John Wesley, Founder of Methodism, Promoted a Vegetarian Diet
John Wesley believed a vegetarian diet was the foundation for good health, a strong spiritual practice and connection with God.
John Wesley (1703-1791) was the founder of the Methodist movement and the Christian denomination of Methodism. He was a revered and prolific English preacher and theologian who was considered light years ahead of his time. Wesley strongly advocated and believed in eating a plant-based diet. He felt good physical and spiritual health went together and vegetarianism was the diet most compatible with Christian values like mercy, compassion and kindness. He was against any and all cruelty to animals or causing their suffering by killing them for food, and believed that a vegetarian diet was the best foundation for developing a spiritual practice and relationship with God.
“I believe in my heart that faith in Jesus Christ can and will lead us beyond an exclusive concern for the well-being of other human beings to the broader concern for the well-being of the birds in our backyards, the fish in our rivers, and every living creature on the face of the earth.” (God’s Covenant with Animals, Lantern Books, 2000, xii)
Even three centuries back, Wesley observed and thought that eating animal foods was harmful to people’s physical health, including the eating of eggs and dairy. He reasoned that animal products made people sick causing chronic disease, infections and food poisoning. His medical doctor advised Wesley to stop eating animal products, and when he did and he became a vegetarian—his chronic health problems disappeared. Wesley was not only concerned about the spiritual welfare of people but was also very concerned about providing practical medical advice and healing for the average person who may not have access to medical professionals. He realized that medicine in England was accessible only to the wealthy. He sought to share simple, easy and natural remedies to treat illnesses and promote physical healing, prompting him to write the book, “Primitive Physic, or an Easy and Natural Method of Curing Most Diseases.” His book was a bestseller in his day and sold more books than anything else he wrote, and today is still being published.
“Dr. Cheyne advised me to leave them off again (animal products), assuring me, ‘Till you do, you will never be free from fevers.’ And since I have taken his advice, I have been free (blessed be God) from all bodily disorders.” (From a letter to Dr. Gibson, Bishop of London, LONDON, June 11, 1747, in The Letters of John Wesley Edited by John Telford, London: Epworth Press, 1931)
“Thanks be to God! Since the time I gave up the use of flesh-meats and wine, I have been delivered from all physical ills.”
This is thought to be partly inspired by Isaiah’s vision of the Kingdom of Peace, where:
“On the new earth, no creature will kill, or hurt, or give pain to any other.” (Is. 11:6-9)
Wesley was opposed to all forms of animal cruelty and ways humans can cause animals to suffer:
“I am persuaded you are not insensible of the pain given to every Christian, every humane heart, by those savage diversions, bull-baiting, cock-fighting, horse-racing, and hunting. Can any of these irrational and unnatural sports appear otherwise than cruel …? And if man is void of these, does he deserve the name of man? Or is he fit for society? (The Journal of the Reverend John Wesley, A.M. Sometime Fellow of the Lincoln College, Oxford: From October 14th, 1735 to October 24th, 1790, Volume 2)
In Wesley’s early days of founding Methodism, his followers first met in private homes and classrooms. One of his founding principles became:
“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”
Wesley, in fact, personally never slowed down in his ministry and preaching. He was said to have traveled over 4,000 miles annually, preaching some 40,000 sermons in his lifetime. He tried to reach as many people in his lifetime as he could with the message that everyone can experience the love of God and can develop a personal relationship with God. He founded his teachings on the Holy Bible and viewed the Bible as the definitive authority.
What’s your source for:
“Thanks be to God, since the time I gave up flesh meals and wine I have been delivered from all physical ills.”
It’s quoted quite widely, but never with a source. It’s not part of the letter to the Bishop of London, at least in the compiled letters.
Hi Ian, the source for John Wesley’s quote is the: UNITY HANDBOOK, Volume XX, #6, June 1904, printed in Kansas City, MO. It’s on page 328, under the chapter heading: The Higher Economics of Diet. John Wesley did write it to the bishop of London in 1747. Thanks for your inquiry.
Thanks for answering so promptly!. Do you know where I might be able to look at that? It’s not in WorldCat, the British Library, or Google Books.
The version of that letter to the Bishop of London that got into the compilation of letters of Welsey’s life is here:
http://wesley.nnu.edu/john-wesley/the-letters-of-john-wesley/wesleys-letters-1747/
It says pretty much the same thing, but not as pithily. So I wonder if the message might have been paraphrased by accident during its journey.
Am I right in thinking that “Unity Handbook” is a periodical of the city’s Unitarian temple?
Hi Ian, I did access it through Google Books, here’s the link: http://bit.ly/2h33q1s. The publisher is Unity Tract Society.
Thanks! I think the problem was that I was searching for “Unity Handbook”. Unfortunately, your link doesn’t show me the quote, perhaps because I’m in the UK and Google Books isn’t as generous.
I’ve found it via the Unity Tracts site:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/truthunity/monthly-magazine/1904-06-unity.pdf. You can download the podcasts from http://veghist.org/.
Thanks Ian for sharing your wonderful podcast series found at http://veghist.org/, called Vegetarianism: The Story So Far, as well as your website The Vegan Option Radio Show and Blog. I will be sure to listen to your well-researched podcasts about the fascinating history of Vegetarianism, and read your many other resources available and share them with others. Best wishes.
I only just discovered that John Wesley was an advocate of plant-based eating; and I’m delighted! I’m a Christian and a vegan, and to me those things are entwined, but I’m aware that I’m in a minority. Most of my Christian friends are meat-eaters, and most of my vegan friends are agnostics! I do feel a little lonely at times, in terms of my world view.
To discover that one of my historical heroes was a vegan long before his time, is wonderful news indeed!
Thanks Katie for sharing your thoughts. Veganism is about living a life of non-violence to animals, and living a life of compassion and respect for all animals. All faiths can practice veganism by living a life of compassion, love, respect and animal liberation for all animals, everyday. When we are not vegans, we practice domination, exploitation, oppression, slavery and human supremacy over animals, and it’s truly a moral issue that each person must decide if that is how they want to live. Religious or not religious – it has to do with “care” and perpetuating goodness and non-violence over oppression, exploitation, domination and slavery of animals. Animals are not “packages of meat” and that is how the religion of consumerism sees it, as simply a “material item” to buy and consume.
Jennie, you might find this guy – Andrew Linzey – of interest. He’s a vegetarian Christian theologian, and has written a bunch of books on the subject. A great many of the early vegetarians and vegans were motivated by Christian religion, although some of them were a distance from the orthodoxy.
http://www.oxfordanimalethics.com/who-we-are/director/
I’d obviously recommend my radio series, but Episode 3 is the one that deals with early Christianity, and the lost vegetarian Christianities, as well as the orthodox Christianities that spend much of the year on a vegan diet for ascetic reasons. (Though sadly the path Christianity did take, largely because it set itself against a rival religion with a vegan leadership, was in squarely the other direction).
In the early twentieth century, the biggest vegetarian group in the UK was the “Order of the Golden Age” (= Eden), who filled the Albert Hall (London’s main concert hall) with their events, and put posters on public transport long before modern groups did.
Hi Ian, thanks for sharing your excellent and in-depth knowledge and research on the history of vegetarianism on your radio show / blog site, The Vegan Option; and for your referral of Dr. Andrew Linzey, he’s quite a prolific author and expert on theology and animals and animal rights, for those who want to check out his work and many books. Cheers!
Hi Jennie, yes I agree 100%, and compassion, and a belief in peace and non-violence is the reason I became a vegan. To me it fits in perfectly with my Christian theology, as love, kindness and peace are fundamental teachings of Christ. I’m often dismayed by how so few Christians see it that way, which is why it was a joy to discover that John Wesley was a plant-based eater. I’m hoping the church will see the light soon, and that the tide will turn…