Religious Vegetarianism: From Hesiod to the Dalai Lama (Paperback)

by Kerry Walters (Editor), Lisa Portmess (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
Although Unitarian minister Kowalski is both vegetarian and antivivisectionist, his newest book is not about deriving support for these ethical teachings from Judeo-Christian scripture. Rather, this is a series of personal meditations on some of the more prominent events in the Hebrew Bible, considering how they relate to our treatment of animals. In the first chapter, Kowalski meditates on the creation narratives of Genesis and touches on our stewardship of the earth. He points out how like us the animals are, as they sing and dance and love as we do. Kowalski continues with chapters on the story of Noah's Ark, the near-sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham, the suffering of Job and his restoration, and, finally, the story of Jonah. Occasionally saccharine and often idiosyncratic in scriptural interpretation, these meditations are nonetheless always intelligent and frequently moving. Recommended especially for public libraries for its appeal to both students and casual readers. Religious Vegetarianism, on the other hand, is entirely about the justification of vegetarianism through the doctrines of several major religious traditions. Religious historian Walters (Benjamin Franklin and His Gods, LJ 1/90) and Portmess (philosophy, Gettysburg Coll.) divide the book into sections on the Orphic-Pythagorean tradition, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Each section contains a brief introduction and several sample writings. This structure necessarily renders the book uneven in style, and it is best used by beginning scholars as a basic sourcebook. For academic libraries and public libraries with substantial collections in religion or ethics. James F. DeRoche, Alexandria, VA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
Stretching back more than two thousand years and spanning diverse traditions, religious vegetarianism has an ancient and rich history. In this book, Kerry S. Walters and Lisa Portmess gather writings that reflect devotional as well as more analytical responses to age-old questions of animal suffering, dietary practice, and human responsibility. These include writings from ancient Orphic and Pythagorean authors, writings that span centuries of Indian and Buddhist thought, and writings from the Judaic, Christian, and Islamic traditions. Interesting both to those well-versed in the literature of vegetarianism as well as to others encountering it for the first time, are tensions within traditions over the use of animals for food--whether such use is consonant with fundamental values of the faith, whether religious law or tradition requires vegetarian practice, and what place animals are thought to hold in the order of nature.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 203 pages
• Publisher: State University of New York Press (2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791449726
• ISBN-13: 978-0791449721
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,030,150 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It was worth the wait!, July 9, 2001

By A Customer

I've been looking forward to the publication of this book ever since I heard it was in the works two years ago. It was worth every bit of the wait. It's an excellent companion to Walters and Portmess Ethical Vegetarianism, but it's also a fine book by itself. It discusses religious justifications of vegetarianism from a number of religious traditions. I was especially intrigued by the discussions of Xtian and Jewish vegetarianism. I always thought that there was no spiritual support in these two traditions for vegetarianism, but now I see that this is plain wrong. In fact, Both Xtianity and Judaism have a long tradition of compassion for animals. You just have to do a little reading between the lines. If you're looking for a spiritual grounding for your vegetarianism, get this book. It's great!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative, September 21, 2001

By A Customer

This book is an eyeopener. For the vegetarian as well as the nonvegetarian. It gives a good account of how different religious faiths around the world and across time have preached a meatless diet. It's pretty well known that buddhists and hindus preach vegetarianism, but I was particularly interested to learn there is a strong tradition of vegetarianism in the Jewish and Christian traditions.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars God & Food & Nonviolence, September 24, 2001

By	"sheila1237" (Baltimore) - See all my reviews

For those of us who think that killing animals for food is a violation of deep spiritual laws, this book is a Godsend. At this time, when war and destruction seems right around the corner, beginning to practice nonviolence in our daily lives seems like a good idea. This book helps us along the way. It's a very good partner to Portmess and Walter's earlier book, Ethical Vegetarianism.