misguide people with cruel interpretations of Christianity and Judaism. Clergy who fail to condemn the mass murder of animals in slaughterhouses, the most evil and wicked places on this planet, are spiritual hypocrites because they promote iniquity. In The Gospel of the Nazirenes, Jesus agrees: "Verily I say unto you, for this end I have come into the world; that I may put away all blood offerings and the eating of the flesh of the beasts and the birds that are slain by men. In the beginning the Creator gave to all the fruits of the trees and the seeds of the earth and the herbs for food. But those who loved themselves more than the Lord or their fellows, corrupted their ways and brought diseases into their bodies and filled the earth with lust and violence." 75:6-14
Jesus also says, "Speak the truth, be just and merciful to one another and to all creatures, and walk humbly with your Creator." 7:9-10
Most importantly, Jesus warns, "The enemies of truth and righteousness shall rule in my name and set up a kingdom of this world, oppress the peoples...teaching in my name that which I have not taught and darkening much that I have taught BY THEIR TRADITIONS." 95:3
Cain and Abel
Fred "Felice" Rizzo, Ph.D., contends that Cain killed Abel because Abel was a cattle-ranching animal-killer. When Abel violated the THOU SHALT NOT KILL commandment, Cain responded with the first justifiable homicide. Cain knew that using force to stop abuse or murder was a permissible act of vicarious self-defense.
Rizzo further explains the etymology of Abel's name. It translates to anti-God. "Ab" is the prefix that negates, while "El" is an archaic word for God. The ancient storytellers passed down the Cain and Abel narrative and forever let it be known which brother was evil by labeling Abel as anti-God. According to Rizzo's etymological research, all words derived from Abel pertain to something evil, while words from Cain are happy or peaceful. For instance, the Jewish holiday Chanukah is derived from Cain's name.
The Bedrock of Religion
Today's bible is ambiguous about Jesus' diet because selling a vegan messiah to a Roman society hell-bent on enslaving and killing animals was no easy task. Convincing the meat, dairy and egg-eating masses to accept Jesus' messianic status meant pushing aside His life without exploiting other animals and labeling many of His peaceful teachings as unnecessary eccentricities.
Organized religion focuses too much on barbaric traditions and inane rituals, instead of peaceful living and compassionate duty. It sickens me that the most important aspect of religion is gathering together on the weekend watching someone in a suit—or a black, red, white or green robe with a green, white, red or black hat—performing hand-jive rituals of imaginary cross-signs and prayer-gestures. Imagine if churches and synagogues only demanded its followers to be good people rather than mean automatons! People need to stop worshiping MAN-MADE creations like The Wailing Wall, bibles and other religious books, houses of worship, and artifacts, such as the slab of granite that Jesus died on (located in The Holy Sepulcher). It's time to truly respect and honor God by worshiping and protecting His creations: the animals, the oceans, the stars, the sun, the sky, the mountains and the forests. After all, if you are destroying and murdering God's creations, then you are destroying and murdering God piece by piece!
As someone who believes in God, I do not reject the bedrock of Christianity and Judaism! I only reject stupid religious customs and attempts to justify malicious acts of cruelty in the name of God. If people looked into the eyes of an animal, they would SEE God in those wondrous creations. Job 7:8 states, "But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you." God is in no book. God is in no building. God is no priest or rabbi on a pulpit condemning animals to death. God is in the heart. God is compassion. I don't believe in ink and paper, or people. I believe in compassion, and I believe in God.
Simplifying the Bible’s Message
If the bible contains contradictory scriptures about permissible food, why ignore the peaceful vegan ones and accept the violent meat, dairy and egg-eating ones? Peace should always trump violence. If I had the power to edit the bible, thus clarifying its message, I would use a four-word commandment and a two-word suggestion: THOU SHALT NOT KILL and BE NICE!
Many Scriptures from the Gospel of the Nazirenes
"Do violence to no living thing, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with sufficient wages. Keep yourselves from blood and things strangled and from dead bodies of birds and beasts, and from all deeds of cruelty, and from all that is gotten of wrong. Do you think that the blood of beasts and birds will wash away sin? I tell you, no! Speak the truth, be merciful to one another and to all creatures and walk humbly with your creator." 7:9-10
"Thus it came to pass that he (Jesus) was born in the midst of the animals which, (through the redemption of man from ignorance and selfishness), he came to redeem from their sufferings by the manifestation of the Sons and Daughters of the Most High." 4:5
"And Jesus was going with some of his disciples when he met with a certain man who trained dogs to hunt other creatures. And he said to the man, 'Why do you do this?' And the man said, 'By this I live and what profit is there to any in these creatures?' These creatures are weak, but the dogs they are strong. And Jesus said, 'You lack wisdom and love. Every creature which has been made has its end, and purpose, and who can say what good there is in it? Or what profit to yourself, or mankind.'
And for your living, behold the fields yielding their increase, and the fruit-bearing trees and the herbs. What more do you need than these which the honest work of your hands will not give to you?
A grain of wheat will produce ten thousand heads, and every head will have ten thousand grains, and every grain will produce ten pounds of fine clean flour, and other seeds, fruits and grass will produce in corresponding proportion, and all the animals will use those foods that are products of the soil and become in turn peaceable and in harmony with one another, and with man. Woe to the crafty who hurt or abuse the creatures of the earth. Woe to the hunters for they shall be hunted. And the man marveled and stopped training the dogs to hunt, and taught them to save life rather than destroy it. And he learned of the doctrines The Way and became his disciple." 14:6-9
"And it came to pass that Jesus...found men with a beast of burden. But the horse had fallen down, for it was over-laden, and he (the man) struck it until blood flowed. And Jesus went to him and said, 'Son of cruelty! Why do you strike this defenseless animal? Do you not see that it is too weak for its burden and that it is suffering greatly?' And then Jesus said again, 'Do you not see how it bleeds, can you not hear also how it wails and laments?'
And Jesus was sorrowful and said, 'Woe to you because of the dullness of your hearts, you hear not how it laments and cries to the Lord Creator for mercy. And Jesus went forward and touched it and the horse stood up, and its wounds were healed. Jesus said unto his disciples, 'Because of the sick, I am sick; because of the hungry, I am hungry; because of the thirsty I am athirst.'
Jesus also said, 'I have come to do away with the sacrifices and feasts of blood, and if you cease not sacrificing and eating of flesh and blood, the wrath of the Lord shall not cease from you; even as it came to your fathers in the wilderness, who lusted for flesh, and they ate to their content, and were filled with rottenness and the plagues that consumed them." 21:2-8 (FYI, this part appears VERBATIM in the Panarion from Epiphanius' writings as he discusses The Gospel of the Ebionites.)
"It came to pass one day as Jesus had finished his discourse, in a place near Tiberias where there were seven wells, a certain young man brought live rabbits and pigeons, that he might have them to eat with his disciples. And Jesus looked on the young man with compassion and said to him, 'You have a good heart and the Lord shall give you light; but do you not know that the Lord Creator in the beginning gave to man the fruits of the earth for food, and did not make him lower than the ape, or the ox, or the horse, or the sheep, that he should kill and eat the flesh and blood of his fellow creatures?
Indeed, the Pharisees believe that Moses commanded such creatures to be slain and offered in sacrifice and eaten, and so do you in your temple, but behold, I have come to light the Way back to the Law, even the true Law of Moses; and to put away the bloody sacrifice as in the beginning, even the sacrifice of grains and fruits of the earth.' For the hour approaches when your sacrifices and feasts of blood shall cease and you shall worship in holiness with a pure Oblation." 28:1-4
"Then Jesus said, 'Do you think that I speak of the eating of flesh, which you ignorantly do in your temples?' Not as your ancestors, who craved for flesh and taking of it, ate of corruption till it stank in their nostrils, and their carcasses fell by the thousands in the wilderness by reason of the plagues." 31:2-3
"For the fruits of the trees and the seeds of the herbs alone do I partake, and these are changed by the Spirit into my flesh and my blood. Of these alone and their like shall you eat who believe, and are my disciples, for of these in the Spirit come life and health and healing to man." 32:4
"'Can the blood offerings of the law take away sin?' And Jesus answered: 'No blood offering of beast or bird, or man, can take away sin, for how can the conscience be purged from sin by the shedding of innocent blood? No, it will increase the condemnation. Is it not written in the Prophets, 'Put away your blood sacrifices and your burnt offerings, and cease from the eating of flesh, for I spoke not to your fathers nor commanded them when I brought them out of Egypt concerning these things.' And what does the eternal command you, but to be just, love, have mercy and walk humbly with the Law.
Is it not written that in the beginning the Lord ordained the fruits of the trees and the seeds and the herbs to be food for all flesh? But they have made the House of Prayer a den of thieves, and for the pure oblation with incense, they have polluted my altars with blood, and eaten of the flesh of the slain. But I say to you: Shed no innocent blood nor eat the flesh of the slain, and your days shall be long in the land." 33:2-9
"And some of his disciples came and told him of a certain Egyptian, a son of Belial, who taught that it was lawful to torment animals if their sufferings brought any profit to men. And Jesus said to them, 'They who partake of the benefits which are gotten by wronging one of the Creator's creatures cannot be righteous; nor can they touch or teach holy things, or speak of the mysteries of the Kingdom whose hands are stained with blood, or whose mouths are defiled with flesh.' The Lord gives the grains and the fruits of the earth for food; and for righteous man there is truly no other lawful substance for the body. Wherefore I say to all those who desire to be disciples, keep your hands from bloodshed and let no flesh meat enter your mouths; for the Lord is just and bountiful; who ordains that man shall live by the fruits and seeds of the earth alone. I am in all creatures and all creatures are in me. In all their joys, I rejoice. In all their afflictions, I am afflicted." 38:1-6
The original interpretation of the Ten Commandments: "1) Ye shall worship the one eternal unbegotten Lord Creator, of whom all things are made; 2) Ye shall not take away the life of any creature, nor yet torment it; 3) Ye shall cherish and protect the weak, the oppressed, and all creatures that suffer wrong. 4) Ye shall not eat the flesh, nor drink the blood of any slaughtered creature, nor yet anything which brings disorder to your health or senses; 5) Ye shall eat the fruits and herbs of the earth, and working in the law, live long in the land; 6) Ye shall not make impure marriages where love and health are not, nor yet corrupt yourselves, or any creature; 7) Ye shall revere your fathers and mothers and all the teachers of righteousness; 8) Ye shall not bear false witness against, nor willfully deceive any, nor yet covet or steal their goods; 9) Ye shall purify yourselves daily and rest the seventh day; 10) Ye shall not do unto others, as ye would that others should not do unto you." 46:11-19
"And some of the scribes, hearing him, sought to entangle him in this talk and said, 'If you would put away the sacrifices of sheep and oxen and birds, to what purpose was this temple built for the Lord by Solomon, which has been now forty and six years in restoring?' And Jesus answered and said, 'It is written in the Prophets, My House shall be called a house of prayer for all nations, for the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. But you have made it a house of slaughter and filled it with abominations. Again it is written, 'From the rising of the sun to the setting of the same, my Name shall be great among the multitudes, and incense with a pure Offering shall be offered unto me.' But you have made it a desolation with your offerings of blood and used the sweet incense only to cover the ill savor thereof. I am come not to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it.
Do you know what is written? 'Obedience is better than sacrifice and to hearken better than the fat of rams. I, the Lord, am weary of your burnt offerings, and vain oblations, your hands are full of blood.'" 49:5-8
"And certain of the Elders and scribes form the Temple came to Jesus saying, 'Why do your disciples teach men that it is unlawful to eat the flesh of beasts though they be offered in sacrifice as Moses ordained?' For it is written, the Lord said to Noah, 'The fear and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the field and every bird of the air and every fish of the sea, unto your hand they are delivered.'
And Jesus said to them, 'You hypocrites, well did Isaiah speak of you and your forefathers saying, 'These people draw near to me with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; for in vain do they worship Me believing and teaching for divine doctrines the commandments of men in my name, but to satisfy their own lusts.'
As also Jeremiah bore witness when he said concerning blood offerings, and sacrifices: 'I, the Lord, commanded none of these things in the day that you came out of Egypt, but only this I commanded you: to do righteousness, walk in the ancient paths, be just, love, have mercy, and walk humbly with your creator.
But you did not hearken to me, Who in the beginning gave you all manner of seed and fruit of the trees, having been for the food and healing of man and beast.
And they said, 'You (Jesus) speak against the law.'
And he (Jesus) said, 'Concerning Moses, indeed I do not speak against the Law, but against those who corrupted the Law, which was tolerated because of the hardness of their hearts.'" 51:12-17
"And in those days, those that have the power shall gather to themselves the lands and riches of the earth for their own lusts and shall oppress the many who lack, and hold them in bondage, and use them to increase their riches, and they shall oppress even the beasts of the field, setting up the abominable thing. But the Lord shall send them His messenger and they shall proclaim the Law, which men have hidden by their traditions, and those that transgress shall reap the harvest of their deeds." 61:3
Vegan Passover
"Now, Joseph and Mary, Jesus' parents, went up to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of Passover and they observed the feast after the manner of their brethren, who abstained from bloodshed and the eating of flesh and from strong drink." 6:1
"Now Judas Iscariot had gone to the house of Caiaphas and said to him, 'Behold he has celebrated the Passover within the gates with the mazza in place of the lamb. I indeed bought a lamb, but he forbade that it should be killed. The man of whom I bought it is witness. And Caiaphas rent his clothes and said, 'Truly he (Jesus) has done a deed which is worthy of death, for it is a weighty transgression of the Law." 76:27
"And they asked him further saying, 'Do you abolish the sacrifices of the law, and the eating of flesh as Moses commanded?' And Jesus answered, 'Behold, a greater Law than that which you made of Moses' law is restored to you.'" 79:9
The Last Paschal Supper
"And Iscariot said to him, 'Jesus, behold the unleavened bread, the mingled wine and the oil and the herbs, but where is the lamb that Moses commanded?' (for Judas had bought the lamb, but Jesus had forbidden that it should be killed).
But again Judas said, 'Jesus, is it not written in the law that a lamb must be slain for the Passover within the gates?'
Verily I say unto you, for this end have I come into the world: that I may put away all blood offerings and the eating of the flesh of the beasts and the birds that are slain by men. In the beginning the Creator gave to all the fruits of the trees, and the seeds and the herbs for food; but those who loved themselves more than the Lord or their fellows, corrupted their ways and brought diseases into their bodies, and filled the earth with lust and violence. Not by the shedding of innocent blood, therefore, but by living a righteous life shall you find peace.
Blessed are they who keep this Law, for the Creator is manifest in all creatures and all creatures live in the Creator." 75:6-14
"This commandment have I given you, that you love one another and all the creatures of the earth. Love is the fulfilling of the Law. Love is of the Lord, and the Lord is love. Whoso loves not, knows not the Lord. Now you are clean through the Word which I have spoken to you. By this shall all know that you are my disciples: if you show mercy and love to all creatures, especially those that are weak and oppressed and suffer wrong. For the whole earth is filled with dark places of cruelty, with pain and sorrow, by the selfishness and ignorance of man." 76:5-6
"And one asked him saying, 'Jesus shall infants be received into the Congregation in like manner as Moses commanded by circumcision?' And Jesus answered, 'For those who are in the Law there is no cutting of the flesh, nor shedding of blood.' Let the infant...and let the parents see to it that the infant is brought up by Nazirite tradition in the Way of the Law, neither eating flesh nor drinking strong drink, nor touching things impure, nor hurting the creatures given by the Creator into the hands of man to protect.'
Again one said to Jesus, 'Jesus, how will it be when they grow up?' And Jesus said, 'After seven years, or when they begin to know the evil from the good, and learn to choose good, let them come in Spirit and receive the blessing at the hands of the Priest or the Angel of the Congregation with prayer and Thanksgiving, and let them be admonished to keep from flesh-eating and strong drink, and from hunting the innocent creatures of the earth." 91:6-7
Mary Magdalene, the Vegan
"Wherefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much, not only man but also beast and birds of the air, yea, even the fishes of the sea; but to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little." 11:8
"It has been written, 'Thou shall not kill', but I say to you, if any hate and desire to slay, they have broken the Law, yea, if they cause hurt or torment to any creature they are guilty. But if they kill to put an end to suffering which cannot be healed, they are not guilty, if they do it quickly and with much mercy." 47:3
"And again I say to you, if any desire and seek to possess the body of any creature for food, or for pleasure, or for profit, they defile themselves thereby." 47:6
Jesus Feeds Fruit to the Multitudes
"And it came to pass as Jesus had been teaching the multitudes, and they were hungry and faint from the heat of the day, that there passed by that was a woman on a camel laden with melons and other fruits. And he took five melons and divided them among the people, and they ate, and their thirst was quenched. And he said to them, 'If the Lord Creator makes the Sun to shine, and the water to fill out these fruits of the earth, shall not the Same be the Sun of your Souls, and fill you with the Water of Life?' None of them went home hungry or thirsty; and many that had fevers were healed." 48:1-4
"And as Jesus was going to Jericho he met there a man with a cage full of birds which he had caught and some young doves. And he saw how they were in misery having lost their liberty, and moreover being tormented by hunger and thirst. And he said to the man, 'What will you do with these?' And the man answered, 'I go to make my living by selling these birds which I have taken.'
And Jesus said, 'What would you think, if another stronger than you, or with greater craft, were to catch you and bind you, or your wife, or your children, and cast you into a prison, in order to sell you into captivity for his own profit, and make a living?
Are not these your fellow creatures, only weaker than you? And does not the same Creator care for us all? Let these your little brethren go forth into freedom, and see that you do this no more, but provide honestly for your living.'
And the man marveled at these words and at his authority, and he let the birds go free. So when the birds came forth they flew to Jesus and stood on his shoulder and sang to him. And the man inquired further of his doctrine, and he went his way, and learned the craft of making baskets, and by this craft he earned his bread, and afterwards he broke his cages and his traps, and became a disciple of Jesus." 41:1-6
"And Jesus came to a certain tree and abode beneath it many days. Mary Magdalene came there with other women and they ministered to him of their substance, and he taught daily to all that came. And the birds gathered around Jesus, and welcomed him with their song, and other living creatures came to his feet, and Jesus fed them, and they ate out of his hands. And when he departed [from under the fig tree] he blessed the women who showed love to him, and turning to the fig tree, he blessed it also, saying, 'You have given me shelter and shade from the burning heat, and given me food also.
Blessed are you, increase and be fruitful, and let all who come to you find rest and shade and food, and let the birds of the air rejoice in your branches.' And behold the tree grew and flourished exceedingly, and its branches took root downward and sent shoots upward, and it spread mightily so that no tree was like it for its size and beauty, and the abundance and goodness of its fruit. And as Jesus entered into a certain village he saw a young cat which had none to care for her, and she was hungry and cried to him, and he took her up and put her inside his garment, and she lay in his bosom.
And when he came into the village he set food and drink before the cat, and she ate and drank, and showed thanks to him. And he gave her to one of his disciples, who was a widow, whose name was Lorenza, and she took care of her. And some of the people said, 'This man cares for all creatures. Are they his brothers and sisters that he should love them?' And he said to them, 'Verily these are your fellow creatures of the great Household of the Lord Creator, yea, they are your brethren and sisters, having the same breath of life in the Eternal.
And whoever cares for one of the least of these, and gives it food and drink in its need, the same does it to me. And whoso willingly suffers one of these to be in want and defends it not when cruelly treated, suffers the evil as done unto me. For as you have done in this life, so shall it be done to you in the life to come.' " 34:1-10
"And Jesus began to preach and to say, 'Repent, for the Kingdom is at hand.' And he was walking by the sea and saw Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother casting a net in the sea; for they were fishers. And he said to them, 'Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.' And they straightway left their nets and followed him." 14:2
(The linked thumbnail image is excerpted from a painting by Johann Wenzel Peter (1745-1829), The Earthly Paradise (Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden), date unknown.)