The Vegan Nestorian Church in Ancient China, Part IV: Jesus Died for All Sentient Beings. By Dr Chapman Chen
- Chapman Chen
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The Sutra of Hearing the Messiah《序聽迷詩所經》(n.1) , a major scripture of the Nestorian Church in ancient China, states that God commands that no sentient being be killed, no flesh be eaten, and no animal be sacrificed, for all living beings share in the same divine life. It represents Jesus as a compassionate teacher who died for all sentient beings and John the Baptist as a strict vegan.
As mentioned in Part III of this article, the Sutra states that “all evildoers who do not turn towards the good Way… indulge in partake of flesh, and they serve… unclean spirits. … The scholars, out of envy, tried to eliminate Him (my translation).”
1. Jesus Gave up His Life for the Sake of All Sentient Beings
The Sutra’s denunciation of sacrificial violence mirrors Jesus’ courageous liberation of sacrificial animals from the Second Temple (Mark 11:15–17), which eventually led to His crucifixion (cf. Akers 2000, pp.113-114; Chen 2026) (n.2). The assertion in the Sutra that sacrificial animal-eating is deception and spiritual corruption echoes Jesus’ declaration, “I desire COMPASSION, not sacrifice!” (Matt. 9:13, 12:7; cf. Hosea 6:6).
The crucifixion of Jesus is described in the sutra as follows:
“彌師訶將身施與惡 為一切眾生 為今世眾生布施代命受死 木上縛著五時 是六日齋。The Messiah gave up His body to the wicked ones for the sake of all sentient beings. In his compassion for all sentient beings, he met His death. He was bound to the wooden cross for five hours. That was on the sixth vegetarian day.”
The expression 六日齋 (luk jat zaai, literally the sixth vegetarian day) refers to the Christian Friday fast or the sixth-day fast/observance, but 齋 (zaai) in Chinese culture is variably associated with abstention from animal flesh.
2. John the Vegan Baptist
The Sutra also describes John the Baptist as a strict vegan:
年過十二求。於淨處名述難。字即向若昏人湯谷。初時是彌師訶弟伏 聖在於硤中居住。生生已來不喫酒肉。
When He [Jesus] was over twelve years old, He came to a purifying place named Shu-tan [Jordan] and sought to be baptised. Initially, the Messiah submitted to John as a disciple. This holy man dwelt in a wild ravine. He neither ate flesh nor drank wine from his birth. He only lived on raw vegetable and syrup. (Trans. Yoshiro Saeki 1932).
3. John the Baptist Ate Neither Locusts Nor Bee Honey
According to the canons, John the Baptist’s “food was locusts and wild honey” (Matt 3:4; cf. Mark 1:6). So was John the Baptist non-vegan? The answer is not necessarily. Those who know Greek and are familiar with Eastern Orthodox Christianity would know that the mention of "locusts" in the NT in actuality refers to locust beans, also known as carob beans. Some describe "Saint John's bread" or "manna bread" as being made of locust bean flour, also known as carob flour, turned into a kind of Middle-eastern flat bread. And in ancient texts the references to 'honey' in antiquity could refer to any number of other sweet substances than bee honey, including dates, figs, pods, or sap/gum from carob or other trees." (James A. Kelhoffer 2005, “John the Baptist’s Wild Honey and Honey in Antiquity”) (n.2)
This is confirmed by the old Slavonic edition of Josephus’ The Jewish War (n.3), which contains a saying attributed to John the Baptist: “I am pure; [for] the Spirit of God has led me on, and [I live on] cane, roots and tree-food. And every animal he abhorred [as food] … and tree-produce served him for use.”
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