Vegetarianism as a spiritual choice in historical and contemporary theology

This project sought to shed new light on modern vegetarianism and related forms of dietary choice by situating them in the context of historic Christian practice.

Questions

The project examined some of the following questions:

• What are the links between people’s beliefs and the foods they choose to eat?
• In the modern Western world, dietary choices are a topic of ethical and political debate, but how can centuries of Christian thought and practice also inform them?
• And how do reasons for abstaining from particular foods in the modern world compare with earlier ones?

Background

Christianity is conspicuous among the modern world’s religions in having few dietary rules or customs. Its silence is a modern development. Medieval monasticism was, for instance, ordered by a complex polyphony of dietary rules and customs, and gluttony was counted among the seven cardinal sins. Modern vegetarianism, on which the project focused, cannot however be equated with medieval practice because of very different attitudes to religion and the body, above all a highly developed ascetic tradition. Asceticism and the theology surrounding it can, however, illuminate many aspects of vegetarianism and related issues of diet and health in the modern world.

Project synopsis

The project aimed to contribute to current understanding of vegetarian and other dietary choices by developing a constructive theology of food and eating which draws on a rich Christian tradition of feasting and fasting and is relevant to modern life. It aimed to show that everyday activities and decisions affecting the body possess profound spiritual significance. By beginning with practices rather than doctrine, the project developed conclusions of interest to people with a wide variety of religious commitments and none.

Outputs

The project involved a seminar series with invited speakers from a range of disciplines. A colloquium also took place bringing together theologians and scholars from related subjects with relevant expertise. The project publications were a  book co-written by David Grumett and Rachel Muers, Theology on the Menu (London: Routledge, 2010), and an edited volume from the project symposium: Rachel Muers and David Grumett (eds), Eating and Believing; Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Vegetarianism and Theology (London & New York: T&T Clark, 2008).

Team

The project team’s core members were Rachel Muers and David Grumett.