top of page
Search
Writer's pictureChapman Chen

St. Peter Preaches Veganism in Clementine Homilies. By Dr. Chapman Chen



Summary: In Clementine Homilies, Peter reveals that he himself is a vegan (Hom. 12, Ch. VI).  He declares that the Golden Rule is “not to taste dead flesh”, among others (Hom. 7, Ch. IV), that whoever violates this rule will become subject to the demons (Hom. 8, Ch. XX). As for animal sacrifice, Peter stresses that God “is not pleased with sacrifices” (Hom. 3, Ch. XLV).” Concerning discrepancies in the Bible in relation to sacrifice and diet, etc., Peter quotes Jesus (Matthew 22:29), and argues that the Bible is a “mixture of truth with falsehood,” (Hom. 3, Ch. L). Peter reminds us that Jesus came not to destroy the Law (Matthew 5:17), that whatever Jesus destroyed about the Law was not part of it in the first place. This resonates with Keith Akers’ saying that Jesus aimed at returning the people to the original nonviolent Law (Akers 2020: 7).



1. Whoever Eats Flesh Shall Become Slaves to the Devil


In the text, Peter tells Clement that he is a vegan who eats “only bread and olives, and rarely pot-herbs” (Hom. 12, Ch. VI). Peter warns that “the eating of animals” is “contrary to nature” (Hom. 8 Chapter XV); that “when you partook of meat offered to idols, you became servants to the prince of evil” (Hom. 7, Chapter III); that “everyone who worships demons, or sacrifices to them, or partakes with them of their table (the table of demons)” (Hom. 8, Ch. XX), “shedding blood, or tasting dead flesh, or filling themselves with that which is torn of beasts, or that which is cut, or that which is strangled, or anything else that is unclean” (Hom. 8, Ch. XIX), “shall become subject to them and receive all punishment from them, as being under wicked lords” (Hom. 8, Ch. XX).


2. The Golden Rule: Do NOT Taste Dead Flesh


He declares that “the Golden Rule” or “the things which are well-pleasing to God” includes “to pray to Him, to ask from Him, recognising that He is the giver of all things, and gives with discriminating law; to abstain from the table of devils, not to taste dead flesh…” (Hom. 7, Ch. IV).  He points out that animal flesh eating is not a long step to cannibalism (Hom. 8, Ch. XVI). 


3. God Loathes Animal Sacrifice


As regards animal sacrifice in the Torah, Peter stresses that God “is not pleased with sacrifices…those who lusted after flesh were slain as soon as they tasted it, and were consigned to a tomb, so that it was called the grave of lusts [Numbers 11:31-34]. He then who at the first was displeased with the slaughtering of animals, not wishing them to be slain, did not ordain sacrifices as desiring them; nor from the beginning did He require them. For neither are sacrifices accomplished without the slaughter of animals, nor can the first-fruits be presented (Hom. 3, Ch. XLV).”


4. The Bible as a Mixture of Truth with Falsehood


Concerning contradictions in the Scriptures with respect to, e.g., animal sacrifice or abstinence from flesh, Peter confirms that the Bible is highly edited, inconsistent document. [This matches the Ebionite belief that the Scriptures have been distorted, as a consequence of which not everything therein can be trusted (Panarion 30.18.7, cf. Akers 2020:27).] Peter explains that the Bible is a “mixture of truth with falsehood,” (Hom. 3, Ch. L), which, of course, negates Paul’s allegation that every word in the Bible is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NIV).


Peter recalls that on one occasion, Jesus, “finding fault with the Sadducees, said, “Wherefore ye do err, nor knowing the true things of the Scriptures; and on this account you are ignorant of the power of God” [Matthew 22:29]. “If He [Jesus] cast up to them that they knew not the true things of the Scriptures, it is manifest that there are false things in them,” reasons Peter. Here we may add that the false things in the Bible are due to “the lying pen of the scribes” (Jer. 8:8 ESV).


Moreover, “inasmuch as He [Jesus] said, 'Be ye prudent money-changers,' it is because there are genuine and spurious words. And whereas He said, 'Wherefore do ye not perceive that which is reasonable in the Scriptures?' He makes the understanding of him stronger who voluntarily judges soundly,” Peter goes on (Hom., Ch. L).


5. Jesus Tries to Restore the Nonviolent Law!


Peter then reminds us that Jesus said, "I am not come to destroy the law" (Matthew 5:17). It follows that where He appeared to be destroying the law, it was to show that “the things He destroyed did not actually belong to the law” (Hom. 3, Ch. LI). Indeed, as put by Akers, “the Jewish Christians… believed that Jesus was a prophet who came to reform the Mosaic Law – to return the people to the original [vegan] law of God, which had been given to Moses but then distorted by those who followed after Moses” (Akers 2020: 14).  In other words, the Jewish Christians regarded Jesus as “’the true prophet’ who would lead the people back to the eternal law that commanded simple living and nonviolence” (Akers 2020: 7).


6. What is the Clementine Homilies


The Clementine Homilies are part of a group of early Christian writings known as the Clementine literature, which includes two main works: the Clementine Homilies and the Clementine Recognitions. Both works are presented as being written by Clement of Rome, traditionally thought to be one of the earliest bishops of Rome and possibly the same Clement mentioned by Paul in Philippians 4:3. The Clementine Homilies were probably written in the 3rd or 4th century and reflect the beliefs of a Jewish-Christian sect, possibly connected to the Ebionites or other early Christian groups who were critical of Pauline theology. The text is “pseudo-historical”, and it portrays Peter in debates and discussions on various theological, ethical, and practical matters with a range of opponents, including pagans, philosophers, and especially Simon Magus, a figure who is presented as Peter's primary theological adversary. 


Source. Clementine Homilies. Translated by James Donaldson. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 8. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/080820.htm>.

52 views0 comments

Comments


bottom of page