Jude and James: Two Pro-Vegan, Anti-Paul Books (Part II). By Dr Chapman Chen
- Chapman Chen
- Jul 3
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 4
6. Fake Christians who Fattened Themselves in the Day of Slaughter
James, the brother of Jesus and Jude, lashes out at the Pauline camp with no less intensity than Jude. James says to those Pauline “Christians” who are not truly compassionate in all their ways, “You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened (trephó) yourselves in the day of slaughter” (James 5:5 NIV). The Greek word, trephó, per Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, means fatten, and, by implication, cherish with food. So the verse probably means “you have made yourself fat by slaughtering and consuming innocent creatures.”
7. Those who Kill but Commit No Adultery
James also indicates that these fake Christians, while complying with the 7th Commandment, violate the 6th. “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law” (James 2:10-11). The fact that James refers to the 7th Commandment as the one which those who kill the creatures (n.2) are especially proud of following, powerfully implies that they were fans of Paul, because nobody can read Paul’s letters without noticing that to him adultery, fornication… were to a great degree the worst of all sins (cf. Holmes-Gore 1946, p. 39).
8. Killing as a Major Cause of War
Equally important is James’ assertion that killing is one of the major roots of wars. Therefore we read, “Whence come wars and whence come fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your pleasures that war in your members? Ye lust and have not; ye kill, and covet, and cannot obtain” (James 4:1-2). (Holmes-Gore 1946, p.39). It reminds us that of Pythagoras’ saying, "As long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other" (see Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book XV).
9. Faith Without Works is Dead!
In his Epistle to the Romans Paul argues that we are justified by faith and not by works. The Epistle of James specifically debunks the fallacy of this theory. James writes thus: "What doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but have not works? Can that faith save him?... "Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself… For as the body apart from the Spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead" (James 2: 14-end). No wonder, Martin Luther, a die-hard fan of Paul, calls St. James’ epistle “an epistle of straw” in his Preface to the New Testament (Luther 1522).
10. Conclusion
To sum up, Jude and James are real brothers of Jesus not only in the biological sense but also in the vegan sense. Jude insinuatingly accuses Paul of creeping into or infiltrating Jesus’ vegan church, that the Pauline camp revile veganism which they do not comprehend, that they debase and destroy themselves by “understanding” animals physically, that they are evil murderers like Cain, that they are “hidden rocks” in Jesus’ vegan Communion, as well as shepherds that feed themselves at the expense of the sheep. Likewise, James condemns hypocritical Christians or Paulinists for “fattening” themselves by butchering innocent creatures of God. He denounces them for violating the 6th Commandment by killing innocent sentient beings guiltlessly, while self-conceitedly keeping the 7th Commandment against adultery. Paul famously contends that we are justified by faith rather than works, but James repeatedly stresses that faith without works is dead.
Notes
2. In killing and/or eating animals, one breaks the Sixth Commandment, "Thou shalt not kill". As put by Reuben Alcalay (1981), one of the greatest contemporary linguists cum author of The Complete Hebrew-English Dictionary, the 6th Commandment "Thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13 KJV; Matthew 19:18 KJV) means "any kind of killing whatsoever." The original Hebrew, he points out, is לֹא תִּרְצָח Lo tirtzakh, which requires us to stop ourselves from killing any sentient beings altogether (see Rosen 2004:87).
Reference
Holmes-Gore, Vincent Arthur (1946/1989). Christ or Paul? London: Renaissant Press.
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